In Search of Georgia

Is there a place you have heard spoke

of again and again,
in stories and tellings
so much so,
it takes on a mythical quality
and you wonder what it holds
for you when you finally arrive
on its threshold???

When we drop down into Taos
from along the Rio Grande river
it is sort of as I imagined,
a town nestled in the breasts
of blackened shadowed mountains
with far reaching skies and churches,
pueblo this and pueblo that.
Georgia O'keefe's beloved home
and her artistic inspiration.
We are in search of her and
the magic!

I anticipate and fear
a voice might call out,
"welcome home
pack your bags, your moving"
(my friend, suggests there
might even be residents with signs

saying as much.. oh dear.)
There is neither.

Yet at the lodge of Mabel Dodge,
I sit, I write where many
famous guests gathered
D.H Lawrence and Gertrude
and Ansel,
the same soil under my feet.
I walk where the poets walked
and there is a hum
in my ankles.

And there is a labyrinth!
The ancient meditative maze!
I can barely contain my delight!

A labyrinth is an ancient symbol
of the circle and the spiral into
a meandering but purposeful path.
The Labyrinth represents a journey
to our own center and back again
out into the world.
It is a moving meditation of prayer.
It is a walk.
A metaphor for life’s journey.
A sacred space and place that
takes us out of our ego to
“That Which Is Within.”
A labyrinth has only one path.
It is unicursal.
The way in is the way out.

My first walk having been in Maui,
which I directly went and got a tattoo
to permanently
mark the experience!
It was that profound!!!

The intention is to ask a question...
walk in with it and walk out with
an answer or a better understanding
of what is being sought!

Mine is
"what shall I do,
where shall I go?"
(granted, maybe a little too lofty for
a Monday as a tourist
but IT IS Taos...)

The answer seems is so simple
too simple
"be the artist, poet you are
and know you are supported
by all those who have come
before you...just do what you do"
hmmm, okay anything else?
yes, build a labyrinth in your back yard
and that spiral staircase to nowhere,
the one you've been waiting to do,
it has greater relevance than
you imagined."
okay, hmmm?
.... thank you...i guess.

Yet... along the path to the lodge
we discover a note
tied to a branch with a
filament of iridescent ribbon...
a surprising treasure
that makes me feel instantly ten
it reads,
"you are an artist,
act like an artist...
show your work
and please return to Mabel
where magical things happen."
Steffani Zachry Holubec 7/09

I am stunned and look for others
but there is only this one,
one confirmation!
What a gift.
(Thank you, Steffani!)

Wondering, is this everyone's
question here?
Thus this answering note?
Or was this some kind of magic?

Past the twin steepled churches
and rushing Rio,
under the ceaseless New Mexico sky,
it is clear, I won't be moving here,
that I found more than Georgia,
maybe some of the intrigue...
and it looks like
there is a plan for a labyrinth
and spiral staircase to nowhere,
to be added to my backyard.

And more simply...
I need to keep doing and being
what I am doing and being!
And maybe tie a few notes
of my own to a tree or two!

(...oh and there won't be
any tattoo for this one...
i think I got it
deeper than skin this time.)

So... if you are an artist

act like one!

Pam PiperRain

photos by Ed Earley

Closure

It is the last day of summer

one more time on the boat,

I need to allow

the release of her finality

of her heat and her warmth,

so many things to let go of...

wondering is this the end day of...

everything beautiful?

Maybe!

Hotter than expected

there is egg salad

and C batteries,

a "patch" of beach,

(that can be barely called "beach")

a dog's nails "pedi pawed" off,

(with the look of terror on her face)

window crayons on skin

that nearly don't come off,

a parade of bouncing bubbles

like implants stuck to water

and the exchange of great ideas!

There is swimming (sort of)

but it is too cold too "float" now

just can't

maybe next year,

when the fluidity of life

takes me away from this flux

of conflictual change...

When it is time to go

the mountains glow with their

"I'm not summer

nor am I fall" colors

and shadows

multi shaded in shadowed contrast.

there is speeding and bobbing,

a pause to toast the day

without true celebration

instead a goodbye to

the end of the "ride"

and the absence of the "hero."

Summer's farewell...

on the horizon

like the rising moon

only less shiney.

And I think I will miss "her"

like the deserts

miss the rain!

Jeans and Q's

Okay

I know I have been absent

and tho I knew there would be a

time I would take this untimely

needed break.

