the canyon

January 6, 10 am... I am about ready to head down South Kaibab trail headed for a two night stay at Phantom Ranch. I'd made the reservations months ago, and this date was the only opening for two women, two nights, in a bunk house... the days we had to take... but in retrospect, this was the perfect time to go...

the views are spectacular... but it is the Grand Canyon after all...

Lots of snow on the trail at the beginning. We did not wear crampons but both of us had our poles... and on the South Kaibab there wasn't much ice, so the poles did nicely...

okay, more views... the colors, the shadows.... and the thought that this is where we are heading.

We begin the second big down hill... see the steps? My knees begin to talk to me but the steps do not turn out to be as problematic as I'd thought... at least not yet...

these mini-microcosms fascinate me... the moss, the ivy, the little cactus all clinging to a rock... three feet away there is too much sun, not enough water for these to survive.

the last stairs... toward the end I suggested Stacey just throw me down the hill... every step was painful and the grunts and groans while genuine also made us laugh...

The bridge!!! Flat land at last!

Little did we know it was still over a half mile to Phantom Ranch, a clean bunk, a shower and dinner. I took a bottom bunk, Stac, God bless her, took a top... the cabin had mice(go figure) and I am freaked by mice, so slept not-so-soundly that first night... none attacked me, and by the second night I wouldn't have cared.

Two of out bunk house buddies suggested we hike to Robbin Falls, 7 miles up the North Kaibab the next day and we decided, after being assured that the trail was very gradual, that we would do it.

The trail was a pleasure! No steps, the beautiful Bright Angel Creek, fly fisherman here and there along the way to wave to....

This raven and his buddy did not want to cooperate with me... there is a dead deer here and the two of them were feasting, beaks red... but I had to get away and use a zoom and so you cannot see much. For me there is something wonderful here, not gory, the deer was dead, the ravens clearly could not have killed it, but they could eat it. The deers death became useful. It's life full circle. The deer died and the ravens were hungry. Almost poetic.

I was surprised when we came out of the canyon and entered a marshy area full of willow and reed.

and then the marsh turned into this broad valley full of vegetation... here it looked more like a hike through the Superstitions, than the Grand Canyon...

Finally, after a scrambled trek up a steep hill we came to the turnoff to Ribbon Falls

ooooooo.......

ahhhhhhhhh........

again, these little ecosystems that thrive amaze me...

we have to get back... it is 14 miles round trip and dinner is sounding pretty good...

8:30 am.... goodbye Phantom Ranch, little deer, bunk house buddies, dinner friends, fellow travelers, beautiful creek.....

goodbye river, goodbye rocks.....

hello Bright Angel Trail....

up again into the snow... the steps here, while up, and therefore easier on the knees, were big, and the trail rutted and slick....

And finally, we are out... tired, sore... and within twenty minutes of this photo shivering with cold...

but I'm going again. Maybe every year... I still cannot stand and walk without hobbling for a bit and I know I will go back again and again...

knitting

My needles have been still for well over a month. The project I had begun had come to a dead halt. If I ever finished the Intarsia bolero I'd begun, I probably would never wear it... and so, I've pulled the needles, bagged the yarn and moved on.

I'd purchased this Adirondack yarn last fall. It was on sale and I could not pass up buying everything they had left on the shelf.... the colors were luscious. I have two hand dyed colors, one called Cinnamon, the other Foliage ... and the colors in the twisted hanks are so similar that one of the foliage's was marked cinnamon... but laid out next to each other I could see the difference.

I thought the colors blended well until I balled them....

Seven skeins, 250 yards each, wound into balls... suddenly the colors didn't look as affable.

This picture (taken in my kitchen sink) shows the differences better. One skein cool blues and pinks, the other warmer greens and reds...

My friend Nat, when I asked her about the colors, suggested I do every-other row a different color.... easy enough as I'll be working in the round....

But now my question is... after doing a swatch, I don't know that I like the stockinette stitch... I think there might not be enough texture to create interest... on the other hand, a garter stitch all over might just be too much.

I'm working from two similar patterns, I'm going to make some adjustments to length, I've done all my measurements and figured the gauge... I think I am ready to cast on and begin. But before I go beyond the first few rows I'll need to make a decision... gulp

New Years Eve

I've been feeling a little bit pulled... the holidays, while wonderfully spent with my Phoenix family had some missing pieces... and leading up to them I completely set a lot of myself to the side while I prepared. Sister Liz would say I told my Soul to hold on, there, until I had time. She told me once the Soul will only wait so long before it begins to act up, trying to get your attention. Anyway, by December 26, I felt the long face of too much this and not enough that settling in... so I rummaged about and pulled out my journal which has been sitting forgotten for a few weeks and sketched a minute with pencil then began to block out negative space.
I like the whole cosmic idea of negative space... that stuff that lies behind... the darkness, the holy ground where all growth begins. We are in the dark part of the year, just turned the corner, but it will take weeks before the sun seems to catch up with the reality that the winter will be vanquished... but winter has it's place, as does darkness... and so I tried to concentrate at first just on what lay behind, I tried to ignore the stuff on the surface. I tried to put the uncertainties, the decisions I think I need to make now, the to-do list aside and spend a little time not trying to take care of things that will take care of themselves.

I played a little with the positive, and put this floating head in, but mostly I added color and shine, adding depth to what was behind.

I heard the words, come out, come out, wherever you are, playing in my head and put them running up a couple of the stems. I added thorns and texture to the bramble and painted in the head a bit more, then muted her with a blue wash.

And last I hid her behind tissue paper leaves... she isn't ready to come out just yet. She needs the dark and values the solitude... anyway, it's cold out there, and she doesn't have any answers yet.

