Night walk in Cemetery

Night walk in Cemetery

The stone gutters upset

by time, cold, and tree roots

form a series of steps

where the surfeit from sprinklers

collecting, increasing

small deluge, with rushing,

falls the water down.


This was written as a result of my many night-time walks in the SLC cemetery located a few blocks from my home.

Unraveling

An Unraveling

The slow unwinding of a skein. New colors, patterns, textures to find. Will there ever come an end of the unraveling? Will we come to an end and then….nothing?

Or, if there is an end, looking behind, we find not a jumble of ribbons gathered, but a weaving of love and learning.


Finding out about someone is a wonderful process, an unraveling à deux.

In Night Flight

A Night Flight

At night above
the golden laced beadwork of urbanity.
A conspicuous lack of light,
a forest dark.

The lights of urbanization can sometimes break my heart, but I have to admit they are beautiful from the air at night. They are beautiful, I just dislike what they represent. It is a conflict; similar to the Kennecott Copper Mines. I dislike that they are such a rape of the earth and have had toxic output, but when it comes down to it...the talus sides are aesthetically beautiful to me.

Each Person a Pinch Point

Each Person a Pinch Point

Multiple lines, lives fusing

Joining, conjoining the lines and lives down to me

A pinch point

This is a poem I worked on this summer, I am not sure it is finished. It came about while finding out about my ancestors. It was miraculous to realize the multiple lines that went into creating each person and then the multitude of lines that can come from each person. It was a little tragic to consider that I might be a terminus, that there might be no branching out from me.

Each person is a pinch point of lines before and after. It resembles a tree and we are the trunk.

Blaker's Acres

Since the  Fresh Take filming (see blog for Sept. 22), we wanted to bring Blake Spalding fruit and hit her up for free food from Hell’s Backbone Grill and to discuss filming future conversations, etc. surrounding the ‘slow/local food’ concept. I had emailed Blake that we were coming, but I hadn’t heard back. So we just hoped. Luckily, when we got to the restaurant we were seated at the table across from Blake and she was DELIGHTED to see us. She said flattering things to me, and I returned many kind words. I like graciousness.  One of the pleasures of life is to admire someone and hope to become their friend, only to find that they too, admire you and seek your friendship. If only all of life was so pleasant. So we ate a divine dinner of enchiladas and stuffed squash, and dessert of a chili chocolate pots de crème. YUM!! We stayed up until midnight chatting with Blake and intermittently one of the servers, Laurie. In the morning, we had a delicious breakfast on the patio again of eggs, toast, and potatoes. Blake had invited us to visit the farm, and showed up just as we were ready to go. We followed her to her cottage to get the doggies, and then on to the farm. It is in a very ‘unimproved’ state, but with SOOOO much potential. I can’t wait to be part of the progress. We consulted about the trees and planned an orchard.

What a Difference a Name Makes

Your Name

To see your name,
is a kiss to my eyes.
A frisson of connection,
tied always to you.


What is in a name? It is interesting how a name can be meaningless until you care for someone with that name. In my life there are repeating themes of names, I have fancied at least 8 fellows of the same name. I am especially partial to fellows with last names beginning with B, I have dated many of those. I am not alone in that, it is proven that we are all most attracted to our own initials. My name is biblical, ergo, I like biblical names. Name attraction is all ego based. I happen to think that R & B are the best letters in the alphabet, I am also fond of those letters found as neighbors, A & S.

Handkerchiefs that Smell of Honey

One of my chief pleasures in life is the fact my handkerchiefs always smell of honey. I have a bar of honey soap that I keep in the bottom of my handkerchief box. This handkerchief box happens to be the exact size of a folded handkerchief. After washing and folding I close the top and steep my hankies in the scent of honey. Then later, when I use them, that scent is there. Such a small, consistent pleasure.

Abundance

I would like to create my own holiday called Abundance. To be celebrated during the harvest season.

Saturday morning I met my friends and we drove down to the orchards. This was the 3rd year of our annual ‘apple picking party’, we picked a LOT, and I mean, a LOT of gala apples and wandered through the orchards. We had an amazing luncheon on the lower patio of fresh focaccia bread, brie, arugula salad, and quiche. Then we changed clothing for an 18 mile bike ride over the hills and around the back side of West Mountain to view the rural landscape and the southern tip of Utah Lake. Upon return we had a dessert of lemon pound cake with fresh fruit un jus. A perfect day.

A Postcard Exchange

Upon recommendation from an acquaintance I hardly ever see anymore (she was really only in my life a short window of time) I signed up to be part of The Benevolent Postcard Society.  It’s like pen pals around the world. Each month you get a different name and address to send a postcard to. I have varied the ones I send, I have made a few, picked up a few in travel, sent a few of my favorite Stella Mars’, etc.

