W a t c h i n g P o p p i e s

MAKE L.O.V.E

2012-02-14T10:19:00.001-08:00

EVERYDAY

Curious

2012-02-04T23:47:00.000-08:00

I can not help but wonder:

It may be that when we no longer know which way to go
that we have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.
Wendell Berry

MOM

2012-01-26T20:48:00.000-08:00

"...blessings and life...
lots of life.
Even a life full of holes,
a life of nothing but waiting
is better then no life at all"
-mom

(photo by Nancy Neil)

waiting for you
...

TRUST

2012-01-22T22:40:00.000-08:00

"I began to trust the world again, not to give me what I wanted, for I saw that it could not be trusted to do that, but to give unforeseen goods and pleasures that I had not thought to want."
Wendell Berry - Hannah Coulter

MAN

2011-09-08T11:07:00.000-07:00

HE is a man with an independent income, a man of keen intelligence, well educated, sensitive, of excellent character, and capable not only with his hand but with his brain and heart. In making a life for himself he has apparently chosen to do nothing more then raise a family, provide its members with what he can, and enjoy the life of the day to day. He does everything singe-handed, from erecting buildings to raising crops, making wines and so on. At intervals he hunts or fishes, or just takes off into the wilderness to commune with nature. To the average man he would appear to be just another good citizen, except that he is of better physique then most, enjoys better health, has no vices and no trace of the usual neuroses. His library is an excellent one, and he is at home in it; he enjoys good music and listens to it frequently. He can hold his own at any sport or game, can vie with the toughest when it comes to hard work, and in general is what might be called "a good fellow", that is, a man who knows how to mix well with others, how to get along with the world. But what he also knows and does, and what the average citizen can not or will not do, is to enjoy solitude, to live simply, to crave nothing, and to share what he has when called upon. I refrain from mentioning his name for fear of doing him a disservice. Let us leave him where he is, Mr. X, a master of the anonymous life and a wonderful example to his fellow man.

-Henry Miller-
Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch

charco del ingenio

2011-03-19T16:56:00.000-07:00

a quiet place above the city

thoughts are easier from here

sweet and light -

...of only the essential things

. . .

-She finishes watering it

-Examines plant to see is it has any signs of growth

-Finds slight eveidence

-Smiles

-One part is sagging

-She runs her fingers along it

-Raises her hand over plant to encourage it to grow

screen play by D.W Griffith

text taken from a John Baldessari painting

Most days the light...

2011-03-16T19:45:00.000-07:00

it feels like this

The kiss

2011-03-06T18:00:00.000-08:00

los milagros del beso

a string of ponies

2011-03-02T12:36:00.000-08:00

01·07·11

Casa Rincon, Puerto Vallarta - discovered under a piece of kelp

01·16·11

Guanajuato - noticed in a cafe

01·23·11

Queretero - painted on a truck outside a mercado

02·01·11

San Miguel de Allende - rescued from the Tuesday market

02·11·11

San Miguel de Allende - seen at an antique store on Zacateros

HECHO EN MEXICO

2011-01-28T18:54:00.000-08:00

la vida y la muerte

el adorno

un amigo

el cuerpo

regalitos

small gifts from the sea

for Gabriel

(Orozco)

Muchas Gracias

Sundays are for lovers...

2010-10-31T17:46:00.000-07:00

...if you happen to be a carrot.

I wish I were a carrot today.

Follow Your...

2010-10-29T14:26:00.000-07:00

to where?

with who?

to here?

to there?

somewhere?

Tell me where,

where should we go from here my dear?

getting your ducks in a row...

2010-10-26T08:34:00.001-07:00

Let your sail down for the winter. Take out the boat and close up the shutters.

The sun is low.

Lower and lower

and the light is bright white silver streaked and crisp.

Cape Anne October 10th 2010

Africa - for a night

2010-10-16T18:20:00.000-07:00

Phebe Miner goes to Africa circa 1967

slide show

Andover, MA

October 12, 2010

she is like everything

2010-09-23T15:19:00.000-07:00

I was at a book store in Grass Valley, browsing obscure poetry pamphlets.

I made a little stack of ones with interesting covers.

I opened the first one, and that is what is said.

I think you are...I think I am...

we are...

The Eleventh Dream

"...the street was wide with the emptiness of morning a boulevard, slightly downhill, sloping just so much as would be needed to take the little bit of weight from a childs step.

She walked as if little wings were on her feet."

-Rilke

...like everything else

yes

that beautiful.

INSPIRE + MAKE

2010-09-05T08:29:00.000-07:00

INSPIRE

"We come to know in art that we do not clearly know where we will arrive in our work, although we set the compass, our vision; that we are lead in going along, by material and work process. We have plans and blueprints, but the finished work is still a surprise. We learn to listen to our voices; the yes or no of our material, our tools, our time. We come to know that only when we feel guided by them our work takes on form and meaning, that we are misled when we follow our will. All great deeds have been achieved under a sense of guidance."
(words and necklace = the great, amazing, everything Annie Albers)

MAKE

finding the need to make these lately.
Only the dried branches of manzanita and small gauge wire.
simplicity.
beautiful simplicity.
The Gods Eye is a magical tool for the Huichol people.
It is the symbolic power of seeing that which is unknown and unknowable.
understanding the mystery.
I wear this one around my neck.

