magic

magical puffball mushroom

Oh shoot. I completely missed October here. I'm going to blame it on being glamored by a new photo-taking phone and my complete inability to figure out how to manage the resulting photographs in a way that is conducive to sharing them here in this space!  Bedazzled by thousands of photos and no slick way as yet to move them about...I am a slow learner, so I will figure it out, but not in any short order. I've gotten these on by winking, pulling on my earlobe and looking sideways at the computer while crossing my fingers. And hey, it worked!!!

chickweed! Stellaria media

We are embracing the magic here these days. The magic of a Samhain day spent in the woods, marveling over all the greens and the critters in our path. The magic of a huge rock with a person-size hole in it, beckoning to be sat in. The magic of leaf pile and living walkingsticks and stories told out of doors.  Autumn songs, pomegranate seeds, slow walking and shuffling through the leaves.

Eastern American Toad

walkingstick and Ray Bradbury's The Halloween Tree

It was a month of making magic - costumes and parade puppets...

                           

beak doctor, time travelers, a lovely piggy

YES! origami TIE fighters and the Deathstar

 It was our fourth year working on the Honey for the Heart parade, and it was a bit different.  The studio was located on campus, which resulted in more participation by students (I think) and a different level of participation for us and for much of the community. Ani was the most committed of us, and though we didn't make our own costumes, we had a hand in making different puppets and costume pieces - paper mache, painting, sewing, hot-gluing, drawing, tying balloons. When the day came, Dan was out of town for a different performance, Eliza wasn't feeling it, and Ani and I were so tired...but we rallied and walked uptown and found the joy!! We were so glad we put in the effort, there was such a warm happy crowd enjoying the fun.

that's us!!

The best magic not to be overlooked has been the juju of two sisters getting along, enjoying each other's company, getting better at learning to read each other. This is huge, my friends, and it warms my autumnal cockles.

sister magic

Uffda. I am feeling the pressure of so much catching up, the compressing of so many juicy days into a few phrases and photos! Maybe November will offer more corners of time to work on getting back into the groove...

(Never have I posted so many photos of myself in one post. What is happening??? I'm also taking
a class on herbs - a most transformative experience. Apparently.)

Making Honey for the Heart

Honey for the Heart. Sigh. I surrender: it is our October.  This year is like puppets on crazy juice, amped up and SO BIG.  There are several visiting artists who have joined in the three weeks of making, and they bring shape, energy, and knowledge to the event that has really enriched the whole experience. There is always someone around to bounce ideas off of and the responsibility for seeing it all get done isn't falling on one person's shoulders, so there is, dare I say it, more joy in the room! Hard to imagine, but there it is.  

Ani and I spent much of the first week doing paper mache.  Whatever needed moving along to its next stage, that's what we worked on.  A huge joy this year for me is seeing her feel really competent and confident, not needing to be right with me all the time.  I turned around one day and she was helping a class of college students who had just come in learn how to paper mache. (I know you think you know how to paper mache, and it probably works pretty well, but trust me, when you are working on large puppets that are meant to last a while, there actually is a better way! It starts with cornstarch...)

Ani and Zen working on water hags and dragons

mushroom hats!!!! yessssssssssss!

working on the first phalanges of a giant hand

Look who's home and jumping in! She sewed Queen Patty that fancy dress.

Ani and I have been recruited to be bees in the parade.  There is a theme this year - the Chinese elements - and the bees are the clowns of the Fire section.  They're the ones that make the honey for the heart, of course. I was greatly torn between getting to dance as a water hag and follow my true heart to the Earth section as a fungus, but in the end, my daughter asked me to be a bee with her, and I could not refuse to be among the mischief makers. 

Ani and Talal trying out part of their costumes

Dan constructing a cart to carry a makeshift gamelan - yes! Music!!

It's mischievous, glorious, over-the-top fun. Some year I will allow myself to make a whole puppet, but it takes me a while, you know, and I've been content to know I added many layers to many creatures, and that my spirit will be a part of the magic that is happening this week. If you are in Southeast Ohio and need an invitation, here it is: please come!!! You won't be sorry.