A View from Sierra County

Lost Weekend

Not really, it just seemed like it!  The holiday weekend has come and gone and was filled with family and outdoor time, but no peaceful moments to commune with my computer... which is why there is still no Memorial Day weekend post here!

Glenn's parents, sister and husband (and teenage children plus two friends) joined us as did two out of the four adult kiddos, at various points over the weekend.  It seems that the ol' Camp has become the best gathering spot for a family reunion in late May, the height of spring here, right on the edge of things withering into brown California summers!

We spent Sunday at the Bridgeport state park (there is a wonderful covered bridge there, but I didn't capture that... the above photo was taken looking through one of several large, glassless windows on the span, though.

The younger members of our group were brave enough to wade in....

We also headed up to Downieville in order to allow some of the family members to peruse the shops while others had a beer at the local pub - I'll let you guess who chose what there.

Every evening was spent out in the yard, barbequeing and chattering, trying to catch up on each others' lives.

Sis and family had to leave early on Monday morning, hoping to beat holiday traffic back to the (SF) Bay area, but Mom and Dad didn't want to leave until the next day, so the four of us headed out into the more rural countryside in the Jeep so we could show them some back roads and tiny towns they hadn't found in our area before.

We stopped for a picnic lunch in Strawberry Valley, which probably isn't even on most California maps, though it is larger than our hometown of Forest City and still has a few active businesses.

I captured Glenn, Jim and Diana on the camera, though none look particularly pleased... the tiny town picnic ground was full of entertaining signs, and right next to a cute cabin advertised (by a stained glass window at the top) as the "Wedding Chapel".

I suggested that we come back and renew our vows, to which my hardly-ever-romantic DH replied that we didn't need to do that since we had never gone back on them in the first place (our 13th anniversary is rapidly approaching).

It is scenes like this Victorian porch that keep us prowling the back roads of the small mining towns in California's Sierras, looking for places we might not have found yet.   

This spot looked especially inviting on a warm, late spring afternoon, and I look forward to the coming summer season allowing more such explorations.

Yesterday was "back to work" and I arrived at the school to discover that the killdeer family had disappeared; we could only hope that they survived and moved on.

Today was our End-Of-Year Celebration (though only the preschool side closes for the summer, and we will continue working).  We had a lively time and I will be able to finish up the tie dye saga soon.

I also met with my fellow Yarnistas from our shop last night, treated to a wonderful, home-cooked dinner from Allison, the shop's owner, and great conversation with our Karyn, who has only two more chemotherapy sessions to go, and hopes to then return to work at the shop... I will fill you all in on what I am learning from the other side of the counter soon.

DH and I were able to browse through a CD of photos that arrived in today's mail from his brother.  They were taken on his trip to Japan (he returned just in time for the holiday weekend, which is why I haven't mentioned it, or the lovely kimono coat from shibori fabric he found me), and I will have to post a few pictures after I wade through the 190 Dave sent us!

I hope everyone is enjoying the same lovely almost-summer weather we are having and that life is good where you are; the view from here is looking better all the time!

Dyeing and Spinning Rule!

This week has been Tie Dye Week at the Headstart Center, a long-standing end of the year tradition. It has been great fun to help the preschoolers make a shirt, to wrap, tie and dye a dozen cotton hankies for my toddler class to use as cloth napkins at meals, and even to attempt a modified shibori technique on a silk velvet scarf and dye some yarn... and not-so-great working with a few other staff members to wrap and dye enough drawstring bag/backpacks to give to each child, filled with summertime supplies such as sunscreen next week at our party (of course my part of the program is partying too, even though we are year-round!). The grand photo shoot and unveiling to you will have to wait until next week as most of our items are still steeping, wrapped in plastic wrap and awaiting their final hand rinsing, followed by machine washing with Synthrapol to set the dyes. It has been great fun, as most of the work has been in the afternoons, with beautiful though slightly warm spring weather. Our super-duper resource and purveyor of cheap but good cotton items (as well as the scarf) is Dharma Trading Company; they also carry some natural yarns and an endless array of textile supplies. I especially love these guys because they are only about 150 miles away and their shipping is so fast to us. However, their website is a terrific resource for anyone wanting to learn more about dye techniques.

Last week, I underwhelmed you with the Knitting Meme, so here is the spinning one to accompany it. The directions are the same. Bold those things you have done, italicize those you wish to do, and leave plain the ones that are of no interest to you.

