Thoughts on an Equinox

This is something I wrote Sunday night. I guess this falls under the category of "random thoughts."

Earlier today, I wandered the grounds of the Unitarian campus in Davis with a group of fellow travelers. Our walking meditation included prayers, poems for the season, and the collection of some of autumn’s treasures. We sang

Summertime has turned the star-wheel
Autumn is upon us
Glorious the trees
Glorious the sight of rust leaves falling, falling

and reflected upon the gifts of this potent season.

Some of those gifts—the literal ones—now sit on the family altar we built this evening. In the seedpods of the Western redbud, in the tiny crabapples and the leaves from the big leaf maple there are other gifts: lessons about knowing when to slow down, and when to let go.

I am struggling with the grief of letting go. So many friends are dying of cancer, so many too young. We have poisoned our earth and ourselves in the process.

At church today we learned that a woman we know, not much older than us, is on life support and not expected to last long. She leaves behind two young daughters and a son with Down’s syndrome.

Another friend, 42, is dying of an inoperable brain tumor. Another of a rare cancer. One of my dearest friend’s fathers is in hospice—leukemia. Another’s just died—liver cancer. And several elders—friends, Craig’s clients—are deciding not to pass another winter on this earth.

In my worldview, death is accepted, in that it makes room for life. They are part of the same cycle, inextricably bound. But when so much death comes at once, it is a struggle not to feel engulfed by sadness. To honor the dying, I must choose to live with as much grace as I can muster and to embrace what gifts and happiness are bestowed upon me.

I came home from our morning at church feeling sad and yet peaceful, and resolved to get some plants in the ground before it rained. My favorite autumn equinox ritual involves planting flowers. To plunge young plants into dark soil as we head into the dark season is an act of faith. Like some of my friends engaged with the act of dying, some of them will not make it through till spring. Others will surprise me with their blooms next year. In my yard, the tender plants will be buried with the mulch of a thousand falling oak leaves.

And what would this season be without a harvest? This afternoon the garden yielded up to me divine treats: plump tomatoes, fragrant basil, spearmint and oregano, zucchini, cucumber, red peppers and flowers of half a dozen varieties. Watching the kids play in the back yard while I harvested, hearing the chiming bells of their laughter, was balm for the soul.

Toting my harvest inside, I spent the rest of the day cooking. Tomatoes became salsa and soup, basil became pesto, and the zucchini, melded with nutmeg and lemon zest, resolved into a delicious bread. What could be more life affirming than the smell of good food in a warm kitchen on a cold day?

I could say I cooked for my family—to feed them, body and soul. Or that I cooked for myself, as distraction. But really, I think I cooked for Becky and Corvin, and Jerry and Louis. It is up to the living to be strong, to make soup, to sing and grieve, and to remember. These are the tasks I take forward with me into my namesake season.

Playing with Metal Tape

I'll be teaching a workshop this weekend for our local Artist Trading Card (ATC) group. We are working off of the ideas in Bernie Berlin's "Artist Trading Card" workshop and seeing what we can do with them.

For this session, we'll be playing with metal duct repair tape. This is a wonderful art material: it's thin, bendable, easy to emboss or deboss, and it takes alcohol inks beautifully.

Here are some ATCs I've made using some of the techniques we'll cover.

On the radio

I helped develop a Low-Power FM radio station in our community, and the organization I manage has oversight of it (though it's volunteer run). Here in the States, LPFM stations were meant to provide truly local coverage, and they are just powerful enough to be heard within a given community. KDRT (K-Dirt) is our little station.

Anyway, I've been trying out something new: after doing everything possible with KDRT except actually hosting shows, I recently had the opportunity to interview one of my all-time faves, Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls.

In addition to being a phenomenal musician, and environmental and social justice activist, Amy and musical partner Emily Saliers recently took a stand on Capitol Hill for the Local Radio Act of 2007, which seeks to expand LPFM radio service in this country. Amy & I chatted about that, indie music, the disappearance of rural America, and her activism. Had a blast. Reminded me how much I love interviewing people, too (I used to be a reporter).

You can (if you like) listen to the Sept. 5 interview by going to :

http://www.artplusradio.org/

and scrolling down to the appropriate date. There's an audio link right there. It's also available as a podcast on Podcast Alley.

It was produced by regular KDRT producer Labiba Boyd, who has done some outstanding interviews (check out her web site while you're there).

Labiba has asked me to co-host an interview with Gloria Tristani, a former member of the Federal Communications Commission, so that'll be coming up soon.

Final Doodle ATC

Well, I played some more and took a friend's advice to add more color. I sprayed my white ATC blanks with Color Mists from Outside the Margins, using lime and fuschia, and then just doodled. The words just popped into my head as I was doodling, so I incorporated them.

How I spent my summer vacation

You know how John Denver sang about his Colorado Rocky Mountain high? Mine is the High Sierra high. This is Woods Lake, a small gem located at about 8,200 feet in the Sierra Nevada in California. A 20-minute drive and you're in Nevada, which is suddenly desert. Tall, tall mountains and desert. But on the west side of the Sierra, it is total lushness.

This is an annual trip for us. A week here totally renews me.

Get Yer Doodle On

On another group, we're doodling ATCs. I am a prolific doodler--during phone conversations, in meetings--always have been. But I did not realize I was such a linear doodler. Learn something new every day! One of these will end being the basis for a Doodle ATC swap.

Marshmallows, lichen & pine needles

On one of my Yahoo groups, Trish Bayley challenged us to start a sketchbook that is "all about us." On a good day, I would be challenged by such a project. But, I decided to take the journal along on my family's trip to the high Sierra a few weeks ago, along with some Caran Dache watercolor crayons and a water brush--and that's it.

But the pages needed texture, so I thought, "hmmm, what can I use?" One page has some nice ovals courtesy of a marshmallow...

Another was done by dabbing on watercolors with a piece of lichen...

Two were accented by dipping the tip of a pine branch in contrasting color and smooshing it on...

And one was just scribbles and the water brush.

The real challenge is that I know have to FILL these pages with journaling...about myself. I've actually started this but will wait till I get a few done to upload.