Known & Unknown ~ My Way

When I head out each weekday, I never know what will come my way.

One morning recently, it was thick fog rolling in from The Valley.

Fog, that at first glance has one thinking: Is there a fire?

But, no...it is fog and a welcome feeling in the cool morning air.

The street is mostly empty and I'm off to a new day.

How cool is that?

Other commute visuals are not so easily answered.

The following photos show the 'road that wraps around the mountain'. I have mentioned it and shared photos so many times in the past. These photos tell the story of the offerings on the side of the road. This section of road travels from The Valley to my valley, running parallel to the 5 freeway and landing near an interchange with another main freeway. It is used by many each day. These days it is also used by many semi-trucks which make for a squishy road and hopefully not too much damage to the asphalt.

🚴‍♀️     🛣      🚘 

Anyway, I keep wondering and wondering about these offerings.

This stretch of the road is only about 1 mile long. It is where the 'waterfall' (aqueduct) is, at one end - also photographed and spoken of before. It is where the man walked in traffic, waving his arms and I called 911 and where another man stood off to the side, on a curve, staring at oncoming traffic. It is a difficult road to share with bike riders and even worse if there is a stalled car (I've had to go around one, only once, on the blind curve = not fun)...but thankfully no major accidents, which is amazing if you knew how folks drove!

Truly, it is a short jaunt, with nothing much there...a place to view the freeway, checking for traffic or to see the surrounding mountains, checking for smoke. It is a stretch of road that takes one from here to there.

Okay, so buckle up...let's go!

Heading home...

Off to the left, the top of the mountain, where there is a clump of trees, is near where we did the Big Hike - View of Two Valleys (pre-pandemic). We were way up there!

First photo below, you can see the turnout and the slope of the hill where the offerings are left.

Second photo below, a white van & tiny trailer...someone has been living there, most of the time.

Are they the one(s) leaving the offerings? If so, why?

The offering spot is just ahead, past the turnout.

In the past there was something that looked like a melon or two.

I was able to come to almost a complete stop on an empty road one morning and saw a plate of apples and coconuts?

If I felt safe, I'd park and take a closer look...I'm that curious!

What I will see next week is again, unknown.

On another front...the dying that starts out "unknown" and with patience, becomes known...an update:

I rinsed, washed with liquid Woolite the first two and unwrapped the long one.

You may remember that I rewrapped it with the found nail and placed it back in the acorn water. Here it is in the first photo below. The markings are still not wonderful, but the ones that stuck are nice. They are mostly only the ends. I find it interesting that one end really shows the string marks and the other end is a zebra! The long middle is rather dull. I will show it again once I decide if I am going to rewrap it once more. I like that I can wait as long as I like to decide. No pressure.

The other two, shown in the 2nd photo below came out wonderful! The (still wet, but fairly true) markings are intricate and the color is so rich. I feel like Marti, as I just want to sit and hold them, getting lost in their world. So that leaves the question of what to DO (if anything) with them? Mmm...

Back to more commuting. You all are with me (even if you don't know that!), as I travel along...thinking of pondering posts, sharing posts...images, questions, phrases...more!

At a recent stoplight, I looked over to notice the door windows on this front door. I thought of 'temple' from Jude and Arches and more from Hazel. I look at this house a lot, as the color catches my eye...but this week, shapes caught my eye too!

One evening, right before I got to 'the road that wraps around the mountain'...there was this explosion of water. There was lots of Fire Fighters there tending to it and we drivers took turns scooting around the event. Accident or not, here in parched SoCal, all I could think of was what a waste of water.

What a scene this made.

PS Look at that ball of fire HOT sun!

We are having another heat wave next week, triple digits. Frankly, high 90's or 104...what's the difference?

Anyway, triple digits for a few days or so next week.

Yay!

I like how this bright, hot sun is so big and full of energy, that it seems to come off of the photo and onto the white blog page. Your eye carries it upward to complete the sun's circle. A kind of "photo ghosting"!! Jude would do this in stitch, first time I've done it in a photograph! Surreal.

Thursday Trust Time X 2:

So trust...

redacted thoughts:

easy for trust to get lost, shaken, broken...

fragile but sturdy...

regain - rebuild

passive VS active

the language of trust, considering that

while the details are personal, the ideas are universal

The next week, I thought of Grace's trust post of the 19th - that came to her in an image. I had commented that I found it interesting that hers came as an image, Peggy's came as reaching out in feelings and thoughts, while mine comes as words for considering (as you can see above). I thought that the next Trust Time, I would see if I could shift that to feelings/images? 

