spent a chunk of time last eve looking for pics in the totally unorganized Picasa so i could use them as prompts to myself to tell myself the story of the last days in a way that maybe made sense of some sort,  to understand maybe what this feeling of Drift is and as i did that the feeling of Drift drifted away but then Typepad was down again and so i just went outside to see what the stars were doing and then to sleep.

and i want to put here, right now,  a Mary Oliver that Cynthia gave over at Patricia's house,  followingthread.wordpress.com so here it is and not how it should appear because i don't know how to make the spacing correctly so it will just flow:

Mindful   Mary Oliver

Everyday i see or hear something that more or less kills me with delight, that leaves me like a needle in the haystack of light.  It was what i was born for…to look, to listen, to lose myself inside this soft world…to instruct myself over and over in joy, and acclamation.  Nor am i talking about the exceptional, the fearful, the dreadful, the very extravegant….but the ordinary, the common, the very drab.  The daily presentations, oh, good scholar, I say to myself, how can you help but grow wise with such teachings as these….the untrimmable light of the world, the ocean's shine, the prayers that are made out of grasses?

023

October 18, 2009  San Diego, California.  Waiting   Wanting to just go

 

032f

 

035

walking can help Labor progress.  We went to the zoo.  SanDiego zoo is a big zoo.  we walked all over it

 

038f

that bubblegum mother and HER daughter

 

066

we went to the hospital but they sent us back home.

 

009

we went to the park, walked some more,  mostly lost in our own thoughts

 

073

 

084

 

085

 

098

 

IMG_9228f

fast forward to a few days ago when he asks:  "Why do you love to live in the Desert,  Old Nana?"  (my daughter is New Nana)   i say because it's beautiful to me.   he asks:  "Why do you want to live in the middle of nowhere,  Old Nana?"   i don't know what to answer him.  so i say, well, where else would i live and he says   "by my house".   I don't know what to say.

so the days will now go along and the edges of the mind pictures will soften, even the pictures will fade a little.   But he is almost 5 now and i most likely will be asked those questions again.   And i think how i am always tied/tethered by love.   it's how it feels to me.  

 

IMG_9245g

 

IMG_9247f

 

IMG_9249f

made a couple faces

 

IMG_9244f

went through and through the baskets and finally found the right scrap.  washed and dried it.   i think this next cloth will be about the 

eye of the beholder.

 

IMG_9250f

OR,  maybe

the middle of nowhere

 

IMG_9252f

 

 

This is it, for today.  

IMG_9254f

Posted in

35 responses to “the morning after”

  1. jude Avatar

    so where is new nana these days?

    Like

  2. grace Avatar

    experiencing Independence

    Like

  3. grace Avatar

    nearby the boy, but Independence.

    Like

  4. beth Avatar

    Something of this post is stuck in my throat… He has heard those words? The middle of nowhere? But what about the goats? The dream kept so that independence can be experienced? Yes the eye of the beholder… This is not my story but I think I have opinions. Smiling.

    Like

  5. Joan@CopperCreekers Avatar

    love the one where he is with toad. he’s beautiful

    Like

  6. grace Avatar

    yes. he has heard those words. nothing much misses him…he listens.
    i think it’s genetic, the listening. up in Michigan now, he will
    hear those words again…she lives in the middle of nowhere, sewing. Feeding Goats every day at 7am 2pm and 5 or so, everyday, on the dot.
    i’ll have to put a
    dot
    in this Eye of the Beholder cloth

    Like

  7. grace Avatar

    to Beth’s comment

    Like

  8. Mo Crow Avatar

    Oh my goodness Grace!
    “the dot in the eye of the beholder in the middle of nowhere”
    I quoted this one by Carlos Castaneda a few weeks back & it keeps coming back & resonating like a slow drum
    “Does this path have a heart? All paths are the same: they lead nowhere. They are paths going through the bush, or into the bush. In my own life I could say I have traversed long long paths, but I am not anywhere. Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn’t, it is of no use. Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, the other doesn’t. One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with it. The other will make you curse your life. One makes you strong; the other weakens you.
    Before you embark on any path ask the question: Does this path have a heart? If the answer is no, you will know it, and then you must choose another path. The trouble is nobody asks the question; and when a man finally realizes that he has taken a path without a heart, the path is ready to kill him. At that point very few men can stop to deliberate, and leave the path. A path without a heart is never enjoyable. You have to work hard even to take it. On the other hand, a path with heart is easy; it does not make you work at liking it.”

    Like

  9. grace Avatar

    i read all Casteneda’s books and they among other things
    informed the changes i made when i left my Other life and
    headed for the Middle of Nowhere. I think that there
    more paths with heart than just one…and that in a lifetime
    we might have the opportunity to choose and rechoose. And
    also there is karmic ripening.

    Like

  10. Mo Crow Avatar

    the path of heart opens every day, in every moment, we can take the open hearted way or not but if we don’t therein lies the greatest peril… a closed hard heart that can’t feel anything… I have been there and it took a long time to learn to open the heart chakra again

    Like

  11. Michele BadAye Avatar

    Oh Grace, this brought tears. I see my life in these words. I don’t know if you feel it but it’s a bittersweet pang in my chest.
    My grand-daughter asks me why I don’t get winter or spring break from work so I can visit. She tells me to tell my boss it’s unfair. My grandson cries and won’t get on the phone because he wants to see me and come to where I am. I am always worried they will forget me because I’m :outhere:
    Thank you again Grace. ♥

    Like

  12. ² Avatar
    ²

    in the ” middle ” of … is everything present
    is everything full… if .. let it happen
    there are emotions … different … because of the middle of
    a question … ask answer … and new question
    wath is the path of the soul
    time for changing …
    wath is / will changing then
    time give vision
    the observer works … open eyes
    open eyes who are closed
    have the possibillity to see insde
    in rest
    breath in…out
    give trust
    there is trust in you
    always