I did not expect

it to last so long...

to the point I have had even

chest gripping anxiety over

even a short visit to my own blog.

Was it because I just turned fifty

and I seemed at a loss to

relate my own ideas about it?

Which have changed as

the month quickly

become Oct.

Or was it simply

the things in which I could

relay here...

were just too big for this arena,

not ready for my tendency towards too

much truth telling?

Probably!

But I have missed the fun

and creativity of it

and plan to return with

the new adventures

of being an artist in the desert

and an swimming challenged

athlete on the water.

Meanwhile, let me comment

on one scarey thing...

that moment when

you try on your jeans

for the first time because

it is actually cool enough to do so

and your not sure they will fit after

a summer of indulging

and wearing nothing but

sarongs and paddle shorts,

with my upcoming trip to

Albuquerque for the Balloon Festival

and their cooler temps...

I will need to

I will know soon enough...

(And that is another thing

that is scarey...

trying to spell Albuquerque

without looking it up,

so many vowels and Q's)

Geez!!!

Surrender

so it comes with

it’s own heave of

grace given weight

to put us on our knees

in gratitude and grief

to the beauty of breaking

more open...

more willing,

more heightened

more expanded

more of everything

right up to the edges

to spill forth

in rivers of wet weeping

life force

that wants and doesn’t...

want it all

to be left dripping

in puddles

of passionate choices

that led the way

the way we could not

not follow

to our running, our flying

our being tossed

and turned

to be back on our knees

in grief and gratitude

and in humble repose

waiting for the next wind

to blow us...

away!

Nothing profound

been waiting for something

profound

to come into my head...something...

anything to write about

...waiting,

waiting,

still nothing

at least nothing profound

that is...so

when wondering

what will happen

when a bubble wand

is placed in front of a room fan

just do it!

Won't say here...oh but you must try it!

And when did my beloved crayons

add a website address to each color...

a span off 50 years is crossed

on this treasured childhood tool!

Seems, like if I am not acting

hormonal crazy, my friends are...

how long is this going to last

and should we be obligated to

hide out in our own homes

when we are having one of those

"I hate everyone especially, you"

kind of day?

I think it's probably the polite

thing to do!

Is being a Virgo weirder than any

other sign?

Probably not, but I've noticed

when I am speaking to another Virgo

we have our own language...

so would that be speaking Virgoees,

Virgoism

Virgoian or Virgoish?

Someone told me the other day

I should sit with the thought!

Hmmm, so if a friend calls and

asks to come over

would I say

"no, i am sorry I am sitting here

with a thought?

Always wish I was older during the 60s

instead of ten...and why is it every

time I tell a story... I am always ten?

What happened to the other ages?

After a rain in the desert doesn't it

smell wonderfully like wet dirt?

And you want to catch it on your tongue

like a snowflake....

which makes no sense at all.

And then this...

why doesn't any one make paper airplanes

anymore and do they also have a website?

Happy Wednesday!

P

Celebrate the Temporary

On my living room wall is the inscription,

"Celebrate the Temporary."

Thats what bubbles are and why

I am so fascinated with them, such

a celebration of fleeting, floating,

filament of beauty. And if you are

lucky enough to be popped wetly

on the nose by one, you know you have

been truly kissed by a temporary moment.

Bubbles remind me to remain

playful and astonished by little treasures.

Like this one....

Tuesday a.m. on the river in a canoe,

didn't really want to be there

initially, too early, too hot but if

I had whined my way into staying

home, I would have missed

a moment of significance!

Kuba was on shore.

Kuba after six weeks of chemo

and radiation.

Kuba, my seat one from

Hawaii's 18 mile race.

(18 miles she has since made me

pay for by making ME be

"one" in every race, since)

Kuba, the bravest, most vigilant woman

I know...looks on with a fragile softness,

I can't reconcile at first...

that feeling of, "oh no I can't do this again"

rises in my throat.

But I know I will, I know I will be

her teammate in this race as well.

That I will stand by in ways

I didn't know how to before,

fill in the gaps in ways I missed before,

to celebrate any moment

she sits in front or behind me.

The morning light on the mountains

and the reflection of the yellow

and red canoes

drifting in threes

on the water was beautiful...

the voices of laughter ripple

the dawn air,

and Kubas' is among them...

this is being popped

in the nose by a bubble,

wetly kissed by wonder,

a celebration, if paying attention,

to the merriment and magic

that is always there...

somewhere!

