6-29-2022 A Commute (UPDATED)

She sets out

Mrs Robinson flows through the airways

Stars and Stripes

Flag fans adorn a white picket fence

Tall flagpole nearby

Stars and Stripes, hanging limply in the morning heat

Sheriff rolls along behind her

Early morning sun, slashing a path from sidewalk to road

A couple sits on the curb, feet in the street

 sharing breakfast

their cart nearby

 Two separate freeway overpasses, police duos, trios - lights flashing

curbside, near the unhoused homes

A cart, stuff inside

On the sidewalk, a dark lump of a shape

Is that a person?

A body?

She'll never know

Woman near bus stop

Blue surgical mask, earbuds and a smart phone

held flat on the palm of her hand

Attire for 2022

Woman facing 8 foot solid hedge

talking

To who?

Someone on the other side?

Herself?

Folks in shorts & hats, jogging, walking dogs, wearing earbuds to tune out the world

Others in filth, rags, carts abundant with stuffed white plastic grocery bags

Others with their cart near empty, a wooden pallet and a few small items

An elder, white-haired man carries a garden hoe as he moves down the sidewalk, 

past the freeway offramp.

A younger man, wearing well-worn pants: one leg above the knee, one to the ankle

He waves a window squeegee, talking to no one seen

Yet another man, clothes ragged, outside of a liquor store, attacking sidewalk cracks with the claw end of a hammer

~~~

And the man...the man who lives in his truck, curbside to the golf course.

An incredibly tall chainlink fence separates him from them

A big tarp covers the huge amount of stuff in the bed of the truck, a giant lump

Cab of truck stuffed completely full, sometimes just enough room for him

Other days no room at all

The well worn asphalt under his truck, stuffed with more stuff

stuff

chain link

And the man, who squats on this slice of an intersection island, major freeways nearby

He and his small dog, who has a blanket to protect him from the heat & a water bowl...and their umbrella...

Most days, they are here or walking to or away from here

Man with a troubling expression of such deep sadness, my heart breaks again and again every time

Red light, cars come up fast in her rearview

She sits stopped, no place to go

Front unit of a four-plex

Front window panes, a Scrabble-like letter in each square

A B O R T I O N

She must drive on before reading the lines below

So, she wonders: whose side are they on

 

She wonders where she belongs

Certainly, it is not here

The news is overwhelming...

(replace 'news' with heat, thoughts, concerns...everything)

May you, may I find ways to live with that

xo

Photographs by NAE ©2022

Timeline - Word Cloth 2015-2022

 

As I said recently, I went back in time on this blog looking for, finding, reading the stories as they relate to the Word Cloth. I found many, but some a bit less detailed then what I thought was there. At any rate, I decided to put all of that in one post, so I don't have to go off searching again. I've no huge need to organize this blog, but I did find that the tag Word Cloth couldn't really form a picture in my mind of the process progress of this cloth...the general order in which the words & symbols arrived...and I seemed to want to visualize this.

~~~If this is not of interest to you, I will not be offended if you skip this post~~~

I'm using a 'link' symbol for the paragraph breaks this time, as this will be a link filled post, with links to previous posts and all of the links and connections this cloth has allowed me to make. 

I really enjoyed not only going back to my words, but in rereading the comments of so many of you.                 I was very touched to read your words, remember how long we've all traveled together and take note of those who no longer visit the trail and the conversations here, along with those who have passed on. 

I paused to remember and honor these folks and these times.

7 computer graphic links, for the 7 years I've worked on this cloth!

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I first dyed this cloth diaper, back at the old duplex in 2015. I used pomegranate and rusty stuff to get the color you've seen.  HERE IT IS in its naked glory! (February 12, 2015 "Topanga Hike")  I am still so fascinated by the random patterns made through natural dyeing. You can get patters of a leaf or other items, when you dye with intention, but I rather like the spontaneous shapes that arrive on their own. In writing this, I think that it is like Hazel's watercolors that so captivate...first the shape, then the meaning. I like that.

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The next thing I recall...and found posted, was the first step I took after the dyeing, on February 22, 2015 in "It Started Like This".

IT STARTED WITH A SCAR

My plan had been to tell the story of my half-sister finding me on FB. We'd never spoken before, so I imagined that there would be a story there, feelings there that would need expressing. I thought this dyed, soft cloth diaper would be a perfect holding ground for all of that. This first step (of stitching down the flap edge, which runs the length of the diaper) was merely management for future sewing. But, I quickly discovered even that held meaning when it appeared scar-like to me.. 

