We are the words

"We are the words; We are the music; We are the thing itself." -- Virginia Woolf

Writing words has always been in the consciousness of my own creativity. First visualized and then written and then written again but in a different direction and again in a different direction and so on and so on. A word design appears of these words too difficult to speak and too jumbled to be put together to read. Nevertheless they are my words put out of my head and mouth to be added to the universe of words of the soul.

"There is no doubt that in my mind that I have found out how to begin to say something in my own voice." -- Virginia Woolf

Ash Tree

I pray for our Ash tree. It is 50% of our view from the screened porch we adore. And, it is in trouble. It may be infected with the emerald ash bore that eats away the leaves and branches of the Ash tree. I can see that about a third of the tree is dying. Oh, horrors. Come on Ash tree we’re pulling for you! They say that trees can talk and that must mean they can listen so I’m thinking killing thoughts for the emerald ash bore and speaking healing helping words for the lovely Ash tree we loved at first sight.

I'm Here!

Our Cottage by the Lake has a lovely screened porch to inspire contemplation, conversation, poetry, art and laziness. Wonderful bag of tricks! I have yet to write a poem about it but being here urged me to find "practicing to walk LIKE A HERON" by Jack Ridl. Because of this book my appreciation for poetry became part of my soul. This morning I came across one line in one poem that described exactly where we are now:

"We are simply rising and diving within the light."  Jack Ridl

Am I back?

I thought I'd try the blog again. One reason is that I want to connect with the creative flow that arises when writing online. I also want to find the skills I once had and have temporarily lost do to persistent inaction. Now, how do I get started? One thing at a time and right now points to adding images as I choose new topics to write on. I think in images and am almost speechless without access to them on this blog. All my photos are now stored on my iPhone. How do I travel from there to here? I'm going to stop here and figure that out. 

 

Well, I devised an entry level scheme for sending an image from my iPhone to my Dell Computer --- Email image and save to my Desktop. Then add image from my Desktop file to this blog post. And, here it is. 

The lovely scene from the screened porch of our little cottage on the lake at John Knox Village in Lee's Summit, Missouri. Were we ever lucky to get this view! So, perhaps I am back on the blog. It feels good being here ... in the cottage and on the blog!

Knitting for Health

A total knee replacement requires time to heal. There isn't much I can do except plenty of Physical Therapy exercises plus the things I really enjoy doing (like reading e-books on my Kindle, controlling my email and knitting up a storm). I ordered some orange-red cashmere/mohair yarn and set about planning what to make from this softly delicious resource. After going through my stash of patterns and perusing hundreds of online possibilities I settled on a simple cowl. I've never made one or wore one and never needed one until the thought of a cashmere/mohair cowl warming my neck on walks around the house convinced me to knit one. Honestly, this yarn was as wonderful to work with as it was to look at. I quickly finished knitting my cowl and put it on for the first time on Tuesday. Excellent, excellent choice for a knitter in recovery. I highly recommend a small project like this as the cool spring temperatures turn quickly warm.

Eclipse 2017

It was dusk from the bottom up 

the landscape
iridescent over
dark hues of normal.

Everything stopped breathing
or breathing just enough
all that was.

Sound was gone
the song of the goldfinch
the chirp of the cicada
the neighbor cutting wood.

The garden
jewels on a queens robe
lit up visibly by the
brilliance of a diamond ring.

At night
in the middle of day
on the prairie within
the eye of God.

Equinox: Fall

The first days of fall feel like breaths of fresh air with cool splashes of morning swirled within. The thermostat set at 55° fires up the heat throughout our cottage of a house and later as the afternoon sun tops 80° air conditioned coolness circles the rooms within – this surely is equinox – a startling play between warm and cool – between noon and long shadows across late afternoon lawns kissing the chrysanthemums into evening.

2017 ARTS Unity Gallery Show

The ARTS group at Unity Temple on the Plaza displayed their 2017 work in exhibition during the month of August. All ten participating artists showed their work and the overall collection of was fantastic!

Equinox: Spring

Equinox balance –
a midpoint between
winter and summer
dark and light
cold and warm. The
color green.
Inconsistent personality
moves through
stable and storm
peace and upheaval.
Middle comes – wherein
lies placid and thunder –
silence and howling –
chirping and gray –
explosive color
between joy and
perilous journey.  
Change between the
frozen of stop and the
agitation of go –
between dependence of
known and independence of
flow. Dance into
the spring of life with
armloads of daffodils.
Wake in the morning
with rain clouds of
drizzle. Everything equal,
everything the same in a
12 x 2 twenty four hour day. 
Equinox: the church door
we walk through – the faith
we hang onto --
the string of a balloon
aching for release into
the newness of radiant
skies in March.

