Considering Control and Vision

Upon arriving home tonight,

I was greeted with a beautiful moon at the end of the driveway, 

sitting above the homes.

And then there was the thought of how I'd wanted to capture my neighbors orange tree, 

just before total dark.

So, I grabbed my camera and tried to photograph what my eyes see.

Fail.

Flash off.  Flash on.

Fail.

The moon photo is bright and blurry.

You can't see the dusk of it at all.

Just fuzzy.

The orange tree did not fair any better.

The (ugly) slump stone wall turned out bright!

This is not how it looks to me as I view it from my shower window each night.

There was no deep blue dusky feel to it, at all.

Back when I first moved in the 'wall' was a chain-link fence with bamboo covering it.

Honeysuckle (a favorite) vines tumbled over the top, bathing me in their sweet fragrance.

I called it my "Gilligan's Island Shower" back then.

Now I'm greeted with the sweet smell of orange blossoms and hanging fruit instead.

None of this shows.

It remains in my imagination only.

But, firmly so.

You look....

3-30-2018 ~ Moon

3-30-2018 ~ Orange Tree

In the end, I landed on the idea that sometimes you just don't have the control 

you would like to have to communicate the things you want to share.

Which led to, sometimes things don't need to be shared.

They can be held in your heart, just for you.

Which led to, sometimes you can just quietly be in the moment,

especially in our fast-paced, overly documented world.

Which, I of course documented.

Such is life. 

May you share what you like, hold some secrets in your heart

and embrace satisfaction, even if it doesn't all go as you

envision it will.

xo

Photos by NAE ©2018

Journey On

It's Christmas Night here.  It's not a holiday I really celebrate, anymore.  When I was married...when my children were young...when my parents were here...

things were celebrated differently back then.

Currently, a movie and Chinese food worked just fine for the two of us.

I've had these photos to share since September.

That was the month I was so sick and so I never got to them.

I thought about just letting them go, as they are really only important to me.

Do I need to post all of these personal stories?

I don't know.

But, I thought since I am now into the end of the year reflection, as I'm prone to do...

well, I thought they'd be a good representation of my feelings as I close out the year of 2013.

They are a good metaphor for letting go or for saying good-bye 

or for life's losses...and gains.

They symbolize memories and gratitude and community and giving.

And they speak of stuff.  Material possessions.

This childhood Thumbelina doll joined a few other favorite items 

and journeyed off to a new home this year.

I loved her as only a young child can.

Now she has a new lifetime of adventures waiting for her in the arms 

of a precious two year old.

I have spent a lot of time letting go of personal belongings this year.

Things that had no meaning to me, no ties to my heartstrings were sold or donated.

But the most special items were gifted to dear ones.

Thumbelina wears her jamies from the 1960's and the sweet scent of my cedar chest that she has resided in for years.

She climbed into a box with the beautiful white quilt I've shared with you all before, a couple of favorite books, another doll and
beloved corduroy overalls that my daughter once wore.

Sent with love to a sweet mama, whom I've known since she was 7 years old.

With a photo session, hugs and a kiss she was sent on her way.

I lost loved ones this year.  A couple of favorite elders.

I celebrated them and honored them.
I miss them.

I bore witness to others' losses, which through my empathetic heart...

touched me deeply.

I embraced life, both the losses and the gains.

I welcomed new lives.

Rejoiced in them and look forward to more new arrivals!

And I worked to keep my focus in the here and now.

In the present.

Enjoying those I am with...when I am with them.
Celebrating them.  Honoring them.
Embracing them.

This guy also moved out.

Piglet who joined me in approximately 1977 found a new home 

with some other Disney buddies.

He also took his sweet cedar smell and journeyed on.

With a last hug and a pose for the camera, 

Piglet will now reside where many more can appreciate him.

In the sense of material possessions,

it feels very good to have all of these items find new homes 

where they can be loved, appreciated, shared and get a new lease on life.

At least that is the spirit in which they were given.

Now I look forward to a new year.
New plans.
New ideas.
New intentions.

In this last week of the year, I'll be taking time to reflect and cherish.
I'll be joining you all as we embrace just going into 2014.
 ~With Love, Nancy

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2013

Letting Go

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2012

For days now...maybe even longer, I've been thinking of letting go.

