Art, Life and Grief

A local parking lot had these beautiful blooms, which I have now discovered are on a  Myrtle-leaf Milkwort.

I took a quick screenshot from this SOURCE, as I've always had a thing for the ROLODEX...not as a tool for addresses, but as an avenue for art. I've enjoyed the fact that both Jude and Grace have one, to use as they wish. The one pictured here is not my particular style, but I can appreciate that the maker had some fun working on it. What would you use a Rolodex for? Besides art (painting, drawing), my brainstorming comes up with prompts or 'story starters', swatching or samples, favorites (fabric, images...?), family history stories...a particular color or ? There is something about turning that wheel and seeing where you land that I am attracted to. ha.

I'm thick into the 'blue glue book'...more on that soon.

I saw the America's Got Talent video and first heard this song HERE. But, I'm posting a "softer" version here -even if her AGT performance was amazing. A song for anyone who is or has ever grieved a loved one. She wrote it for her baby nephew when he passed from meningitis at almost one year old. her voice is so haunting and pain-filled and beautiful.

Her channel can be found here, where you can find other versions and other songs too. The "official version" from 10 years ago is equally heartbreaking, if not more so.

Stephanie Rainey - Please Don't Go (Live at St. Lukes Church)

LINK 4:05 minutes

The empty crow's (?) nest looked like it has a bit added to it. Mmm?

While we strolled the path, someone left a meaty drumstick on the bridge, possibly for Owly (as it was placed below her nest)? That was a surprise to see.

What surprised you recently?

 

May you find peace

May you embrace warmth

May you stay loved

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2026

Heavy, But Important and/or Inspiring: Ebb & Flow

 

4/11/26 -NOTE: I started this post a while back. It has morphed and broadened. Let's see where it goes as I try to fit the pieces together here.

FROM DRAFT: Catherine posted a link, quietly at the end of her post, Holding On. It led to a Rumble Strip podcast about the origin of the song. You may have heard it in the news stories about the protests in Minneapolis and elsewhere. But that is not where it began. It is a hard, but worthy listen. So, if you are feeling sensitive, be warned.

Once I'd listened to the Rumble Strip story, I began following links and got lost down the singing as resistance rabbit hole. I found: Singing Resistance, where I discovered the Singing Resistance Songbook. Then I moved on to Rise Up Singing. I listened to the videos here. It is easy to listen while ripping apart magazines for art's sake.

4/1/26: Then Dee shared her story about her son Danny.

AllYouFascistsBoundtoLose 4k BetteMidler 2026

LINK 2:49 minutes

I had dug out the old Camp Kinneret songbook and these two which belonged to my mom. 

CELEBRATING PETE SEEGER: Song & Conversation

Link 1:28:05

This is the music I was raised on. For 3 summers when I was young, I joined with others on a grassy hill at the end of a camp day...and I raised my voice in song and/or listened and absorbed the moment. These (and a zillion others) are a huge part of the heart of me, the authentic me.

"I'm gonna lay down my sword and shield (knock, knock - on the the guitar) down by the riverside...I ain't gonna study war no more..."

Today there was another protest at Good Trouble Corner 2.0. There are protests there every Saturday. We stopped there today while out running errands. Voices rising up.

There were sturdy signs. Signs made to last for all of the days ahead. There were multiple speakers blasting music and folks dancing. There was an organizer with a megaphone. There were only about 20 people there...and a decent amount of horn honking. It was not like a No Kings Day protest for sure, it was more like a constant hum of a people who will not give up.

The river moves away from the fallen tree, yet both tree and river remain. We move away from worries and sorrows, yet they remain too. We travel together, side-by-side.

Anderson Cooper's "All There Is" podcast popped up on you tube. I've been listening to episodes, something I had not done in months. I've found value within them.

Almost home, we come upon a Crow Meeting at the big corner near our place. This is the corner, the trees & light poles...the buildings where we watch the crows sit and swoop and just outright play. They especially love windy days and really come alive in the sky here. This is their day-neighborhood. About 20 crows, give or take stood around under the tree, doing whatever a murder of crows does in a situation like this. Some flew in and landed, others flew off and landed elsewhere (like the tops of buildings). Their coming and going seemed random to this human, but perhaps I was not meant to know any more than what I saw with my eyes and felt with my heart.