Poem: Summer Solstice

Summer Solstice

Words fall from the sky
again     only summer is here and
the sun sets stunningly at orange-
red     the mountains vanish in
violet gray light and bring a
sense of stability to the horizon
on the night of solstice frivolity
in celebration of the longest day
full of sun and song     we sit on the
same porch we looked out upon six
long months ago     then holiday
lights streamed through the trees in
neighborhood yards     tonight candles
flicker on glass topped tables and
the drinks are cold     as we watch
the setting of the blazing sun.

At Long Last

It has been about six months since my back surgery and during that time my creative muse didn't come to visit. I have tried to write a poem or design a WordLayers print but, sadly, results were non-existent -- until Wednesday! On Wednesday, I came upstairs with the clear intention of making art and wanting to use pink and red art markers to make a design similar to the one I did last year titled  "Winter Solstice." Rather than the blues used to make the winter scene the pinks were calling to me and urging me to rummage through and find all shades of pink and red pens squirreled away among the jars along the art table in my studio. I had a pad of fine marking pen paper to use for "serious" artwork . . . so it went on the table, a blank page facing up. Finally, I selected one pen and swirled it around on the paper and then another and another, etc. The look of the colors nearly matched the intention and then, it was finished and ready to be scanned into the computer for design on the screen where I played with the various layers of color by cutting and pasting, cropping and moving layer by layer on the same screen until all the pieces fell into place. Then came the text; a poem was needed. The next day I wrote a poem and began to fit text onto the various color layers. It took a couple of days before Summer Solstice was complete and ready to take to the art printer across town where it sits today. I can hardly wait to see it on canvas and then to the framer. Soon there will be a new WordLayers hanging in my studio . . . a sign of post surgery success and gratitude.

A cut of the original

Knitting 365 Days

Last year, on my birthday, I started a project of knitting the high temperature for each day of 2016. I followed the color wheel by designating a specific color of yarn for every ten degrees. For example: 60 - 69 degrees is Yellow; 70 - 79 is Orange; 80 - 89 is Pink and so on. The finished piece is approximately 10" wide by 10' long and could be a wall hanging or an interesting scarf for myself that clearly demonstrates the four seasons in Kansas City. It also signifies 365 days of knitting through my life experiences. Being one who keeps a daily journal, I now have a record color as well as of activity. I wanted to begin another year for comparison of seasonal temperatures but have since decided on knitting another temperature project in five years in order to visually compare the weather patterns five years apart. I have named this project, "My Seventieth Year."

Leonard Cohen

                                                                      1933 - 2016

After the Election: When times are uncertain

When times are uncertain, difficult, fearful, full of change,
they become the perfect place to deepen the practice of awakening.

After viewing the elections…whatever your point of view,
Take time to quiet the mind and tend to the heart.
Then go out and look at the sky.

Remember vastness, there are seasons to all things,
gain and loss, praise and blame, expansion and contraction.
Learn from the trees.
Practice equanimity and steadiness.

Remember the timeless Dharma amidst it all.
Think of the best of human goodness.
Let yourself become a beacon of integrity, with your thoughts, words and deeds.
Integrity in speech and action, virtue and non harming bring blessings.

Remember the Noble truths, no matter the politics or the season:
Greed, hatred and ignorance cause suffering. Let them go.
Love, generosity and wisdom bring the end of suffering. Foster them.

Remember the Buddha’s counsel,
“Hatred never ends by hatred but by love alone is healed.
This is the ancient and eternal law.”

The human heart has freedom in itself to choose love, dignity and respect.
In every circumstance, embody respect and cultivate compassion for all.

Let yourself become a beacon of Dharma.
Amidst the changes, shine with courage and trust.

This is your world. Plant seeds of goodness
and water them everywhere.

Then blessings will grow for yourself and for all.

Jack Kornfield   http://www.lionsroar.com/practicing-the-dharma-in-uncertain-times/?utm_content=buffer7f809&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer  

Baseball Victories and Life Stories

Image from Chicago Tribune

The Cubs won the World Series! -- the first World Series win for them since 1908 -- 10th inning win after rain delay -- persistence! From the NY Times: "Game 7, which began on Wednesday night, carried into Thursday morning and seemed to end all to soon." Ben Zobrist, a KC Royal last year when the Royals won the World Series, was the 2016 Series MVP. "The Cubs did not so much beat the Indians as survive them." I guess this is a goal to set for myself -- to start talking surviving this back surgery. The latest x-ray showed that at least one screw they put in to stabilize my spine is loose because my bone growth is not functioning up to snuff. So, yesterday I was fitted with a belt that has a band of copper wires that are battery charged. This bone growth stimulator has been proven, in many cases, to actually upstart bone growth. I was not happy to receive the news of slow growth but I must now be highly grateful for the existence of such solutions as my bone growth stimulator.