sunshine and glue, paper and hearts

I went with no format on placement of these photos which may have been a mistake, but I'm not waiting for them to upload again (I hate made up words like upload. Maybe "transmit" would be more pleasing). I just thought I'd share again with the collages I've been making since they've vastly improved since the last time I posted and since there are so many of you who never stop by. What's great for me about these creations as opposed to painting is that they're completely two dimensional. I've honestly never tried to paint, but I was recently gifted a watercolors set, so I'll let you know if I ever get brave enough to try that. Anyway, this is something new for me since I've never attempted visual art and I'm actually enjoying it, but there are loads of half cut up periodicals in my house now and millions of tiny pieces of paper.
I really ought to go back to embroidery for my tactile outlet, but I'm really enjoying the smell of glue and not poking myself with a needle. I have have ruined some pants doing this, however, which I never did with embroidery. I think maybe it's the office job that pushes me to create something wholly unrelated and vastly less ugly. You can click on the heart to try and read everything if you want, but it's mostly just nonsense. The only funny thing on it says something like "if the foot were the anatomical metaphor for love instead of the heart, what would it mean to say 'he walked all over me'?"

wishing for wishes

This noon-hour-written post is owing to the gloomy cloud in my office today. I'm working in my office all day so I'm in need of levity. I have turned off the melancholy tunes, or tried (my choices get pretty slim when I ban melancholy). In the hope of dispelling the cloud, I am writing.

I am hoping to get some questions answered regarding attitudes and belief about wishes. This is for my own research and the result will hardly be scientific since I'm friends or kin to everyone who comments. (Anyone is welcome to comment).

Dear readers, please answer any or all of the questions asked:

1. Do you make a wish before blowing out you birthday candles?
2. Do you believe your wish will come true when you blow out all of you candles in one breath?
3. Do you have any "typical wishes" (like a swimming pool or happiness) that you have found yourself making on multiple birthdays? What are your typical wishes?
4. What are your atypical wishes?

Just to clarify, there is a difference between needs and desires. Prayers can encompass aspects of both, but wishes are just fun wants.

You must answer my questions.

In addition to a great deal of flower planting and yanking out vines, crashing a family reunion in NWKS, and watching a Christian rap show which was cut short by lightning, I attended a Riders in the Sky benefit concert for Greensburg this weekend. Here's the question: Does loving Riders in the Sky make you a super (or "uber") nerd, or does it make you super (or "uber") cool?

one legal quip followed by a concert

Yesterday was Bob Dylan's birthday. Speaking of Bob Dylan, an important legal precedent was created last Friday by the Kansas Court of Appeals. In State v. Birth (boring legal link), the Court ruled that it was error to quote Bob Dylan lyrics in closing argument. I realize that this information is completely inapplicable to most of you, but I am very concerned about the limitations being placed on closing argument and whether there is a genre of music that the court would prefer. Another possibility is that the babyboom generation court finds it offensive for the DA to quote Bob lyrics in support of itself. (If you are like me, you had lots of ideas about what a case titled "state v. birth" might concern, and none of them dealt with Bob Dylan. In fact, most of the people I know who read this opinion disagree with me about its far-reaching ban on Dylan lyrics during jury trial).

I spent some time singing to my 4 year-old nephew, J. on Wednesday (if you were around Wednesday, you know what a long day it was for him and for everyone), including "Blowin' in the Wind". He kept requesting another when each song ended. I began with "Swing Low Sweet Chariot"(some links allow you to have a little sing along at your computer) followed by "Beautiful Kittenfish" from "The Cat in the Hat" cartoon. I then switched it up with "Can't Smile Without You" and when I finished, J. said "that song was too long". Since Barry Mannilow was one of my favorites at his age it was a little disappointing to hear (I'll have to try "I'm not Lisa" another favorite from that time in my life just to see if we maybe still could have been friends had we been 4 at the same time). As mentioned before I sang a Dylan song, but I always have trouble mixing lyrics from different lines and it doesn't come out quite right, but J. was ok with that. I ended the set with "Three Ways" by the Wallflowers. The song has 3 verses. J. wants me to come up with another verse. If you have any ideas let me know. The song follows a simple pattern and verse one is about getting out of a box, verse two is about getting off of a merry-go-round and verse three is about getting off of a burning bridge.

