Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Likes to Read Aloud

Please lets make that ~ he / she ~
as it should be!
We can only hope that if
Warhol had it to do over again,
he would include women too. Sigh . . .

Warhol's witty observation about the purpose of art reminds me of the story about his flower silkscreens, which he shared with fellow artist Elaine Sturtevant. As legend has it, when someone asked Warhol about his "artistic process," he said, "I don't know. Ask Elaine!" Haha!

In turn, Warhol's artsy rejoinder made me wonder: Who was the author -- maybe more than one -- who, when asked about the meaning of a particular poem, simply re-read the poem, without offering any additional explanation or commentary.

My experts tell me that perhaps it is just an apocryphal anecdote, but the author and occasion that comes to mind is Alfred, Lord Tennyson reciting "Maud: A Monodrama" at Buckingham Palace for Queen Victoria and her many guests. I was amused to read the following in Wikipedia, which seems to add credibility to Tennyson's alleged re-reading episode:
"While the poem was Tennyson's own favourite (he was known very willingly to have recited the poem in its entirety on social occasions), it was met with much criticism in contemporary circles."
Unlike Tennyson, I've never been a Poet Laureate, yet I once received a similar critique in the "rate this teacher" category. I no longer recall whether or not this particular student had anything good to say about me under "strengths." However, under "weaknesses," I was awarded with this hilarious accolade, which to this day still makes me laugh: "Likes to read aloud."

Haha! Just like Tennyson.

P.S.
From my friend Sheri:


But secretly I knew I had been transformed,
moved by the revelation that human beings create art,
that to be an artist was to see what others could not
.”

~ Patti Smith ~

Saturday, January 28, 2023

Snowman: Life Imitates Art

Just a Girl and Her Snowman
February 2022 On A Snowy Day
Just Like in the Book . . .
It Melted Away
A Tree Full of Snow Stuffies
Pink Lights at Dusk
Gerry's Halloween Costume
Immediately recognized by Ellie!
(Aidan sleeping soundly through the excitement)
Ellie's Snow Babies
January 2023

Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Hygge

(Pronounced "hue-gah" or "hoo-guh")

A happy memory:
playing last summer on the patio
at my brother Aaron & sister-in-law Pam's
when they hosted the 2022 family reunion.

Hygge is conversation circle game, with really thoughtful questions (not those absurd kind like "Would you rather be blind or deaf?" or "Would you jump off a cliff?" and so forth.)

For example, over the Christmas holidays my friend Diane gave me a couple of good ones to choose from:

1. What book changed your life?

2. Has there ever been a time when you thought,
"It doesn't get any better than this"?

I had two answers for each question:

1. Life - changing books:
The Women's Room by Marilyn French
The Alphabet versus the Goddess by Leonard Shlain

2. It doesn't get any better than this:
On a daily basis, I often have the feeling when swimming laps

As a life event, I would have to say the magical Christmas of 1989, , when Gerry and I visited the university town of Maynooth where he had lived for nine years before coming to the U.S. I had never been to Ireland before, and Gerry had not been back since his relocation to Indiana, over two years previously. Gerry likes to tell the old joke that whenever a plane lands in Ireland, things are so backward and behind the times that the pilot advises the passengers to set their watches back a couple of decades -- or even centuries, Brigadoon style. Haha. For me, however, this turned out to be a good thing, not regressive but nostalgic, just like the movies. You know, that cinematic nostalgia for a time that has never actually been.

We had driven straight from the Dublin airport in our rental car, parked at the curb on Main Street (yes, just like in America), and the moment Gerry stepped out of the car, someone dragging a Christmas tree down the sidewalk (purchased moments before from the local lot), called out "Hey, Gerry me lad" (or something like that; not that I know how to write -- or speak! -- with an Irish accent, but you get the idea)! It was exactly like a scene from any all - American Christmas movie that you might care to name.

We had shared our plans with only one family -- the friends with whom we were staying; so it's not as if the entire campus was expecting us, yet several other people came right over to greet us or waved and called out as they passed by. I could hardly believe it! Was it a set - up? We went in the pub -- The Roost, where Gerry had been a regular -- for some cheese sandwiches, and it was the same thing all over again: "Oh, have a seat here mate." Truly it was as if Gerry had never been away. You would have thought the last time he'd been there was maybe for lunch the day before. I couldn't help thinking of Cheers: everybody knew his name; they were glad we came! For one brief shining moment, the hazy scene on a glittery Christmas card came to life before my eyes, so quaint and true and unforgettable.

After Ireland, we went to Germany where my sister Peggy took me to the Heidelberg Christkindlmarkt -- pure magic, right down to the Strohstern and the chestnuts roasting on an open fire!

And then on to England where Gerry's parents made sure that my first British Christmas included every traditional element that we could squeeze into our schedule:
Holly tucked behind each picture on the wall

A Carol Concert at the Liverpool Philharmonic

A Panotmime at the Liverpool Empire

Midnight Mass at Little Crosby Church

Giblet Soup for a Midnight Snack

Christmas Crackers with prizes and paper crowns

A Figgy Pudding with brandy sauce,
and a silver sixpence hidden inside

A Christmas Cake with a snow scene on top

The smallest mince pies I had ever seen
(until Gerry and I started making them even tinier)

A Sherry Trifle on Boxing Day

Shopping in Southport at Laura Ashley & Past Times
~ A Cozy Christmas ~
"It doesn't get any better than this!"