This often happens for me at this time of year.  I'm confident I am not alone in this type of reflection during the New Year season.

Some of that letting go is a reflection on 'stuff' as I have mentioned in the past.  Some of that letting go is of feelings, attitudes or memories that no longer work for me.

Even though it can be hard sometimes, stuff is a lot easier to let go of!

I was reading over at Roz's blogplace tonight.  Her beautiful post inspired me to put something down here to depict what I am feeling, thinking, and doing.

The picture above represents that to me.  It is both 'stuff' and feelings.  I have taken action to let it go.  I have listed these vintage late 1960's wall art for sale on a local FaceBook page.  

I will welcome the few dollars it will bring in, but more importantly, 

I will embrace its absence.

These two wall plaques were sent to me by someone who should have been important to me, but never really earned that place.  I was a child, maybe 10 or 11 years old.  Now when I look at them, I think that this was an odd gift for a child.  My sister received the 'cool' ones with designs of peace or love or something.  I wanted the cool ones...I was old enough - I understood those symbols.  These made no sense to me.  They confused and unsettled me.  But this person didn't really know me, so this is what I got.  They hung in my childhood bedroom because they were mine.  They were the set that this sister got.  So I hung them.  For years.

However, I never liked them.  But I kept them.

I kept them because there was so little connection with this person who should have been important.  I kept them because I thought the few 'things' sent to me showed how this person cared.  I'm not so sure about that anymore.  I'm not sure how or how much that person cared.  It's unimportant now.  It's time to let it go.

Maybe not all of it, all at once.

But, I'm starting with this.

Finding these in a tub in the storage shed confirmed just how ridiculous some of our habits and hanging-on's can be.

Now...what else no longer serves me?

Remembering Place

So, I've had this thing lately.  It's this spontaneous remembering thing.  Not like I've forgotten something and now can recall it.  It's more of a 'favorites' thing.  I all of a sudden, spontaneously remember a place that I have traveled to, a person. an activity.  Mostly though it is my old journeys I remember, out of the blue.
This is all OK with me, even if I am bothered by the why of it.  Why would some old experience with place jump into my mind?  Why some places and not others?  What is the point and meaning of this kind of remembering?

Like I said though, I don't really mind.  It's like getting to visit these places again and again.  It's like a happy little surprise when all of the sudden my mind's eye shows me the section of highway 395 between Bridgeport and Walker, California.  The specific spots I've visited so many times over the years.  That spot in the road, on the right, just perfect for pulling over, the quick crunch of tires on roadside gravel.  The mountains rising up, sharp on the left side of the road and the Walker river on the right.  The smell of the cool air filled with pinons, sage brush, wild flowers and mountain water.  A place to let a dog out for a minute, stretch your legs and chuck a few rocks in the water below.  A place for photographs and laughter.  Each time noticing the difference in the water level or if parts are frozen over.  Through old and new relationships and configurations of travelers, this spot remains in my heart.
Or, backtracking a little, there is the moment in the road leaving Bridgeport where the tall white house on the left stands, just as it has for over a century, alone, surrounded by cottonwood trees.  Two stories of strength and stories, it's back to the ranch land it owns, cows meandering in the pasture.  The split rail fences along here barely stand after so many years, but continue to do their job of persuading the cattle to remain on the alfalfa and off the asphalt.  This area is snowbound come winter, but in my mind it is always the green of spring.  So much promise is held here that it is no wonder the early settlers set up their home that would last for generations.  This house and land held the dreams of a young me, back in the day when I thought I'd raise my family on a big piece of land like this.


Then there is the hike in Joshua Tree National Park.  The one we thought was going to be short, due to misreading the trail head map.  The one that ended up being a quick, steep rise in elevation and then a twisting decent into a long winding roller coaster of a trail ending at an oasis.  Having never been to an 'oasis', we push on.  Every step in the carved out rock stairs filled with pain.  Every step in the dry earth a dust cloud kicked up by leaden feet.  Yet, every yard a victory over self.  And every mile holding another wonder, be it creature, flora, rock or view.  Over and over this hike visits me.  Beckons me.  I'm hoping that I am in better shape now than then.  I hope to be in even better shape the day I take on the desert trail once more.  Until then I relish these memories.  I hold them gently in my heart as the fragile treasure they are.