FIBERS SPUN

Fine Wools (i.e. Merino, Cormo, Rambouillet, Polwarth, CVM, etc)

Longwool & Crossbreed Wools (i.e. BFL, Cotswold, Lincoln, Romney, Coopworth, Teeswater, etc.)

Down-type Wool (i.e. Black Welsh Mountain, Dorset, Cheviot, Shetland, etc.)

Double Coated Wool (i.e. Icelandic, Navajo-Churro, Karakul, etc.)

Mohair

Cashmere

Angora

Alpaca

Llama

Camel

Vicuna

Bison/Buffalo

Yak

Quiviut (yeah, right! like I could ever afford enough of it)

Dog (yup, my best friend and longest-lived dog, Wimpus, back in the day)

Cat

Silk Caps/Bells/Hankies

Silk Sliver

Linen

Hemp

Cotton (prepared)

Cotton from the Boll

Engineered Fibers (Rayon, Bamboo, Soysilk, Ingeo, Ecopoly, etc.)

Recycled Fibers (Sari Silk, Jeans, Garnetted, etc.)

Holographic Fibers (Angelina, etc.)

Commercially Combed Top

Commercially Carded Roving

Hand Combed Top

Hand Carded Rollags

Hand Drum Carded Batts

FIBER TOOLS USED

Flicker

Hand Cards

Mini-Combs

English Combs

Hackle

Diz

Distaff

Drum Carder

Nostepinne

Niddy Noddy

Yarn Meter

Skeiner

WPI Tool

McMorran Balance

Top Whorl Spindle

Mid-Whorl Spindle

Bottom Whorl Spindle (includes Turkish)

Supported Spindle (Navajo, Tahkli, etc.)

Castle Wheel

Saxony Wheel

Great Wheel

Portable Wheel (Little Gem, Joy, Lendrum, Hitchiker, etc.)

Electric Spinner

Charka

Tensioned Lazy Kate

SPINNING TECHNIQUES & YARN TYPES SPUN

Worsted Spun

Woolen Spun

Long Draw

Short-Forward Draw

Double Drafting (I am not sure about these last three and need to brush up on my spinning terminology)

Singles

Energized Singles

Andean Plied 2-Ply (Wheel or Spindle?)

Center-Pull Ball 2-Ply (Wheel or Spindle?)

2-Ply from Bobbins/Cops

3-Ply from Bobbins/Cops

Navajo Ply 3-Ply (Chained Singles)

4+ Ply from Bobbins/Cops

Bulky/Super Bulky Weight

Worsted Weight

DK Weight

Sport Weight

Fingering Weight

Lace Weight

Cabled Yarns

Fulled Yarns

Slub Yarn

Marled Yarn (Barber-Poled Colors)

Seed Yarn (1 Thick and Soft Ply, 1 Firm and Thin)

Wrapped Spiral Yarn

Flame Yarn (Like Seed Yarn, but with Slubs)

Turkish Knot Yarn

Boucle Yarn

Beaded Yarn

Coiled Yarn Encased Yarn (Fabric, Flower, Feather, etc. Captured Between Plies)

OTHER RELATED ACTIVITIES

Buy a Fleece

Wash a Fleece

Blend Fiber Types (Combed or Carded)

Blend Colors (Combed or Carded)

Dye Handspun Yarn

Dye Prepared Roving/Top

Dye Locks Solar-Dye Fiber

Kool-Aid/Food Coloring Dye Fiber

Natural Dye Fiber

Commercial Dye Fiber (Gaywool, Jacquard, etc.)

Attend a Wool Festival

Take a Spinning Class

Take a Dyeing Class

Spin in Public

Teach Children to Spin

Teach Adults to Spin

Knit with Your Handspun

Crochet with Your Handspun

Weave with Your Handspun

Design a Project to Match Your Handspun

Design a Project from Fiber to FO

Spin Yarn to Match a Commercial Pattern

Make Socks from Handspun

Make a Scarf from Handspun

Make a Felted Project from Handspun

Make a Large Project from Handspun (Shawl, Adult Sweater, etc. >1000 yds)

Keep a Spinning Journal

Use A Reference Card to Aid Consistency

Spin Yarn for Pay

Dye Fiber for Pay

Write a Book on Spinning

Write an Article on Spinning

Make DIY Spinning Tools (PVC Niddy Noddy, Lazy Kate, CD Spindle, Hackle, Wrist Distaff, etc.)

