Stone People... Rock!

The first question

that is asked when guests

see my Stone people

is, "are they glued?"

The second is

"what is the meaning behind it?"

The first answer is, "No

they are just balancing there!"

The second is,

"I am not really sure what

the meaning is, but its fun

and I am not sure why!"

During a significant period of time

spent walking the Windsor trail

down by the beach,

a girlfriend and I

would randomly

stop and create rock sculptures

(again, the amount of rocks

in the desert is astounding

and plentiful!

Got to LOVE rocks to live here

and I do,

she doesn't so much.)

Actually, this was her idea

and I had never tried this,

"defy gravity activity

using such large

heavy finger crunching"

objects like a house of cards

and not.

I had admired them

in the silent gardens

and beach scape's of Maui,

feeling as my guests do seeing them

the first time

"why and how?"

After making a few...

the goal becomes clear

how high can you go

and how much you will you ask of

and trust gravity?

To keep rocks balancing

on one another

that really shouldn't,

and then there's how to jump back

quick enough to protect

exposed ankles and toes

when they start to tumble

ground ward

(This is sort of fun to observe,

especially depending on who it is!)

Soon enough it became

clear there was a competition

not just on height

but also creativity

seeking to add

suggestive rock faces, hats,

beaks, noses...

...the crowning glory.

The best part of this,

was when we returned

the following week end

for our ritual walk,

thirty more had been

added to the village.

Had the vibration not toppled

them we might have jumped

up and down joyfully!

What a sight!

When I didn't get down

there anymore

she relayed to me that sadly

someone had knocked

most of them over,

"Are you sure it wasn't the wind?"

I asked!

Hard to believe such beauty

and skill and contribution

would be kicked apart!

Missing this activity greatly

and being in operation revamp

my backyard/ playground mode,

a pile of garden rocks took

on a new purpose.

In the far corner of my yard

Twelve stone people

stand around a metal fire sculpture

like a stoic majestic village.

Tall and short in

an amazing feat of balance

and juxtaposed placement

of shapes and colors and sizes,

each mound, surprisingly,

with their own personality.

The energy that is displayed

is profound

and I see it in my guests eyes

when they

view them for the first time

"would never dream of gluing them

together" I respond

because it is in the act

of building them

that I love.

Can't really describe it.

Instead? I invite you to build

one yourself.

As far as the meaning behind it?

My research

did not find anything significant

about that,

except it is an activity loved

around the world by many!

And to my rock sculpture friend,

...the wind DOES indeed

blow them over.

Gratefully tho,

because the recreation

is an opportunity to go higher

and be more clever than before!

Maybe its all about

the art of balance

in its most basic

and primitive stone beauty!

Pam Piper Rain

Becoming the Sky

I wear words

do you?

Actually most of my jewelry

has words on them!

(because fortunately

my best friend, Janet,

is a word loving silver smith)

Years ago

she gave me a shiny square

that says "Be the Sky!"

in big chunky letters on a necklace.

and I wear it always

and am often asked,

curiously...

what does that mean.

Sometimes explaining

sometimes I don't...

depends on whose asking.

Long time ago

while trying to salvage

a broken relationship

a wise friend fond

of metaphors told me this

short story...

One day the student asked

the spiritual master

"how do I capture that beautiful bird,

without hurting it?"

the master replied

"You must become ...the sky!"

Having had many opportunities

and challenges to reach

for that philosophy

having caught "that bird

and others along the way"

at times successful,

in the lofty goal of 'being the sky'

at others times making mistakes.

(many baby steps forward and backwards)

While this philosophy continues to take

on layers

and has become less about

romantic relationships,

and more about life!

Profoundly for me

it has become a representation of all

that I seek

in my walk on the planet!

What does it mean to be the sky?

(and this is the first time

I have tried to explain it,

not sure I can do it justice.)

