just another mystery. Aphids. A LOT of them. Where do they come from?, out of the blue???? I don't see aphids any where else. Not in the Forest anywhere. Not on any of the other Wall Garden plant people, the cauliflower, the brocolli, Aztec Spinach, none of those Leafy beings. But the Kale. Oh, they seem to love the Kale. Which is really ok because there is a lot of it and they can be washed off, easily and we can
share
the decision was made. Fence ourselves in, let them Free to help us.
When daughter opened their gate and walked away, they just stood there, staring. And she called them and they hesitated long, but slowly came out. They went directly to where the alfalfa bales usually are kept and began there, eating, but as time went by, they wandered. short forays into the trees, then back. The hope is that they get used to it, and just spend their days wandering. As they did today, they may go in and out of their Own Forest, it's where their water is, and they all went back in today for the late afternoon cud chewing rest time. But now they have Work. I had no idea how the buck Goats might perceive this, but they watched quietly. All was well.
at the top right of the pic above, you can see the Goat Boat, the trailer i had made to bring them from New Mexico. It's been used as storage for tools, baby equipment etc. It needs to be emptied and readyed for use if the need arises. So this is a portable shed thing. It will have "walls"… this much today. It's in the forest between C and the top of the hill of B. Daughter Jenny loves these kinds of things.
Watch "The Grandmothers .FOR THE NEXT 7 GENERATIONS" on YouTube
not looking or needing any comments at all. Just putting this here. On Emrie's first birth day.
reading here and there how "weather" is wearing on people. Too Wet. Too Hot. Fire. Drought. How people are
un comfort able.
and i thought how i'd been taught that any decisions made were made in a Circle and that any decisions that were come to, must fulfill well being for 7 generations. For the children. 7 generations of them.
when you watch this. What do you feel?, what do you come away with? Do you see it as interesting and quaint, a kind of beautiful story of women? How does it compare to the news of the day, of our leaders in positions of power? Could it possibly BE that what this tells of, is REAL?
again. not looking for comment. it's a rhetorical question maybe for the privacy in side one's self. But…why do we choose to believe one thing as real and another as not real. What is real. and the question, what is real, is it Real?
Jenny took time off from work. Alyssia packed up dog and baby and arrived. We were ready. I had picked one of what i am sure are native plums, and one of its leaves….to ask for identification. We waited. then Alyssia and Jenny began to continue to dismantle the broken trampoline. Time went by and after a half hour i called, to a voice mail…????? and then after an hour and a half he called. Permaculture guy…..had gone way north very early for something and it took longer than he'd expected. I was so bummed. Jenny went home. Alyssia Emrie and i on to other things. So…we have another appointment for next week. In the meantime, i'll need to wait to know something about this plant person. She is just at the spigot that is at the juncture water from the City water at the road and here at the base of the HILL.
Alyssia is a master of detail. She has a gift. I am often lost in the big picture, lost in a rolling Epic that takes place inside my head. A couple days ago, she asked if i'd smelled this plant person at the spigot??, no. Smell it, she said. Next morning i did. Ran my hand lightly up leaves and a fragrance released that was incredible. Pungent, somehow unidentifiable, seeming to be a mix of many things…an aroma of , Alyssia says ,sage, i say rosemary and with MORE, and for sure a citrus rush…and on your hand, a lingering substance, sticky but disappearing soon.
Who is she?
and the next day, i see that all across that area of the Meadow that was mowed, more of her have sprung up. Who IS she? Having realized that the question is of Reciprocity, i see her as the first to speak. I see her choice of positioning, right at the spigot, her language of Scent….i see her Agency. I see her speaking about knowing first before doing. I hear her saying that before we decide to do anything with/about that meadow, we need to learn more. Her kin are there..having been hidden by the taller grasses that have now dried and become pale….she remains GREEN. Her tribe is GREEN. As the daily temps of 100 degrees continue, there is no lessening of Green. Who is this? and what does she have to tell?
this stool…made by Alz. Betty's husband in his first efforts at furniture making. Had by me for many years, just "outthere" sitting in the sun, never really having a purpose, which i guess means, no Need for it….? Brought from New Mex for no reason other than i had had it for so long. It's perfect for Emrie, who is enjoying learning to sit on things. Here, where we go often on these HOT afternoons to turn on her sprinkler, or the mister. At the place in the forest between B and C.
