When we look at a cottonwood tree silhouetted against a stormy sky, the drama of the moment, the play of dark against light, may cause us to overlook something deeper. What is it that makes the aging cottonwood tree so special? Is it the gnarled limbs? The rough bark? Is it the thread-like nature of … [Read more…]
Creative process is a tricky discussion topic. It is easy to “get into the weeds” of the world of objectives, measurements, and arcane subjects likes intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. However, when most of us embark on a creative endeavor, there is an ingredient that often inserts itself into the stew of the process. It is … [Read more…]
Because artists tend to do most of their work out of public view, the common perception remains that artists are different, doing their work under cover of secrecy, ala Tom Waits’ sung question, “What’s he building in there?” Whatever the sauce…or source of the inspiration, the art rarely is chalked up to the reality. There’s … [Read more…]
The consistent “pot-stirring” of hobgoblins begs a look at the “magic” of the landscape in which the hobgoblin moves. Shakespeare’s Puck, a hobgoblin par excellence, is a “knavish sprite” who serves Oberon, the Fairy King. Puck possesses a range of magical skills, from creating mistaken identities to changing Bottom’s head into a donkey’s head. In … [Read more…]
Bodacious…a combination of bold and audacious. Downright and unmitigatedly, perhaps even notoriously, thorough or complete. Boudicca… Warrior queen of the Iceni, a people living in eastern England. Boudicca’s husband was considered a Roman ally, but on his death the Romans took the land, enslaved the people, flogged Boudicca, and raped her daughters. In A.D. 60, … [Read more…]
The land holds this story of two friends who were lost this past week – Gary Standley and Taoufik Agoumy. It is a tale of two very different individuals, separated by physical and cultural oceans. Unknown to each other, more than a friendship with me links them. Taoufik and his wife Oulya came into my … [Read more…]
Each time I drive past Travis School, the one-room schoolhouse where I started my whole adventure in learning, I see the possibilities. “Some day, it could be a __________” or “Someday, wouldn’t it be great if __________?” I have never doubted that the school with such a mix of memories for me would ever be … [Read more…]
My husband recently emailed me this photo with the comment, “Your desk doesn’t approach this!” His words calmed my guilty panic about the growing piles of books and notes surrounding my computer. Although I have never subscribed to the “day’s-end-clean-desk” model touted by efficiency experts, I can retrieve what I need to work on a project. … [Read more…]