Heading back down, I've conquered the mountain!

There are other places in Joshua Tree that I hold dear.  Other places that return to me in odd moments, just as there are other places in the United States, other people I have known, things I have done that make up this life thus far.  All of them bits in my mosaic, threads in my tapestry, adding meaning to my ordinary life.  I value them all.

*Note: I am still having photograph/computer issues.  Until they are resolved, I will use old photos, more words and other creative solutions to post here.  Thank you for bearing with me.

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2011

One Year Later

One year ago today my first post here at pomegranate trail went up 

and I joined the vast blogging community!

Here I am, one year later!  I have enjoyed telling my stories,

sharing photos & findings and exploring things ~ learning & discovering by reading the comments and posts of new friends here online.

I would like to thank everyone who has come on over to read my posts.

An extra thanks to those of you who have chosen to comment and
join in on the conversation.

An extra special thanks to those of you who have made the whole year (or most of it) a part of your life.  I feel very lucky to be surrounded by such talented and diverse women!

Spent Mushrooms Out Back

I'm not sure how I will continue on, exactly.  I'm reflecting a little on if I will continue on this particular journey, if I will change it up a bit or continue in the rhythm that has grown over the last 12 months.

Fondly know as "The Girls"

After a long period of planning to blog,
I finally began last spring with the goal of continuing for One Year.
Now I have met that goal and can mark it off my long list of ideas.
That feels good.  To have set a goal and met it.

Also fondly known as "The Girls"!  On the Mama Rose that is!

At any rate...to celebrate this One Year Anniversary,
I'm following with the great tradition of a blog give away!
All you have to do is leave a comment to enter for a chance.
The winner will then get a little goodie will be mailed off to them!
This feels like a great way to give back to the
warm and wonderful blogging community.
Because for me, as I've discovered over the year,
a lot of this is about the conversation.
Comments will be open for the rest of the week to help account
for time zones and busy schedules.

Sneak Peek!!!

Next weekend, I'll draw a name and announce the winner!
So, good luck fabulous readers!
Thank you for the last year!
~Nancy


Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2012

Out My Window & Updates

I look past the pipes & cinder block!

Looking out is sometimes looking in...

Cleaning out is sometimes looking in too. 

Choosing which magazines to purge.

There are many.

Deciding how to best choose fabrics to stay...or go.

There is a lot.

Enjoying the process.

Enjoying the view, both in & out.

Introducing...Goldie Girl!  You should see when the sunlight shines through her wings!  Look at her eye!

The moon, she has her face!  Two rocks at the bottom.

In case you missed it in the top photo, this is the Mama Rose...doing Great!!!

UPDATE:

So, the invite it still extended.  If you'd like a little gift...

Ya know what they say, "One man's trash is another man's treasure!"

I'm afraid I need to keep it to US addresses only, as the shipping is so costly.

 Take care everyone and have a great weekend!

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2012

Crazy Growth ~ Announcement!

Growth Swirls

 OK, so here is the announcement:

It seems I'm in a forever stage of cleaning out. 

But, it's working.  A lot of physical items found new homes in March and it feels really good.  I've been deciding on an April plan here it is the 8th already!  But, what I've decided for this month is to work on a couple of larger tasks, which I have been doing this first week.  Here is one of them:

There are things in my studio I just no longer need.  Nothing wrong with them and they will be quite useful to someone else, I'm sure.

I am ready to let go of some fabric and art magazines.

So, I'm offering them to others.  If you're interested, let me know and we can work out the specifics.

Magazines:

• doll making
• mixed media
• quilting (some with patterns) 
• studio inspirations

 Fabric:   

• Mostly quilter's cottons, lots of different prints.

 I've yet to completely go through it all, but I've begun to set things aside.  
Sometimes growth happens in swirls, not in one organized ring after another.  What was once interesting and inspiring moves on to mere memory.  Tastes change, focuses change, plans change.  What was once in your mind to do becomes a layer in the process and then shows up in another way.  Make sense?
Anyway, I just want to put the word out...I'll update as needed. 


Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2012

3 Mysteries - Update

UPDATE TO THIS POST: 3 Mysteries

 Here is the moon and the red spot again.  I cropped the photo to make it a bit bigger.  When I went out to see the moon that night I did not see the red spot until I began to take a photo.  As soon as I partially compressed the button, the spot showed up.  I was able to capture it in the first few pictures only.  After that I could see it when I compressed the button...then click...it was gone.  I thought it was probably a planet or star or ?  The really odd thing (besides the disappearing and reappearing part) was this red spot also moved around.  In the photos it showed up on each side and on  the bottom of the moon, all within moments.  I didn't move and I didn't zoom in (until later in the computer).  

The spot did a little dance around the moon!

Mmmm...wonder what that was all about?!

This is the surprise in the mail.  A big surprise!   A very dear friend braided this rug for me.  

I love it!   If you look very closely, the fabric in the middle, the white one...is what holds my favorite part of the story.  Years ago we went to a quilt show with another friend.  There we saw fabric panels printed with sayings and quotes about friendship.  The idea was hatched to get this panel (or maybe it was 3 of them) and cut it apart, sharing the different sayings & quotes amongst ourselves.  If I remember correctly we each ended up with different quotes.  The plan was to do a round robin type friendship quilt, each of us ending up with some blocks that we did and some that our friends did.  It was a charming idea.

It never happened.  

This should be no surprise to all of my quilting readers!  

The best laid plans...

Anyway, years later my friend and I decided that it pretty much wasn't going to happen...the whole quilt idea.  So I tossed out the idea of her braiding the panels, belonging to her & me, into a rug instead.

You see, my friend makes beautiful braided rugs and I knew how I'd love a piece of her art.  It would remind me of not only our friendship, but our shared time in a preschool classroom where she helped four and five year olds make a braided plant mat (about 15 inches across).

Of course, I no longer remember what the sayings and quotes were, but it's not important.  

What is important is our friendship has lasted so long and only grows deeper over the years.  

I love the words woven in and out, showing and hiding, visible and invisible.  To me it speaks to the complexity and depth our relationship has become.  I like that.  I love my friend!

And now the full moon in the trees...

They are a part of some of my latest cloth work.  It's a little something I call a "Memory Keeper".  This latest one was made for my niece and her fiance (for their wedding).

But, let's go back even further to the conception of this idea.  In 2010, when my ex passed away, I spontaneously got the idea to make each of my kids and my brother/sister-in-law an envelope to keep special pictures or other mementos.  It was very last minute, as I had less than two weeks to make the three of them.  Here are some of the finer points:

• They were made of 3 layers, using 'warm & natural' as the batting.  The first one I tried slipping a piece of cardboard in between the layers to stiffen it up, but I didn't much like that.  For the other two, I stuck with just the batting.
• I've learned to use light colored fabric for the inside, it makes it easier to see inside!
• The outside was pieced by machine, using fabrics that represented either my ex or the things he shared with the  recipient of the Memory Keeper.  It was a meaningful time choosing fabrics and reflecting on my loved ones.
• One side had an old Levi jeans pocket, the other had a clear vinyl pocket where I slipped a photo.
• I added washer and string closures.
• The last step is always to sign my initials and the year made!

It was so healing to work on these...and to give them.

This last time around, I had more time to plan and to work on them.

I decided no on the cardboard inserts, but I kept the warm & natural batting to give some body and strength.  I didn't add the jean pocket for this couple, but I did add a clear vinyl pocket for the wedding invitation.  I like that things can be changed in the pocket.

I still pieced it by machine (just to make sure it got done in time!), but I also added a lot of hand stitching.  Besides wanting to add some of my hand work to the gift, I hoped it would help make it sturdier.  This was a good route to take.

A couple of the special features for the happy couple are:

• I used woodsy themed fabrics to celebrate their Yosemite engagement and Lake Tahoe wedding.  But, I also used the black & white celebratory dancing fabric, because after all this was for their wedding!!!
• I have quite a few 'woodsy' fabrics, so I was able to use a nice variety!
• My guy made the wood buttons for the closures.

