“The moon does not fight. It attacks no one. It does not worry. It does not try to crush others. It keeps to its course, but by its very nature, it gently influences. What other body could pull an entire ocean from shore to shore? The moon is faithful to its nature and its power is never diminished.”
- Ming-Dao Deng, Everyday Tao: Living with Balance and Harmony
I'm having fun with these things today. The end result of the fun will be revealed next week!
The Reeds of Prune Ridge spent a few days immediately following Memorial Day "down south" in one of our most favorite vacation escape locales. The Hocking Hills State Park, south-east of Columbus is a stunningly beautiful and surprising place to those who haven't been there yet. Probably if you don't know Ohio and you think about it, you think about Cleveland or Cincinnati or Columbus. Maybe about some sports teams in various cities. Maybe about some colleges and universities, because we know there are a lot of those. Maybe about Toledo - either because you know about the many hidden gems of Toledo, the industry there (glass and Jeeps, to name a couple), the things Maxwell Klinger waxed poetic about on MASH, or the Saturday Night in Toledo captured so fittingly in song by John Denver. Maybe you think about farming, because there's plenty of that. But you might not think about stunningly gorgeous outdoor vistas or the incredible sandstone cave areas of Hocking Hills. If you don't know this area (or all of the beautiful south-central to southeast parts of the state), you are long overdue for a visit!
We tend to travel with our dog whenever possible, and Hocking Hills is a great place for people and dogs together. There are a couple of beautiful sites where dogs are prohibited, but there are many more where they are welcome - and you will likely meet many dogs and dog people if you visit.
Old Man's Cave is probably the most well known of the Hocking Hills sites. It is incredibly beautiful and worth a good visit. There is a trail down into and through the cave area, and also a trail above the cave. The upper trail in the woods connects to longer hiking trails (a few miles) you can walk to see other sites. You can also drive easily between all of the Hocking Hills sites.
For me, half the appeal of being in the woods is just that - being in the woods. They were beautiful when we were there - cool in the shade, but temps in the sun edging up to blazing summertime. The woods were full of recent storm damage we spotted in many different places. Only in the woods can downed trees and broken branches be as beautiful as they are there. I was struck by how well illustrated
the cycles of forest life were following storms not long before our visit. I am always drawn in by all the roots in a forest. Some are so visible, and when an old tree in wet ground is pulled down - the network of former support is awesome to investigate.
I was pleased to find that our newest camera, which we had annoying early experiences with (battery life, especially), was incredibly reliable and fun to use. I have a lot of potential learning ahead of me about how to use the fancy device, but I'm happy with the things I captured while we were exploring. There is a new Hocking Hills photo album here on the blog too (check the right-side column, just below the Pink Falcon). Most of the best photos I got are there.
We had great fun in the woods, and a great time in general including time at our rental cabin - "Woodland Way." We did, of course, have a mouse guest in the cabin but s/he stayed pretty well out of our way and avoided the traps entirely for the bulk of our visit. We also had an oven at the rental that didn't work consistently, leading to a frozen pizza supper that was ultimately "cooked" to spongy state in the microwave.
Olive was extremely well behaved (she generally is), although she spent most of her time in the woods with us trying to sample all the offerings from nature's salad bar!
All in all, it was a perfect adventure in our best style of home-away-from-Prune-Ridge adventuring!
So there's this tattoo on my right shoulder blade now. It is not very small, and it is exactly what I wanted to have there - but some friends and family have been surprised by the size of "my ink" (that's what the hip kids call it) and many also have wondered if it has significance. There is significance, and the decision to add this piece of artwork to my body was not made lightly. I think it was a well thought-out idea, personally - but of course it was my idea! I have not spent a large portion of my life, or even many years thinking about tattoos or wanting a tattoo.
Let's start with the Pink Falcon. Some people will know by now that the Pink Falcon has been my alter-ego for several years now. I have always "had a thing" about raptors and the like - hawks, falcons, owls, eagles, etc. The appeal of these creatures to me is at once simple and complex. Simply put? They are stunning animals with great beauty, mysterious lives, and awesome power. More to my liking is the incredible combination of their gifts of flight and incredible eyesight. I would give nearly anything to be able to fly - and specifically to be able to have the perspective of the biggest possible picture as my field of vision, combined with the ability to see and track miniscule detail from so far away. The precision to sweep in and catch whatever catches my eye (or to solve whatever problem I can pick out from within the big picture) would be pure magic and bliss, I do believe.
