It’s Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which I think is among the greatest of religious holidays. As my friend Erika explains beautifully, Yom Kippur is a good time to call those who are important to you and tell them that you value their love and friendship over whatever differences you may have. Yom Kippur is also the time … read more I apologize
Month: October 2016
Accent in Pink, 1926
When I browsed my Kandinsky book this morning, his painting Accent in Pink jumped off the page to embrace me. The diamond-shaped rectangle stretches its “arms” wide and reveals the energy emanating from the center. The energy take on many colors, black, dark green, three shades of blue, gray, pink, red, emanating from a mottled gray square … read more Accent in Pink, 1926
The rock slide on Taveuni
Oct. 8, 1996 – Taveuni, Fiji It was so hard to leave the cabina, even with all those spider corpses lying around. A perfect sunrise over the South Pacific, a gentle breeze, clear and bright but not fiercely bright. When the bus pulled up, I was dismayed to see it full, but I managed to … read more The rock slide on Taveuni
The wind
Awake at 5 a.m., I curl up on the couch and listen to the wind hurling acorns against the house like bullets. There is a magical sound among the bangs and booms. It’s the heavy silver wind chime that my cousins gave us in memory of Mom. I asked my sisters if I could have this chime so that … read more The wind
It’s show time
Play time is over. Tomorrow is Oktoberfest, an annual event in my community that draws hundreds of visitors who drink beer and spend money. The artist’s group has a booth, and I will be selling my fused glass. I’ve got 20 necklace pendants and 26 holiday ornaments and 5 tabletop sculptures. I’ve spent eight hours … read more It’s show time
The no-frazzle freeway
“Does it not amaze you,” I said to Tom as we whizzed along the beltway at 80 mph, “how calm I am on the freeway now?” “Yes,” he said. I’d love it if some neurologist could explain this to me. For the eight years previous to my brain surgery, driving on the freeways in Georgia … read more The no-frazzle freeway
Cross-cultural greetings
Art classes were half empty this week because it’s Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. I was oblivious to how many of my classmates are Jewish until these two days. This being Atlanta, I don’t think much about it; I’ve lived most of my adult life in big, multicultural cities. The lower attendance was a … read more Cross-cultural greetings
Regaining pain
For about a month Tom’s been having pain in his right hand. Lately it’s gotten worse and affected his ability to do physical therapy with his hand. It limits his range of motion. Even wakes him up at night. It’s a crampy pain, “like there’s too much blood in my hand,” he says. And his … read more Regaining pain
Coiled and trapped
The rattlesnake was coiled in a large Ziploc bag, the kind that you can pump the air out of. Someone had stuffed a gray sock into its mouth. It was barely alive. I didn’t want to kill the snake. It was fairly small, and I felt it was best to take it to a place away from me … read more Coiled and trapped
Immersion
The best way to learn a new language is to immerse in it – go to the country where it’s spoken and do not speak your native tongue. Art is like that too. I’m just wrapping up three solid days of immersion in art. The vocabulary is starting to come into my fingers. In the … read more Immersion