I hope your holiday weekend includes some spinning, knitting or other fibery pursuit, as well as fun in the sun.  Mine will include lots of time with family.

May UFO Resurrection

I have steadily participated in the UFO Resurrection project this year, though that vest that I "resurrected" awhile back continues to languish in an unfinished state... hmm.  Think I can use it again as a UFO later this year?!  Naah.. that would be cheating.

However, it is spring and almost summer now, so I am repurposing the lovely Rowan Calmer yarn that I made an almost-complete but failed object into last summer....

I could have ripped and re-knit the CeCe cardi I had originally intended to make, but back at the beginning of September, when I realized it was going to be way too big for me, I also had to acknowledge that I hadn't been enjoying the knitting.  The yarn feels good to work with, the design was cute and the edging a very sleek, built-in finishing touch, however the lacy pattern and I just never clicked.  Sometimes, I grab right on to a lace stitch and can catch every almost-mistake, and other times, I suffer the whole way.  I decided not to re-suffer... but move on.  Lots of ripping and rolling involved.

Then, on Sunday night after carefully swatching and measuring (I DID do that before, just picked a size larger than I should have been wearing), I cast on for this summery top:

The Lutea Lace-Shoulder Shell will make a nice top to wear to work on the days when I am at the yarn shop.. and the Calmer color (which looks pretty washed out in my photo above) matches two skirts I have, so that I can look like a savvy yarn saleswoman.  Now, to get some knitting happening!

Last Minute Addition for Sallee (somehow, I wasn't surprised...)-

You are The Lovers

Motive, power, and action, arising from Inspiration and Impulse.

The Lovers represents intuition and inspiration. Very often a choice needs to be made.

Originally, this card was called just LOVE. And that's actually more apt than "Lovers." Love follows in this sequence of growth and maturity. And, coming after the Emperor, who is about control, it is a radical change in perspective. LOVE is a force that makes you choose and decide for reasons you often can't understand; it makes you surrender control to a higher power. And that is what this card is all about. Finding something or someone who is so much a part of yourself, so perfectly attuned to you and you to them, that you cannot, dare not resist. This card indicates that the you have or will come across a person, career, challenge or thing that you will fall in love with. You will know instinctively that you must have this, even if it means diverging from your chosen path. No matter the difficulties, without it you will never be complete.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Sunday Sky

Only a day behind...

Not bad, considering that I worked at the yarn shop yesterday (the highlight was helping a man in his forties re-learn to knit - his mother had taught him ten years ago, and he was taking it back up in order to knit on the train while commuting), then attended a play last night and the tail end of a wedding bash (I missed the ceremony, but was very happy for a widower-friend, who was marrying his new-found lady love after several lonely years).

I managed to swatch for two new projects ....  can you guess what this is for?  The yarn is Knit One, Crochet Too's 2nd Time Cotton, which is made from "new textile waste originating in the apparel and textile industry", according to the label, and is 75% cotton and 25% acrylic, giving it a nice hand to knit with, but a very crisp texture.  The color is called Valencia, and is very summery.  This swatch needs to get steam-blocked so that I can check my gauge... hoping I gave you enough hints!  The other swatch was for my May UFO Challenge project, which I will unveil later this week.

I had some lovely knitting time with my Spring Things shawl this afternoon, and meant to snap a photo of the shawl-blob alongside an additional artichoke plant I bought while out, to round out the artichoke hedge I am planting as a deer deterrent.  It was one of those nice ideas that didn't happen.... but the artichoke got planted!

I have also been "the woman in charge" while DH is away this week, in Japan on a brief vacation with his brother... I have been busy with gardening, watering and taking care of critters.  His potato patch is bursting out of the ground and lots of replacement annuals and perennials got planted this weekend to make up for those that froze in our colder-than-usual spells over the winter.  Spring is grand!

