" The more you sense the rareness and value of your own life, the more you realize that how you use it, how you manifest it is all your responsibilty. We face such a big task, so naturally we sit down for a while."
Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi

Above is a pastel that I did a few days ago as part of the start of my art therapy over the loss of my brother, Patrick.

In many Native American tribes it was believed that when you die, you walk the red road towards the west, the place of the ancestors. In the center of the road there is a far off person (Patrick) walking away. The moon is going down on the mighty Pacific. I do hope that he was able to see the Grand Canyon and the Pacific Ocean on his way out.

Ginormous Raised Bed....

My friend Jodi came up with a great idea /design for a raised bed. Her landlord had heaped up a mound in the center of the backyard from a previous excavation on the property. She took straw bales and made one gigantic ( approx. 14x29 feet) raised bed for growing an abundance of vegetables and herbs. The straw has been in place since last spring and is still holding up. She has made pockets in some of the tops of the bales and inserted potatoes . They seem to be thriving. At some point she will add another outer wall of new strawbales , allowing the inner layer to continue turning into new soil and more gardening space! Alot of folks grow kitchen gardens here and (for me) it makes for an urban paradise.

Eugene is a model city for sustainability in so many ways and has been long before being green was fashionable. I found out that it is possible to take a city bus towards the Cascades (nearly 60 miles) to a town called McKenzie Bridge on the McKenzie River. Many municipalities desiring sustainablity should really take a closer look at what's going on here!

Eugene!

There are only a few towns in which I feel absolutely at home when I arrive: Santa Cruz , California and Yellow Springs, Ohio and now, Eugene, Oregon.

I am here few weeks before starting my new job to visit my old friend from college, Jodi. I am on a 15 minute limited computer so I will write in detail later but Eugene has it all for me.

Lots of greenspace, natural foods, bicyclists abound,sustainable living,GREAT LIVE MUSIC, lots of spiritual seekers and hippies galore, herbalists, healers and gardenz everywhere, The Morning Glory Cafe...this is only my first day...so stay tuned. Thanks Jodi, for yer hospitality and enduring friendship.

This is part of a collage I did years ago (1997) sitting in a place called Roadhouse Coffee in Bodega , California while housesitting for a friend there. I did the entire collage from one art magazine...Linda Sauter wherever you are...Thank You for that time there. I miss your smile.

Where you stumble, there your treasure lies.

Joseph Campbell

Sometimes I just like to play with the Paint program on the computer...the mini spray paint can lets me pretend that I am a mural graffiti artist.

Every once in a while I go to this Cal Earth ( California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture)website to see if there is anything new. I love these Rumi- inspired dwellings. Sand bags and chicken wire, lotsa mud. Simple, cheap. http://calearth.org/galleries/earth-one.html

"It is when we are confronted with...poignant reminders of mortality that we become most aware of the strangeness and wonder of our brief life on Earth."
Kathleen Basford“A New View of the Green Man Sculptures,” Folklore, Vol. 102, No. 2 (1991)

My Tribe

Here's a very cool little website from a group of mud slinging women who call themselves "The Mudgirls". This website has some mighty inspiring photos.
click on http://www.mudgirls.ca/

ed·dy

n. pl. ed·dies
1. A current, as of water or air, moving contrary to the direction of the main current, especially in a circular motion.
2. A drift or tendency that is counter to or separate from a main current, as of opinion, tradition, or history.
v. ed·died, ed·dy·ing, ed·dies

For much of my memory in my life of self introductions, people have thought that I was saying Eddie instead of my actual name which is Annie. If I ever change my first name , I will change it to Eddy

I love the eddy as a metaphor for my life, spiraling, coming around, always in a circular motion, touching down to land on bits of creativity, back again to something else, all related.