This is the other side with their wedding invitation in the clear pocket.  I covered their personal information, but I wanted you to be able to see the tree in the corner & the style in which it was done.

I'm very pleased with these 'Memory Keepers'.  

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2012

Celebrate!

In celebration of the one & only me!

5 things I bet you never knew about me:

1. I am in a photograph in a Beach Boys concert booklet.
2. I adore the book "The Egg and I" by Betty MacDonald.
3. As a young dreamy, romantic teen, I bought many heather plants because of the movie version of Wuthering Heights.  They all died a quick death in the SoCal heat.
4. When jumping rope, I never seem to get past 3 jumps.  Ever.
5. I do not like eggs and haven't eaten one since 1980, but I've loved sunflower seeds since I was a kid.

Today is my birthday.  Almost and April's Fool baby!

My mom was great at making me feel important and special everyday, but especially on my birthday.  I was celebrated!  Every year she told me my birth story and I grew to look forward to these moments.  I grew to love, to treasure them.

In a nutshell, I was born in New York city and when she went into the hospital everything was bleak and gray...but low & behold when she came out a week later...everything was blooming and bright...and she had her brand new spring baby girl!

That's a darn good birth story, if you ask me!

So, what makes you your unique self?  What can we celebrate about You?

If you'd like to play along, leave a comment telling of 5 things about you and we'll be sure to celebrate them!  Or share your birth story, if you'd like!


Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2012

Many Lights

A bit of full moon light.  It comes up across the street and moves over my house during the night.  I like that.  It was actually a very clear night here, but zooming in as much as possible added a bit of blur to the scene.  I like that too.  A bit dreamy.  Boy that's a pretty sight/site right outside my door.

Sometimes man-made light shines just as brightly.  These lights belong to a friend.  It's like the stars have fallen to the ground, lining her pathway, making it easier to find your way.
Sometimes we need help while trying to find our way.  Lightness and friends are good for that.

Yet, sometimes we carry that light within ourselves and are not aware of it.
I sat with the moon last night and stitched a moon to my old green wool baby blanket.  It was a bit challenging to do as it was an old sweatshirt fabric I was working with.  This moon comes with her own story.
Many years ago I was working in a school-aged evening program.  It was a childcare center that had late hours for parents attending the community college.  One of the art experiences offered to the children I had never seen.  It consisted of taking and old t-shirt and placing a section over the open end of a cup (they used Styrofoam), placing a rubber-band around it - making it very tight.  Then you drew a design on that part of the shirt, in that circle, using a permanent (Sharpie type) marker.  After your design was drawn, you used an eye-dropper to drop 7 (maybe it was 12, it was a long time ago!!!) drops of alcohol onto the marker ink.  This caused the ink to spread a bit and soak into the shirt.  Let it dry and TA-DA you have a cool shirt!  The kids loved this project and wanted to do it forever, moving the cups and rubber bands around on their t-shirts.  They seemed to really like counting out the exact number of drops.  I decided to try along with the kids and made faces among other designs.
I liked the way some of the faces came out and have hung on to that old sweatshirt all of these years.
In my "Remove Something March" plan (I am removing at least one thing from my house every day in March.  Trash, donate, recycle etc.), I decided it would be a good time to use 'em or loose 'em.   I cut off the faces and tossed the rest of the sweatshirt, which was really not usable.

So I sat with the moon last night and did some stitching and thinking.  This sweatshirt is old and a bit hard to sew through.  I could hear Jude's  voice in my head saying if a fabric was not easy to sew through, it wasn't worth it.  While I do regularly agree with her on that, this fabric holds a lot of memories for me.  Memories of place, time, people...an era in my life.  So, even though I got some sore fingers sewing the moon on, it was worth it.  It has not only given me a place to keep this moon (and possibly the others), but it has given me more of a feel for the direction of this blanket project.  I've been thinking of totems and rocks and words and my children and many children and trees and wood screen doors.  This may be a good gathering place for all of those things.  But, I'm taking it slow and just looking at this face for right now.