LINK about the differences between Crows and Ravens

I'm not sure I can throw a neat circle around these thoughts, which right now seem to be circling around in little dust devils of their own. All I can think of is the idea of ebb & flow. Like everything in life, like everything during these days...ebb & flow.

What makes a strong connection for you?

 

May you bear witness

May you join in

May you ebb and flow

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2026

As Time Would Have It

 

As Time Would Have It...

We had so many May Gray days and I thought and thought of what I could draw for the June Hallmark Datebook page...so, I thought of "JUNE GLOOM" at the first of the month. But by the time I got to drawing it...well, it has not been cloudy and cool. Instead it has been very hot and the air quality already looks/feels bad. While still being hot, the skies hold a brownish overcast haze. You can barely see the mountains and I use a word I usually don't. It's been ugly.

The hazy brown may not thrill me, but I have been able to find other beauty as I go about my days. The photos above are of the planted area outside of a medical building I've gone to for years. But this last visit had me and J. pausing to look, feel, smell and discuss each of these. How have I never noticed pomegranate bushes there before?!!

Of course, I know the pink Rock Rose well, but had to do a search on the yellow flowers. I discovered that it is called Jerusalem Sage (here are some great photos of it). It seems to also come in pink, which in looking at it - I think maybe I Have seen this before! I look at so many flowers on my walks and then promptly forget that I've seen a particular type. haha

Still, everywhere I go...lizards! So many, more than I recall in years past...or I'm just super tuned into them (do I keep saying this?). This one was on a building where we go for physical therapy and I spotted it from so far away. It was so big!

I started to 'ball up' that hank of yarn you met back HERE. Is that an official term, "ball up"?!! Anyway, I set no goals or expectations on this one...just get it into a ball(s), so I can use it easier. The big ball went very well, no tricky parts at all. but, then I got stuck. I worked for a short minute and then out came the scissors! lol I don't knit or crochet...I'm not making anything that calls for a whole, unbroken hank...so what do I care. I made the little one and cut again. heehee Now I'm wrestling with the remains and making the tiny one. It is surprising how much this activity can aggravate arthritis in the old hands. Just as when I wound the black/gray yarn, I wonder how a Medicine Bag would look using this yarn alone. It's very pretty.

Lastly, I give you this...

We lit the circle of friends candle for my dear friend, who's mama passed away yesterday. As I hold her in my heart, in my thoughts, I reflect on what this time means for her and her family. I remember my own time of grief when my mama passed...when my or other's loved ones have passed. It is a sacred time. A time to be honored, where grief is allowed and accepted. it is a time to pause and be still.

May she know this love in this time.

May you take the time

May you spend your time in ways that work for you

May you share your time with others

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2024 

Passing

"The best way out is always through." -Robert Frost

               

Sometimes it is a crossroads, other times it is a vast wilderness that you wander around, or through...or all of that.  It just depends.

Sometimes tragedy weighs you down or lightens your load, or both.

It is different for everyone.
It is different moment-to-moment or day-to-day.

Sometimes you embrace others, while other times you work through the tangles alone.

I guess there isn't one right way because feelings are too layered and too complicated.

And they change over time.

Things change.

You may know someone for a lifetime...for a while...for a moment.

You may never really know them, even while you do.

In the end it all just is.

And how or if it matters is yours alone

It is ours to live

and die

and live...

May we all have what we need on the journey

May we be able to help others with what they need

May we all, in some way, be powerful enough to soar

In the end, may we find and hold peace in our hearts, even if that's hard to do

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2017

*Background...
My grandson's father was killed.  They are moving through this time of grief.  Those who know them move through this time too.  We offer love, support and a donation if we can.
Every loss, is a loss.
Healing required.
Here is the link to their Go Fund Me, if you should want to donate to that healing.
https://www.gofundme.com/treyshealing

The above video is a partner (in my mind) to this one, recently posted by my daughter.
I have posted it here in the past, years ago.
Bekka brings it home to her listeners.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXg4lBmIrLE