Weather: High 70’s today, breezy, mostly clear blue sky. 50’s
tonight.
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| Seeds, Pods & Nutcases |
Dearest Readers,
I’ve been slow in adjusting to my Southern Normal–six weeks
since my last blog when I left Vermont, and over a month since arriving in
Decatur. As usual after the long drive, I couldn’t shake a breathless sensation
in my chest for a week or so, and a fuzzyness in the head. I call it Vertical Drag. It’s some sort
of jet lag for same-time-zone auto travel–in this case north to south within the
same longitude. (Rutland VT to Georgia). It’s like a mean old friend, come back
to nag me. Gone now and good riddance.
Along the route home I picked up some signs of Fall in the
shape of seeds, pods and tree detritus. I did some drawings realistically at
first with a sharp HB pencil and some touches of white, then I let-it-rip for
the second rendering.
My grandson Roman and I found a spiky chestnut pod on the
sidewalk in Brooklyn. It’s been slowly opening its clamshell mouth on my
Decatur window sill. A chestnut
rattles around inside.
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| Chestnut 1 |
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| Chestnut 2-Dream of a Chestnut |
I picked up a storm-downed pecan on the ground in Raleigh,
NC at my friend Ann’s house along my route home.
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| Ann's pecan #1 |
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| Ann's pecan #2-Dream of a pecan |
I brought a pointy, pimply milkweed pod from Vermont that
burst forth a slew of silky, seed parachutists throughout my kitchen.
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| Milkweed Pod and seeds |
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| Vermont milkweed pod and seeds #1 |
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| Vermont milkweed pod and seeds #2 |
In Atlanta, Fall manifests in a magnolia tree’s seed casing,
studded with red kernels tucked inside custom sleep cells...that already broke
out.
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| Magnolia Seedcase #1 |
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| Magnolia Seedcase #2 |
Grandson Jack gave me a tiny acorn with a poufy beret
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| Jack's Atlanta Acorn 9.23.2012 |
I rescued a fat standard pine cone from the street,
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| Decatur Pine cone 9.30.2012 |
and some sort of tree vine seedpod frozen in the act of
spitting out its contents, long gone.
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| Tree vine seed case_Decatur10.1.2012 |
My cherry tomato plant still produces a few fruits a week. I
pop them in my mouth and taste the sharp, acid-sweet flavor burst in my mouth.
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| Cecelia's Cherry Tomatoes #1 |
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| Cecelia's Cherry Tomatoes #2 |
I’ve set up my studio in my home again. I’m playing
regularly with my grandson and granddaughter, visiting friends and going to
openings. From out of the blue, a feeling of deep wisdom has settled in.
