transitioning, on the edge again

a time of mists and webs

strung across 

tapestry meadows

goldenrod, curly dock, aster

fleabane, jewelweed, lady's bedstraw

generous milkweed and joe pye weed

in the wet spots

autumn's crooked finger

beckons,

inevitable.

 we're almost done making the transition

from this old blogger site

to the new square space place

only, 

i still haven't figured it all out.

so, once over there,

i will send a link

and a little video surprise,

a thank you for your patience

with this old papermaker.

 

stash/edges

all winter i have been ecoprinting.

on flax, 

milkweed,

hosta,

abaca,

 arches text wove, 

and on lokta

PAPERS

and

on shifu, textiles, and threads.

i've bound up a few books

and have the covers ready for an edition of 

HORTUS SICCUS

my

dry garden.

i hope that while i travel out to colorado

for the terraphilia residency

to bring along my hortus siccus,

to explore what is a very dry garden, indeed.

i leave a week from today.

~~~

last night i visited the county jail

and a young man i know

and have new thoughts about how

we treat

those on the edges.

i wonder about edges, how rich they are

until you slip over

and get lost.
~~~
after terraphilia,
i will drive north to estes park
to visit my heart school
eagle rock school and professional development center
and teach a little workshop.
ian and hannah graduated from ers.
it's a place
for teenagers to get found,
not lost.
~~~

the last of the eucalyptus

edges

edges are my place. 

i breathe like i belong here.

i remember my selfself

here in the edge.

i grow quieter 

i grow complete.

i begin to see how it is to be

a human being. 

this muddled woman, 

of mixed up organization

of strong heart

of heat

light

and, let's face it,

longing and ardor.

yesterday was may day.

now

it's spring.

edges/ecotones

driving home from work i am always getting over the day. 

i often have a headache. 

it's a 28 mile trip. 

i realize that i drive, gladly, rejoicing, into an ecotone. 

every day. 

and i live here, in an ecotone. 

and i am an edge person. 

edges. 

ecotones.

john green first taught me about edges. i audited his class in natural history, 

and i remember him talking about the richness where two places meet. 

edges he said with delight.

coyotes and foxes travel edges, birds flourish, feed, and nest there, insects trill, 

and a huge variety of flora. 

in the edge. the ecotone.

terry tempest williams taught me the term ecotone. 

the "proper" word for john's edges. 

both are amazing naturalists. 

i think i am destined for edges. 

my place is on the edge of the adirondack forest preserve and the st. lawrence river valley. 

an ecotone. 

it's hilly and farmy, a mixture of wetland, rocky soil, 

beaver altered landscape, woods and meadow. 

it's beautiful. 

tonight i saw snow, wild cloudshines, and a late sunset with a light show.

and i heard my favorite of all spring birds. 

a woodcock. 

preent.....preent.....preent 

welcome home.

oh, and woodcock? 

they spend their days in the edges,

do their mating dance in the twilight

first in the meadow, 

then circling flight,

then back in the meadow.