31 days

two more views for those who have interest

can't find my best photos.

sigh

31 days, (i think 33 pages altogether)
 lokta shifu pages, sewn on vellum and laced into a limp vellum structure. 

thick vellum cover was dyed to resemble a summer landscape. 

each day of august i made a page to record the day. 

10 days of puppy sitting the beautiful, demanding tess, not fun. 

not one night's sleep during those days.

this sculptural book feels good in the hands.

a journey with claudia

 journeying 

 a thin silver thread

do you see?

the sun found it this morning

before we went to the mountains.

look!

a snail trail. 

over driveway. still evidence 

of determination, haphazard, of travel.

how can it throw caution to the wind

throw itself into the small small movement

one millimeter at a time.

i would give up, i would not see

that unbelievable goal

mapped on summer asphalt and dirt. 

antidote

 this book was made to mark 31 days of august

 each shifu page is a place holder, a day keeper

 some are paintings, or in this case a "dyeing".

a list within a list, keeping time

then i was contemplating, along with some others, dots.

thank you everyone for the antidotes.

i am ok, struggling is a good thing, in my book, 

but that doesn't mean i like it.

struggling/joy

how can spring, 

so filled with the songs of birds

many i can't identify

how can spring

be so hard?

storms destroy

inner storms, too

bodies rebel

yet are so familiar 

is it that joy has disappeared?

it is the muggy, fudzy wet greeness?

is it despair that pushes at my skin until i say

yes, yes.

sorting out threads, saving some, giving some up. 

and the thursday oriole, first i've ever seen here,

i hope may return.

where

did all the followers go?

 is this another weird blogger thing? 

i ask you--

any ideas???

final farm day

 brian and ann talk to us as we harness pearl.

 yes, i'm in the driver's seat. just because you know how to ride, 

doesn't mean you "get" driving a horse.

 and my student was sitting with me. 

what if i made a mistake?

 pearl knows her business, 

and brian was coaching.

and i certainly was...unused to reins that are almost as think as my horse's girth, 

and the fact that her language is gee and haw, 

and i had no leg to use on her!

i got to drive pearl today. 

so did one of my students. and later a fellow staff.

hurrah!!!!!

pearl is an amish raised, 16 year old standardbred mare.

she is pearl, indeed.

lightening

all day

lightening

darkening

changes dancing, trudging

tonight across the west

weathervane held the light

orb drifted

to the barn's topline

then vanished

fortune siezed this globe

a glass left 

from long ago to

warn: lightening!

lightening.

beware.

beready.

more centering

i ate supper of potato salad in my car, 

watching and listening to the wind and the water on lake flower, 

in saranac lake.

and the sun shone out

in reminder

 i have a new splint to wear for four weeks. 

 it's hard to feel too sorry for yourself 

when these mountains are the constant backdrop here.

i love this town, 

it's quieter and secret compared to bawdy lake placid, 

where my doctor practices.

as i struggle

with acceptance and patience

i remember learning patience before.

waiting

is it always so damned hard?

good news:

i can teach this summer, and in all likelihood

no surgery.

centering

trying to find my center 

so i went digging

wrestling bloodroot 

sweating hard 

blackflies swarm 

no biting, i sweat, smell raunchy 

or the roadside embankment soil does

a beer can reward

miller lite five cents return

i wrestle with big rocks and surprising 

root systems that hold together

the road. does everyone know

the delicate lace that supports pickups 

in rains that wash out bridges and culverts?

two hours work

for a bucket of sand and clay and rocks and

bloodroot

struggling with health-tomorrow i see the orthopedic surgeon

the cold drifted into allergies

my camera is wonky

but i have a treasure

for catherine and the gathering

at her house, dyers all

we shall see magic. 

neighborhood

 a new neighbor, one of three, halter is loose

it's misty this morning, but not blue. i think something's ill with my camera

 lovely to be up early and not have to be somewhere

a happy saturday. 

a cow is calling, many robins, and it's grayed green.

a day for chores and making things.

a summer edge to this day.

peaceful

as the day breathes.

face/figure

how we hide

who we are

how we are

hide me

please 

 the face, the figure

 the face

 the figure

 face

figure

healing woods

lampson falls, degrasse wild forest

my class and i went into the woods today

the trail is easy, no complaints

the falls was huge

pregnant with heavy spring

death

laugh

we had a guide who taught us about geocaching

and we found one

i was unaware of being sick.

at home i am tired, but the 45 degree weather, the rain, the breeze

has healed me.

that, and wendy's ginger, lemon, honey brew.

thanks

to all of you 

who have sent wendy good health wishes

thank you

and the get over the cold 

wishes for me, i appreciate

it seems that the finger, menopause, teaching, the cold

and more rain

have been challenging.

i apologize

i continue to wait to see what happens

in the mill. 

i have val's okra soaking, making mucilage, formation aid,

for papermaking. just not today.

fern dust

these ferns grow every spring

fiddleheads unfurl 

from the same root system

shed golden powdery dust

which i collected

on wednesday

and cooked

for a while

now it's hydrated

and ready for a little papermaking experiment

i'll let you know how it comes out

but first i will nurture this spring cold--

wendy is doing well, no more seizures

so far. she's sad hannah's gone, but she's used to that change.

hannah and ian have been leaving,

on and off, for 15 years.