For me, it is to allow all things to be

as they are,

free of expectations

to live and let live,

to love with an embrace

as expansive as the sky

to follow and trust the energy as it is

to follow where it leads

and carry what it needs,

to believe in the unity

of all things being one.

It is my talisman statement,

a place I return to, revisit,

when lost or confused

the question,

'how am I not being the sky?'

centers and reminds me

to take stock

clear myself of what wounds and fails.

When I am not being the sky

I shrink, I sink

and am not in flight towards

whats really necessary

and real!

When I am the sky

I move with grace

ease and freedom, thru the days,

seeing that all is as it should be

I am weightless and in the flow

floating along, enjoying and trusting!

Its a act of living in reverance!

Tho we shortened it to

'Be the sky,'

I love it, simplified!

And with this past year...

of so many wonders and 'not wonders"

my sky lessons have been of such significance

the book of memoirs I am writing will

be called, "In Becoming the Sky...!"

At some point...

with a little more work

that necklace?

...on the back will read

'I am the sky'

...but not quite yet!

Pam Piper Rain

Photo by Ed Earley

If you want to wear words too?

www.jewelry for the soul.com

but just so you know...

I have the only

'Be the sky' ever to be made...sorry!

But that's the kind of friend, Janet is!

Hula Circus

Want to play?

Bring your box of toys and join us

where the shore meets the sky

and kisses the lake.

Everything turns gold at sunset

and the beauty the desert generates

is panoramic in its color

and a silent pleading

that says "look at me!"

This is our Dancing in the Desert night.

We started this a couple years ago

after our noon paddles

it was close and the fire was inviting

in the winter after being wet and cold.

Its become a magical setting and

time to let go and be ten,

tho the faces have changed,

some missed,

many new fun seekers have

found their way

to our playground.

And its always different

and guaranteed memorable!

It begins with the positioning of the RV,

the kitchen set up of tables and lanterns.

This time we decide

to rake the multiplying

rocks in our path

and ultimately for our dance floor

(The desert is best for growing rocks)

Its fairly hot mid afternoon

but Ron and I can't stop...

"just a few more,

how about that patch over there...

oh we don't want anyone

to trip over that one."

Our efforts are well received

and if they hadn't been?

That particular commenter

would have been

immediately handed

...the rake!

Then the toy box is unloaded

of bubble wands,

drums, hoops and pinwheels

and of course the bobble bands.

(Which I just can't seem

to hold on to these days!)

And Ron surprises me

with a bubble machine

and it rains glorious little bubbles

across every ones smiling faces.

Everyone arrives

with the usual "bring what you want,

but no tuna casserole" request,

and the food choices randomly works.

Tonight there is

more food than table space!

There are new faces

and some returned from

an absence of time,

and a best friend finally visits.

Everyone glad to be included

and the anticipation hangs in the air!

Music on, glasses, filled, hoops out

bubbles, head gear on, the fun begins

and tonight?

There is entertainment.

Our own little version

of Burning Man.

My hoop instructor Peri

and her husband Ben

bring out the fire toys!

Now these are TOYS!

Poi, a Polynesian tradition

of two burning balls of fire on chains

spun in a dance

and a trail of whirling streaks

follows every move.

Ben is a master at this

and Peri's five wicked hoop

is a tornado of flames and fiery colors!

Pretty soon she is engulfed

in a circle of light!

Its beautiful and intriguing

and there's wild applause!

And something I never even

knew I wanted to do...

I am wondering hhhmmmm?

What if?

By nights end everyone is hooping

even the ones, initially uninterested ,

the LED hoops are a hit,

which although not fire

are brilliant and multi haloed against the

blackness of the sky!

In between we watch Venus chase

the moon into the horizon,

celebrate a birthday with a

poem that is more of a roasting

than thought provoking

(and how I enjoyed that!)

new hoops moves are tried

and people who needed to connect,

finally did!

To anyone driving by

it probably looked like the circus

had come to town?

...Nah... its just us!

So next time your in town?

And if ever wanted to join the circus?

