Pictures from my Strawbale course at Blue Rock Station

Pictures from Living on the Edge of the Pacific

June is Pride Month

This is a collage that I created today, June 28th, 2009
Every once in a while if I am feeling really out of sorts, I sit down and do some ART.
I have this habit of collecting color photos from the local newspapers (wherever "Local" is at the time) and combining them with pictures of plants from seed catalogues. This is the combination that I love for collages. This is the first time in a long time that I haven't included a postage stamp somewhere, but one wasn't handy at the moment. SO instead, this time I decided to use some clay seals from the land of pyramids and rare historic coins, or pictures from the paper of them anyway. Lightning has only struck my favorite local landmark tower in Columbus twice that I know of... and both times it wiped out the transformer for my favorite radio station, a beacon of the times, WCBE. It struck when I was living here back in 2004 and again after I arrived back this time, 5 years later in 2009.
That symbolizes how inspiration comes and goes with me, like my spiritual awareness, it ebbs and flows , and sometimes strikes like Lightning, then I do Art for days on end. Yes, I might get in trouble for using a few pictures of noteworthy glass artists here, but that is the beauty of collage.
If you look closely at the bottom, the 2000 year old stumps revealed during a lowlow tide on the Coast of Oregon this week ,blend right into the pyramids on the horizon.
Speaking of pyramids, there are an abundance of them in downtown Columbus architecture.
The rope reaching for the sky from the depths of the sand, was part of a float holding two women getting married (symbolic of course until the bigots "wake up")last weekend the day of the parade here in Columbus. The Aztec headdress that adorned a local guy in the same parade, now is being worn by Lady Liberty on a hidden old rare coin. And sunflowers , I just plain Love... for all their glory, growing in all types of soil, following the star that our planet revolves around, a symbol of endurance.
On the right is a pest that I am supposed to be looking for on my (really big) tomato plants. It is so beautiful, it has 8 marks like eyes on it. I gave it a tomato to eat in this picture, as a little prayer to stay away from my healthy ones out back.
So far here in my Mom's backyard, I have planted 8 Tomato plants, Zucchini, Beets, Kevin's open pollinated Corn, some "Indian corn" from an ear I got from the Santa Cruz Farmers Market last fall ( in a different corner of the yard:), Carrots, Gourds, Pumpkins, 4 or 5 five different kinds of Sunflowers, Heavenly Blue Morning Glories, Purple Morning Glories, Purple Hyacinth beans, Love-in-the-Mist Nigella, sweet and edible Peas,Jacobs Cows beans, Moon and Stars watermelons, Nasturtiums, Bachelor Buttons, Cosmos, and 6 new Hydrangea plants. My plants that survived multiple mowings by my brother, Patrick ...(he thought they were "weeds") but I moved them from my garden on Richardson Ave when I left here in 2005 : Echinacea, Day Lilies, Comfrey, Lemon Balm, Evening Primrose all waited for me to come back and identify them and let them grow taller than 2 inches...and they waited and endured. In addition to that there are 25 different kinds of Roses, 2 kinds of Lilac bushes, Mock Oranges, Balloon Flowers, Violets aplenty,Astilbe, Vetch peas from the West Coast years ago,Hollyhocks (from my Sebastopol, California garden seeds), 4 different colors of Buddlea aka Butterfly Bush,Trumpet Vines, and a small collection of container plants including a thriving Heliotrope,(sp?) Impatians, Lobelia and several of my Jade plants that have survived a few cross country trips in the front seat of whatever I was driving. So I am surrounded by alot of beauty when I am in my Mom's back yard and that is the key to my recent ENDURANCE.

Lloyd Kahn and Shelter Publications

I am reallly surprised that I have not written about Lloyd Kahn before this, but here is my plug.
His book "Shelter" inspired thousands of people all over the planet to build many different types of homes, both off the grid and on. I met him in person for the first time at Solfest in 2006 at the Solar Living Center (Real Goods) there in Hopland, California. He had a booth promoting "Homework" his new book at the time. It is phenomenal in so very many ways. I told him that "Shelter" had been one of the most life changing books I had ever read and he gave me a signed copy of a poster for that book. Shortly thereafter I discovered his Blog. He actually inspired me to start my own blog and it's one of the only blogs I even read, 3 years later.
Take the time to go through it sometime. So amazing in so many ways. Then last fall he came out with his newest gem, "Builders of the Pacific Coast", which is hands down now my favorite Lloyd Kahn book. He sent me two of those posters when I was at the Lighthouse and one of them is there still, in the "Staff bathroom".
I saw him speak again in Santa Cruz, the night before I lost my job. I had wanted to find a place to learn how to build a Strawbale House next. Be careful what you ask for. Buy his books. Read his blog. Its about so much more than building, but quirky things about the things he sees, music, skateboarding, surfing. You name it, I love it all. Thanks Lloyd! His next venture is going to be about "Tiny Houses", another thing I am crazy about.
Here is the link to his blog.
http://lloydkahn-ongoing.blogspot.com
Enjoy! and support this amazing Earth lover and amazing spirit please.



–

My Favorite Quote from "The Grass Harp"

"It may be that there is no place for any of us.
Except we know there is somewhere;
and if we found it, but lived there
only a moment, we could count ourselves blessed".
From "The Grass Harp" by Truman Capote

Happy Summer Solstice Y'all

My picture to the right that is always there was a painting I did years ago for Summer Solstice. I think I was out of watercolor paper at the time and painted that on an envelope thatI found had lying around.
We had a serendipitous celebration of Summer Solstice here at Blue Rock Station (at dinner last night), following a full wonderful day of BRS Open Day here that brought about 35 new folks out for a tour and tea led by Jay and Annie. I got to use some of my experiences using nature art with kids and we did leaf rubbings and then painted them with watercolors. Alot of fun with 4 amazing kids and their parents. I also met a really neat family from Kettering ( who also felt like my long lost family)and they were really curious about Herbal Medicine, so I was able to share that part of myself too. These things fuel the very essence of my spirit. Earlier in the day ( between the public day and the dinner with some of Annie and Jays friends and two surprise friends), I had taken a nap. I woke up with " I have to find out the correct /official time of Summer Solstice" and went in and looked it up on the computer. I came across this amazing site( www. womenssolstice.com ) and read this prayer/invocation at dinner. We also talked about what Summer Solstice meant to us and I was able to drum (and sing some) with Eliza (Thank You) up in the garden as the sun was going down. Thank You Great Spirit , God/dess, All-That -Is
for sending all of these people my way. Annie B. Pictures later hopefully


2009 Solstice Celebration
June 18 – 21, 2009
A Morning Star Rises
For each child that's born
a morning star rises
and sings to the universe
who we are.

We are our grandmothers' prayers.
We are our grandfathers' dreamings.
We are the breath of our ancestors.
We are the spirit of Love.

We are mothers of courage,
Fathers of time, daughters of dust
Sons of great vision.
We are sisters of mercy,
Brothers of love, lovers of life and
the builders of nations.
We are seekers of truth,
Keepers of faith, makers of peace and
the wisdom of ages.

We are our grandmothers' prayers.
We are our grandfathers' dreamings.
We are the breath of our ancestors.
We are the spirit of Love.

For each child that's born
a morning star rises
and sings to the universe
who we are.

WE ARE ONE.

We Are... (from lessons by Y.M. Barnwell (c)1993)