Heartbeat

I am reminded today of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, when the french horns pulse with a heartbeat, the harmonies of the orchestra enter as partial phrases which create anticipation, and then the heavens open forth with the voices of humanity.

Reaction - Action

Interesting what happens when an event is significant enough to jolt me into assessing the here and now.

Thoughts that are triggered start with the welfare of others:  where is my companion? where are the people I care for?  are they ok?  how can my actions best provide support and assistance to others?

Then it’s about me: what would I have wanted to have done or accomplished? what regrets might I have, and what will I do now to remedy them? what am I doing now, and will I put more or less effort into it, given the priorities that begin to arise?

I typically think about how others might react.  Indeed, some have already run to their place of comfort, away from the unknown potential that was in front of them.   Let them go – let them go.

Rather than have an external event prompt these thoughts and priorities, I resolve (again) to consider this on a more regular basis.

Tempus

I've known this for awhile but am now able to articulate that I am and always have been multi-dimensional in disciplines and time zones.  As exhausting as it can be, I revel and thrive in this broad range.

Equinox

3 hours into it, reflecting on the past quarter.

1 of 5

Regaining rhythm several days after a predawn view of the moon through a kitchen window then the late night view through an airplane window, when I took my crayon and placed a familiar window around it so that I would land home.

trans: a short note

I've always appreciated the place I consider "home": the positive aspects of climate, culture, and attitude. Yet when I visit another place where in the process of "digging deep" I find aspects that call to me and that fill me in ways that I did not know could be filled, the return to "home" requires time.  The adjustment during this time is filled with reviewing notes, photos, and reflecting on impressions and thoughts that linger.  It's the absorption of the new experience into myself.  It is also a revelation that "home" is dynamic and evolves.  The place I started from is not the place I return to.  I'm ok with that.

Re-entry is difficult, a friend says.  Each conversion with a friend is part of the transition and re-entry.

Red

The light came through the window. "Look at me," she insisted.  "Watch me when I become cloaked by another.  I will remain in place even though another one comes between us."

But you've turned away therefore so shall I.

Opening

How many versions?

If a door opens, how soon before walking through?

Swinging in and out can swing shut.

Walk through open slots
Without pulling massive
Luggage along.

The past weighs on the hopes of the future, sometimes to the point of suffocation.

A dream is summarized with "don't trip on the stones behind you."

Afire

Listening through dense music
Devouring words in all forms
Creating another path
Moving with the companions

a few

As the sun sets on the first Monday after the clocks have sprung forward,

_The late afternoon sun triggers let-down, a sure sign of Spring.
_"Critics without credentials" - a quote that muffles the noise.
_As some pieces undergo further development, don't freak out.
_I will embrace the parts that comprise the whole.

Slats

I love the room with moonlight stripes.

Buzz

Who needs sleep.
So much to do. And get done.

...another comes to mind

Some texts linger from many years ago.  This is another that was learned through song:

Come with me, under my coat,
and we will drink our fill
of the milk of the white goat,
or wine if it be thy will.
And we will talk,
until talk is a trouble, too,
out on the side of the hill;
And nothing is left to do,
but an eye to look into an eye,
and a hand in a hand to slip;

and a sigh to answer a sigh;
And a lip to find out a lip!
What if the night be black!
And the air
on the mountain chill!
Where all but the fern is still!
Stay with me, under my coat!
and we will drink our fill
of the milk of the white goat,
out on the side of the hill!

James Stephens (1882-1950) - "The Coolin" from "Reincarnations" (1918), possibly based on an early Irish text.

And the next one recently left a deep impression.  No tune, but a conversation is associated with it.  Interesting how a set of words is so strongly colored by context.

We live in the right time even if it doesn't always feel like it.

Andrew Solomon, 2013

Perspective

When the machines are unplugged, when the noise stops, I do the slow work that needs to get done. It is likely that no one will know it has been done, but it would be noticeable to many if the work is not done. It seems to take so long. But when I look at the clock after doing the task, less time has elapsed than I imagined. This is time used well.

What did you do?
...not much...some people would call it "work" of some sort.

What did you get from it?
A new skirt - I added features that will enable me to wear and use it well: lining and pockets. Don't think that these don't make a difference. They make a huge difference. Hand sewing in key areas also makes a big difference with drape and fit.

In the quiet slowness of time, a few stories also came to me.

Cyrus Cylinder

The Cyrus Cylinder is in San Francisco, and its story is fascinating.

Sun and Moon

Today the sun is with me for the longest day. We will celebrate with The Rite of Spring.  Sunday pre-dawn the moon will be closest to me than it will be all year. That celebration is being determined.

Constant and indeterminate

...is the circumference of a circle divided by its diameter.

Really - how mind-blowing is THAT?

3/13/13

on a palindromic date,
too good to ignore:

Intoxication from
Warm Sweet Spring
in the fragrant night.

Primed

Oh my goodness she's back at it, doing it again. Do you remember when she was a kid in school she'd talk the teacher into passing out little leaflets with some snippet of a story and having the other kids in the class write their own endings? She promised to share her version but she never did. After complaints from the other students, the teacher stopped this little exercise.

Blue Indigo Cosmos

AVFKW held a celebratory indigo dip in early November to commemorate their first anniversary in their new shop.

Prepped yarn or fiber or fabric is slowly immersed into the hot indigo pot.

Work is done while the dipped items "cook."

Blue Indigo Cosmos.