It's been a long hot summer together / The ice is quickly melting / Together seeking a return to balance (perseverance furthers)

 

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It could have been the gift of a full moon in the palm of her hand and then I noticed the presence of her father for the first time

 

Yesterday I stopped at my hall closet door to look at the flyer attached there and announcing the last exhibit of some of the tapestries which my friend, Linda Rees, worked on over a period of 50 years before she had to stop weaving due to increasing memory loss.  When she could no longer remember how to warp her floor loom, a friend stepped in and warped it for her.  Linda still remembered how to weave and was not ready to stop, but the time came when she made a conscious decision to sell to a younger weaver the loom she had woven on for fifty years, beginning at the time her only daughter was born.

While looking closely at the image I had looked at so many times before, I suddenly noticed the figure of the father of her daughter.  He is dressed in pale green and khaki.   Odd how certain important details escape us until we can see them.  

Linda and I became good friends in the 1970s when her daughter was in grade school.  I bought one of Linda's earliest tapestries from a local yarn store.  When I handed the store owner my check, she noticed my address and told me that Linda lived a few houses down the street from where I lived and said that I might like to get to know Linda.  The store owner was right.  Linda and I bonded through our complementary art work and a love for long walks.

Linda died this past December after having turned 80 years old in November.  I miss her but can still feel her creative presence and encouragement as I prepare to begin working on Mandala #62.

Although the early morning sunlight is coming through the cottonwood trees to the east as I write, the half moon is visible high in the sky to the south.  The moon keeps us company more than the sun does.  The moon is present in our sky both day and night.  There are only two days of the month when it is not lit up for us by the sun at night, but it is still keeping us company while the sun is absent. 

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Hmmm ... and then there's the story of a bad moon rising first told in 1969 and continuing to be told more than 50 years later, carried forward by several generations:

"To us, the song is saying: "Prepare for tough times, but stay positive" -- an important message to share at times like these!" (The Melbourne Ukulele Community)

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There's the story of the Whole of the Moon as well:

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"... The moon, like a flower
In heaven's high bower,
With silent delight,
Sits and smiles on the night ..."

(William Blake, from "Night" -- Songs of Innocence)

Linda Rees: Tapestry Weaver

One of the first people I met when I moved to Bellingham, Washington, was Linda Rees.  She and her family lived several houses down the street from where I first lived in Bellingham.  Not knowing that she was my neighbor, I bought one of her early tapestries.  You can see that tapestry and read the story connected with it here.

Since last spring a small group of her friends in conjunction with the Whatcom Weaver's Guild have been working together so that Linda's tapestries can be featured by the Whatcom Weaver's Guild in the Wool Room at the Northwest Washington Fair and then at the Jansen Art Center, both in Lynden, Washington.  These photos were taken by one of Linda's friends who took her to the fair to see her tapestries exhibited.  In the photograph with Linda is Carol Berry, the current president of the Whatcom Weaver's Guild, who did a great deal of footwork to make it possible for Linda's work to be shown at the fair and the Jansen Art Center.

Linda began weaving tapestries 50 years ago, the year her daughter was born.  For most of those 50 years, she woke up early in order to weave, including the years when she had full-time employment.  In the past few years, she found it more and more difficult to figure out how to warp the loom herself, and friends who weave stepped in to do that for her.  In the past year, it became clear that her cognitive difficulties had increased to the point that she needed to move to an assisted living residence, and this past spring she moved to a memory care residence.  Although she finds most activities of daily living to be challenging, her passion for tapestry weaving and her enjoyment of family and friends is intact.  Her sense of humor is delightful.  She laughs heartily.  She has always been aware of and upset by the troubles in the world and until the past few years always held a volunteer position in whichever community she was living in, wanting to do what she could to make a positive difference in the world.

Her tapestries will be featured at and for sale through the Jansen Art Center, beginning in September, if anyone is interested in purchasing one of her beautiful tapestries. 

Inspired by 37 Paddington and Ellamae Simmons

Wide-eyed 
And listening,
I walk.
Intent.
Looking at everything.
Rarely understanding anything.

Hey world:
You are a puzzle.
With no piece in place.
Every day I bring my own puzzle piece
With me
As I walk
As I wait

As I work with friends on a project that will culminate in two exhibits of selected tapestries from one of our friends who wove for 50 years before losing her ability to weave due to cognitive difficulties, the time I usually have for blogging is limited.  Thank you to everyone who responded to my post connected to this year's Memorial Day.  I felt so alone in the year the man I loved served as a helicopter mechanic in Vietnam and felt alone for nearly 20 years after the war ended.  I spent as much time as I could at the ocean -- one place where I did not feel alone.  This year, in large part because of your comments, I know fully that I am not alone, no matter where I am.  You are never far from my thoughts.  I am grateful to belong to this far-flung community of kindred spirits.

A friend who is staying in Laguna Beach, California, with her husband this week emailed me this ocean scene.  It may take several clicks before the video appears:

P.S.  Rosemarie -- Our public library secured a copy of Overcome for me.  I am just a few chapters into the book. The long and eventful life of Ellamae Simmons is an inspiration.  Thank you for making it possible for her story to be told.

Tapestry / Wildfires / "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry"

(Smoky light on my tapestry woven by my friend, Linda Rees.  The link shows this tapestry as well as a few of her works along with the work of a variety of tapestry weavers.)

My windows have been closed for several days, ever since the smoke from the fires in British Columbia increased to an unhealthy level, close to the designation "hazardous." My shades are drawn down to block out the view of the smoke-filled sky.  My air cleaner runs 24 hours a day along with my portable air conditioner.  This helps the indoor air quality to some degree.  I am fortunate to own those appliances.  The air cleaner was purchased long ago to help relieve allergy symptoms. When I began working at home, I purchased the air conditioner so that I would be able to work without being unbearably hot during the summers.

Everyone here is affected by the smoke, especially the growing population of homeless people.  It is difficult to think clearly, difficult to do all the things we need to do.

Just before creating today's post, I read this from beth's blog, the cassandra pages.  I want to share her  post.