Author Archives: planting

we started this new year as we start almost every weekend morning,

with a walk on the ranch.  i consider it an auspicious beginning that we ran into a young russian girl

shepherding a hobo looking dog and four basset hounds one of which she informed us was autistic.  i wondered for a moment if she meant artistic. maybe he paints or sings. but no she repeated it. “he’s autistic, don’t be frightened if he barks at you”. she also had a leopard skin snugglie with a shitzu in it.

it reminded me of the time we were hiking on Maui and ran into a very tall black man wearing a sarong and carrying a staff. granted we had eaten some stinky ass mushrooms that time but still.  those moments. they are transcendent.  

last week we found this in a tree there. 

From Planting Along The Verge



we started this new year as we start almost every weekend morning,

with a walk on the ranch.  i consider it an auspicious beginning that we ran into a young russian girl

shepherding a hobo looking dog and four basset hounds one of which she informed us was autistic.  i wondered for a moment if she meant artistic. maybe he paints or sings. but no she repeated it. “he’s autistic, don’t be frightened if he barks at you”. she also had a leopard skin snugglie with a shitzu in it.

it reminded me of the time we were hiking on Maui and ran into a very tall black man wearing a sarong and carrying a staff. granted we had eaten some stinky ass mushrooms that time but still.  those moments. they are transcendent.  

last week we found this in a tree there. 

From Planting Along The Verge



ready to go
yes i’m ready to go.
this morning there was a sliver of moon visible behind ribbons of clouds.  it gave my tummy a little tug.  that hour of the morning, as much as i hate getting up and out into it always delivers mystery.
so 
it’s a full moon tonight and a lunar eclipse.  no wonder i’ve been on the very edge of…
of something.
it’s not just me it’s the world in all it’s sticky unfathomable glory.
so
yes i think i have everything i need for another trip around the sun and if i don’t i expect i’ll manage.
good wishes to you all. 
ready to go
yes i’m ready to go.
this morning there was a sliver of moon visible behind ribbons of clouds.  it gave my tummy a little tug.  that hour of the morning, as much as i hate getting up and out into it always delivers mystery.
so 
it’s a full moon tonight and a lunar eclipse.  no wonder i’ve been on the very edge of…
of something.
it’s not just me it’s the world in all it’s sticky unfathomable glory.
so
yes i think i have everything i need for another trip around the sun and if i don’t i expect i’ll manage.
good wishes to you all. 
today i am thinking about my hyoid bone. and yours. it floats in our necks and makes speech and language possible.  without them we’d only be able to grunt at each other.  which isn’t necessarily a bad thing sometimes.  
this is one of the things i love about yoga.
it makes me not only think about these bones and ligaments and fascia but it makes me try and feel them and how they work and what they do or don’t do. i’m a baby learning about my own body all over again.
childs pose
this may be the ugliest baby you’ve ever seen but i like him.
he’s sitting on his mother’s lap.  it is an unfinished stitchery from way back. it appeared yesterday when i was looking for something in a basket and i’ve been carrying it around thinking i might finish it but most likely i will not and i’m thinking that’s alright.  i’m thinking finished is a crazy concept. 
today i am thinking about my hyoid bone. and yours. it floats in our necks and makes speech and language possible.  without them we’d only be able to grunt at each other.  which isn’t necessarily a bad thing sometimes.  
this is one of the things i love about yoga.
it makes me not only think about these bones and ligaments and fascia but it makes me try and feel them and how they work and what they do or don’t do. i’m a baby learning about my own body all over again.
childs pose
this may be the ugliest baby you’ve ever seen but i like him.
he’s sitting on his mother’s lap.  it is an unfinished stitchery from way back. it appeared yesterday when i was looking for something in a basket and i’ve been carrying it around thinking i might finish it but most likely i will not and i’m thinking that’s alright.  i’m thinking finished is a crazy concept. 
salad time
once a week i have lunch with my songstress friend. we’ve been at it for a good many years.  i’ve grown gray while her hair remains exactly the same as when we first met.  she always always orders the small salad and a glass of wine in a coffee mug (don’t ask!) and i always order something huge and delicious like the chili rellenos or the stuffed eggplant or the spicy calamari along with a glass of wine in a regular glass.  we (almost) always go to the same place. the proprietress has become a friend and some days, like today she brings us a special treat  and stops and talks story with us.  
a ritual.  
like these little collages are becoming. this one has part of a recipe (for a salad) from an old old cookbook. the paper so old it was  disintegrating while i glued it and the two children in cowboy costume!  where are they now?  i’m pretty sure they’re not meeting regularly for lunch. is one of them a song writer?
i’m working on a book to keep them in. nothing fancy but something worthy.
salad time
once a week i have lunch with my songstress friend. we’ve been at it for a good many years.  i’ve grown gray while her hair remains exactly the same as when we first met.  she always always orders the small salad and a glass of wine in a coffee mug (don’t ask!) and i always order something huge and delicious like the chili rellenos or the stuffed eggplant or the spicy calamari along with a glass of wine in a regular glass.  we (almost) always go to the same place. the proprietress has become a friend and some days, like today she brings us a special treat  and stops and talks story with us.  
a ritual.  
like these little collages are becoming. this one has part of a recipe (for a salad) from an old old cookbook. the paper so old it was  disintegrating while i glued it and the two children in cowboy costume!  where are they now?  i’m pretty sure they’re not meeting regularly for lunch. is one of them a song writer?
i’m working on a book to keep them in. nothing fancy but something worthy.

more from The Craftsman’s Handbook by Cennino d’Andrea Cennini

on How to Paint Faces

“take a little  terre-verte and a little white lead, well tempered; and lay two coats all over the face, over the hands, over the feet, and over the nudes.  But for faces of young people with cool flesh color this couch should be tempered, the couch, and the flesh colors too, with yolk of a town hen’s egg, because those are whiter yolks than the ones which country or farm hens produce; those are good, because of their redness, for tempering flesh colors for aged and swarthy persons.”




and those taste better too.

cut2

more backs of things. this one has shadows of transfers and old pattern papers and the fabric over the top of the head is really a sleeve for a rod for hanging.

more from The Craftsman’s Handbook by Cennino d’Andrea Cennini

on How to Paint Faces

“take a little  terre-verte and a little white lead, well tempered; and lay two coats all over the face, over the hands, over the feet, and over the nudes.  But for faces of young people with cool flesh color this couch should be tempered, the couch, and the flesh colors too, with yolk of a town hen’s egg, because those are whiter yolks than the ones which country or farm hens produce; those are good, because of their redness, for tempering flesh colors for aged and swarthy persons.”




and those taste better too.

cut2

more backs of things. this one has shadows of transfers and old pattern papers and the fabric over the top of the head is really a sleeve for a rod for hanging.

i had a dream about my friend katherine.  in it we were walking back to my apartment in ny but when we got there and all along the way, nothing was the same.  it all looked the same but something was slightly off. when we got to the door of my apartment my key wouldn’t open the door. someone else was living there.

i had a dream about my friend katherine.  in it we were walking back to my apartment in ny but when we got there and all along the way, nothing was the same.  it all looked the same but something was slightly off. when we got to the door of my apartment my key wouldn’t open the door. someone else was living there.

i had a dream about my friend katherine.  in it we were walking back to my apartment in ny but when we got there and all along the way, nothing was the same.  it all looked the same but something was slightly off. when we got to the door of my apartment my key wouldn’t open the door. someone else was living there.