That Knitting Meme

If You Knit Long Enough... Some of the Ewe-tah grrls were passing this meme around, so I copied the list off of Margene's blog as a nice, easy, end-of-the-week post to entertain and enlighten you. Bold for stuff you've done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you're not planning on doing

Afghan

I-cord

Garter stitch

Knitting with metal wire

Shawl

Stockinette stitch

Socks: top-down

Socks: toe-up Knitting with camel yarn

Mittens: Cuff-up

Mittens: Tip-down

Hat

Knitting with silk

Moebius band knitting

Participating in a KAL

Sweater

Drop stitch patterns

Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn

Slip stitch patterns

Knitting with bananafiber yarn

Domino knitting (=modular knitting)

Twisted stitch patterns

Knitting with bamboo yarn

Two end knitting

Charity knitting

Knitting with soy yarn

Cardigan

Toy/doll clothing

Knitting with circular needles

Baby items

Knitting with your own handspun yarn

Slippers

Graffitti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)

Continental knitting

Designing knitted garments

Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)

Lace patterns

Publishing a knitting book

Scarf

Teaching a child to knit

American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)

Knitting to make money

Button holes

Knitting with alpaca

Fair Isle knitting

Norwegian knitting

Dying with plant colours

Knitting items for a wedding

Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies...)

Knitting socks (or other small tubular items)on two circulars

Olympic knitting

Knitting with someone elses handspun yarn

Knitting with dpns

Holiday related knitting

Teaching a male how to knit

Bobbles

Knitting for a living

Knitting with cotton

Knitting smocking

Dying yarn

Steeks

Knitting art

Knitting two socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars simultaneously

Fulling/felting

Knitting with wool

Textured knitting

Kitchener BO

Purses/bags

Knitting with beads

Swatching

Long Tail CO

Entrelac Knitting and purling backwards

Machine knitting

Knitting with selfpatterning/selfstriping/variegating yarn

Stuffed toys

Baby items

Knitting with cashmere

Darning

Jewelry

Knitting with synthetic yarn

Writing a pattern

Gloves

Intarsia

Knitting with linen

Knitting for preemies

Tubular CO

Freeform knitting

Short rows

Cuffs/fingerless mits/armwarmers

Pillows

Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine

Rug

Knitting on a loom

Thrummed knitting

Knitting a gift

Knitting for pets

Shrug/bolero/poncho

Knitting with dog/cat hair

Hair accessories

Knitting in public

Two Books With Sticks

Why am I not surprised that the renewed interest in knitting over the past five years would spin off a rash of knitting novels?  Did I think writers would ignore this opportunity to produce "cutting edge" yet entertaining fiction?  I reviewed a few awhile back, but have two more to cover for you today...

I read The Knitting Club last month, inhaling it in a few days and leaving it with Margene when I visited in mid-March... the book follows the story of Mary, who has recently lost her five-year old daughter from a sudden case of meningitis and is finding it impossible to cope with her grief.  Her mother is geographically distant from her, yet urges her to take up knitting as a way to channel that grief, and she ends up joining a regular knitting circle and learning that the other members don't have the perfect lives she originally imagines for them.  Each has had their own relationship with grief, and the characters are well-drawn, and their stories accurately told.  The pain is there, but so is the kindheartedness we have all come to know in our fellow knitters. 

I was drawn in to the story, possibly because 2006 was a year when I dealt with much personal grief, making my heart go out to the various characters and their losses.  However, one of the features that makes fiction 'work' for us readers is when the writer is able to connect us to the characters through the universality of the human condition, and Ann Hood has done a very good job of this.

I had thought about starting a reading 'KAL' for this book, so that other people would be encouraged to pass it around, read and share, however I didn't manage to find the time to set that up.  I did pass along my copy and Margene has promised to hand it off when she is done as well, to another knitter.  Let me know if you read this book and what your impressions were.  It reminded me of the kindred spirits that many of my fellow fiberistas have become.

The second book, which I read almost as fast last week, is Knitting Under The Influence, by Claire LaZebnik.  This novel about three California grrls was much more lighthearted, and far less about the knitting, though knitting is the thread that ties the three together, as they keep their commitment to each other to get together and knit each Sunday morning over the course of several months' worth of misadventures and romantic intrigues.  It is a "chick book" that would make a great, funny "chick flick", that is, if knitting stays popular enough to rise above the old stereotypes the movie moguls probably still have about it.