I wish I were a super hero. You know... clever name, secret powers that come in handy when someone is in distress and needs help, and a great costume too. Some years ago now (I love that my relationship and marriage to John can now be referenced in terms of "some years ago now.") when starting a Scrabble game, I asked John "who do you want to be?" This has been a norm of ours since we started playing Scrabble on our second date. I'm generally the score keeper, and I start almost every game by asking John who he would like to be. Usually the answer is something like "just John," or "Mr. Reed" after we were married. On this particular occasion, John responded with something witty and I felt the need to have a fabulous name. "The Pink Falcon!" I shouted. And thus, I was born. I now have a logo, thanks to the best mother-in-law in the world - appropriately emblazened on a couple of shirts and a mug. I also have a pink satin cape, thanks to a Kickstarter fund raising campaign for Amazing Capes.
And then the year 2011 came along. I turned 40 that year. And then I started having this weird sensation problem - almost like weakness, but not quite. Not falling down, but kind of almost. Well, and falling down twice (which might have just been me being clumsy, but who knows)... And then? The verdict came in - I have Multiple Sclerosis. It's been almost precisely 2 years (September 29) from my diagnosis day. One of the reasons my diagnosis was fairly quick in the world of neurological diseases was that I had a vision problem (often the first symptom or "exacerbation" of MS for many people) 5 years before the peculiar weakness/sensation problem that crept up 2 years ago. I was appropriately observed and treated at the time, and MS was expressed as a possible concern, but the diagnostic tools used then didn't show that it was a possibility. That adventure 5 years prior was a key part of being able to offer a correct diagnosis quickly 2 years ago. I am now medicated and seem to be "holding my own" against my own nervous system.
So it seems only logical that MS is one of my super powers, don't you think? And also perhaps a bit ironic that my attraction to birds of prey has a lot to do with their incredible vision capabilities, while a loss of vision (partial, in one eye, for a few months) was likely my first symptom on the road to Multiple Sclerosis?
My relatively brief journey towards adding a beautiful piece of artwork to my own skin was definitely related to having MS. There is no cure for MS. I am going to have MS for the rest of my life. But also? I am fighting MS as I am able, and I'm determined to make it my super power. I am also now going to have a beautiful piece of artwork on my skin for the rest of my life.
My pink falcon rests on my right shoulder blade and sports (obviously - see the picture of "me" at the top of this blog) a Viking helmet. The Pink Falcon was the first, and only logical choice for a possible piece of art on me. And my Pink Falcon is a Nordic falcon in large part because of my Norwegian heritage - of which I am very proud. My Grandpa Melby was Norwegian and was the most recent generation of immigrant to this country in our family. Ultimately, I made two decisions about the artwork that are directly related to my MS. I chose the placement on my right side in part to "counterbalance" my birthmark which is on the left side of my middle back. I considered having the profile of my falcon flipped so it would be looking over my shoulder but decided instead that he should be looking towards my spine. MS is a disease of the central nervous system, with which the immune system works to attack the protective coating (myelin) of the nervous system causing a breakdown in the messaging system. My Pink Falcon is keeping an eye on my nervous system for me. He is also a Nordic Falcon because of one of the many peculiar "things" about the prevalence of MS. I have grown up in the Great Lakes/Upper Midwest areas of our country, which means I have lived primarily in the same range of latitudes in which MS is more common than some locales. Norway (and northern Europe)
has a rather high rate of MS in comparison to other parts of the world. The upper Midwest and Great Lakes regions of the US also have higher rates of MS than other parts of the country. Michigan has one of the highest occurrence rates of MS in the United States. So my falcon's Viking helmet is a nod to my fantastic Norwegian heritage and also to my disease.
My "tat" (that's also what the kids call it) was designed and inked (I don't know if that's what the kids call it, but it sounds good to me) by Sailor Woody at the Infinite Art Tattoo studio in Toledo, OH. I shared a couple of photographs (grabbed off the interwebs with simple google searches) with Woody to give him some starting points, and he ran with the idea. I love his artwork and didn't ask to change a thing. Voila - my Pink Falcon tattoo! The falcon I visioned this whole idea off of is a Gyrfalcon - a nordic falcon with a particular gaze that I love in the photo here. The Viking helmet was a simple and almost silly thing to search for, but who knew how many different kinds of Viking helmets there were in the world? I loved the contrast of the photo here. Both are the photos Woody started with.
