thanksgiving

so after i returned from toronto

 a little snow fell.

 in the woods at the place i call home

 the snow has been little and not long staying

so far this winter

i have heard owls, but no coyotes,

and a strange murmuring of bird voices, coming ever so slowly

waxing and waning and 

ever louder until

overhead i heard a honk, like a sneeze at a soft concert moment

then another but still the murmuring.

and then they were above me.

canada geese, locals, going over to trout lake

with no need to make much ruckus.

 we joined gracious friends for thanksgiving 

and ate delicious food, 

our ages from a college freshman to an elder of 99. 

hannah brought tyler home to see the north country and us.

despite headcolds, they requested to make paper,

hannah knows how, but tyler was new to the vat.

 above they are using square moulds made by britt quinlin the paperwright

from ottawa,

and below hannah uses a lee macdonald mould.

 hannah and elder dog gwen share some caring

gwen loves being with hannah.

 and after they left 

i felt so empty.

neki sent me her failed linen warp

(to make into paper)

 and carol sent me this beautiful card

for my birthday.

 here's the edition of blue jean paper 

(i couldn't get the color right, but it's very blue jeansy)

it's flying by means of jet plane

to bar harbor.

by the way, the little animals all,

except for the selkie, are spoken for.

perhaps selkie will find you?!

gratitude in a big city

Toronto is a city that feels as right as a city can feel.

i like it there.

the first thing that we did was have lunch

with the beautiful, brilliant Judy Martin.

this is a thing i found in the soil that was around a tree 
in a toronto sidewalk.

it feels like an african trade bead.

hannah says it looks like a hoof

anyway, my trip to toronto was rich, indeed.

i stayed with my dear heart friend wendy golden-levitt

and saw the grief book,

my shifu book that the children work with.

it holds many things,

many tears,

grieving,

and, importantly, healing.

(i wrote about this in the summer edition of HandPapermaking)

we visited a wonderful tea shop,

where i purchased some lovely tea, 

and met a young woman learning wisdom.

and when we looked out the window

 these tall ones were spotted

at Mjolk i had a good talk with John Baker

my rock book #3 or #5*

 lives there now

*i am so number impaired that i forget which.

conversation about art and design and making and life

moved me deeply.

the top rock book,

sections now bound on vellum tapes, 

is in toronto.

we went to the textile museum

to see hiroko karuno's shifu

pictures, at least mine,
don't show the beauty as i wish they would.

there were some stones at home, too.

and this magic 

cloth

out in the city 
we found an

artists' book store.

i bought two.

above, stubborn objects 

below, no title
(but you can see me taking the photo)

and this for free

i had wanted to finish this book before i left

but i didn't.

i showed these skeins

lokta kami-ito, walnut dye, walnut dye long bath, and natural
to some john and cha cha.

once i reached home there was snow.
i had to scrape the car in brockville at via rail
so i could drive back home.

 a little boy went widdershins around my house

a welcome, perhaps.

he wasn't worried,

he browsed on some dried goldenrod.

 at home i cleaned off a shelf

and found these little ones that, while teaching my kids,

i carved from soapstone.

i did this often with my students,

especially while reading Barry Lopez'

Crow and Weasel.

a bear, a bird,

a squirrel-bird, a selkie,

a coyote and a little pflump.

these need homes,

and may appear in my shop soon.
~~~
photos 5-8 by Wendy Golden-Levitt

ADDENDUM: they are now in the shop. please email me if you're interested. i haven't yet figured out the PayPal thingie. i will, soon, i hope!