My images were still words. But, I considered the fact that I am driving...therefore I can't sit with eyes closed and perhaps that is why it comes in words? Or is it because I lean into words so much? Mmm...

So trust...

redacted thoughts:

what would it look/feel like?

my mama

a soft, warm, deep hug

things or people that you can Count On

(Brene Brown calls this a 'move a body' friend!)

someone to hold, share 'secrets' (personal feelings)

I concluded by thinking that it sounded more like my wishes and disappointments.

Mmm...

But, it also felt more like images of feelings that don't really hold to words well.

Until next week...

May you feel

May you discover

May you remain open

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2022 

 

Another Go-Around

 

I went ahead and re-wrapped the long cloth and the rusty nail, using the string from last time.

Most of the water had been poured out, the rest of course evaporated in the heat, so I added more.

I dropped the bundle in and will let it be for some days.

I may or may not add more acorns, as most of those got poured out too.

I'm waiting to see how dark it starts to get.

We'll see.

Bundled

Leftovers

Ready for the waiting.

~Filed under: Considering Language~

I just now, as I was typing this, decided that I really like the phrase "we'll see". It evokes such an open-ended, relaxed feel. It could go this way or that...either would be okay, no pressure...all is well. Language Loose Parts. And it reminded me of the phrase my daddy used to say, "We'll play it by ear". This was his answer when we were on vacation without a plan in place or when visiting my early home in No NV.   'play it by ear' - we'll see.

~~~~~

I saw this short segment (less than 5 minutes) about an exhibit at Lyndhurst, in Tarrytown, NY.

I notice in the segment, the commentary about Art & Craft. Ha.

Maybe some of you are close enough to visit...Or, if you're like me...taking a look online 🙂 There is so much to poke around and investigate! Between landscape, the mansion, the history, the art...something for everyone.

~~~~~

Closing with a silly story. who knew there was such a thing as a mullet contest?

Not us, until today when we saw the winner on the news!! 🤣

So I'm closing with the cutest mullet in the land, our grandson!

Here is is in all of his natural mullet, green eyed glory!

May play come in many forms

May curiosity abound

May you embrace everything

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2022  

Sky & Dye ~ Light & Perspective

 

~Sky~

The morning and evening skies have provided a glorious spectacle recently.

Sunset above & Sunrise below.

I love this view (below) when the light is just right and the sunrise shows off the layered mountains...pale and looking like a watercolor of Valerianna's. I played around with the photos a bit. One of the things that makes this layered view special to me is that what's behind that fence, covering much of the space between fence and hills...is a landfill. On certain days, the smell is really bad...or my mind can't look for and welcome the view as beauty...or the semi-truck traffic is too loud, too much. But, on other days, when the morning air is cool and the sun is in a good spot...when not too many are on the road with me, when my eyes sail right over the fence to the mountains and my heart is open...I can embrace this kind of beauty. Ugly as Beauty.

It's an important thing to remember, to practice.

~Dye~

I left the three bundles in the pot for 4 days and then took them out to sit in the sun for another day.

That brought me to Friday night when I had time to unbundle them. 

The long one with the circle inside barely got any color, even from the acorn water.

Mmmm??

The photos below are of the other two cloths (both sides). One with flowers and the small rusty bit and one with just flowers. You can see the dried debris of those flowers in some of the pictures. But, mostly they became the acorns they were soaking in...earthy, brown. They became almost animal skin patterned in look. They got very interesting marks, especially from the binding string. I like how one has a half & half look. They are not rinsed yet, so I'll do that next.

While I was out there, unbundling, I accidentally dropped the rust bit over the railing to the corridor ground below. Rats. I had to walk all of the way around to the back gate to fetch it. However, while doing that, I found a great rusty nail! Yay! So, I plan to again use the long cloth, bundled with the rusty nail and ? - something or nothing else...and put it back in the acorn water.

~Light~

I was touched by the way the morning sun lit up the top of this big Sycamore tree out front as I headed out to work.

