Pages

Friday, August 31, 2012

reality



What, precisely, gives reality its significance? Does it come from its firm stake in the present tense, or its unfalteringly firm demand for attention to a deadline? We all know when we’re out of milk for our tea or coffee, we need either to go to the store or manhandle a cow or a goat.  Let’s not waste time on that.  The present is now, right? It is real, yes? It is over again and again now.  We try to capture living and being in the real moment through practice; whether by meditation, exercise, art, or the occasional adventure.  Ah, adventure: the unknown and the unplanned, by definition. It happens without expectation.  It lives and breathes without tenses.  It casts itself out like a net reminding you of dreams you almost forgot, or perhaps neglected a while ago.  Dreams are moments that may not be now, but are perhaps, less burdensome because they are not relegated to real time.  They are dreams.  They travel with you everywhere.  Even in your car on the way to buy milk.  Are you giving them enough space to live with you in all their tenses? Sometimes, it feels like there is a membrane between real time, so called reality, and our creative explorations.  Take time to mingle them.  Let them dance together.  You do not have to close yourself off from one to accept the other as REAL. 


 

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

trope



Trope (n.) from the Greek, tropos: a turning.

The persistence of living things to turn towards the light and warmth of the sun is astounding. Even under the threat of March’s dizzying bi-polar tendencies, the daffodils are pushing through. Dare we say that spring is here? The crocuses are saying yes, it is. So, is the beloved redbud. Do we worry about them? Well, yes, we do. They say that only death and taxes are inevitable. We beg to differ. The blades of dark green hyacinths have been forcing themselves through the topsoil since February. Global warming we chime? Maybe, but do any of us regret the splashes of color that dot our landscape as we muster the stamina to get through winter?


When next you try to understand the sanity of anything complicated: whether it be the tax code, Medicare, the Republican national debates on television; trust the reliability of life to find its way out of the dark, to turn towards the sun and explode with its own creative and inherent dash of beauty. It’s always there for us. We hesitate: flowers don’t. So, keep in mind that we trope too. The Barn Swallow is here to offer companionable light for all who are in need of a turn. Photos courtesy Steve Jorstad.


Tuesday, January 3, 2012

blog award

We are delighted to have received the Liebster Blog Award from lovely Trace of Soewnearth.


The Liebster Blog Award originated in Germany and recognizes up and coming bloggers. It is meant to showcase those who have fewer than 200 followers. (Liebster means "favourite" or "dearest" in German.) This is done in the spirit of pay-it-forward. In accepting this award, the recipient agrees to:

• Thank the person that gave them the award and link back to their blog

• Copy and paste the award to their blog

• Reveal the 5 blogs they have chosen to award and let them know by commenting on their blog

We are so pleased to receive such an accolade and therefor we pass this honor on to the following wondrous blogs and bloggers:


Happy new year to all of you from all of us, at this gallery at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We hope to see you in 2012!