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I remember thinking at the time that the stories may be very personal, so they may not even go on the blog. I thought I may want to have a place for new feelings to land. I did begin a heartbeat line (like you see on a monitor in the movies! Haha How dramatic of me!). I used deep blood red (for we are connected by blood) and the center white stitched line of the cloth diaper as a guideline for placement (and to keep me on track and not stitching up or downhill). I had begun to add that heartbeat, for what is more elemental than the heartbeat? 

I'm not sure if I ever posted about the heartbeat, haven't found that yet.

 Anyway, I also quickly discovered that the stories there, in that meeting, were kind, delightful and quite natural...and there was no need to get all stitchy!! I did not feel a pull to express myself through the cloth after all. I was (am) not traumatized. The cloth sat there...forever...with a partial heartbeat.

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When I finally found & picked up this cloth again, as shown in the July 19th of 2020 ("Something Old, Something New") post, it was because of the death of George Floyd, when I'd felt ENOUGH

Enough police killings, enough unnecessary deaths...ENOUGH!!

The word ENOUGH was added in bold capitol letters and the heartbeat was completed...and had flatlined.

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September 3, 2020..."Stitching to Existence"...along came HOPE, or at least the wish for it.

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Once, I'd picked up this cloth again and completed the heartbeat and added the bold ENOUGH, it seems that the now named 'Word Cloth' was to be a companion over many of the tough things to happen during the first two years of the pandemic and the months moving forward.  On July 25,  2020 at the bottom of "Carry On", I added a tribute to honor John Lewis, with the GOOD TROUBLE circle. 

On September 5, 2020, I added the spiral to Good Trouble. You can read about that here on 

MUSIC ~ CLOTH ~ WORDS

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Next and rather quickly, along came the surprising, tragic and truly untimely passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I felt a strong pull to add something to the cloth to honor her. When I heard the quote of hers (below) in all of the hoopla floating around in the news stories, I new that was it...a 9 patch!

Added on the September 18, 2020 post: "Adding Wordless to the Word Cloth".

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More words and posts followed in 2020 and into 2021.

November 14, 2020: RED, which has the cloth as a photo background and talks of the word HOLE.

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Quickly thereafter as seen in this post, a new word arrived on my doorstep... "SAFE" (September 25, 2020). I posted this detailed considerations of what SAFE may be in that moment. I consider that now, all of these months later. Safe? *I also found this word pictured here: JANUARY 6, 2021

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On the Winter Solstice of 2020, December 21, 2020, there were three photos of the cloth...

the mouth - the hole - and SAFE...all in process.

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Later in the month, I posted a close-up of the tally marks in honor of Martin Luther King Day:

January 18, 2021

And again on January 20, 2021 INAGURATION DAY   - and later on the same day...

January 20, 2021 - May There Be Room ...where I show TRUST and TRUTH and feel winds of change.

...once again in January, on the 22nd WORDS AND SYMBOLS...

This one has been the fullest accounting of the cloth, thus far and I have enjoyed looking back at my thoughts  then. On January 26th, I considered what MATTERs

This cloth has surely provided me space to land, to process, to share.

In GIFTS PT 2 of January 30, 2021, I noticed some beautiful purple floss and the statement that a new word was coming on. Whatever it was, I do not recall and there is no bold purple on the cloth, yet.

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In early February 2, 2021, SLOW CHANGE  has the Word Cloth goes out and about, soaking up Nature.

In February 11th post,  DISJOINTED, LISTEN showed up, not in purple, but in orange and in the same placement above the tally marks...so I wonder if that is the word I had thought of? Of course, I will never really know and it doesn't matter one bit, but since I am documenting here, it is something to consider.

Months went by and in August 5, 2021's post "SEED PLANTING" - there is no photo of the Word Cloth, but instead a mere mention and many photos of the old road where I had taken it in the past.

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Again, months went by and I arrive here in the present with these two June 2022 posts and the word HELP.

You can look HERE and HERE.  to see the latest word and the cloth as it sits recently.

