Day 198 Neglect

June 25, 2015

(This is part of a 365 project during my 70^th years where I write and illustrate a blog on each day’s gift.)

Earlier this spring, I planted various seeds—giveaways by our bank—in pots that were not big enough for the quantity of seed that I planted. I don’t think I even read the directions. I kept the seed packet by the pot so I would know what was growing but, after a number of rain showers, the packets are unreadable. Guess you could say that I’m a lousy gardener.

My expectations are low so that when something wonderful grows out of that neglected pot, I am surprised. I have no idea what is growing in most of the pots but I do recognize the tallest plant that is about to flower. Its broad, fuzzy leaves and stem and its radiating flower head are proof. Now the question is can the pot sustain the sunflower until it fully blooms?

It’s interesting how big things can grow from little things. Sometimes that is bad, such as when a little lie turns into a huge problem that becomes entangled in an inescapable web. Or when a few sniffles grow into a full-blown nasty cold. However, sometimes it is good like when I say a few kind words to someone and those words turn into a seed that sprouts inside that person. It has happened to me. In high school, I had a 10^th-grade English teacher who told me that I should write more poetry, that I had a feel for language. Maybe that was the encouragement I needed to become an English teacher myself. 

Tomorrow when I awake, I will look out my back window and look for my tall sunflower in its very small pot.

My gift today is watching something big grow from something small.

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> Day 199 Turning Pages

You can find links to my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html

Day 197 Diversions Ahead

June 24, 2015

(This is part of a 365 project during my 70^th years where I write and illustrate a blog on each day’s gift.)

 

Artist Sharon Zarambo in her studio with totems on either side.

Today when I walked into Sharon Zarambo’s Bellozar Studio in rural Etlan, Virginia, I experienced a vibrancy of spirit and color. This artist creates jackets, bags, pillows, dolls and wall art. But the most striking pieces are her totems. 

Totems traditionally represent an idea, spirit beings and symbols for groups such as a family or a tribe. Sharon’s totems, with names such as “Nothing is Revealed” and “Diversions Ahead,”  call out to the human tribe. The ideas that her totems represent vary, as do the visceral narratives of space, texture, color and myths, depending on the individual filters of those who see her art. 

I am particularly drawn to the paradox of how her art fluctuates between balance and imbalance within an individual piece--the balance as an initial response and then imbalance as I study the narrative. Visually I am drawn to the small objects that frame one totem—buttons, beads, stones, Scrabble tiles, shells and other found objects. There is a sense of thoughtful balance in their arrangement but then I am thrown off balance when I look closely at some tiny shells with “eyes” and “mouths” that communicate subtle expression changes. In much of her work, mouths and eyes pull me in, some looking back at me and some looking askew.  The objects and words within the frame make me pause: “POLITE NOTICE NO PARKING,”   “destination,” “ADMIT ONE,” and “Ask.” The longer I look, the more I understand that the experience is a meditation. 

I could have spent many hours meditating on each piece.   

My gift today is a totem meditation.

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> Day 198 Neglect

More about Sharon Zarambo:
http://bellozarstudio.com 
http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2015/09/day-284-surprise-package.html
 

You can find links to my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html

Day 196 Impermanence of Chalk

June 23, 2015

(This is part of a 365 project during my 70^th years where I write and illustrate a blog on each day’s gift.)

Freedom of Speech Wall, Charlottesville, Virginia

A ride to Charlottesville, not too far from Spirit Dancer Lodge, led to a pedestrian mall with a freedom of speech wall. It is a two-sided slate wall about 54 feet long and close to eight feet high. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is permanently inscribed on one section and the rest of the wall is there for anyone who wants to write something in chalk. There was no chalk in sight but the visitor’s center helped us out with chalk and asked us to leave it there for others to write something. The writing constantly changes, as does anything that is written in chalk. Maybe the impermanence itself is a reminder that we can never assume our message will last and that we must allow it to change or continue to re-write it.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The permanent inscription was difficult to read because of all the other chalk marks, but someone had the clever idea to rub yellow chalk over that part of the amendment so it would stand out. Some of the writing was difficult to read; some exclaimed, “I love so-and-so," and other messages said things like “I dream of life on a farm” or “Bitch” or “Give me liberty or give me beer,” or “I love people (mostly)."

With my piece of blue chalk, I wrote, “BE”—a message left open to interpretation. However, I think it was mostly a reminder to myself.

My gift today is a piece of chalk and slate.

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> Day 197: Diversions Ahead

You can find links to my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html

Day 195 Disconnect to Connect

June 22, 2015

(This is part of a 365 project during my 70^th years where I write and illustrate a blog on each day’s gift.)

From the land of super connectedness at home in Pasadena—cell phones, Internet, cable television—to isolation with no cell phone, Internet connection and only television antennae reception, we arrived in Etlan, Virginia today. I opened the car door to the sound of a cicada chant welcoming us to our friends’ Spirit Dancer Lodge. 

I have read that chanting has a healing effect on those who chant but I think certain sounds also have a spiritual healing effect for a listener. The cicada sounds reached out through a hot humid day and invited me to stop and listen. There is something about the chant that travels through my body and massages my spirit. 

Not everyone agrees. I remember years ago, sitting outside with a group of friends while the cicadas were singing their mating song. One of my friends began to grow frantic and finally had to go inside because the cicada noise irritated her like fingernails on a chalkboard.

Today I arrived in a place of digital disconnection and wound up connecting—with friends Geri and Gary and with nature. Although we seniors are quite active, all of us are retired and some of our conversation naturally concerned our aging and shortening lives. I thought of the energy I heard in the cicada chorus that gave no indication that the singers would only live for a couple of weeks. I hope my spirit will continue to sing, regardless of my life cycle. 

Nothing in the cry of cicadas suggests they are about to die." Matsuo Bashō

 My gift today is a cicada chanting chorus.

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Day 196: The Impermanence of Chalk

You can find links to my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html

Day 194 Hipparella Cinderotamus

June 21, 2015

(This is part of a 365 project during my 70^th years where I write and illustrate a blog on each day’s gift.)

Father's Day 1982(?)

Thirty-five years ago, after my first marriage broke up, I was dating several men and enjoying a transition in my life. One of these men was David. He wrote poems and long letters to me and delivered them to my mailbox after he got off from work nights at The Sun. Once I found a unicorn at my door. It’s not surprising that I sensed there was something special about this man.

These sensitive, romantic and quirky things might have endeared him to me, but what really clinched our relationship was when his young daughter and her stepsister visited us from Florida. I had known David before as a crazy neighbor who lived in the apartment below mine, but I had never seen him in his father role before.

I saw his excitement at their arrival, how he brushed long tangled hair, how he made face plates for meals and how he planned everything for their enjoyment. It never seemed to be merely a chore or responsibility for him. His love was obvious.

I believe that how fathers treat children says more about a person than anything else does. What I observed made me sure of the right choice for a future partner and father to my child. It has proven to be a good choice. We had a daughter together and then his daughter moved in with us. Within a year, I became a mother twice.

As our daughters grew up, David played Candyland and Chutes & Ladders with them, packed school lunches, went on amusement park rides with them, did silly things that made them laugh. He made me laugh as I listened to him tell bedtimes stories of Hipparella Cinderotamus and windshield vipers. But, most important, our daughters know that their father loves them unconditionally. That is the greatest gift any father can give to his children. 

My gift today is life with a man who is a good father .

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> Day 195 Disconnect to Connect

You can find links to my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html