The worst one I ever received was with horrid poster paints all gloppy together with glittery kitten stickers attached at the bottom. Oh, you think, this may have been an artistic statement? Perchance, but it was ugly!

This last month of the exchange I wanted to make one especially from Utah. And so I did. Here is a copy of it. I did notice though that the Great Salt Lake looks rather like a squirrel atop a pedestal, and Utah Lake a bit like an angular acorn.  You can find a link to this society on the right side of my blog.  It was great fun to participate in, and so sad to have it end.


FYI, did you notice that if you cut out the little box on the top, the card is the shape of Utah. Yes, I thought it was clever. The part cut out corresponds, in back, to the location of the stamp.

An Orchard Feast

But really, I’m officially a local food expert? Oh, yay!

Kendall, executive producer for the new BYUtv show, Fresh Take, is a friend of mine. And so when he was telling me about needing an idyllic orchard setting for the episode of ‘A Slow Food Feast’, I offered my family’s orchards. They had originally wanted somewhere closer to Provo, but because those owners never responded to the request and I was sooo willing, and because our orchards really are the most beautiful, they were delighted to use them. The episode was to be a casual dinner in the orchards with local food big-wigs discussing the importance of local food, slow food, organic food, etc. Here is a list of attendees. (Starting at noon on the clock and going clock-wise).

Rebecca Cressman

BYU TV
Fresh Take Host

Joseph McRae
Pizzeria 712 & Communal
Co-creator & Chef

Christi Paulson
Slow Food Utah in Schools
Creator

Blake Spalding
Hell’s Backbone Grill
Co-Owner

Rachel Hodson
Edible Wasatch Magazine
Owner and publisher

Richard Sparks
Utah’s Own
Deputy Director

Colton Soelberg
Pizzeria 712 & Communal
Co-creator & Chef

Emiliano Lee
Liberty Heights Fresh
Cheese monger/manager

ME

Dale Allred
Jacob’s Cove Farm
Owner

When the guests arrived, I got to meet and chat with many of them, Rachel Hodson and I hit it off immediately, I think we are probably close to the same age and disposition. So I went about helping get the final touches completed while ‘make-up and hair’ got all the guests touched up. I took something over to the table, water with mint I think, and Roman asked me to sit down for a minute by him. Roman is the Producer. He said that Kendall and he had a favor to ask of me, because the Tony Capputo’s representative was a no-show, could I fill in? BUT, OF COURSE!!! I decided my credentials would be my Master’s degree in Urban Planning focusing on Urban Greenspace (which includes urban farming). AND, I have been working with SLCo’s Urban Farming Initiative. Oh my, I was wearing almost the same outfit I had worn for my studio portion of The Generations Project, earlier that week. It would look like I walked out of the studio and into the orchards. Luckily I have a lot of my clothes stored at my Mom’s, so I switched sweaters and added a turquoise scarf that Joy gave me years ago (which I have developed a great love for this past year, it also makes an appearance in The Generations Project). Kiera, my friend, had given me a present of ‘fashion glasses’ a few weeks early, so I threw them on as well to complete my transformation…glasses always worked for Clark Kent …Ta-da!!

It was soooo much fun, talking about food, while eating great food, with experts. It will be among the top in the list of great dinner parties in my life, and I get to count part of the hosting credit because I set the table, provided the table, and the perfect location. YAY!!

After we finished filming, there was a dark, mad rush to pick apples and nectarines to take home. Blake wanted apples, I bemoaned she was leaving to return to Boulder the next day and there wasn’t time enough to get her loads to take back. But, she made me an offer, if I would bring her fruit, she would give me food. A DEAL!!! Boulder, UT has apparently had a crappy fruit production year, and so I will bring her plums and apples and get some free food.

The episode will air in  2011. Last week they interviewed Alice Waters about School Gardens for Fresh Take. Yes, Alice and I are now contemporaries. Ahahahahahaha.

I have an abundant life.

Of Syllables, Rhymes, and Synonyms

The best road trip game ever. A friend learned this game from my cousin and passed it on to a group of us as we drove through Canada. I love it. It is called ‘Hink-Pink’. A game of syllables, rhymes, and synonyms. The person whose turn it is has to think of a rhyming adjective and noun with the same number of syllables (but keep this part secret). For example ‘big pig’, then they figure out a clue phrase to describe the rhyme. Such as, “obese porcine” or “large hog” or “rotund sty occupant”. Each clue phrase is proceeded by the words, ‘hink-pink’ if the words are one syllable, ‘hinky-pinky’ if they are two syllables, ‘hinkity-pinkity’ if they are 3 syllables and so on adding more syllables as needed for the clue. Then everyone guesses until it is correctly guessed, and it is then the turn of the correct guesser.

