A beautiful fall day.

Now that it is deep into fall, sunny days are particularly rare and appreciated. Today was one of those days. I looked out and saw this leaf positively glowing in my yard, so I grabbed my camera for a photo. I went in for a closer look, a photo, turned and saw the stones of our walkway laced with moss:

I know a lot of people don't really appreciate moss in their grass, on their roofs or between the rocks on their paths, but I think it's kind of beautiful. Moss has an admirable ability to find fuel for life in areas where nothing else has much opportunity to grow.

I've been finishing the socks for my friend Sakurako. I tried them on her tonight, and I have just about one solid day of knitting left on them before they're done, but that will have to wait. I have a meeting in Portland on Saturday, work related, and I must gear up for that. Which means I won't be printing as soon as I expected to be. I've been committing myself too easily to projects that aren't within the parameters of what I claim I want to be doing. I open my mouth and am full of optimism for what I think I can do, but in reality my plans require about three of me. And for another thing, I have two kids, one of whom is homeschooled, two Saint Bernards, three cats and six large pet birds that stroll around my yard each day. Too many animals!

inspiring shot in the arm

Because today is a holiday, my oldest son has no school. I agreed to drive him to Portland to spend time with his two buddies who also love computer programming and collaborate on projects together with him. The forecast said it would be mighty rainy, so although I thought I'd take Cyrus for a (free today) stroll through the Japanese Gardens not too far from where we'd be, I thought instead we'd go to the Portland Art Museum and/or the Contemporary Crafts Gallery, now called the Museum of Contemporary Craft. It has moved since I was last there, which was before my son Noah was born, maybe in 1993. I was throwing pots at the time and working as a ceramics lab assistant at Portland Community College under Wally Schwab, an accomplished potter trained at Alfred. Wally was well acquainted with a fairly well-known couple who produced pottery together out of their studio in northern California, Otto and Viveka Heino. They made huge vessels, and we went to their reception and open house. Dave (my husband) became famous that day because he got his photo in The Oregonian, paper cup in hand. Anyway...

So Cyrus and I headed first to the Crafts Museum, or so we thought we were going to do, but unfortunately, Cy got sick in the car. Fortunately though, he had nylon pants on and fortunately, my car has plasticized rubber flooring and fortunately, I used to live in that area of Portland so I remembered where the store was to get some paper towels and moist wipes. He was fine once all was cleaned up, although my car doesn't smell very good right now. No regurgitation would get in our way, so off we went to the Craft Museum. While walking to the museum, we passed a couple of galleries, and stopped at one, the Augen Gallery, which had some very engaging paintings by Jef Gunn visible from the sidewalk. The site doesn't quite convey the energy of his work or some of the nuance and depth that's more apparent in person. Cy and I had a great time looking at the work. There were even some big-name pieces there by Chuck Close, Frank Stella, Picasso and Miro. Great experience for both of us. Then we went on to the Craft Museum, where all things were colorful and alive with fun! The sculpture exhibition there was fantastic - there is a dedicated site for it here. Who would think to make a closed vessel made of scotch tape? Or melt a bunch of plastic toy soldiers into the shape of a low bowl? Cy was mesmerized by the sights, and particularly liked the sculpture made of hair combs. Very, very exciting. We wrapped up our Portland adventure by stopping by Knit/Purl. I bought a skein of lovely cashmere and silk yarn for a Christmas gift I plan to make for my sister, then we went on to pick up my oldest son and drove back home to Salem. It was an invigorating trip, such a breath of fresh air, and I had no idea how parched my mind had become being away from the cultural center that Portland is. I miss it for that.

Heron block progress

To contend with election night jitters, I found myself carving with fury. There are parts of this block that have intimidated me but I took a breath and just accepted the time it will take to address the minutia that this piece requires. Every piece, actually. Birds are of course great symbols of freedom, so working on this last night was somewhat therapeutic for me. And while I was afraid to hope my candidate would actually win this race, (he did) because for the past 8 years my candidate did not win, I also felt keenly a personal fight for freedom that I have been involved in on behalf of my oldest son. Sometimes bureaucracy can hurt children in the name of helping them, and I've been torn up about the situation. Carving can be very cathartic.

There is only one other block besides this one, so I should be moving relatively soon toward printing, something I have not done in about a year.

early evening on the road

I've been fixated on some views from I-5, reinforced by a multitude of trips north to Portland. Usually I did not have my camera in tow, but the impact of the moments that tended to repeat themselves remain etched in my psyche; in particular, the constructions of humans and how they dominate the landscape along the I-5 corridor I traveled. I have a few more persistent sights in my mind that I plan to carry out somehow, although I'm not sure how or when...

Yesterday my package from McClain's arrived with a few more boards and the much prized and missed honing compound. Yeah! Carving time tonight, for sure!

A new day!

I started carving last week, a simple 2-block woodblock print. The bad news is that I have misplaced my honing compound, so I cannot sharpen my knives until the new stuff comes or the old turns up. Should only be a day or two though, as McClain's is just up the road a ways.

Since I have to wait, and because it has been on my mind, I decided to pull out an old painting I worked on but did not finish in 2006. I spent some time with my son Cy teaching him about painting today, and while he worked on his, I worked on mine again too:


Painting is an astonishingly peaceful activity. At least it can be, but for me some of this painting became so frustrating and there were decisions to be made that overwhelmed me, so I just set it aside until I felt ready to work on it again. Two years later, I'm ready for it, enjoyed it and will paint some more, for sure!

Heron

Last evening I was north again, picking up and doing paperwork for my current job. There is a beautiful pond nearby, a wetlands refuge that is the home for several birds. I have parked next to this pond (okay Cyrus says it's a lake) through the summer at times, snacking on a bit of food from a nearby strip mall before my drive back south. Last night Cy really needed some food, so we grabbed some Asian fare and parked in the empty lot to watch the birds at dusk. I turned off the motor and saw to my great delight this beautiful blue heron, just a few feet away. It stood quietly and peacefully for a good while before it had enough of me snapping photos of it. I wish I had a stronger lens, but I'm grateful to have been there at all.

This pond is very close to where I work when I drive north. As I sat there enjoying some food and enjoying the view, it felt symbolic that I witness this stunning sight at dusk this time, what with the days becoming so much shorter. It is change time. My boss and friend is interviewing 3 people today in an effort to find someone to replace me. I have mixed feelings of guilt, worry, relief and excitement. Change of a certain type is inevitable though, we all know that.

Making my way back.

To begin this renewed turn of my life, I sought some oxygen to give me strength. In that vein, the other day Cyrus and I went out to the Ankeny Wildlife Refuge near my home. It was a beautiful afternoon and although we could only view a few birds from the viewing areas, it was inspiring nonetheless. The wetlands are dry in many places right now, but still there were a few of my favorites out there - egrets and herons. I so love the birds. Love them so much that I decided to make my first return to woodblock about them. To me, birds are sacred creatures and getting to know them personally over the past few years has been an honor. I now have 6 in my family, and it's been a delight to come to understand them. The egrets and the herons though, they always take my breath away when I see them in the wild. Yesterday I even saw a great blue heron as I left Portland, car carrying another plastic case filled with paperwork I will soon leave behind. That bird was standing in a large patch of manicured grass at the junction of I-205 and I-5. It's such a hopeful sight to me when I see wildlife survive among the structures of human dominance. So just for pleasure and in the name of hope, I've begun work toward a new print:

All I can do is try.

I finished the Obstacles shawl! Cy loves it. I made it for me, actually, but he has taken a liking to it, especially to ward off the inevitable morning chill.