Picture Books: The Sun's Asleep Behind the Hill
-A favorite bedtime book about the sun going to sleep and the moon coming up.
                         Nightdances
-Another favorite bedtime book in our house.  A wonderful tale of a family tip-toeing out to dance by the light of the moon.  It looks like it is out of print now, so keep your eye open for this one!
                         Goodnight Moon
-This one practically goes without saying, but I couldn't help myself!  A favorite for generations of children.  My sister has our original copy and I have the copy my mom gave me when I was 13, so we could each have one!  Because, as I told my neighbor when giving her new grand-daughter, "Every child should have their own copy of Goodnight Moon!"

It seems as if I should do longer, more in depth explanations...but for today I hope you are inspired to seek out these treasures!  These are the related moon books that popped into my head while writing this post.


Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2012

KONY 2012

                                         If you haven't seen this yet, you may be interested.  I haven't had time to do very deep research, so if you learn something related, please share.

Faith

        
3/4. David Whyte: Jerry Wennstrom - Companionship with the Disappearing Light


Some time back I came across a Face Book page (Notice Quiet Nature) - (no longer remember how) and followed the link to their home page.   Their Face Book page is interesting, as they post a variety of subjects.  So, if you're so inclined, check them out there!
Anyway, recently they posted  a You Tube clip of David Whyte reciting a poem (The Opening of Eyes).  Once I listened to that one, I was compelled to listen to many of his other You Tube videos.  In fact, I had a hard time choosing which one to post here, for each one spoke to me in some way.  Even if it was only one line or a particular word choice, there was some sort of connection.  Besides that, I love a good accent!  You can explore his videos in the right sidebar of this one over at You Tube and find his website here.  I had a lovely night of listening and stitching (I'll have to share that later!)

Almost full...February 5, 2012

Here is the moon at my place.  I love how those clouds hold it in a quiet embrace, forming a tunnel-like vision.  Isn't it inviting?  Like a light at the end of the tunnel.  That can provide hope for those in need of some!

Video link if you cannot see it above: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSLnCl2i3m4&feature=related

  Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2012

UPDATE:

Thanks to Deanna's observant eye, I'm happy to share Dee's

link to her related post!  

Some Days

Some days just feel like this.

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2012

Romeo and Juliet ♥ 1968 and Velvet

                                      Do you ever have one of those moments where you suddenly have an idea pop fully formed into your head?  Of course you do, we all do, don't we?!  I think the technical name is an "AH-HA Moment"!  Today while reading two comments at favorite blogs, I had that happen.  I think the comments merged in my brain.  Over at Deb's bee creative both Deb and Jude mention the 'velvet' she is stitching on.  Then quickly after, I read the comment over at Jude's 9 hearts where Eva mentions love and Romeo & Juliet.
Suddenly...BAM...my brain realizes that in my mind those two are forever entwined.  This movie (posted above) and deep rich fabrics (velvet really).
I have recently, over the past year, been drawn more and more to velvet.  It is not a fabric I've ever bought, nor sewn with.  But lately, I really want to!  I now have a little piece (thanks Denna!) to add into current work.  I've dyed it a beautiful color, so I'm excited about that.  See if you can watch this trailer without an eye on all of the gorgeous fabrics!

None of this is really all that important in the 'grand scheme of things' (as my mother would say).  It just was a rather odd thing to realize, out of the middle of nowhere, that...Romeo & Juliet = Velvet.
This is one of my favorite movies of all time.  I was in the 5th or 6th grade and I walked to the theater with my best friend, meeting along the way one of the boys everyone 'liked'.  He was your typical cute, popular bad boy!!  So he went with us, but would not actually sit with us (girls, you know).  Instead he sat several seats and a row away.  As we were falling in Love (draw a big heart around that word) with Leonard Whiting and wishing to be Olivia Hussey, he was snickering.  We fell in love with love that day.  The kind of love that lasts forever and really means something!  Romantic love.  Everything about the movie and those two young actors was perfect in our eyes.  Well, practically perfect, with one big exception, I wouldn't Really kill myself!  It was just all that grand beauty and drama.  (((sigh)))  Oh, how we wanted to be Olivia!  And so, as we sobbed at the ending, the bad boy several seats away laughed outright.  I wonder what further meaning this scenario paints?!  The difference between the genders, at least at that young age.  Or the roles society places on us, the ones we learn unconsciously at a very young age.  I've thought about that over the years when reflecting on this oh-so-clear example.