There are others out there... there's the knitting mystery series by Maggie Sefton (I read Knit One, Kill Two, but decided that Earlene Fowler's Bennie Harper mysteries were ever so much better crafted - she is an Agatha Award winner, while Sefton has just gotten started; I have read a LOT of mysteries over the years and am pretty picky).  Debbie Macomber's Blossom Street books (The Shop on Blossom Street, followed by A Good Yarn) are much better written (after all, she has written a few dozen novels previous to these two, and is an avid knitter herself), witty and chatty, though a little bit predictable... I'd start with the two above if you simply must go in a knit-reading binge.

Mothers Day Sky

This beautiful Mothers Day sunset seems a fitting photo to cap off a lovely, restful holiday weekend.

I was fortunate to have a three-day weekend, possibly the last one in a long while, since I will be working Saturdays at my LYS, Fibers, in Grass Valley starting next week.  This will be a big change for me, but also help me through DH's next long work stretch; his days off will likely be Mondays and Tuesdays, while I am working.

We spent a large part of the weekend at our high country house, and took a hike yesterday afternoon to our favorite secret spot.

This waterfall is at its best right now, and will slow down to a mere trickle by late summer, however the largest pool, at the top, stays full and bone-chillingly cold all summer and is a perfect place to take a cooling dip on a summer hike.

This is a view from the top down...

Each year, our first hike in to see the falls involves cleaning up the trail; DH did the manly parts.  He swings a mean axe... and I do a great job picking up branches and knocking debris off the trail.

The dogs contributed entertainment and cuteness.  This was their first "off-road" hike, and they are well on their way to becoming mountain dogs, though Elwood (the bigger one) had a bit more trouble with rock climbing than his brother, Jake.

This morning, I got up early in order to meet DD and DYS (that's dear youngest son) at the 39th Annual Scotch Broom Breakfast, hosted by the North San Juan VFD, in the community where I work.  I saw a few of my school kids and their families, and always enjoy how multi-generational and cross-cultural this pancake breakfast is.  Every mother is given a small pansy plant at the door, and there are door prizes for things like "the mother with a child graduating from college", "the oldest mother present", "the mother from the furthest away" and whatever else the announcer thinks up.

DD and I whiled away the afternoon on the back porch, she reading and I making another crocheted square from my handspun...

I realized that, while the squares don't take all that long to make, spinning the yarn needs to keep apace... I am only 1/4 of the way with the squares, have quite a bit of coral pink yarn, some mauvy thrums to ply together to use, and some lots more spinning to do.  The bright spot of turquoise yarn in the center of the square at bottom right is a sentimental bit, spun on Margene's Emmylou.  I love having bits of friends entwined into my projects, making using patterns designed by people I know and yarns from critters that belong to friends, or in this case, spun on a friend's wheel, especially nice treasures to be making and using in my daily life.  I read an article in Fiber Femmes yesterday, encouraging new spinners to make something they will treasure out of their first yarns.  I still have tucked away both a backstrap-woven scarf and a sample piece done on a Navajo loom I built over thirty years ago; both have my very first handspuns included, but the yarns I am producing right now are so much nicer that I will greatly enjoy carrying around my knitting in this crocheted bag when it is completed.

I also continued knitting up my Spring Things shawl, and am about a third of the way on the increases.  The pattern is very easy to keep track of, and the yarn a pleasure to knit, though I didn't get any photos today.

  This is a photographic attempt to capture the roving I have been working on in fits and starts for the past week; the lovely hand-dyed roving from Wooly Daisy.  At least this gives you a good idea of the range of colors.  Stephanie couldn't recall exactly what kind of wool this was, but it is medium staple and spinning up easily, once I separated the roving into narrower chunks.  I think some of the yarn will end up in the Larger Than Life bag, as it is a good collaboration with what I am presently using, and I am going to run out of the blue Romney soon...

The yarn I am making is a bit thicker than I would like it to be, but the colors are vibrant and fun.

The afternoon concluded with a BBQ with DH and two of our five children.  Then, I put some plants in the ground, but have much more to do on the gardening front (luckily, DH has gotten the mainstays in the ground this year, and our potato patch is a wonder to behold... I promise there will be pictures soon).

The holiday weekend is coming to a close and I hope that all mothers and their children had as lovely a time as I did.  Blessings are where you find them.

Spring Treasures

Spring in the Sierras brings its own set of treasures... I thought I would share a few with you.  The biggest surprise was learning that a pair of killdeer had decided to build their nest in our preschool's parking lot.

