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the Grackles….so sensitive to movement…just a millisecond before there were too many to count but i raised the camera at the window and they scattered.  And it IS as i had guessed,  they are here to feed on those big grubs of the Fruit Beetles which were not as prevalent this year as last,  but many enough to bring this flock.  Flock is such a uhhh, small word for what they are.  More like a Tribe,  or Band of Grackles.  At any given time,  there are way over 50,  maybe close to a hundred between the Front and the Back.   There are adults and juveniles.  The adults are lucky hunters,  the juveniles run after adults that have snagged a grub but there is no sharing.  It's every bird for its self.  Goats ignore.   It's quite something to see,  50 or so grackles running amidst the Goats as they feed,  Goats as if the grackles do not even exist.    The grubs are here because of the Goat manure.  The birds are here because of the grubs.  OK.  

Sometimes they run.  they run as i do,  alternate legs forward and back…striding…and sometimes they hop.  Sometimes they hop/run/run/run hop.  One has no tail feathers,  but it doesn't seem to make a great difference in this moment,  but maybe with migrating it might.  I won't know.

LizardMoon Pocket  September 2015   $35

 

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Finished.  a strand of Jude's magic thread to hold things Safe.

I feel like a human being today.  Homo Sapien in her Diorama.  Peacefull.  Attentive.  Present.  Amidst.   

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Grand daughter sent this…this pic from the monitor screen.  She is coming next week.  I have a list.  One of the primary things is to learn how to post links.

Deb Lacative sent a link to an interview in The Sun.   The Geography of Sorrow    Francis Weller On Navigating Our Losses.   Google The Sun  October 20015 issue,  it's the first article.  Everything in it.  I nod,  yes.  The grandson who is floundering somewhere Out There,  it is about Grief.  Grief for a father who did not hesitate to make it clear that he didn't care.  But who also had  felt that lack of care before him in his own life.  How it goes.  And now the grandson has spawned a  son.   Now What?  He looks upon the infant.

last segment in the interview:

McKee:  Can you give an example of what we might gain by embracing grief?

Weller:  I remember one man i worked with who struggled with depression and addiction.  He was married and had children but felt separate from his family.  He also carried a degree of shame that made it difficult for him to make friends or let his wife get close.  He told me that his parents had divorced when he was young, and he had rarely seen his father after that.  I could tell that the grief had made a hole in his heart, and he had no way to heal it,  so feelings of unworthiness had rushed in to fill the empty space.

One day,  as we were working, the man reflexively placed a hand on his chest, and I suggested that he pause and notice what was happening there.  He said he felt a tightness.  I asked him to listen to that tightness and see what it might be about.  After few moments he told me that he saw a young boy in the woods playing hide-and-seek,  and no one had come to find him.  He couldn't remember if this was a real memory or not, but there was truth in it:  no one had come to look for him in his time of sorrow, and he had been hiding ever since.  He was able to tell the boy that he was there and that we had found him.  And he was able to bring that experience home and share it with his wife.  Now,  that's grief leading to intimacy."

So.  Check it out.

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12 responses to “how i know days can be, ….it was.”

  1. Nancy Avatar

    J. said he saw, oh must have been near 200 turkey vultures the other day. Maybe not quite that many, as they were going in and out of the clouds, moving and moving. But, anyway, way more than he’s ever seen together before. Makes one wonder.
    The lizard envelope is exquisite. Love the finishing touches. And the lizard rose too.
    I saw the article on FB this morning and read part of it before work. It was so interesting, so I threw it out there for someone to send it to you, as I had to leave! Glad Deb did 🙂
    Here is the link for others:
    http://thesunmagazine.org/issues/478/the_geography_of_sorrow

    Like

  2. Michelle in NYC Avatar

    The sun shines
    the hole heals

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  3. yvette Avatar

    what a great post…everything although at first i had to look up what grackles and grubs.are.
    the envelope…sigh….

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  4. yvette Avatar

    Nancy thank you for the link!

    Like

  5. jude Avatar

    geackles here, just a week ago. thousands it seemed. rummaging through the leaves. eating things that move. then whoosh to the trees, like dark leaves. all the while chattering. then they , whoosh, as a dark cloud. and gone.
    i like the magic thread there.

    Like

  6. Liz Avatar

    The Lizard Moon has become what it was always meant to be … whether it is called pocket, pouch, or envelope, I have been touched by your recent projects. Add to that Weller’s Geography of Sorrow … there is such potent potential (I know, redundant … but intentionally so, for emphasis).
    And your granddaughter coming … I smile!!

    Like

  7. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Somewhere in all of the responses to the grackles, the sorrow article, the soft and lovely lizard moon pouch, Alyssia coming and what joy for you that she will be here soon, is this: you are a great Nana again, another great grandson…love to la familia.

    Like

  8. Tina Avatar
    Tina

    Oh I am beyond Trilled..and Grace that you added something from Jude…WOOHOO!!! I love love love it!! Every bit of it! Also Trilled that you are expecting such an important visitor….GRANDdaughter…I can only imagine how exciting you both are. Family time….togetherness…making treasured memories…..again WOOHOO!!

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  9. Tina Avatar
    Tina

    Grace I cannot find your address…please email it to me at tinazaffiro@yahoo.com…THANKS

    Like

  10. Mo Crow Avatar

    love the elegant spareness of the Lizard Moon

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  11. Nancy Avatar

    You’re welcome 🙂

    Like

  12. .cynthia Avatar
    .cynthia

    they are..apparently..a plague of grackles…they were here early last week ..the meadow was alive with them..it was amazing to see the seed heads of weeds and grasses move as they swept moved across it..it looked alive
    the bag is exquisite..the tie..the small x..the thread and the elegant marks..oh grace..both sides..i have clicked and double clicked …
    isn’t it strange and good when things you need appear..thank you..all..for the geography of sorrow
    gentle day grace

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