Jacob's Well

I visited Jacob's Well this weekend and the Big Basin in Clark County. I got a late start and was sort of regretting making the drive until I reached my turn. The grass was beautiful, there were loads of flowers, and the buffalo had recently calved. This is an amazing spot because it's so unexpected.

It's wonderful the way it completely surprises you every time because it's so hidden. Reaching it reminds me of the first time I drove through Kansas City and saw skyscrapers or driving to Colorado and suddenly seeing mountains. This is a little better surprise because you cannot see it until you arrive.

This is Jacob's Well. It's just a little nook of water surrounded by cottonwoods. It's never been known to go dry and is the subject of legend. My favorite is that the well is inhabited by blind fish. The water isn't flowing and I'm pretty sure I'd have to be blind to swim in it so the blind fish doesn't seem so far-fetched. It's sad to admit because I'd swim just about anywhere.

Kansas Postcard Day

These buffalo and the one above had to get off of the road to let me pass. I was reminded about my true weakness as a farm girl: fear of large mammals. You have no idea how much courage it took me to get out of the car to take these pictures. My best guess is that this fear harkens back to a story of our horse biting someone. One of my older siblings explained that animals can sense fear and they get angry when they sense fear. I think I was around age 4 or 5. Sometimes the fear that I'm afraid is just as great as the underlying fear.

Sightseeing

The walk down to the well.

Mixed grass, some flowers, and a few cacti.

There were no sunflowers in bloom, so this will have to do.

On the road (and what I found there)

This is road going east/southeast away from the well. I had never driven this part and walked it on this day instead. The website I linked to above seems to indicate that the road ends at the well, but I walked past the well and this is where I walked. (Maybe it was a road to Brigadoon if I'd only kept going). This is a mixed grass prairie with short and medium grasses. I can't think of any other publicly owned mixed grass areas in Kansas. Are there any others?




As you walk the road becomes more and more grassy as less and less travelers drive and walk this section. There are windmills scattered in the area for watering the buffalo since they are not free to roam away from here if the water dries up. One other thing that you will notice is the way the road disappears around the bend. It calls to you "come and see what's next".




Do you recognize me? I was unable to identify this critter. It's hard to tell in the photo, but he has been completely flattened.

Fighting Crowds

You can see the whole basin from this point. It feels like the earth is giving you a hug or if that's too granola for you, that God put this spot here for you to reach so that you could experience him hugging you through creation, or if that's still too much, it feels like a real pretty place to be. The marker points to Jacob's well.

These are pictures of the folks visiting with me. I'm not sure if you can see the red car in the distance at the marker. I am east of the marker here.

This is a view from the marker looking toward Jacob's well. That car belongs to a famous Kansan I passed driving up to the marker. It's incredible that so few people are here when I visit, but I don't really mind.

stray hairs, stable winds

Windy came with me, of course. I didn't wear a hat because I need a new visor and if I wore a regular hat than I would never achieve "summer blonde". My chin remains a mystery.

Greensburg

In Kansas, the men began to dig
with their hands seeking water
the thing that sustains
and people gathered their lives
around this well and lived
finding meteorites and peace
on this plain
But a vicious cloud spun over them
razing what had been built
the 1000 pound meteorite
fell off of its table
the people who had gathered
here to live were like a well
deeply dug, sustaining
they were watched by a world
and that world wondered
whether or not they would remain
but the people of the well know
that hands are all that is needed
to begin digging.

compare and contrast

Motto Rejection

My nephew was asking about personal mottoes this weekend and he assigned me one based on a dislike for whatever my answer had been. At this time, however, I reject the motto assigned me: "If you are going to buy a chandelier, make sure you have a ceiling". The pragmatism exemplified in the motto is no longer applicable. I am working to escape my nay saying self. (Sorry, S). I am chastising my 12 year old self that proudly announced to her little brothers that she was retiring from play. I am renouncing the 19 year old girl who wrote in her college diary that she was finished with dreaming. I am repudiating the bubble-filling-LSAT-test-taker. I will no longer be stymied by practicality. Though pragmatism does have its role, it is not the only consideration, and should not be my primary consideration.

Mottoes which succinctly capture this approach will be given due consideration.