Saturday, May 31, 2014

under the tall trees


I'm going to make a better effort to be here. 

This past week I felt so exhausted and stretched super thin. Tiredness is a sure way to get that negative spiral running. Tiredness triggers worry and doubt.

I realize that I've created these delineations between what I do and what I considered art. I feel very unproductive because the studio hasn't been used, but I've been in home making mode. I work such long hours during the week that I find I have to spend a lot of time outside just regrounding.

The yard has been my studio I guess. I've been reading a lot about herbal and medicinal plants and harvesting them from abandoned spaces in town. Our garden is lovely right now and all I want to do is tend it. The peas have shot up 2 feet and I had to get them nicely strung along the fence. Peonies and comfrey popped out and the bumblebees can't get enough of their blossoms. We planted lavendar and calendula and yarrow, lemon balm, mint, poppies, plantain, nasturtiums, blueberries, sunchokes, kale, arugula, beets, chard, cheese squash,  raspberries, sword fern, oregon grape, a small huckleberry and our favorite dahlias, cilantro, oregano, basil and garlic. That's a lot of friends to check on regularly.

The trees in the front leafed into a shady mass. And we were so excited to see that one is a big leaf maple, which we plan on tapping for syrup next year.

We have chickens getting silly under the bay tree, and a small brick patio in process just outside the back door.

Other than all our outdoor projects I'm teaching myself to knit socks and dreaming of more felting projects. It's not art, but it's something quiet and meditative. And I guess that's the crux of it, right? Making time for the things we enjoy, just doing something that opens your awareness internally and externally, finding a balance between the things we want to do and the things we need to do.

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