Anyway, now that I know this connection of mine, I think I will use velvet with a new kind of intention.  Thank you to those who inspired this train of thought :)

PS In searching for this video, I found these two that also caught my eye:
view one
view two
The second one has a more current song: Ghost of a Rose by blackmore's night
I ended up really liking this song and the video is very well done.

10 Minute Drill #12- Inspiration Continued

  

    So, here we are...the Day After Christmas when all the news wants to discuss is the sale shopping frenzy.  Instead, I invite you to relax and listen to this young girl.  To me it matters not that she sings of religious ideas that are not my own.  I just hear her as sweet inspiration.  Her beautiful voice, her songwriting...her ability to see right down to the heart of what is important - Every Day kind of important.

"Our dreams seem nearer and words are kinder, to the people that we meet..."  

"Families come back home, to the place they belong and their broken hearts are healed...."

May you celebrate this kind of inspiration all year long.

                      Here is a bit more to read about her.  She certainly leads by example doesn't she?  As she lives in a 2 bedroom house with her family, yet plans to donate part of her itunes sales monies so others may have the gift of music, what could be better than that?

                                           What word comes to mind as you listen?  

I have so many one word answers.  But, I keep coming back to

 "inspirational".  

May we all have an inspired year in 2012.

Here is the link, in case you need it: Night of Our Lives

Something Old

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2011

This is my grandfather's cane.  A man I never knew.  My mother's father, who passed away when she was only 11 years old.  For all of these years it has been kept, as a cherished remembrance of this important family member.  I've taken the seam out of the cane wrapping cloth and washed it by hand in Woolite.  It continued to disintegrate in my hands.  

There are many holes and shreds of fabric hanging off.  

It is as fragile as our history...as our memories of one another...of life itself.

Where I Am

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2011

The time has come to dismantle my mother's photo albums.

It is a very hard job.  

Many of the people in these books have already passed on.  I miss them.

My mother was the last of her generation in our family.  She had everybody's stuff.  

Now my sister and I have everybody's stuff.

I have so many...so very many conversations with myself (and my sister) about: 

What we are supposed to do with all of this "stuff"?

My mom created many photo albums over the years.

But, this grouping of bumpy, textured, woven ones are the hardest to undo.  

They hold my whole childhood.  

They hold the little girl part of me that still exists, deeply ingrained in my heart.

There are so many family photos, collected over years of life experiences.

There's so much family history here.

At first I did not think I would be able to take these books apart, as I've known them most of my life.  They speak volumes about my mother.  Their super organized, chronological order format, even down to the blending of two families...the little white paper labeling done in my mother's never-changing handwriting...their smell, my mother's smell that graces everything once belonging to her.

Taking them apart is loosing another piece of my mom.

It's loosing her once again and that is sad.

I look for the lessons.  I embrace family traditions.  

I celebrate joyous moments again.  

I marvel at who my mother was...at who each one of us has been.

Somehow, this job feels appropriate for this season of change.  

I feel changes coming.

I feel unsettled...disequilibrium.

I fit this job in where time and emotions allow.

Two New Feathers

Peace, Love, Music & Feathers

Two more feathers for The Magic Feather Project that  

Jude Hill has been creating and organizing.   Everyone is invited to join in!  She has posted all of the information along with tutorials.  

Give it a try...invite a friend!

These two feathers are to honor the importance of music in our lives...and ideas of peaceful coexistence...and all of the good feelings we get from these things.

Oh, and to honor my guy too!

The white backing fabric is from a project that did not work out 

for a group of children I used to work with.

I am happy to be able to use it here.

The tie-dye fabric is a heavy cotton and once belonged to my guy in the form of a pair of pants.  He liked to wear these when recording music in his home studio.  

That was until I took the pants over about 11 years ago!  

I wore them until there was almost nothing left!

