HOW can it be June 1 already??

Don't misunderstand me;

the garden gives evidence every day that summer is moving right along.

 

Trouble is

life keeps intervening

and its hard to keep up,

emotionally, if not factually.

 

Even setting aside all the political nonsense

(oh please, can we set that aside!) 

 our individual lives provide plenty of material to focus on. 

 

A friend has buried a 22 yr old daughter.

 

Another dear friend of several decades and a stalwart in our mission work 

(as well as his full time work for Habitat for Humanity)

recently lost his battle to cancer and pneumonia.

 

A relatives journey with dementia continues unabated.

 

I've had another melanoma removed from my scalp 

and lost part of my right nostril to a squamous cancer 

(with a root that nearly penetrated into my sinus cavity)

and have had my nostril 'refashioned'.

 

My travails are minuscule compared to my friends

but, as I was reminded by my therapist,

"Pain isn't a competitive sport.

The fact that other people have pain too 

doesn't negate the impact of yours on your life."

 

Either my ability to roll with the punches has taken a hit as I age

or  maybe because its the cumulative weight of a lifetime of losses...

but I'm just not as 'bounce backable' as I used to be.

I'm more teary, more tired and less willing to put on a good face and be sociable.

Maybe I'm just in my hermit era!  

Let me also say

that I'm grateful to be on this side of the sod,

as my Irish ancestors used to say

and there's still much that brings me pleasure -

even at my advanced age (76). 

My grandkids and I have formed a monthly "Movie Club" 

and we have a monthly sleepover and movie combo that is enjoyed by all.

I'm hip to all the animation, preteen and family friendly movies out there -

and look forward to a few handfuls of buttered popcorn -

if I can wrench the 'tub' away from them!

Our recent screening was the 3D version of The Mandolorian and Grogu.

 

There have been twirly dresses

 

and K Pop Demon Hunter socks 

as the height of fashion

and 2 new kittens to add to the chaos at their house!

 

Images from my artist are still breathtaking

 And its good to be reminded that natural beauty is still out there - 

if we can only keep it out of the hands of the greedy Epstein class bros!

There's a March on Washington for Voting Rights on August 28th

(sponsored by the National Action Network) 

that feels important for me to participate in.

The march is in response to the major Supreme Court  ruling 

that weakens

Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

 

Do I as an elderly white woman in a middle class suburban town 

feel MY voting rights will be compromised?

NO.

 

But I can't sit idly by while the right to be active participants in our democratic system 

is denied to people of color and those without my economic and racial privilege. 

 

Silence gives consent -

and I DO NOT consent. 

 It may be likely that I'll need a walker and more pain meds than I currently have

to get through the march, but I'm going! 

 

It helps that the Atlantic Ocean is an easy drive from Washington DC 

and, since that's my North Star, I'll add a couple days seaside as an incentive.

 

Of course I'll need a HAT!

No more going in the sun without one for this gal.

and if that's not good enough,

I'll borrow a balaclava!

THAT should do it!

 

I'll be back before that though -

so stay tuned.

 

Enjoy summer in the meantime.

 

Random images from WI

 

And the reasons for coming home.

 

Happy Go Lucky

 While browsing on Instagram prior to my trip up north,

I discovered a 25 foot woven willow structure

(a 'Stickwork') 

located in Door County

which I immediately added to my list of things to see. 

 It was created in 2022

by artists Patrick Dougherty , his son, Sam

and countless volunteers 

titled

Happy Go Lucky. 

 

It is beautifully placed within a garden on Horseshoe Bay Farms 

in Egg Harbor, WI. 

So pretty.

Since spring hasn't completely broken dormancy in WI yet,

so the garden wasn't at peak.

I can just imagine how gorgeous this setting is in full flower.

Being made from organic material, this is a temporary structure

that will degrade over time.

Life expectancy is between 3-5 years.

 

See it while you can.

It's definitely worth the trip.

Art Environments

 There are visionaries that live, and create, among us.

 Folks, 

men and women, 

who see and experience the world differently;

those who are driven by some instinctual impulse to create 

with whatever material they can find in their immediate environment

and then end up creating entirely original universes of their own making. 

 

I'm sure neighbors, family members 

and those most intimately connected with them

have had a myriad of reactions 

to the collecting, assembling and placement 

of the finished art they produced. 

It can't be easy -

for either the artist or those closest to them.

 

For a more exhaustive exploration of the worlds of these artists,

I would refer you to 

Sublime Spaces and Visionary Worlds:

Built Environments of Vernacular Artists

Leslie Umberger, editor.

 

Luckily, for those of us without the knowledge of these environments 

and/or the time and money to travel to the original sites,

many of these environments have been saved  

and preserved by the Kohler Foundation 

and now have a new home in the 

Kohler Art Preserve in Sheboygan, WI.

Of all the wonderful creations housed in this building,

3 artists stood out for me:

Dr Charles Smith

Nek Chand

and Emory Blagdon.

 

Their personal histories are rich with details that provide clues 

as to what drove their art

but no human can be reduced 

to something as complex as the interplay 

between personal, spiritual and historical factors.

 

Dr Charles Smith was a child of 14

when his father was killed by white people

in which local authorities termed "a ferry accident". 

His sculptures speak directly to the Black experience in America -

including his memories of attending Emmet Tills funeral,

his experiences in Vietnam,

his drug addiction ,

the fight for Civil Rights

and the larger impact of racial violence 

from the Middle Passage to the present. 

His home in Aurora, IL was the original site for his work,

although he has now moved to New Orleans and continues to create there. 

 ____

 

Nek Chand, 

a municipal worker by day and artist by night 

(in India) 

created a whole garden on unused municipal land 

near his home 

that was, at first his secret kingdom

which has gone on to become the most visited attractions in India,

second only to the Taj Mahal.

To see such large and varied bodies of art 

in one space

is breathtaking.

 

Have to admit though that my favorite is Emory Blagdon

and his Healing Machine.

 

 Emory was the oldest of 6 children, born to his parents on a farm in rural Nebraska;

in the Sandhills, specifically.

 

As many of you know, I've driven through the Sandhills every summer for 25+ years

while on my way to the Rosebud Reservation. 

It's an exceptionally beautiful, remote and desolate area of the country;

also known for its electrical storms and tornados;

so it's no surprise that Emory became fascinated 

by the power of nature and electric 'energy' to impact the physical body.

 

He watched both his parents die of cancers and, over time,

turned a two room 'shack' on his property

into a Healing Machine that he believed conducted electrical currents 

into the body which resulted in relief from arthritis and other ailments.

Kohler Foundation took apart and then reassembled his shack and the Healing Machine

in the Art Preserve.

 

Even in this setting, it's magical.

I would have loved to see it in situ.

Even though Emory died in 1986 

(of cancer that doctors speculated had been ravaging his body for a decade)

who's to say that the Healing Machine didn't heal something

deep inside him 

that had been broken.

Art can do that.

 

If you ever get the chance to see this treasure trove, take it!

 

The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. 

It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of art and science.

 

Albert Einstein