Remember 14?

.
At 14
.
they coaxed me into the July sun
and nibbled on my scrawny fingers
bleating knowingly over my hands
.
later, on crunchy spring mornings
I embraced their half-frozen lambs
intervening with the sweet foremilk
.
nearly twenty years later I was repaid
seven months living on intravenous fluid
until we coaxed Julia into the spring sun
.
on April 14th I could eat again
these hands knowing now

Zoomed-in?

According to Twyla Tharp, everyone has a focal length,
"All of us find comfort in seeing the world either from

a great distance, at arm's length, or in close-up."

Before yesterday I've been at a middle distance in the

woods. Yesterday I zoomed-in to see what I have been

missing. Today I used those close-up images to create

a larger grid - the larger picture of constructing meaning

from the details... I'm finding that I may most often sit

in the mid-focal length, but when I get out of that

comfort zone discovery begins.

.
Zoomed-in?

Awaiting Spring?

Rabbit tracks lead the way to the swamp tamarack site today.

This has been up for three weeks and the resiliency of the

sewing pattern paper and beeswax is encouraging. If these

fragile forms can withstand winter, so can I. Here is a better

view of the tamarack that was struck by lightning in the

summer of 2005. The top of the tree shattered, blasting

splinters all around. I remember hearing this violent strike.

By March, I forget about the lightning, the mosquitoes, the

weeds. Okay, I will be in winter, following rabbits for awhile.

.

Awaiting Spring?