On the back you can see the spiral which I added due to the lumps that arose within the peace sign.  I think because I seem to stitch so tightly and still use knots (I can't help myself!) - the surface got very pulled in and bumpy.

But then I had these thoughts:

1. It is really OK.  Perfection is not the best way.
2. It is still pretty and stitched with loving thoughts.  This is where the importance stands!
3. It is not done as it will be added to others in Jude's cloth (If it works for her project).
4. Jude will be adding stitches and she is a Magician!!!  She can make it work!
5. Children won't mind, they may even like these bumps.
6. It really is OK just the way it is! 

Then I tried looking at it through a child's eyes and feeling it with their small hands.  I imagined a worried child pressing his or her fingers into the fabric...pushing down on a bump only to have it pop up somewhere else...doing this again and again.  Maybe lost in thought or maybe having feelings pop up as well.  Small fingers tracing the magic thread peace sign...knowing what that symbol means (it's such a universal symbol)...maybe inviting conversation or reflection or both.

The combination of brighter colors and subdued colors a celebration of the bold and less secure in all of us.  

The textures and symbols inviting us to touch it and think our thoughts.

In the end, I am really glad this feather block holds 

the imperfections it does.

 I've yet to learn how to do Jude's style of fringe, so I added my own style of braids and knots.  I have used this technique on projects in the past, mostly the 'power sticks' I have made for friends and family.  I stitched down the ends to help it remain child friendly for a long time.  I had thought of adding music notes on the right side, under the fringe, but decided to leave it more open for Jude to decide how it will best be used.
Additionally, this one ended up a bit bigger, so I do hope it works out for Jude's needs.

The last step is to let it wait for mailing out in the studio, where there are good vibes and almost always incense burning!

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2011

Mother & Daughter Feathers

I've recently finished these two feathers for Jude's Magic Feather Project.  

They are done in the ragged applique technique.

 

Jude has invited everyone to join in by creating their own unique feather.

These two feathers are to honor my mother, a true 'book person'.

They are to honor the way she raised my sister and me 

to be book people too.  

And how she helped instill a love of books in her grandchildren too. 

My mother was a Junior High English Teacher for 20 years and 

a children's bookseller for another 20 years.

She was books, catalogs and the daily newspaper.

She was song lyrics written by others, rewritten by her.

She was hand written letters and plenty of emails.

She was a curious learner and a superb teacher.

She was language and intelligence and humor.

She was so much more, so much more.

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2011

Two Days

 Two days

Today and again tomorrow

 I remember and honor my mother

Today, for the first time, I attend the Kever Avot Memorial Service.

It is a day to remember loved ones 

and recognize their impact in our lives.

I think of my mother and father.  I think of other family members
and close family friends.

We listen to the sound of the Shofar, reflect on the rabbi's words, 

and hear the cantor's beautiful singing.

Tears are shed. 

We Remember Them

In the rising of the sun and in its going down,

We remember them.

 In the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter,

We remember them.

 In the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring,

We remember them. 

In the blueness of the sky and the warmth of summer,

We remember them.

In the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of autumn,

We remember them.

In the beginning of the year and when it ends,

We remember them.

When we are weary and in need of strength,

We remember them.

When we are lost and sick at heart,

We remember them. 

When we have decisions that are difficult to make,

We remember them. 

When we have achievements that are based on theirs,

We remember them. 

So long as we live, they too shall live,

For they are now a part of us.

As we remember them. 

-RABBI SYLVAN KAMEN AND RABBI JACK RIEMER

Then our small group of four visits the gravesites of our loved ones.

It is a beautiful day, blue skies, cloud wisps and a warm breeze.

My sister brings chairs and so we sit and share memories.

We laugh.  We are quiet.  We listen to each other and other visitors with a need to share.

We brush off our loved one's markers and leave small white pebbles from Jerusalem.

We bring flowers.

We relish the beauty of the day, the meaningful service, spending time at each gravesite.

Spending time with loved ones.

It's a good day.

Tomorrow is the anniversary of my mother's passing.

At sundown I light a candle for her.
I will spend more time reflecting on and learning from our lives together.

You can learn more about the Yahrzeit candle here.

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2011