Summer's Ghost

We know that in September, we will wander through the warm winds of summer’s wreckage. We will welcome summer’s ghost.

Henry Rollins

It comes

Floating,

Flying,

Fading,

Furling:

flowering.

It comes.

September: it was the most beautiful of words, he’d always felt, evoking orange-flowers, swallows, and regret.

Alexander Theroux

This September so sweet and summery, is nature’s sleight of hand - but fall is still showing signs.

I got a little off-schedule with this, preparing for my first book binding workshop, which was yesterday (Saturday, September 28).

I will be back twice in October. That may become my normal schedule- 2 Fridays a month.

Thank you so much for being here!

Harvest Super Moon

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.

0possum

… beauty lies even in humble, perhaps ugly things, and the ideal, which bypasses or improves on nature, may not be truly beautiful in the end.

Albrecht Durer

In the tall unmown grass, the little opossum approached my window.

Snuffling and chewing, he ate while I watched, and a tick nibbled on his ear.

His tiny hand-feet almost danced across the lawn as he wandered back into the woods.

Sometimes small things lead to great joys.

Shmuel Yosef Agnon

I had been home for two days after a long road trip. I was a little tired; a little lonely. I was staring out the window in the early morning, when a movement caught my eye. An animal, larger than a squirrel, but smaller than a cat, appeared from under the hemlocks, sauntering across the back lawn. I couldn’t tell what it was at first. It had a shiny grey coat. It had big, beautiful black eyes. Its head was down, nose to the ground, rear end high and it was lightly stepping through the wet grass. At first, I thought it was a woodchuck, but when it came close, I realized it was an opossum. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one so clearly - but then, I never see them in daylight. Usually, I see their shining eyes in the headlights when I come home at night. They always seem creepy and ugly then, sneaking around in the dark. I didn’t know they did that because they see better at night. I didn’t know much really. I didn’t know they can climb trees, using their tails to help grip the branches or keep them from falling. I didn’t know they are not vulnerable to snake venom, so they can prey on poisonous snakes. I didn’t know they eat many garden pests. I didn’t know their back “feet” are more like hands, with opposable thumbs. I didn’t know what good company they could be to a lonely traveler in the early morning. What a blessing.

If you want to learn more about opossums, click here.

Thank you so much for being here.

And later that day, another blessing…a peaceful moment by the lake as the sun dropped through the scattered clouds.