I noticed in composing this post and reviewing all of the previous Word Cloth posts, that most of the words came to me during troubled times. I noticed that each word (aside from the John Lewis and RBG tributes) were all words for comfort, contemplation and varied meanings. Just as the arrows on HELP led in both directions, these words have many meanings to each individual and over time. I think that's pretty swell.

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After starting the draft of this post, I thought that I would throw some shades of green and the Word Cloth in the car with me that week and add onto SAFE.  It has been a long time since I've stitched on that word.

And I did do this.

But, that word...SAFE ~ never seems to reach completion, and I ponder that.

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Lastly, for this long post...I realized I had not really photographed the back. This is something I always do, as I so enjoy those map-backs!  So, I did that today. I like how you can still kinda read the words (especially if you know what they say in the first place!) I'm sure there is some deep metaphor for that...

How we communicate...are we transparent in our words, messages? Do we say what we mean? Do we hide behind words or faux meanings? And so on and so on...

May you find the words you want and need

May you communicate with ease

When at a loss for words, may you be able to fill in the blanks

xo

Photographs by NAE ©2022

Old 45's

I still have my old 45 of this song, in one of those three little boxes of music...

frozen, captured for all time.

It was always a favorite of mine, of ours.

The lyrics more profound on this last listen.

Indeed, it is a 'wild world'...

🌎

When we no longer know of each other's day to days

When images fade from memory

Or stick like cement

When stories are no longer told

One remembers

And that matters

🔄

LINK

🌎

Many days there are thoughts, some fleeting, some not

Something missing, something there

There are times for nothing to be done, no action to be taken,

but to listen to the thoughts and view the memories in the mind

It sure is a wild world

🔄

May you find ways to move through, move on...keeping the goodness with you

May you remember how love lives on in unique ways

May your choices hold you in warm embrace

xo

 

Word Cloth

 

The Word Cloth as of today, June 11, 2022

I wanted to write the story of the latest word: HELP, to record it here for me.

As before, this word came to me in the quiet of witnessing another mass shooting. 

The shooting in Buffalo could well have been covered by the words already here...

ENOUGH - SAFE - LISTEN - MATTERs

Then came the shooting in Uvalde, TX and children's unanswered calls for help...

calls to 911 and action not taken.

So the word HELP came to me, small as a whisper in a chid's terrified voice...

in red, blood red for the young girl who used her friend's blood to help her 

play dead

← ↑ → ↓ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙

Arrows were added to symbolize those young voices reaching out

← ↑ → ↓ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙

As I stitched, I thought, sometimes people DO help

I thought of the old Fred Rogers quote about "looking for the helpers" in times of crisis

So, more arrows were added...reaching towards those in need

All of the arrows were stitched with their first stitch connecting right into the word itself

I did some considering of what colors to use?

"People Colors" as I've used in the past? No

Colors that have meanings (as recently researched)? Nah

Nope

None of these thoughts felt right

I finally decided to use random colors from the bags of floss

I gave myself only two criteria to use:

- they must each be a different color and each time I'd only pick between two shades of that color

- they must have a similar feel, so the result would be not be jarring to the eyes

In the end, it reminds me of a child's box of crayons

Fitting

← ↑ → ↓ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙

In completing this word, I thought of the story of each on

I went back through my blog, through the tag Word Cloth and read and read from days gone by

The feedback, interactions and thoughts of many of you were so touching

I started taking notes on those posts to organize a timeline of sorts

dates and post titles and phrases along with the words themselves

- One thing I wrote down was about how I'd written about where the words end up landing and how they speak to each other...this happened here, again as I merely found a little space for HELP, it landed surrounded by 

ENOUGH - SAFE - TRUTH - TRUST

Again, as in the past,  these words held the new word in community

I will put that timeline here soon and I will put it in my little book of lists

This little book holds lists about the CMB project, old vacations, gifts given (so I don't forget and repeat myself), along with other bits of information

There are names, places, tally marks and so on

← ↑ → ↓ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙

May you give and receive the help you need

May the words of the world fill and support you

May ideas, connections and deep values flow for you

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2022

6-9-2022

 