(learning to love the mystery)

a fair Sunday...

2010-08-29T17:48:00.000-07:00

The Nevada County Fair

brings back memories...

rides
games
caramel corn
bright lights

I always wanted to win the biggest stuffed toy...

...turn a dollar into a gold fish...

...and kiss a boy on the top of the ferris wheel.

Some things never change.

Stay Together

2010-08-24T19:44:00.000-07:00

stay together

learn the flowers

go light

-Gary Snyder (from his poem For the Chidren)

People keep asking me lately what I want...
I tend to fumble a bit in the face of this question - but I know:

I want to stay together
I want to learn the flowers
I want to go light.

(and the rest will fall into place)
?

Give your eyes to the night

2010-08-22T23:09:00.000-07:00

"...the stars are the eyes of human beings,
which rise out of their closed lids and become bright and regain their strength.
And that is why all the stars are above the country-side,
where everyone is sleeping,
and over the town there are only a few, because there are so many restless people there,
weeping,
and reading,
laughing and watching,
who keep their eyes."

-Rilke from The Dream Book

Give your eyes to the night,
so all the stars will stay bright.

Where is Bill...

2010-08-17T19:56:00.001-07:00

Bill was here,

and Will and Willis and John.
(Sunset)
http://www.sunsetswebsite.com
They came on a Thursday.
I cooked pasta with every veggie in the garden we had melon and strawberries for desert.
There was wine and whiskey, and lots of songs and stories,
and sticks of burning sage.

Jesse Woods was here too -
I think these were his cigarettes.
http://www.myspace.com/jessewoodsband

On Saturday we had a potluck and invited all the neighbors and friends and had a little farm concert.
I made caramelized onion tart, and my famous secret popcorn for a late night snack
(the secret - nutritional yeast + butter + cumin + salt = yum)
When is was time to leave Bill left me with a few parting gifts.
Among musical talents and the ability to wipe away your tears with thousand dollar bills,
he is also a writer of short bits of odd genius.
see below...
(click on images to read)

Thank you Bill!
(and Will and Willis and John and Jesse Woods)
you are the best!

Please Mr. Postman

2010-08-04T20:16:00.000-07:00

because finding this in the mail box feels really good.

take me to the river

2010-08-01T12:54:00.001-07:00

I would like to take you to this place...

where you can dive off the tall rock,

or sit in the shallows quietly and listen to the water run over your feet.

I think you will like it here,

where the river meets the creek and every day feels like Sunday.

stealing beauty

2010-07-26T20:23:00.000-07:00

the spirit
likes to dress up like this:

ten fingers,
ten toes,
shoulders,

and all the rest at night

in the black branches,
in the morning

in the blue branches of the world.
-Poem by Mary Oliver

sailing is still romantic

2010-07-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

Gold Lake
We went sailing.
The boat was a 25 year old canoe trimaran:
Amigo Bob Cantisano at the helm.
The sound of sailing - wind and water
gentle creaks and ropes against wood.
On the way home we stopped at a spring to fill up water bottles.
I picked a wild azalea.

the day was good

Mama Spider

2010-07-18T22:29:00.001-07:00

I discovered a little spider in North San Juan.
She has a small studio with a big window overlooking a garden
where the humming birds play in the trumpet vine.
She weaves beautiful things on enchanting wooden looms.

The little spider is also an amazing mama of two, a farmer and the co founder of Sierra Seed Co-operative (saving and distributing local seeds in Nevada County).
I was inspired to do
and make
and grow
and weave

and paint a wall orange one day.

Thank you Rowen.

(take a looksee)
This is the place
http://willowspringsnsj.org
this is the spider
http://mamaspider.wordpress.com

sometimes called Bronx vanilla...

2010-07-16T20:45:00.000-07:00

...or Italian perfume, it is also known to ward off vampires, the Evil Eye, and the jealous nymphs said to terrorize pregnant woman and engaged maidens. All that and an aphrodisiac too.

We pulled up the garlic.
A lot of garlic.
We laid it out to dry under the madrone with the leaves pointed up hill so the juices would drain into the bulb

We braided it to sell at market for vampire hunters and optimistic lovers.

a golden horse

2010-07-14T21:47:00.000-07:00

called Solomon.

The wind of heaven is that which blows between a horse's ears.
Solomon is the neighbors horse.
You can call him when you are in the out field and he comes slowly walking.
Yesterday I fed him oats and thistle at sunset.
Everything was golden: Solomon's coat and blond locks, the tall dry grass and I was wearing a yellow dress.

beginning with supper...

2010-07-10T21:34:00.001-07:00

chilled cucumber and avocado soup
2 bean salad with corn and day lilly's
grilled veggies
a bottle of rose