    Like

  13. dee Avatar

    beautiful expressions here, Old Nana!
    Here’s to the glory in the ordinary… yes to that. and here’s to the drab in the ordinary, too. One of the most memorable quotes from the Castaneda books for me was the one where Don Juan cautions against taking sides with reality (i.e preferring the beautiful). Increasingly, I am drawn to document the off-beat places I frequent – the sock rack at Marshall’s, traffic jams on 128, the Rte 9 overpass that I go under all the time. I think one of the most beautiful photos I’ve taken recently was in the parking lot of strip mall nearby. In other words, not the rhodie blossoms, the darling squirrels, the ligularia fanning out in all its splendor. A PARKING LOT.
    Just found this quote:
    “You have everything needed for the extravagant journey that is your life.”

    Like

  14. julie Avatar
    julie

    wondering if you are feeling sad.

    Like

  15. Michelle in NYC Avatar

    Oh Grace
    These photographs, so intimate, real–really real. I LOVE the three of them walking–and the meer-cat on watch (San Diego?)–I Have that EXACT infant wrapping blanket, washed and ready to mail…maybe it will be useful for your cloth work…I’ll try to get to the post before I travel Thursday since I may not return till the end of June. COINCIDENCE is just a turn in the path. Your many faces are so expressive. So simple and yet full of feeling.

    Like

  16. Cynthia Avatar
    Cynthia

    oh grace..so much to take in..words and images and feelings…but mainly such small sweet pleasure that you are here..that our power is back..it has been an intermittent day…and now as it is almost 8 at night the sun has finally burst through..just enough to touch the edge of the hills before it sinks behind them..but beautiful…and so welcome..and i am rushing out the door ..but i wanted to at least stop and say hello…and now i am more than full of thought from all the above…later ..take care cynthia

    Like

  17. grace Forrest Avatar

    they don’t forget.

    Like

  18. grace Forrest Avatar

    Maria, yes. in the middle of, everything is present and
    full.
    and the emotions well…they are Emotions that rise out
    of love…and so just to feel them and yes breathe, in
    out
    what needs to happen will happen in time. i need to
    remember and step back sometimes, breathe and watch.
    yes. Trust.

    Like

  19. grace Forrest Avatar

    yes. the ordinary becomes more and more beauty full.
    i’d like to see a photograph of your PARKING LOT

    Like

  20. grace Forrest Avatar

    No. not sad. And i don’t know how this will be interpreted, but really, i am Lazy. i want whatever needs to happen to
    just go along and happen. Really, whatever, is ok with me anymore. but i want it to not require so many FEELINGS
    as i still sometimes have when i imagine that i need to
    KNOW the future. The present moment, as Maria said so
    perfectly, the middle, when everything is present, to
    just let it be present.

    Like

  21. grace Forrest Avatar

    that wrapping cloth…oh….i hope it doesn’t portend.
    When we were sitting outside under the Apricot tree in
    the heat of the late afternoon, Alyssia said that
    she wants us to have another girl child. She wants to
    “make” one…for us. Us being me, her, her mother.
    she wants it to continue that way…”because of how we are”.

    Like

  22. grace Forrest Avatar

    full of thoughts and visions. it’s really Quite Grand,
    isn’t it.
    Sun blesses the edges of your hills, your Rim

    Like

  23. Michelle in NYC Avatar

    Hey–she wwill take up her own fate—like all of you—moved by we know not what. So I was only thinking it might be useful in YOUR cloth making because of what it refers to–but if you have another use for it–go ahead–and if you want me NOT to send it for some reason, tell me. Meanwhile…love love love.

    Like

  24. grace Avatar

    “she will take up her own fate..like all of you…moved by
    we know not what.”
    i really love that, Michelle.
    No…send it. We’ll see. and Love Love Love back around
    to you.

    Like

  25. Nanette Avatar

    I have a great-grandchild due in October, I hope he/she calls me Old Nana…it’s such a full and encompassing title, description. I might never see this g/grandchild though, I am in Oz, his parents, my grandson, are over the way from you, in Ohio….thankyou for your story, Old Nana

    Like

  26. grace Avatar

    and i guess this is the Big Story, too. That there are many ways
    to love. He or she will be able to watch your world on your blog…
    watch how you worked when the tree fell on everything, how you
    made a Bower to ease the chickens worries….and maybe some day
    come. to always know about the Old Nana of Oz….
    Old Nanahood. it’s a good place…
    love

    Like

  27. Martine Avatar

    Oh Grace…………….

    Like

  28. grace Avatar

    o Martine…..

    Like

  29. Nancy Avatar

    Michele, my grandson does not ask, nor does he like to speak on the phone. He lives far and we have not seen him for 2.5 years. Soon he will be grown and the time will have passed. So many of us have pangs, that is why we visit each other’s homes. We understand.

    Like

  30. Nancy Avatar

    Me too 🙂

    Like

  31. Nancy Avatar

    There is so much here. Not only from you. This boy, he is a wise one, an old soul it seems.
    The second cloth picture had me thinking of you and your “Eeeeeeeeee” with slity eyes.
    I dream of the middle of nowhere and yes, I too find it hard to be patient for what is to come.

    Like

  32. grace Avatar

    Love is hard. as often as not. But it’s what we do.
    No getting around it.
    and yes. we be where it all is known to be love.
    and,
    Love to you.

    Like

  33. grace Avatar

    ee with slitty eyes…YEs….yes…that’s it…..

    Like

  34. Nancy Avatar

    Yes continuing loving, no matter if hard or not.
    Love to you too Grace.

    Like

Leave a reply to Mo Crow Cancel reply