Here's your chance

just show up with your toy box...and rake!

(but remember, no tuna casseroles

...or elephants...

high heels are a bad idea too...

sorry!)

Pam Piper Rain

www.Havahoop.com

Next week: all about hooping and why?

and the building of a Labyrinth

Never been invited to my house?

And wondered why?

I used to LOVE my house

and then I didn't!

For a really long long time.

Relationships, depression,

socializing too much, playing on the lake...

(paddling?)

seemed I was always running

away from home!

Just didn't want to be here!

Day after day looking around

I couldn't see its beauty

only what I had let GO

...for far too long,

only what needed trimming, repair,

paint, patching, replacing

So overwhelmed

all I could do was stare emptily

at my surroundings

and wonder where to start?

Would have still been wondering

if it hadn't been for some

delightful interventions,

(so to speak.)

A paddling friend drops me off

after trying out our boards

insists to see inside...hmmm?

Since she is rather shy, this is big...

she had seen a pic of my renovated studio

and doesn't appear as if she

was going to take no as an answer

(like those before her had.)

So, I acquiesced and

she is charmed...beyond charmed?

And I am beyond surprised.

When she leaves after long witty insightful

dialogue

I am invigorated all at once,

realizing it has been a year and a half

since anyone has sat with me here,

(actually since Jennifer's

last visit!)

I begin to see my surroundings differently

and began to embrace

or shall we say re-embrace my space.

Metaphorically,

I put the claim flag in the ground

and say "okay, this is mine."

My home is old, shabby in ways,

not modern, more "track home-ish"

and certainly not formal

more like an adult play house,

like the ones I built in the woods at ten

only difference?...

This ones not free,

or built with bent nails

my grandfather gave me,

no big gaps of lght in the walls

and there is a street rather

than a path and of course the bills and...

but other than that?

It may be a step up from "a fort!"

When someone commented it

was like Pee Wee's Hermans house

I really, wasn't SURE it

was a compliment.

But what if it is...what if IT

is a extension of who I am?

(not Pee Wee but unconventional creative,

playful?

more silly then serious?)

Shouldn't it be?

Isn't that the best part of growing up?

We get to do whatever we want

and we get to watch how our childselves

find our

adult selves and stand back

and watch them play together

sometimes just for the fun of it all?

Another new friend,

who had read and bought everything

I'd written before being friends,

said she wanted to see my backyard cause I

had formally stated

(years ago) it was

"my greatest masterpiece"

I cringed...well not so much anymore.

Intended to be a place for poets,

woman gathering to write and be wild

get naked (well, not really, I have neighbors...)

but in manner of speaking...

but the only wild things happening here now

is all the stuff I over planted going wild

like an animated jungle out of control.

My idea of "woods" in the desert!

And then came the Facebook request for

a client/friend to bring by an out of town friend

...REALLY?

Are you kidding me?

I allowed it and then actually

encouraged it.

We had a lovely visit and they left with

ideas of their own for her

smaller "new beginnings" space.

We were all inspired!

I was over the hump and

looking around at the possibilities.

So with renewed " attitude for

my humble abode"

I plan to explore how this may be

a better, happier

reflection of me!

And see where a little love

and attention and a lot of work

goes!

And a week of nothing necessary

on my schedule

it was "operation embrace the space"

and instead of Pee Wee Herman playhouse

I decided to think

Alice in Wonderland...instead.

Well, Alice meets Dr Seuss and Van Gogh

on the way to the Safari Circus,

it seems!

With money kind of tight and

the equity line tapped...

going to have to be very very creative...

fix what I might have thrown away before,

and see what I can find for free!

Always thought Havasu should

have a home tour of artist studios,

and maybe this is how it begins?

Gotta run, have lots to do

look for your invite in the mail...!

Cause everyones coming for a swing,

poetry readings or a walk thru

the Labryinth!

Stay tuned for the new developments!

Pam Piper Rain