Musing

Sounds Of Spring\’s Return

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”3120″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Rise up. The lure of spring is apparent. It feels like Mother nature has grasped our hands and is pulling us to our feet.
There are whispers all about…
Get up. Feel your feet solidly under you again, there will be no more sinking in the snow. Breathe outdoor air more than indoor. Turn around and see, have a second, third, fourth look, as many looks as you need. And listen, always listen. Listen deeply enough to hear the grass growing.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]This is the northern prairie so no greenery has dared show itself yet although it is about to. And even though they are traveling in the day looking for greenery the sheep still return to bed down in a familiar place nearby and so do the dogs.

There is the barking of guardian dogs, sometimes the Kelpies answer; this dog song is not a whisper. The early morning is a chorus of bird calls and dog barks. Country life is solitude but not quiet.

The guardian dogs are suddenly busy. Metaphorically, they too get pulled to their feet in the spring and are encouraged to have a listen and another look around. And now they hear, and see, and scent the fox, and geese, and coyote, and ground squirrel, and the neighbouring farm dog… The dogs also know how to listen for the sound between the sounds. And after a winter of recharging they have the energy to investigate it and be vocal about it; it is the sound of Spring’s return.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]wasp nest on prairie landReflected light from the sun appears on the horizon by 5 am. With each passing year the arrival of Spring sharpens my awareness of just how short lived this season of growth is on the prairie. Every little thing that lives here is a bit of a miracle.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”3121″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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At The End of the Felted Flock

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”I have had my head down the last month concentrating on finishing up with the Felted Flock. Every early morning that I sat down at the table to felt yet another sheep I have wondered why I embarked on such a project at all? What made it so appealing that I committed to such an insane idea as needle felting a flock of 143 sheep, seven lambs, six guardian dogs, one stock dog, one fox, two coyotes, nine birds, two shearers and one shepherd, plus several other characters that landed in the trash. It is not an unlikely possibility that all of this work will sit in a storage box, and that outcome begs the question of what all the work was for.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:18|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”3035″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”The start of the Felted Flock and all the curiosity and anticipation it had feels so far apart from the just crossed finish line and the mess of emotions I feel now. I am happy to have completed this big project but I still need time to sort it out and decipher what it is that I actually feel about the project and its accomplishment. So many people have fallen in love with it and yet I feel as though I have fallen out of love with it.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:18|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_custom_heading text=”I started the felted flock with a good dollop of enthusiasm. I finished the felted flock with far less of that enthusiasm though. The project took something from me that I can’t articulate right now given how fresh the finish line is, but it has also left me with healthy anticipation of other artworks I might be able to accomplish. Projects I never believed myself capable of given the number of times I have started and then quit them.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:18|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_single_image image=”3034″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”I am certain the deeper feelings will surface soon enough and that I will own the accomplishment every way possible. There is the opportunity to set the entire collection on display at the local art gallery in January and perhaps that viewing, along with writing more about the project, will stir the reaction I’m holding in check.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:18|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_single_image image=”3033″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Where The Road Takes Us

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We could be anywhere, in any place, in any time
Yet we are here, in this moment that arose unplanned
Walking to the end and back again
Going where the road takes us, in body and in spirit
We are here

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