Courage

Stand still, stand still; stop the sun!

Now I Become Myself

Now I become myself.
It's taken Time, many years and places;
I have been dissolved and shaken,
Worn other people's faces,
Run madly, as if Time were there,
Terribly old, crying a warning,
"Hurry, you will be dead before--

"(What? Before you reach the morning?

Or the end of the poem is clear?

Or love safe in the walled city?)
Now to stand still, to be here, Feel my own weight and density!

The black shadow on the paper
Is my hand; the shadow of a word
As thought shapes the shaper
Falls heavy on the page, is heard.

All fuses now, falls into place
From wish to action, word to silence,
My work, my love, my time, my face
Gathered into one intense
Gesture of growing like a plant.

As slowly as the ripening fruit
Fertile, detached, and always spent,
Falls but does not exhaust the root,
So all the poem is, can give,
Grows in me to become the song,
Made so and rooted by love.

Now there is time and Time is young.
O, in this single hour I live
All of myself and do not move.
I, the pursued, who madly ran,
Stand still, stand still, and stop the sun!

May Sarton

Today, I wept but my heart is light

I wept today. It couldn't be helped. My tears could not be stopped.

He said he could. He did.
He won. We won.
Oh, what a day. Oh, what a time.

I will not forget the televised images I saw today. A huge crowd of smiling, happy people who radiated hope and trust and belief in the possible. A sea of faces of every color, shape and hue standing where once slaves in tents lived while building the capital. A sea of faces exuding pride looking towards the first black president of the United States of America.

And today I, too, am a proud American.
I wept in pride and joy and hope.

I cannot remember a time in my life with so much excitement, so much hope and optimism in the changing of the guard. Now, this man, this young Barack Obama, now President Obama, has come to lift our hearts and rekindle our spirits.

Yes, he calls upon our higher instincts for love and generosity, responsibility and accountability to one another for the common. He calls us to service; he acknowledges difficult times ahead. Yes the times will be hard, that is clear. But I have the feeling that he will be truthful with the American people. I believe we can trust him. I have not felt that for a very long time.

After Nixon. Watergate. The failed Carter administration. The mean-spiritedness engendered by Reagon. Disappointment in the unfulfilled potential of Clinton. The last dismal and long eight years of Bush the Son. After 40-odd years of feeling let down by various administrations, there is a wonderful lightness in my heart. Today I wept but my heart sang.

A little art a little joy a lot of pleasure

A little art

a little time to play in my studio

brings contentment & joy

These beads are made of fabric-paper wrapped in fibers & beaded

The fabric paper is a satisfying project of layering loose weave fabric with various layers of paper, paint and glue. Once dry it can be cut, sewn, woven, wrapped around straws or skewers and cut into beads.

But these days I am recycling denim. Embellishing good quality but gently used denim jackets and vests. Turning them in wearable art.
I haven't take any photos yet.

Bringing Peace

The peace I am thinking of
is the dance of an open mind when it engages another equally open one.

Toni Morrison

Dinner in ffrost tavern

3 Chimneys Inn

A lovely, welcoming inn located in Durham, the 3 Chimneys Inn is one of the oldest homes in New Hampshire. Built in 1649, it is now a beautiful bed and breakfast with 23 rooms, with dining and entertainment offerings.

We met Susan and Rainer there for dinner on Friday evening in the ffrost tavern where the ambiance is warm, cozy and casual, the menu tempting, and the food is beautifully presented, and very delicious.

We lingered over entrees, indulged in decadence for dessert, talked the place closed, then braved the winter wind aw we walked down the short hill to our cars.

Ahhhhhhhh, a very satisfying way to spend an evening when the work week is old and the weekend is new.

We entered the weekend with no obligations for Saturday and Sunday: a stay-at-home, snuggle down kind-of-weekend.

Is your glass half full?

"Don’t dwell on what you lack;
dwell on what you have
and use it to the fullest with gratitude.
Don’t dwell on your failures;
learn from them and move on.
Don’t dwell on your fears or sorrows;
dwell on your hopes."

Marian Wright Edelman founder Children’s Defense Fund

Kindness

One kind word can warm three winter months.

Japanese Proverb

A hibernating bear?

Perhaps I am a bear,
or some hibernating animal underneath,
for the instinct to be half asleep all winter is so strong in me.

Anne Morrow Lindberg

Hope

In the depth of winter,
I finally learned that within me
there lay an invincible summer.
Albert Camus
1913-1960