Example One:
“Hink-Pink”, “depressed foot attire”. Then the guessing begins…….with the correct answer being ‘blue shoe’.

Example two:
“Hinky-Pinky”, “fortunate waterfowl”……with the answer being ‘lucky ducky’.

Example three:
“Hink-pink”, “intelligent illumination”…..with the answer as ‘bright light’.

Variation: I tend to love homophonic combinations. So I have created a variation where you say ‘hink-hink’, if it’s homophonic.

Example Four:
“Hink-hink”, “paying individually Nederlanders”……with the answer being ‘dutch Dutch’.

Example Five:
“Hink-hink”, “unweighty illumination”……with the answer being ‘light light’.

Example Six:
“Hink-hink”, “ticketed treasure”……with the answer being ‘fined find’.

Example Six:
“Hink-hink”, “disgusting bird”……with the answer being ‘foul fowl’.

Example Seven:
“Hink-hink”, “initiate wildebeest”……with the answer being ‘new gnu’.

OK, enough examples. You see how I love it? I play it all day with myself.

The Lily of the Valley

Behold the Lilies of the Field

Transitory ‘Bell of May’, humble, perfumed, gone.
Giving man sight of a better world?
A treasure, but often overlooked.
Only those, who know and love you, know to see.

I began this poem as a little tribute to my favorite flower. But as I was doing my word research I saw more layers become applicable. I have included the sources that make the poem more broadly applicable.

In the ‘language of flowers’, the lily of the valley signifies the return of happiness.

As per Wikipedia, the Lily-of-the-Valley:
1) Is a symbol of humility in religious painting.
2) Lily of the valley is considered the sign of Christ's second coming.
3) The power of men to envision a better world was also attributed to the lily of the valley.
4) Other names include May lily, May bells, lily constancy, ladder-to-heaven, male lily and muguet (French). Its scientific name, majalis or maialis, means "of or belonging to May".

Transitory:
1: passing especially quickly into and out of existence
2: passing through or by a place with only a brief stay or sojourn
3: affecting something or producing results beyond itself

Mathew 6: 28-30 Behold the lilies of the field, how they grow. They labor not, neither spin. And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his royalty was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow shall be cast into the furnace, shall he not much more do the same unto you, o ye of little faith?

The Turk's Turban Tulip

Semper Agustus

This is an image of the tulip for which the most money, 5500 guilders, was paid in 1633 during Tulip Mania. It was painted originally in watercolor.

This is what I have learned about tulips and Tulip Mania.

1)  The tulip, or lale as it is called in Iran and Turkey, is a flower native to large areas in parts of Africa, Asia, and Europe. The word tulip, entered the language by way of French tulipe and is ultimately derived from the Persian language dulband ("turban"). NOT because the flower head looks like a turban (that was my first assumption , but because of the turban shape of the bulb.)

2) The virus, known as TBV Tulip Breaking Virus, was introduced into the flowers via aphids. The Dutch didn't even know the cause of their fantastical tulips. They thought it was exposure to extreme conditions. I think this is interesting for two reasons. a) it was magical, no human control of the situation, and b) TBV weakens the plant, would they have knowingly sacrificed the vitality of the plant, to have the end result. My guess is yes. We do worse to our own bodies.

3) The virus wasn't stable. Just because the tulip had the variations, there was no way of knowing whether its progeny would have similar markings. There was so much financial speculation about tulips, which is crazy to me considering, THERE WAS NO CONTROL and it can take years to find out what the tulip is even going to look like. With the infection of TBV, every tulip would be effected differently, and so the resulting tulip would be one of a kind. It is one of the reasons so many paintings of tulips were done during this period of time. If you were rich you could afford to have the "portrait" painted of your valuable tulip.

4) The crash of Tulip Mania occurred on MY BIRTHDAY in 1637.

What I like about if tulips became a form of currency. One bulb makes one tulip. Tulips make seed from sexual reproduction (fertilization from another plant's pollen) = resulting in a new kind of tulip. The bulb makes little bulblets from asexual reproduction = clone. What a good way to go about making sure that there is consistancy, yet variety. Bulblets take awhile to become developed enough to make their own tulip, but seeds take ever so much longer. Tulips are smart. I think Pink tulips are the smartest of all.

For the Most Part

For the Most Part

The strong front is not pretence,
it is real, it is a wise mind, in light.
But, it is not all, there is another part.
Because the heart remains a child,
and cries, in dark.