See also my friend Victoria's answer:
"It doesn't get any better than Scotland!
If it's too cold to play outside,
come on inside for a round of Hygge!

Saturday, January 21, 2023

Prepare for Spring

A Dream Come True:
Winter Jasmine on January 21st!

I have always said that I wanted Spring
to start right after Christmas. Why wait?
Here in Virginia, my wish has come true!

Prothalamium

Come, all you who are not satisfied
as ruler in a lone, wallpapered room
full of mute birds, and flowers that falsely bloom,
and closets choked with dreams that long ago died!

Come, let us sweep out the old streets – like a bride:
sweep out dead leaves with a relentless broom;
prepare for Spring, as though he were our groom
for whose light footstep eagerly we bide.

We’ll sweep out shadows, where the rats long fed;
sweep out our shame – and in its place we’ll make
a bower for love, a splendid marriage-bed
fragrant with flowers aquiver for the Spring.
And when he comes, our murdered dreams shall wake;
and when he comes, all the mute birds shall sing.


by Aaron Kramer (1921 – 1997)
American poet, translator, and social activist

on a good blog post

in Prodigal Summer

sung by Judy Collins
[another favorite on the same album: "Sons Of"]

Thursday, January 19, 2023

Not a Crumb Remains

One of our all - time favorite Christmas cards,
picked out by Gerry's mom.

*********************

2022 was my Christmas for discovering poems,
before unknown to me, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
[in addition to long beloved favorites]:

Holidays

The holiest of all holidays are those
Kept by ourselves in silence and apart;
The secret anniversaries of the heart,
When the full river of feeling overflows;—

The happy days unclouded to their close;
The sudden joys that out of darkness start
As flames from ashes; swift desires that dart
Like swallows singing down each wind that blows!

White as the gleam of a receding sail,
White as a cloud that floats and fades in air,
White as the whitest lily on a stream,

These tender memories are;— a Fairy Tale
Of some enchanted land we know not where,
But lovely as a landscape in a dream.


*********************

The Cake

The Trifle

The Pies

The Tea ~ The Mugs

The Oranges

Oops ~ No picture of the pudding this year!

Monday, January 16, 2023

We Wonder as We Wander

A card from Auntie Jan in honor of
the wild deer visitng her yard over the Christmas Season

For more seasonal wonderment,
see my recent posts

For the Epiphany
Out of the East, Into the West

For Christmas Day
Little Day - Starn

For the Solstice
Oakleaf Hydrangea

@The Fortnightly Kitti Carriker
A literary blog of connection & coincidence;
custom & ceremony

We had lots of holiday sticker fun with
~Mrs. Grossman's~ when the boys were little!
This sheet is from 1998 ~ Made in USA

Friday, January 13, 2023

A Brave New Year

Friday the 13th?
Never fear!
We wish you a brave new year . . .

Calendar for 2023

James B. Fuqua & James the Lester
Move to Virginia

January "
"We wish you a hopeful Christmas

We wish you a brave New Year . . . "
~ Greg Lake ~

February
Mid-Century Modern
Here We Come!

March
First Runner Up

April
443 Robinson
Dollhouse Vision by Sean Lutes

May
Happy Birthday Aidan!

June
A New Perspective

July
"The Song of the Open Road . . .
It stretches and waits for you . . .
"
~ Walt Whitman ~

August
Happy Birthday Ellie!

September
Thomson Road ~ Charlottesville

October
Confederate Cemetery ~ Charlottesville

November
Garden of Rest Crosby, England

December
The Boar's Head ~ Wintry Swim

Okay, we like it here!

********************

PREVIOUS CALENDERS
Everyday Custom & Ceremony ~ 2012
Mona's Clothes ~ 2012
Moons of Wintertime and Beyond ~ 2013
Never Quite the Same ~ 2014
Homes That We Love ~ 2014
814 ~ Where It Was Almost Always Christmas ~ 2015
Time for a Moondance ~ 2015
Love Me, Love My Cats! ~ 2015
A Day in the Garden ~ 2016
Team McCartney ~ 2017
Full Moon Night ~ Full Moon Year ~ 2017
Wishing You Were Here ~ 2018
Time to Travel ~ 2019
Panama Bag ~ 2020
Swimming Pools ~ 2022
Moving to Virginia ~ 2023
Calendar for Another Year ~ 2024

Tuesday, January 10, 2023

Friday, January 6, 2023

Tree Worship is a Thing

Indeed, as my friend Duo Dickinson points out:
tree worship is a thing!

By Day

By Night

Calligram
by James Merrill (1926 – 1995)

Battenburg Lace Angel

Wildlife

Souvenirs

Heirlooms

Siblings

And underneath . . . presents!