today, they left early so when i went to that place in the forest between B and C, where there is always a breeze and where the Yellow Butterfly meets the other Yellow Butterfly and where the Yellow Jackets come to drink from the hose connection of Emrie's sprinkler, i found that the stool also was a good desk. Was hoping this pic might show how the cloth is puckering some because of the Kantha, but i don't think you can see it, really. I sit on the Earth. I could bring one of the chairs, but … i sit on Earth. While i stitch, i remember that i am "grounding" too. Stitching and Grounding.
so, in keeping with recent thoughts about "studio"….this is mine. Where i work. When it's available.
i wadded cloth again and on the way down to Give Water to the Wall Garden, i pushed them in and two others, between the galls. I'd taken off the lid this morning and by this time, early evening, a lot had evaporated. Giving Water there, the Wall Garden, the two trees and three grapevines, takes about an hour. If you move along, don't get distracted by watching the spring peepers appear and disappear, looking at stones. I got a pitcher of water from the canal/creek to give to this pot. While i watered, Tay drank half of it. Had to return to fill.
When i returned after that, i guess, really more like an hour and a half give or take, THIS! And because i am how i am, i undid the bundle of these two. Left two. Undid them and hung them to the cloth line. I am close to ecstatic.
and because maybe of Beauty afoot, i managed just now to figure out putting this second pic!!!!! The Mother's Day Fig Tree. Could there be any fruit more elegant?
Looking Up, i see that MOON is nearing Full.
muslin just randomly wadded up and rubberbanded, lying in the company of oak galls for just some hours. Here, still wet so a stronger image than when dried, but now i know what i can hope for. LOVE. an almost bluegrey in some light, other light, a vague sage green. I could not ask for more.
the Permaculture consult that was originally scheduled for last week postponed till this Wednesday. 9 am. I can barely wait.
the old. old. rusted. cast iron pot.
Oak galls. "Oak galls are the result from the puncture of the bark of the young twigs of Oak trees by the female Gallwasp, Cynips Gallae-tinctorae, who lays eggs inside. Oak galls are very high in tannin and are therefore good for producing true blacks, greys, and buffs as well as "saddening" other dyes. " renaissance dyeing.com
primitiveways.com/black_dye Dino Labiste clear instructions and beauty FULL photographs
Robin Wall Kimmerer "the next step in our cultural evolution, if we are to persist as a species on this beautiful planet, is to expand our protocols for gratitude to the living earth".
Robin Wall Kimmerer gives the word: reciprocity. I look it up: the practice of exchanging for mutual benefit…mutual well being.
not so much the concept of sustainability. That infers repeating what GIVES. over and over. ie a sustainable lifestyle.
Reciprocity. Reciprocity means Earth gives. We give back.
thinking. what do we give back here? This is the single most important question. What do we give Back?
phone rang..or, what it does, and i didn't recognize the #, but Detroit….? It was Jill Zundel, Pastor of the Central United Methodist Church in Detroit, Michigan. Sorry to be calling, but to tell me that Wendy had passed away. They, she and a friend were at Wendy''s home and and had found things to indicate they should call. There was an exchange. and then they asked if i knew of any family she might have had. No, i didn't. No family. She was kind and also pragmatic and the exchange wasn't long. She would be in touch.
Wendy. Passed away. Dead. Wendy is dead. I talked to her last Saturday. 4 days ago. We don't do phone much. But there was a space that late afternoon, and i called. She was her usual self as in the last couple years. Nothing different. Our conversation was also not remarkable. Familiar.
We do letters. Many letters overtime. We began together in 7th grade. Then, back and away for the next Life Years, so…from 11 years to 72. I was her maid of honor. She came to New Mex once to visit. In the last 15, 20 years, we have cxchanged letters at least monthly. She told of her life in Detroit (where i was born) working with the Swords into Plow Shares Gallery, with the Peace and Justice arm of that with a food kitchen. When you call her phone the machine says " this is Wendy. Without Justice there is no Peace".
i have her last letter here. The envelope has butterflies on it.
so the hard part today is that i can't call her. Alyssia and Emrie were here and it was an ordinary day with them, but off and on i was struck by the thought to call Wendy. But i can't. I want to call her and say Hey!, what's the deal? When i talked to you on Saturday, and asked you…HOw is it for you? , you didn't say anything that let me IN on the reality that i wouldn't be able to call again.
i can' t call her. I can't ever call her again.
i had sent her the pic above yesterday. They weren't sure when she had died. I dont know if she saw it? She liked hearing stuff from here.““““““““““““““““
it
