I suppose I could react to the recent Presidential election by shuffling around in sackcloth humming "American Pie" aka "The Day the Music Died." But that would really be simply a meaningless waste of time and energy. Tried hard to get a gentle, compassionate and competent woman elected, but it seems that millions of my fellow Americans are living in a pretty dark place, and used the ballot box to express their anger, fears and anxiety. Rather than rail against that darkness, I instead choose to reaffirm and suggest my contrary view of everyday existence: Distilled Harmony.
SchragWall
As a teacher I spent my life as an agent of change. Moving students from lethargy to curiosity, leading to a life of positive action. I was a motivational speaker for an active mind and living an active life. It was, in a word, exhausting. I do not believe that those frenetic years led to my multiple myeloma, but I have decided that it is time to pass my "agent of change cape" to a younger generation, and put on the more relaxing garb of an “agent of calm.” This blog explores that new role.
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
Distilled Harmony: A Reaffirmation
Sunday, November 3, 2024
Little Tiny Wormholes
I'm not talking about those little holes that appear in your yard after a summer rain, the ones made by actual worms. No, I'm talking about the wormholes that hook various points in spacetime together. Or as Wikipedia puts it:
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Lending the Sisters a Hand
Tuesday, October 22, 2024
Moontree
[Schrag Canvas is how I have decided to designate posts that are exclusively visual. Apologies for some format glitches. I am dodging between platforms to get this post out to y’all!]
Thursday, October 17, 2024
Today We Have the Naming of Parts
In my mind I was quite certain that this was the first line of a somewhat suggestive poem by e. e. cummings with a matching title. The Internet demurred, returning instead a poem with that title by a guy named Henry Reed about weapons. I queried Dr. Coyle, my oldest bud and go-to guy for English poetry, who sadly confirmed the Reed citation. I will not, however, allow this reality to stand in the way of one of my favorite more fantasy-like activities. Hence we can consider the better title of this post Today We Have the Naming of Things.
Sunday, October 6, 2024
Why Every Painting is a Prayer
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Time to Breathe
It seems to require either exceptional courage or an intense inclination to sadism to attend to the "news" these days. Journalism has always been a slave to a "if it bleeds, it leads" mentality, but the digital nature of today's world allows the industry to rake up any political conflict, military mayhem, or natural disaster - large or small - from anywhere on the globe with truly depressing immediacy. I don't know if humanity is really striving to descend to new lows, or if our ability to follow the pessimistic storylines just makes it seem so. Either way, I feel a pressing need to take a breath and focus on that which is good and beautiful in the world.
Monday, September 16, 2024
Holes in the Fabric
Thursday, September 12, 2024
Playing with Poetry
Walking the Circle Path - 2024
Earliest beyond planning
Almost without awareness
Routes of exploration
Sights and sounds
Within each precious moment
Until, quietly, sleep intrudes
And then waking sends one
Again to senses newly formed
Somehow down around
A curve or corner
We discover the first faint
Awareness of a glimpse
Called destination
Perhaps maybe possibly
Could be should be is
At least for awhile
Until concrete asphalt
Highways byways
Bridges parking lots
Detours shortcuts
Cloverleafs round-abouts
And occasional dead ends
Guide us through the
May be could be
Might be should be
Would have been
Should not have been
Got right got wrong
Did over walked away
Turned around started again
That is life
When suddenly again
Beyond planning
At the reborn
Corner of awareness
The path turns
Soft and sandy
Bordered by nodding blossoms
No doubt once forgotten
Have been there all long
Now reassert their value
Sweetly requiring our
Attention appreciation
Kinship
Stop smell me
Implores a
Forgotten mantra
We would be wise
To listen to step aside
Off the harried highway
And return
For a tranquil while
To that friendly path
We traveled long ago.
Mice - 2001
As mice scampering across a moonlit mesa
Thoughts trace frantic paths across my mind.
Do not pounce. They cannot be caught.
Observe them. Allow them this time.
They are but figments destined to fade at dawn.
Who would have known empty
Could tip the scales to such an incline?
Perhaps dark matter does outweigh
All that is observable and light
Does so subtly assert its unimaginable worth.
For clear light does true love reveal,
Fragile and tenuous in its immortality.
While darkness nurtures its false shade,
A fleeting debasement that decays
Beneath its own whining and recrimination.
So seeming endless patience must your
First companion be.
The imagination of the eyes that look
To be the twins of your own comforts, bring
A feigned indulgence of your heart’s true ease.
But lose not your firm determination
To wait upon the rising of heart and flesh.
Allow ecstasy its own fair germination
For love delayed is far sweeter than
Affection or remorse draped in love’s disguise.
Pre-dawn showers mist the mesa.
An owl’s shriek steeps low against the mountainside
Sweeping mice to holes and cliffs and gone.
And sun’s first light reveals me still alone,
But softly now, fresh draped in calm repose.
Here is the original version, but if you are viewing on a small screen, very, very hard to read 🤪