The mama is standing in front of a small rock barrier that one child and his mother erected on Monday.

I went home and planned to get a few cones and make a better barrier, but DH insisted that the more we humans interfere with her intentions to nest out in the open, the more likely she would be to abandon the nest.

This photo shows the two eggs she had laid by Monday afternoon; when I checked back yesterday morning, she had three.  Our staff members have opted to park "sorta-close", providing only a disruption in the morning when that car arrives and then another when it leaves in the evening, rather than a steady disruption throughout the day, and that appears to be working.  I was able to get fairly close to snap these photos, but as you can see in this last, there comes a point when it is too close for comfort and mother goes off the nest with her "broken wing" display to attract predators from her babes... I will keep you posted as to how the hatchlings fare.

There are other treasures as well... perhaps the fairest ones for me are the lovely shades of green all around.  During this, my favorite season of the year, I am treated to palest, shiniest greens in various hues as the evergreens grow new tips, the deciduous trees begin leafing out and plants of every sort begin their wildest growth spurts.

The verdant green of new-rising grass near my high country home...

The riotous red of tulips..

The peaceful blue of grape hyacinth... slow to come up in the high country garden, but well finished in other parts of the state.  We are rapidly approaching the tipping point where spring suddenly begins its slide into the hotter and drier days of early summer.  Go out and treasure the moment this weekend!

When Life Gives You Lemons, Add Salt, Tequila and Good Friends

I would love to be bringing you a witty post full of inspiring, challenging, thought-provoking fiber information, coupled with award-winning pictures... by now you are getting the feeling it ain't gonna happen.

It was a long and challenging weekend.  I overbooked myself.  I managed to let down one friend while helping out another.  The weather was windy, which always manages to abrade my spirits.  The local historical association that I helped found back in 1993 was faced with a racuous meeting to make an unpopular decision.  I was bummed most of yesterday as a result of the negative energies I absorbed...

Yet, there were some highlights.  I found flower and tomato plants at the local plant sale/flea market where Wooly Daisy Steph was selling some beautiful hand-dyed rovings as well as her handspun yarns, and I came home with a wild colorway featuring reds, pinks and purples to spin up and add to The Bag.  It was great to see her and Rhodie and Liam there (Liam is Steph's son and he liked DH right away for approving of his purchase of three WWII-era telephones and the offer to help him figure how to make them work again).  I also saw several other people that I only get to see a little bit, including my neighbor, Dee, who offered to come and feed my burros so I could spend the night at the high country house... what a special treat!

Saturday afternoon was spent learning how to be a "Fiberista" for Fibers, the LYS in Grass Valley.  I had promised Allison that I would at least make myself available to fill in while she goes to Germany for a month from June to July, and I learned how to ring up a sale with the computerized yarn inventory system, the layout of the store and even how to help some of the customers, all without buying a single thing (the time went by too fast; Allison was teaching a great Manos class that is her most popular offering, and Jennifer was "running" things while we got to know each other).

It was Sat. evening and onwards that all went south.  I am still tired... but one of the positive outcomes of the negatives is that I re-evaluated just what WERE my top ten priorities, right this very minute... I made myself put my vague list into a definite numerical order, and I suggest you stop what you are doing right this minute, pull out a piece of paper and do the same.  It lends a whole new clarity to everything... family was Numero Uno, as I expected, but I had to shuffle and consider where some of the things that have been clamoring so loudly really fit.  Then, this morning DH and I started the conversation about how we would manage to spend any time together working schedules that didn't give us the same days off for the next six months, starting in early June.  This happens every year and we are finally getting better at planning for it.

The posts WILL be better the rest of this week, though still not daily.  I have some wonderful photos of the green-ness of spring to share, and of a killdeer trying to nest where I work.  I am just not at home, with camera cord to upload them.... I know, I'm being such a tease.

Beltane Cometh

I am the calm, I am the quickening,

I am the intoxication and the force,

I am the silence, I am the singer,

I am the stallion galloping to its source.

I am the bright pavilion and the feasting,

I am the wedding couple and the bed,

I am the morning chorus and the heartbeat,

I am the goal to which all paths are led.

from A Celtic Devotional, by Caitlin Matthews

As we enter this most-accelerated season of warmth, growth and activity, I hope you find peaceful moments to engage in the creativity that nurtures your soul.