So there you have it - all you ever (never?) wanted to know about my tattoo! It's not going anywhere. Ask me and I'll show you!
I have nothing more to say - except who knew there could be pink helicopters from a maple tree?!? I pocketed a few in disbelief. If they keep their color, they will likely make their way into a collage:
So I haven't been very present in the blogosphere, and haven't done a good job of updating on the garden. Now, however? Tomatoes are coming in force! The small plate on the left side of this picture is filled with tomatoes brought in about 3-4 days ago. The rest? All this morning! The zinnias also came in this morning, and there would be more if I had more hands. My new goal is to simply keep up with stuff from now until the end of the season. And my continuing goal? Eat more tomatoes!
They're up, they're up! I'm pleased with the curtains, the coordination with the green wall, and the new hardware. We chose the hardware specifically to go with the chandelier in the dining room and hardware on the new sliding door, and the two rods together are an enormous improvement over the awful old vertical blinds. Still have the old holes to fill and some painting touch-ups to do, but overall I'm thrilled.
So we don't have a plethora of tomatoes coming in yet, but all the plants are healthy looking, growing, and most are thick with fruit. I have hope! In the meantime, I've learned that perhaps removing a few fruits from the plants that are heaviest may help inspire ripening of the remaining babes. Our kitchen window sill is now hosting several gorgeous bright green guests, with hopes that maybe they will also be inspired to ripen a bit. We'll see how this goes. Also? Zinnias are opening daily! I do love having the colors of the garden ready for snipping.
Yes, indeed, 'tis the week of the Ann Arbor Art Fairs. I spent a few hours working at the club this morning (we are closed during the fairs, but have found it's a good time to do a few things that we sometimes don't have time for), and then headed out for a brief jaunt at the fair. I literally walked about 2 blocks of booths out of the total of something like 28 blocks. That was enough for me, and I still managed to find a few things that I "needed!" I actually came across two things I've been half-heartedly searching for - for quite a long time.
First, I've always wanted to have a gorgeous and functional ceramic collander. We don't actually have good room to store a large ceramic piece, so I was thrilled to find this smaller collander bowl - perfect for cherries or grapes and the like! I bought the matching plate because I do have a thing for sets of beautiful things.
I also had been sort of keeping an eye out for beautiful small ceramic cups - probably intended for tea, but in my mind? Perfect for wine! I had been thinking in terms of collecting a "set" of similarly sized, but unmatched cups. I happened across a booth that had exactly what I had visioned, and in lots of different designs & colors. Turns out, however, that I was particularly taken with the colors and glazes of the 4 cups I bought. The colors happen to be pretty perfect with our dishes. The small square dish was a little extra bonus find, purchased from the same potter the collander and plate came from. I suspect it will be used primarily as a teabag rest. All in all, I'd call it a pretty good day at the Art Fairs - at least what little I could hack!
This past Sunday brought the now annual (I believe this year was the 8th) Circle of Art Auction to the Saline Picture Frame Company near Ann Arbor. This annual event is brilliantly planned and executed every year, and I am always impressed. John and I had great fun there as always, and came away with three new pieces of art for our home. You may know that I have a certain thing about ceramic pottery, and this year (so as not to disappoint anyone with expectations) two of our three finds were ceramics! The first picture here is a planter (complete with drainage hole) made by Kay Yourist - the very potter from whom I took my few pottery wheel classes.
The second piece is actually a partner to a piece we bought at this same event two years ago. I felt certain that I "needed" to have the new plate to go with the dish we already have by the same local artist, Pam O'Hara. Both pieces are pictured here, this year's plate is first, followed by the dish from the earlier event.
The third piece is perhaps something (something else?) that we needed the least - but this beautiful photo of an Egret caught our attention, and it came home with us as well. We hardly have room left to hang things on the walls, but will find a space for this after it is framed. I am guessing that it may find a home in our guest room (also known as the Elephant Room to some...) because of the predominant blue theme there. The picture here doesn't do it exact justice with some glare from the plastic sleeve, but I think you get the idea.
Kudos to you again this year, Saline Picture Frame folks, family, and friends. Thank you over and over for all you have done to support Food Gatherers with this fantastic event!
She is a wee spunky Irish lass, of course...