august heat

the spent madder dyebath waiting for me to pour it into the perennials
started to grow some other life forms
and then i noticed the spoon.
 the bowl and half the handle took a refraction bend 
and created a non-shadow shadow.
 and became disassociated from its reality
 i mistakenly got some watercolors on something and used them as finger paint
and a little bleeding from the last of the big orange day lilies.
 left in my full sketch book
(thank you Sarah Bryant)
 indigo dyed shifu on a piece of flax pigment colored Hark! paper
as it becomes another book cover (maybe my next sketchbook)
 this hot august weather makes morning mist
 which burns off
HOT
 and then there were some new neighbors visiting.
this lady came by and surprised me.
she seemed contented and happy to have new eating
so i tootled down to my neighbor's where i thought she lived
and was met with an ornery response
"those aren't my cows.
see-there are mine"
i must say 
 there was a little herd, actually, where she pointed.
and a few minutes later her son came along on an atv and took the cows home.
the north country orneriness sometimes rubs me the wrong way.
not a word of thanks, instead an accusation.
the cows were very pretty
wonderful browns and roans, my favorite cow colorings.
i would be happy to have these ladies
across the road every evening,
if only they weren't loose, because of that hazardous
55 mph road between their usurped pasture
and my place.
a potential disaster.
i know. 
i watched another neighbor's loose horse be put down
after a car hit her, broke her leg
one winter morning, years ago.
i'm feeling a bit haggard and ragged because of this humid heat.
~~~
so, 
in other news,
i received a wonderful bit of travel funding for my Maiwa trip
professional development!
and i had yet another nail in a tire
almost 2 inches long,
necessitating a new tire (thankfully i didn't have to buy all 4,
because with 4WD all have to be the same and this set was new)
and my vacuum broke,
meaning two (so far) trips to the repair shop.
60 miles away or so.
it's a summer of little joys and a few issues.
the summer feels like it's changing, almost over except for the heat, 
it's really only just turned the corner
towards autumn.

a day or so late

 just before the moon was full
i walked in late afternoon
to the east, the moon rising
 to the west the sun setting
and the neighbor cows
 well, i've taken to talking to them.
and they look at me.
they seem to be staying close to the barn
and the round bales in the yard.
there's a new baby
 chocolate amongst the beautiful mamas.
and this itchy girl
made good use of granite.
 holding fast to normalcy
i am hoping for hope.
these beautiful beasts whose consciousness i can't grasp
and the birds, snow buntings, chickadees and bluejays
(at night owls call)
these things ground me and remind me
that our beautiful mother will be here
before and after me.
i keep turning off the news.
i will make milkweed paper today.