Spider Web

Poetry is a fresh morning spider-web telling a story of moonlit hours of weaving and waiting during a night.

Carl Sandburg

On a foggy morning, the silk strands of a web glisten with dewy diamonds.

A spider hangs in the window, waiting.

After hunting insects all summer, I am beginning to feel a little spider-like.

Patience is key.

Bees will eventually bumble in.

Ladybugs will climb.

A spice bush swallowtail may stay surprisingly still.

The grasshopper will leap into sight.

Tiger swallowtail could get preoccupied with a blazing star,

And a singing Cicada fall from the tree.

The Monarch will make a Royal Appearance,

And unwary flies land before me.

Will you walk into my parlour? Said the spider to a fly: '"Tis the prettiest little parlour That ever you did spy.

Mary Howitt

The Collector

Spider-like I spin

my web patiently, sensing

when you wander in.

I have had a great time looking for bugs everywhere this summer. The spider binding book I mentioned in my last post (click here if you didn’t see that one) is almost completely full of photos.

Spider binding from the top - its shape is the reason for its name.

I realized I could add twice the photos I thought I could to this book because of the wide open format, so I printed the extra photos today. Now I just need to mount them and add the cover photo and I’ll be done.

Another follow up - I am offering a three hour bookbinding workshop on September 28, 2024 at 9:30 am at my barn/studio in Glenn, Michigan.

We will be making a hand-stitched slotted wrapper binding, and, if we have time, I’ll also show you a how to make a couple of fun single sheet folded books. All tools and materials will be provided. The cost is $75 per person. Class size is limited to 10 people, so please let me know as soon as possible if you’re interested by replying to this message (if you received this post via e-mail) or sending me an email at rhodatude@gmail.com.

Thank you so much for being here.  See you next month!

What a beautiful summer this has been. Here’s a brief moment with the sun, before my little part of earth turned away into night.

Blossom and Bee

For bees, the flower is the fountain of life; For flowers, the bee is the messenger of love.

Kahlil Gibran

Blossom to Bee

Come to me,

my nectar is sweet-

my fine filament caressing.

harvest my pollen,

I have plenty

for your beloved queen -

plenty for you

to scatter.

I cannot move

beyond this ground-

please carry my love,

carry my song,

I cannot speak without you

come,

drink deeply,

and help me.

Bee to the Blossom

I fly to you,

you draw me in -

your scent is intoxicating.

I see the beauty of your soft petals,

feel the electricity

of your desire.

I will sip your nourishing nectar,

and collect these offered grains

on the tender hairs of my body.

Some I will keep

to feed my hive,

the rest I will carry

across the flowering fields

spreading your love

and though you can’t move

beyond this ground

your song will continue-

I will fly for you.

I’ve been interested in bees and their symbiotic relationship with flowers for a few years now, but this week I actually took the time to read fairly deeply into the way this works. Most bees live in hives of some sort (but not all - there are many species of bee!) The hive’s worker bees (all female) collect for the entire colony - they drink and gather nectar for the adults in the hive and pollen for the feeding of new broods. While they are gathering, they move from flower to flower, releasing some of the pollen as they move, which fertilizes the other plants or flowers they encounter. Without them, many food plants would not be able to produce fruits or vegetables.

I am so filled with wonder at how interconnected everything is on this planet. Without bees, we would not survive. That is a crazy and humbling thought. No wonder John Muir once said, “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.

Here are some links for a deeper exploration, if you are interested:

Why do bees need pollen and nectar?

How do flowers and bees help each other?

The article that really blew me away was the one about bees and their ability to sense a flower’s electric field:

Bees Can Sense Electric Fields of Flowers

Thank you so much for being here. See you next week!