living through

the season has shifted,

ever so slightly, we've all been talking about it

as though it doesn't every damned year.

you can rely on it, morning cold toes

sniffly or more nose

ripening reds and purples continue with joy.

we gather

so do the deer

the raccoons

birds have avain business to attend, 

flight plans logged,

wasps in the dropped fruit, look out!

and maybe a bear you might see

if you're very lucky.

me, i look for stanghorns in sumac

falling stars in the night sky

first leaves turning

succession of goldenrods.

reappearance of asters

and wild grapes

ticks will search, too.

it's a give and take and beware and bedazzled

all wrapped up into what we need for

winter.

maybe that's why i've been making these things:

 flax paper drying on house rugs before tess the english setter arrived

for a weekend stay.

 some of my blotter papers have become interesting

 this is badger paper again,

a mix of everything but largely lokta and flax and words, many many words

 a red ochre pigment to the pulp

 my dashboard 'decor'

 i went to a painting with soils workshop

and the selection was interesting, 

all gathered on site except for the black and green

 the binder we used:

elmer's glue.

the soils were sieved, but not quite enough for a good paint

 the binder/carrier was less than desirable

but the soil scientists were great to talk with.

 scientists and artists need to get together

they have so much to talk about.

black eyed susans last a long season here.

 useful plants

 make themselves known in contact prints

if you can talk them into it.

 this is how i felt when i saw them!

 indian pipe.

in my perennial border!

 i haven't seen them here 

ever.

ghost plants

that i once used to dye wool a lovely gray.

 and another thing i've never seen here.

cherries.

across the road, on the edge, last evening

a branch with a large red berry and a few on the ground.

it looked, smelled, felt, and then tasted like a cherry!
NOT CHERRIES!!!!!
these are wild plums. they are tiny, and very plummy, with a stone that's got a ridge around it's long-side-circumference. 
love facebook where the locals answer my questions!
and the taste--definitely more plummy than cherry.

i was astonished

this is most certainly not wild cherry country. 

and now i have so many questions.

in the day to day news of my small living,

i'm preparing for my fall papermaking class with joy.

i will also travel to Maiwa in early september.

and then

and then

another big thing

in february

CODEX

and i've been accepted.

i'll be there with the rock stars in the book arts world.

don't know how i feel about it all (except those fears)

 familiar ghosts,

but i'm giving it a chance.

if anyone has any advice about it, i would love to hear from you!

golly, CODEX.