I step out of work

The air has cooled a bit 

I remove the tight ponytail, which I've worn all day 

Tipping my head back, I feel the breeze blow through me

And I see the blue sky, holding a pale moon

The leaves on the large tree flutter gently

I feel peace

As I turn onto the cross street

NPR plays the Hearing

A monotone voice is speaking

As a police helicopter and crow circle above me

I head home

I've added a new word to the Word Cloth

Strange days I keep thinking

~~~~~~~~

May there be justice

May there be safety

May there be peace, for more than just a moment

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2022

June 2022

 

*JUNE - Half way through 2022*

The little grandson is two this month, the big grandson will be 19.5 next month.

So hard to believe. 

In this pic of big grandson, he was little and he really liked the whammy bar on one of J.'s guitars.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It started as a monthly project I've been doing, coupled with my recent Mandala reading...

and the spirals, circles, dots of y'all...along with some ideas about pie charts...about how we live our lives.

I found this site online to make your own PIE CHART

I made this one:

I think I could have put eating at a 5 and sleeping at a 15...but you get the idea. Really the 'commute' is not so large in comparison, but you know what I mean. "View" was my catch all term for television, online, reading...now that I think of it, viewing could be a lot bigger! haha I made this in less than 5 minutes, plus maybe I was doing how it feels, not actual time!! lol 🤣

All in all, it is a simple life.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

I dug through my collage box for things to send off in the mail. I haven't been in that tub of paper goodies for a while now (since back when ACEY was running the collage month) and was surprised at how I'd forgotten what all I had dropped in there. Old cards, letters papers, drawings/paintings, notes...you name it. Some of them I'm still so fond of, that I am not ready to use them. I smiled at that thought of precious.  I smiled at the real leaf in there, perfectly preserved.

This led to paper things stored in my "Baby Book" box. I laughed the the Mother's Day card was made with some collage-work apron, my childlike drawing (which still looks like that today) and my very early drawing of someone in glasses (is that a bellybutton?!)...and my lousy watercolor!! Haha What was the assignment in 3rd period I wonder! And how did this get saved? Who thought it was worth saving?? Also, I can still recall 'pretending' to write like this (bottom photo), especially while at the bank with my mom. I felt so important, as if I was really saying something!

This of course led to the note from my mom, a well remembered piece of family history.

I always chuckle at the fact that she typed it (such a teacher) and the amount of responsibilities for a young gal still in Brownies!

I've probably put all of this here before, but today it is all paper related and the looking at the videos was a great escape for me. The video below and the other links were my old stomping grounds growing up. It's changed a ton around here.  The screenshot is of the drug store and record store, two of my regular stops.

Memory Lane is a nice place to visit, but one can't live there!

*screenshot below is from video above*

Looking forward, there would be the 5&10 store, the toy store the Bee Hive hair solon supplies store and more, located on the right (South) side of the Blvd.

All of those, plus, like I said, the drug store, the Melody Records (a name I've been trying to recall for years), Sears Catalog store, the La Reina movie theater...all of this my childhood stomping grounds. Also in there was Teeter Totter, a children's clothing store and my first real job as a teen.

LINK

More History

Van Nuys Blvd at night

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

So, to round out this paper event, I republished the page above THE SHOE PROJECT

after being reminded of it in the Zone at Jude's. This is a paper project from long ago. I did not reread it, just put it back up. I haven't touched it since way back then, but it did 'make the move' (meaning I still have it).

I wonder where paper will lead me next?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

I'll end with a smile, as I've been aiming to do lately.

First of all, we got to facetime with little grandson today...a real blessing.

And...ya gotta love a grand celebration!

So fun to watch them loving it all (yes, I ignored the zero masks happening!).

LINK

This version below shows Paddington's facial expressions. Priceless! 🙂

LINK

May you think of old things in new ways

May you enjoy current things for just what they are in the moment

May you move towards new things too

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2022

50 Years Ago

 

On the way home...this 4 minute listen

What an interesting story about a book I've read hundreds of times!

It wasn't easy to pick a read aloud where the reader didn't over-act.

Oh well, this is fine.

Anyway, yes, this is me self-caring my way through a Wednesday with more shootings.

sigh

Anyway, if you not yet been to Mo's Place today, 

head on over to see her gorgeous new mountains!

Makes me agree with Alexander here...I'm moving to Australia!!

On another book note, I listened to this story too. There are sure a lot of titles here to explore!

I looked through some and looked at the states where I know folks 🙂

Books of our 50 states

Lastly, while looking for this first story, I discovered this one too:

HOME ECONOMICS

I'm far too tired and distracted to go into my Jr. High Home Economics today, 

but suffice to say, I was no A student.

May you use a variety of ways to get through.

May they work for you

xo