Joyous

I-I-I-I-I-I-I (spoken sing-song like the Angel in Tony Kushner's Angels in America)

am

drinking

a

cup

of

oolong tea

from a

teapot

and the wind

is blowing

-- or --

Is it the

leaves that are blowing?

A Zen master said

it is our minds that are moving...


Next to the teapot is a beautiful orange-y ripe peach with red markings -- but not for long -- 'cuz I'm going to devour this juicy wonder. I will take a photo of it first, Just in case I want to paint it. I read once that Mme. Matisse (Henri's wife) would become angry with Henri for bringing home beautiful fruits and vegetables when she thought they were poor. Instead of eating them, he'd arrange a still-life. By the time Henri finished the painting, most of the fruits had become soft and old. I like that story, first, because of the Spirit to create and the emanations of Light and Color that surged through him and the fruit, second, because Henri knew he was rich beyond measure to be so inSpired, enThused, and inFused with Light and Color, and thirdly, because I like to imagine Henri in his suit painting (he always painted wearing a suit jacket and trousers) in a stream of light at a wooden table where a bowl of fruit glowed for him.

The Wisdom of Wind, the Power of Trees

Today is Sunday.

The air is different today than yesterday. The leaves are swishing more and it feels cooler and more like Autumn. As I begin writing this entry, I am listening to Krishna Das singing these words from his Door of Faith CD, "I have found a way to live in the presence of the Lord..." interspersed with the chant, "Rama Rama Rama Sita Rama Rama Ram...."

I feel relieved when the CD comes to an end, as KD's singing competes with my writing mind. Right on cue, the mower that's been droning nearby stops, too. Ahhhhhh, just the sounds of swishing leaves now, melodic wind chimes, and the scratchy lapping up sound of Yuki's tongue licking a bit of coconut oil from a plastic tarp.

There are other sounds, too -- high bird chirpings, voices of neighbors coming in and out of range, the metal on metal sound of screen doors opening and closing, crunchy leaves on cement patio being swept by a broom, the occasional car driving past, staccato tweet tweet tweet of a bird, and the swirling sweetness of wind chimes. The overriding sound I hear, though, is that of Autumn: the music that trees and bushes make as wind circulates around and through leaf and branch, down to their roots, massaging their trunks.

"Soon it will be time for us to be quiet," they say. "For now, let us dance and sing and enjoy the rush of wind on our stems, bark, and leaves."




Who's Kissing Who? (image from my 52 Weeks Set on flickr)

Sound does that.

Walking through Lithia Park yesterday without Yuki... Around one of the ponds, a cellist had set up and was playing Bach so beautifully. People were sitting on benches, listening with eyes closed, while others were picnicking. A man was at his easel painting in oils... Such a gorgeous moment with the light, deep green of tall trees, sparkles on water, and the sound of cello weaving us all together.

perfect glowing greenness

The grapes of my body can only become wine

After the winemaker tramples me.

I surrender my spirit like grapes to his trampling

So my inmost heart can blaze and dance with joy.

Although the grapes go on weeping blood and sobbing

"I cannot bear any more anguish, any more cruelty"
The trampler stuffs cotton in His ears:
"I am not working in ignorance

You can deny me if you want, you have every excuse,

But it is I who am the Master of this Work.

And when, through my Passion, you reach perfection,

You will never be done praising my name."

Rumi (not sure who the translator was; this poem came to me in an email without citation -- maybe Coleman Barks??)

Some kind of gestation...

It's been 9 months since my last post and... Here I am (Hineni).

I am in Oregon where there is no such thing as self-service gas, a gas attendant pumps it for you. I like that -- no fumes to breathe in and no gas smells on my hands. Other things I like: yummy, sweet blackberries growing all over, environmental awareness, trees, the mountains here in Ashland, the ocean and wide beaches of the Northern coast, friendly, friendly people, and all the arts and culture here in Ashland. Now to learn what other edibles grow wild around here.

My new little munchkin, Bodhi

Bodhi was born on October 29th, 2008 and came to live with Jesse, Yuki, and me on New Year's Eve. I first met him when he was barely 2 days old. I've been taking photos of him from day 2 (and through all his gender changes, which you can find out about when/if you read my flickr posts within the Bodhi Set).

Happiest New Year 2009 to All, 明けましておめでとうございます！Every day is a good day!

Ganesha comes to the Desert

Listening to Krishna Das chanting the Hanuman Chalisa on this cold (for Tucson) late autumn day. I look up from the keyboard and see chartreuse green leaves of the mesquite and the green trunk of palo verde. The sky is blue with white cloud puffs hanging. Low-hanging clouds are obscuring the top halves of all the mountains around here. I will see soon when i go out to do some errands if there's snow on the mountains. I like snow.

inner strength, trust

If fear is part of growth, how do we develop inner strength and how do we develop trust?

Trust is a very important part of the spiritual journey. Not trust in a particular outcome, but trust that you can open to the present moment. And we don't just automatically have that trust; it's something that we develop... [through/with]... mindfulness.

~Pema Chödrön, Noble Heart.

magic star & butterfly

teapot no. 243 (no. 43 of the third set of 100 teapots)

~*~

Sitting in front of the open window with my palo verde and mesquite tree friends and some cholla and prickly pear cactus. I'm wrapped up in a wool shawl, sipping oolong tea out of my newest little teapot. Turtle beans are cooking in a big pot in the kitchen. Their overnight soaking water had turned purple-y this morning ... would make a fine textile dye, I thought, but fed the water to the rosemary bush instead.

Jesse just crossed the wide space between my house and the neighbor's. she looks around, crouches down, and scurries across to the safety of a porch. The squatty pipes on D's house look like a Buddha and her recently trimmed trellis vine looks like a sadhuni's trident. Tree branch and cactus pads cast angel shadows and reach toward the blue sky. Good to feel the blessings that abound and see the angels all around. Out into the day now ~ will walk with Yuki, feed the baby mesquite tree, plant wildflower seeds, bicycle over to the pottery studio for open lab, and pick up a mop on my way home... it's a beautiful day.

a selection of my recent paintings, handmade books, and pottery

teapot paintings ~ 233-237

See the growing collection here

recent teapot paintings (227-232)

[this is the inverted version of teapot no. 32 ~ colors digitally inverted]