Piperain

Photo by Ed Earley

Wild Rain...Wild Women

In the rain, under a poetic pillar of pines and the

darkening sky of Wheeler Park, I sketched four new

Wild Women designs...I was a on a roll, not to be

stopped...was this inspired by the real life Wild Women

I met? May be? Women who were either trapped with me

in a dripping tent, while the daily storm passed, or long

time lovers of Flagstaff, up to beat the heat of the valley,

or friendly locals out to support the Art Festival, familiar

and new faces!

It seemed, some "gift" was slipped quietly to me,

in words, in a tale of loss...told with a tearful

glance, an idea that became a passion of purpose that

gave me chills, spontaneous hugs from strangers and

like me, an older than average athlete, making the

"impossible" possible!

Not to mention the friends, brand new and long term,

that I had the pleasure to laugh heartily with in the "hobo"

camping lot, exchanging ideas (gripes and wine or "whine")

about the nature of creativity and selling it! There

was stuffed dog toy, that looked to have been not only run

over by an oil truck but pulled apart and mangled by "love?"

Someone stated this was the state of artists in this economy.

Not so... I say! For my "fur" gleamed gold, my button eyes,

bright (and not missing) SO rich were the meetings and playful

minds of strangers/friends who had something to tell

this week end!

When I noticed a women wearing an Outrigger Rig Run

(my favorite race) t shirt in my booth, friday...I could

barely speak... I know... who cares, right? I do, especially

when I am this far from the ocean, such an uncommon sight!

A paddler from Oceanside, who had all but taken the season

in firsts in Golden Senior Masters. We shared "paddle stories"

in a park in the middle of Arizona and were instant friends

and the ocean was never more present. Thanks Ruthe!

As young girls in grade school and Jr. High...remember how

painful the whole scenario of "being (or not being) best

friends" could be to our fragile hearts? Yuck! Who would

want to go back to that time? I would, if I knew Krista!

The creator and founder of bestfriendsclub.com! She facilitates

groups and activities, teaching young woman how to make

lasting friendships with each other and how to be kind.

The excited passion in her eyes as she spoke of it...moved me.

We knew with certainty there would be a collaboration between

her work and mine. Yaaay... the younger version of Wild Women!

So what is an alter ego? Ever thought of having one?

Or do we all have one and just don't dare tell anyone?

Hmmm? After meeting Dawn aka Daphne, whose friends

didn't want to go away on a "girls trip",so

she went "anyway." Enjoying herself and her time alone!

I applaud that and took time to ponder

the idea of an alter ego...more on that later. Ha! But good

for you Dawn, or is it Daphne? Thanks for the reminder

to be as different as we can be!

There was Julie / Madrone, (which I just love,

a name inspired by the red bark tree of the waters,

she said) she told me of the "women's way" gatherings

of Longdance and the Red Lodge, something I am inspired

to check out! Such treasures of information I am collecting!

We are at" that age", everyone keeps telling me!

The age of...what shall we call it...the reconciliation of

loss...mortality...? In a brief meeting, Meg, told me of losing

her mother and the overwhelming responsibility of settling

the estate in the middle of the emotional wreckage and

what keeps her centered is..."what would mom want?"

She said, she trusts in the "uninvited guests" to guide

her and welcomes them. I thought her

sense of peace was breathtaking!

And last, but not least, dear Laura, who supports me

without fail, dragging many a friend to meet me (whether

they want to or not), even in the middle of a monsoon

downpour (but we had fun chatting away under the roar

of the thunder, huh?) I know you say, I inspire you,

but truly, your gentle spirit and silent wisdom

inspires me to continue to have faith in what I

attempt to do..sometimes blindly! Thank you for your

support and as always good to see you!

With the inclusion of Liz, whose artwork is stunningly

"wild" and her smile huge (was that champagne bubbles

coming out of your ears?) Carla, who makes me want to

blog, blog, blog, (great info) and funny goofy Megan,

who needs to be a stand up comic, (you'd give Ellen a run

for her money, girlfriend!) KimmBerly whose familar face of

twelve years, looks very happy! And Carolyn whose

consistent ongoing friendship makes me want to weep

impulsively in public! (great... thanks)

So these are my Wild Women teachers for

Independence day 2009.

This week end left me wondering... is Flagstaff

where I should be? All these amazing women?

We will see.....

Pam aka Piper Rain