Then there was the way the sun started to peek in from the right, telling of the full glare I'd see in a moment (as seen in the second photo from the top, above, as I rounded the curve of a round-about). The building in the photo is new and I've yet to figure out what it is for. It was built up against a car repair shop, so for the months it took to build it, I thought they were enlarging their shop! That is William S. Hart and Fritz, his horse on the 'garage' type door. Hart Park, where our Pow Wow is held, where the bison live (hiked there years ago) is right across the street.

Light on the bushes & trees during my lunch break (bird in the shade!).

Second photo below shows the bright green tree on the right where the littlest hummingbird I've ever seen perched for a moment or two. It was seriously about two inches tall!

Late afternoon, bright light on the smoke from a recent brush fire (far from my house, brief in time, small in acreage).  Sometimes the light is so bright...there is so much of it, that it creates a sameness...a wash of light where one has to look for what stands out, where noting in particular jumps out (except maybe this smoke!). Even within this layer of lightness, I notice the light on the Oak on the right VS the Pine on the left. How it is different. Interesting.

~Perspective~

During a work event last week, we took photos from different perspectives...same shot from an adult height and that of a young child. This is right up my alley, as I've thought about this since 1977! Ha. Plus, I love framing photos, experimenting, playing...

I've decide to only put one of the child's level here. The adult level of this scene was actually not all that interesting. haha

The other scenes were a landscape & portrait versions of the same location, which held a patio filled with tables with yellow umbrellas, bands of color on the surrounding building, windows, a sliver of sky (adult view only). It was interesting to see how much smaller, more limited the child's views were...how much less they held, while still being enough and calmer too.

I again thought of Liz and her representational works.

As I write this, I listen to the wind in those big trees...I listen/watch a PBS show titled:

Freedom Songs: The Music of the Civil Rights Movement

...and the gardener just came, so I'm real glad he won't be mowing over those rusty bits!!

May you embrace your world

May you keep an open heart

May you hold room for many perspectives 

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2022  

 

 

 

 

Giving It A Go

 

Inspired by many of you and while looking at the work tree below...

I thought that perhaps I would try dyeing with the fallen pink flowers of the Silk Floss tree.

Noticing this tree blooming again a couple of weeks ago, it felt so full circle, especially as I readied my brain for moving back to my old work site. So I brought home a lil bag of fallen flowers. 

Most of my dye things did not make the move (even the wonderful cast. iron pot J. found, which I am sad about). I do have the little brass pot, so I used that. 

I grabbed 3 muslin scraps and a couple of rusty(?) bits I had found. I don't really have much rust anymore either. 

I gathered everything up...wrapped the muslin around the flowers.

I also had one Orchid flower, which fell from the new gift of Friday.

Then I picked up the hammer and smashed them!!

The flowers left far less color than the leaves and stem.

Very earthy.

Two were bound with the flowers and rusty bits and the last one was bound with only the flower & only half way down...all with the great warp string Hazel sent. I plan to weave with that, if possible.

They were all three dropped into the brass pot.

Later, J. brought me a small amount of acorns from the back and I dropped those in too.

They were little, kind of dry and cracked open...but you get what you get.

Now to wait.

When I purged for the move, I thought my days of this kind of play were over. I didn't save much at all. But, maybe I don't need much at all. I'll leave this sit this week. If I don't see much color, I have tea bags! Anything I may have learned from my experiments of years back is long faded. I'm glad I like to just play.

🌲🌳🌲🌳🌲🌳🌲

It felt good to stand in the heat on the patio. I had cleaned it up a bit, so maybe I can spend more time out there. Anyway, these next photos are of the trees across the way, 3 Sycamores and 4 pines. I still miss my old trees, but I am glad these new friends are here.

I'm not sure exactly what I was going for with the photo above, but I like the geometric nature of it. Haha Nature, get it?! I can imagine Liz making this in cloth 🙂

The owl of last week sat in one of these large beauties!

Here are some different viewpoints.

I also spent some time with the Cactus Collage. I have not done that in a long time and it felt nice. 

One of the stem segments had fallen off some time back and was a curious crumpled brown bit of past life.

Fascinating.

I stepped out of the car earlier in the day and noticed this bit of rose bush on the ground.

I saw it as a fish, perhaps a sturgeon (for this month's moon!)

I wonder what I will see in the cloth bits?

May you see what is there in front of you.

May you imagine what could be.

May you have the patience to wait for more.

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2022