12/20

Tonight is an eclipse of a full moon, on the eve of the Solstice... lots of energy is swirling around all these movements... and I think I have caught some of that energy, since I feel like I've hit a calm spot and still I am accomplishing all kinds of things....

Like these chairs are done... the color blue in this picture is too pale, but I wanted to take a shot of them both together outside... even though it was a cloudy day the sun washed out the colors...

here is a truer depiction of the colors... deeper, richer... and the turquoise blends with the different shades of turquoise and teal you find throughout my house... the red is a little startling, but I love it and the chairs are so comfortable I might find myself sitting in them all the time

and these are the Martha Stewart coconut cookies I made (they are delicious!)... and I finished frosting them about a half hour ago so I am done, done, done making cookies for another year.

welcome to my house

My house is my workshop, my studio, my eat, sleep, and play place... and while I would love to have a art specific space, what I have is an art and craft house... so come on in and see what I am up to.

My favorite, Trader Joe's wreath is hung on the door... decorated this time with my cow bells and a felt star and ribbon. The lights are up outside, the tree is up inside, and the mixed bag Christmas music is playing.

Sour dough bread, fresh from the oven, fills the house with pleasant smells....

Three little pairs of felted slippers, done. Maybe not the prettiest things but will keep three boy's feet warm this winter.

A row of decorative knobs on a nice pine board dyed with a mix of yellow and deep green Rit, sanded and polyurethane'd, ready to be hung on the wall, to catch all the jackets and hats in one place.

Two half-price sale Goodwill rattan captain chairs....

scuffed up legs wrapped with twine, painted lipstick red....

it took a while to cover, to get the paint into the grooves...

this afternoon I'll apply the second coat... a deep southwest turquoise... rubbed in and rubbed off... it will tone down the red, but still leave the lively color showing here and there underneath....

Hoping these two will become handsome captain chairs at my dining room table... though I am a bit concerned with the size. What looked small at the Goodwill, looks kind of big in my home.
I'll take an "after" picture and show you the results...

I have one more batch of cookies to go... had thought I'd do two more batches, but after katie's cookie exchange yesterday, I am feeling pretty cookied out... so one more. coconut cut cookies from Martha Stewart, then I will put together cookie platters to give to neighbors and friends, and by December 26 my home will be cookie free once more...

All in all, this final week before Christmas should be pretty calm... and I am ready for calm and some time for reflection before I throw myself into the final frenzy.
blessings... on this third Sunday of advent

December 12

It has been so hard to sit and write anything... my brain is full of feathers and fuzz... things that tangle into other things and sound a lot like worry, or fretting... but really it is nothing, just worlds colliding and the holidays coming in the door.

I honestly have taken a couple pictures but so far none of them have been downloaded onto the computer...and I have been making things, but they are all Christmas gifts, so I'm keeping them under wraps... plus, since they are mostly outside what I normally do, they are not note worthy other than to say to one person or another, I love you... I've baked some bread... still not the hard crusted french bread I had a recipe for long before my kids were born... it was the BEST bread... so if you know of a really exceptional, and a bit salty(Ithink this was the secret) French bread, I'd love it if you shared... I have made my rum and brandy balls and put up the tree, hung the wreath on the door, played the Christmas music set I've downloaded into my iPod

I'm teaching a Sunday School class... it's a discussion class and I am the facilitator but not the authority. Today we talked about preparation and then read a story, For Being Good, by Cynthia Rylant, about a boy and his grandfather. This week of trees and wreaths and gifts and music have made me think of Christmas hopes and Christmas pasts and they all stir about making me happy and hopeful and sad all at once... so talking about preparation was what I needed at the time. And the class has helped settle me and returned my attention to the moment, where we all should reside.

The coming week is already filling and before I know it this whole season will pass, so it is my task to watch the path I am walking, to be attentive to the mood and music... and to be happy and to allow the future to unfold without expectation.

the winds of grace

The winds of grace are always blowing, all we need to do is raise our sails... I read that once, a long time ago, and while I tell most people it is Rumi, it might not be... but it has become an essential part of my philosophy... God and love are there, always, we just need to open our arms to them/it... and making things is one very important way I do it.
Wednesday night is Art Night(the best night of the week) at my place... one or two friends arrive with their journals or projects, their supplies and ideas. We sit at my table and sometimes work in silence. I feel so blessed to have other people who will sit and paint with me.

This week I've been working on a 'winds of grace' spread... with this funny angel blowing the love out into the world... my daughter told me once, she met an angel at the bus stop. An angel in the form of a homeless guy, who told her it would be all right, at a time in her life she needed to hear it from someone other than her mother. I asked my friend and spiritual director about it, and she told me, if you think it is an angel, then it is... the winds of grace are there, always blowing.

I also felted this little orange bowl. I'd had it knitted a long time ago, but tossed it in the wash Friday and this perfect little bowl is what came out of the machine... makes me think I'll look at this pattern again and make more... maybe make a bigger one, turn it upside down and make a hat... all kinds of possibilities

I filled the bowl with clove studded oranges and cinnamon sticks. I'll put a few little evergreen sprigs in too, and give this to my daughter for her table.

And last.... felted slippers. These are for P. I started with a pattern from Martha Stewart and some re-purposed wool sweaters I've been saving. Drew around each boy's feet, and rather than enlarge the template, drew my own. These are lined with fleece, and I crocheted a band around the top. The soles are leather, so they won't slip on the polished cement floor of their home. After sewing and crocheting, I tossed them in the washer and felted them some more. So while I started with Martha, I definitely ended with Barbara... and I think they turned out very nicely. Now two more to go, and a friend from Illinois is sending more wool sweaters, so I have no fear of running short of wool.

See. Grace. People who love me. People that I love.