Sunday Morning. Dara Knots..

I was out early today walking my red dogs around the neighborhood. Once again I had Kris Kristopherson's evocative song running through my mind. However it was Johnny Cash's cover of the tune that I 'heard'; it is perfect for his smoky low tone, the velvet-rough scrape of a cat's tongue in your ears. It was quiet, almost as if we were all alone in the world except for a few other dogs that barked as we passed by. I've never really been high or wished to be--my 'drug' of choice is something else, topic for another essay--but the loneliness surely resonates.

Which segues neatly into sharing some verses from this season, the main part of the little bit of writing I 've been able to do. They seem rather bleak or dark, I expect, and in some ways they are, but there is always a fine sliver of brightness shining through somewhere just as I feel in the deepest part of my depressions. Without further ado, here they are:

          I

Loneliness designed this gown

That has come to fit me well,

Buttoned tight with solitude

For no one is left to tell.

Long gone dreams of yesteryear

Now a quilt of memories make.

Some nights I draw it over me,

Nights when sleep does me forsake.

Familiar faces, fading

Yet precious still and dear

Are the company I seek.

Though distant, they seem near.

So it may be I am not alone,

For shades and ghosts yet keep

Counsel and give comfort

When the silence grows too deep.

          II

Words are still my playthings

After all these years.

Shape and color may intrigue

But words absorb my tears,

Capture all my joy and pain,

And shape it into rhyme.

I pour my soul out into words

As I have for all my time.

Painting pictures, singing songs

And capturing the taste

Of all that passes near me

That none of it may waste.

Still, words are my tools and toys,

The boards and bricks to make

My feeble try at a legacy

Before my leave I take.

         

          Erosion

A sandstone hoodoo standing yet

In wind and rain that will not let

Its primal lines remain for long.

Though scarred and scored, standing strong

For awhile yet, an eon or two!

What else is there for it to do?

And like that stone, I wear away

As time erodes me, day by day,

As wind and rain of troubled times

Scour me until only the rhymes

Within the core of me remain.

Foundation and frame withstand the pain.

            Anticipated Deja Vu

Looking ahead to a life-to-be

That waits beyond the veil for me.

Thinking of loose ends and broken ties,

Too late hellos and too soon goodbyes.

            With which one will the hand of fate

            Renew our bonds? I anticipate

            A reunion. At first we  do not recognize

            Kindred souls in a new disguise.

Still, strangers we can never be

For the Dara* knot of you and me

Will always entwine and reconnect

With the timeless bonds we both respect.

            I look forward to that bright someday

            And sense it is not too far away.

            You have already gone across

            To prepare and wait. My sense of loss

Diminishes as my days unwind

I’m alone yet I’m not and do not mind

As I look ahead to that life-to-be,

To another chance for you and me.

All poems (c) GMW Aug 2017

*A Dara knot is the main familiar Celtic interwoven pattern, inspired by the tangled roots of the Druid's sacred oak tree. "Dara" is also the use-name of my guardian angel, given to me in a powerful dream a number of years ago.  Here are a few examples. They can be very simple or extremely elaborate but I have a theory the ancient Celts came up with this and the many interlocking/interwoven patterns they used as a way to graphically portray the turns and twists of life and lives, the coincidences and connections, those jade vu moments and the soul mates and soul group we belong with.

Creative Energies

As I said yesterday, the word-well really ran dry for me for awhile. As I have done before when this happened, I turned to creating with colors and shapes instead of words while it recharged for me. Here are a few things I have done this summer.

Most of you who read this blog know I am an avid sewist, a skill and love inherited from both my grandmothers. I used to make most of my own clothes and many for my daughter but now as a retiree and mostly stay home gal, I have turned to quilts and fabric art. I'd had several beautiful and evocative southwestern/Native American themed pieces for quite awhile, most acquired from my favorite source eQuilter.com. I had wanted to put them to use but the ideas did not want to gell for awhile. Finally I added a few new yards to my stash and voila, I could "see" at least a vision of what I wanted to do.

So many yards of thread, much cutting and tearing to create the right sized pieces and a few rip-out-and-redo sessions later, I ended up with two very unique and colorful double-faced quilts. I always try to make my quilts and wall hangings so they can be used with either side forward and really did it this time. I am not sure if they will finally end up as gifts, sold or kept 'cause I can't bear to part with them. We'll see. Below you can see the two sides of Arizona and Desert.

The other effort I made was to resume taking my jewelry to the local Farmer's and Crafter's  Market every Saturday morning from June through the end of the growing season. This has not been a good year for the local gardeners and small scale truck farmers but there are still a dozen or more folks with their produce displayed and a few other crafters as well. Alameda Park in the middle of Alamogordo is a nice place and pleasant most days this time of year. I'll include a photo of my set-up, when it is windy as my displays are light and can be tossed around if there is a brisk breeze. Earrings are my biggest seller and most plentiful but I also have necklaces, bracelets, matched sets, key rings and a few belt buckles and bolo ties. I enjoy talking to the folks who come by and have made enough so far this season to give me spending money for my upcoming road trip to Arizona!

Windy Day Display

Desert Sunset

Desert Storm

Arizona Native Beauty

Arizona Scenery

Finally Back Again

Summer this year was weird. I have taken a very long sabbatical, much longer than I had originally intended, but it's time to come back and carry on! Those of you who also follow me on Facebook have seen things I posted there including my almost-weekly Flashback Friday pictures. Yes, I am still busily scanning the ginormous collection of Walton/Morgan and even earlier past family members photos. They just go on and on like the Energizer Bunny. The end is still not in sight!

Nostalgia is a funny thing. It seems to kick in more as one gets older. I dare not say "old" as I refuse to accept that label even if it might be getting more true as the time rolls past. Anyway, the last few weeks I have done most of the photos I myself took in the years from 1966 through 1970 when I went to college and then began my first real adult job. Those were years of huge transition for me as I went from a social and partly emotional age of about sixteen going on the actual twenty three or even older in some ways  to a fully independent and self-sufficient life. There were bumps and detours and a very steep learning curve for me in many ways but a lot of fun and memorable times as well. Those photos brought them all back, the good, the bad and a few uglies.

I'll be throwing a few of them at you in the next several posts but today I just wanted to get going again and apologize for being absent an unconscionably long time.  A lot of it was the result of one of my off and on bouts with depression, a need to let the well of words and thoughts recharge for it had gone quite dry, and my usual summer spell of bad eyes with the allergies and my ongoing dry eye condition fighting over my abused eyeballs. I'm coming out of that now and pretty well past the other. It feels good to be back. I did write some verses off and on and I do plan to share some if not most o them before long too.

I still have my dear canine companions and still walk most mornings, watching the seasons change and noting the subtle cues of what is going on in this small segment of the world. I figured I had covered the main flora and fauna pretty well in the past so I have not added much to the pix along that line.

It is almost time for another road trip, not quite the pilgrimage I made in 2015 but similar in some ways. I have a high school reunion to attend on September 23 as the "On The Hill" gang gathers one more time--that is all of us who attended/graduated at the old Jerome High complex before the current Mingus Campus was built in Cottonwood. These are always fun and I am eager and excited. I will also make the trip on the Verde Canyon Scenic Railroad again and after that probably go south to visit family and friends in Tucson and Cochise County. So expect trip reports starting around the first of next month.

Meanwhile go in peace and harmony, one and all!

Here are two shots from my college days, just for spits and giggles!

Morton Hall, my first dorm

Winter festival, Jan 1967