I wrote this poem about a month ago. The content had been milling about in me for some time, and finally came out. The nuance of thought that comes, a kind of doublethink. Knowing and feeling one thing, while also knowing and feeling another quite contradictory thing. I admit to subscribing to the “stiff upper lip” school of thought, I don’t like others to see my emotions or troubles. I also, for the most part, truly believe that regardless of what I am going through, that ultimately it will be fine and that bad times come and go. FOR THE MOST PART, because there is a little part (the child), that despite truly believing it will work out, doesn’t like the process and the pain involved.

Let’s leave me and explore words a little.
Doublethink: In the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, doublethink is the act of simultaneously accepting as correct two mutually contradictory beliefs. It is related to, but distinct from, hypocrisy and neutrality. Its opposite is Cognitive Dissonance, where the two beliefs cause conflict in one's mind.

In spite of - used to express the idea of contrast, is used as a preposition. In spite of + noun means almost same as although + clause.
e.g - We went out in spite of the rain. ( = .... although it was raining.
e.g - He is a good company in spite of the fact that he talks all the time.

Note - In formal English, despite can be used in the same way as in spite of.
e.g
Sita went on working in spite of feeling unwell.-- Correct
Sita went on working despite feeling unwell.-- Correct

A Crystal Carrot

crystalline carrot
a perfect taper
plucked from a snowy roof
crunch, crunch
mouth melting, unforming.

A few weeks ago I was cross country skiing with a friend. At the point where we decided to turn around was a little out-building with icicles hanging from the eves. It had been ages since I had eaten an icicle. I had forgotten the pleasure of holding that "crystal carrot" and sucking and chomping on it. It was a surprise, especially since I am not a fan of the icecube.

As for my poems, they are usually short little things. The reasons are these: 1) I like succinctness (I wanted to use the word succinctity, but I find it isn't a "real" word), 2) I think long poems become tedious and I certainly stop reading after the first several stanzas, 3) That is the way they come out of me.

Urban Ocean

Urban Ocean

In the early morning I wake to whale songs.
Ne, straining sounds of garbage truck.
The street leviathan’s hydraulic call.
A dorsum baleen packer blade scrapes to hopper,
feeding on plankton of lives.

True story, it has happened twice now. I wake to oceanic whale calls and it is only the garbage truck picking up the apartment complex’s rubbish.

Compare these sound bites:

http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=18769
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=82325

Plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than their phylogenetic or taxonomic classification.

An 'other' Country

My sister passed away a few months ago. When I describe how I look at it, it is like in the olden days, if someone left to homestead or settle a new place, there was no way to keep in contact, you may or may not have been able to send and receive letters. I feel that way about my sister Gayle, that she has gone to settle a new place, I won’t see her again in this life, but she has just gone to a new place. And that like the olden days, the best way to send word or a letter was via someone traveling into the same territory.

Last week we learned that my Grandfather was ailing. His readying to pass has been on my mind. My sister and brother visited him yesterday.

I wrote this poem this morning, and by noon had received word that my Grandfather had passed away during the night. Adieu, and give our regards to Gayle.


A One Way Communiqué.

A metered mass migration to an ‘other’ country,
pioneers all to this new frontier.
My sister is there, Grandpa readying to go.
Julie says, “tell her we love and miss her”.
He says, “I will ....”, and the rest is lost.
No letters or photos will come back,
a one-way communiqué.


I am trying to come up with a good way to say this ‘other’ country, to express heaven, without getting confusing. I don’t think ‘other’ country does the job, but is the best I can think of. ‘The farthest country’? ‘The hidden country’?

Blue Moon, Did You See Me Standing Alone?

A blue moon is a full moon that is not timed to the regular monthly pattern. Most years have twelve full moons which occur approximately monthly, but in addition to those twelve full lunar cycles, each solar calendar year contains an excess of roughly eleven days compared to the lunar year. The extra days accumulate, so that every two or three years (on average about every 2.7154 years), there is an extra full moon. The extra moon is called a "blue moon."

full moon, blue moon, oh
glowing soft cool light on me
my pagan heart keens

New Year's Eve 12/31/2009 was both a full moon, AND a blue moon. Such an auspicious omen. I wanted to be out in it. I wanted to be bathed in its celestial light. Two friends were willing and so we went snow shoeing up Millcreek Canyon. It is the only way to greet a new year in my opinion. So stunningly beautiful.

I love full moons, and blue moons are even more wonderful iterations of full moons. Really, I could puke I get so excited about it.

Blue Moon
You saw me standing alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own

Blue Moon
You knew just what I was there for
You heard me saying a prayer for
Someone I really could care for

And then there suddenly appeared before me
The only one my arms will (ever) hold
I heard somebody whisper please adore me
And when I looked to the Moon it turned to gold

Blue Moon
Now I'm no longer alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own
2010 is going to be a good year for me, I just know it!