Mary McCloskey

The garden at the tail end of August

Just past five o'clock, I sit here in the living room (the heat on the porch is stifling), the fan rotating slowly back and forth delivering a measured breeze, and contemplate this garden. Where this project is going I have no idea. I'm thinking I'm going to try to do some of it in sepia and then dip those in beeswax to make them look transparent. So intrigued this afternoon reading the NY Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/29/garden/a-haven-for-making-music-with-plants.html) about a woman who actually makes music with plants by attaching electromagnets to a plant's leaves and then translating the electromagnetic current into music through a software program she wrote). What an incredibly inventive woman.  I haven't had any bright ideas like that. Something soon will come, though, I think.

Circles of light

Experimenting with the Holga in the garden.  Shade and light in the green glade.

Luminescent

Marmo Lake, alive with light and shadow, when we walked through the Arboretum yesterday. We took advantage of a perfect morning to drive out early and walk the Joy Path, meander through the scented garden, discover worms and butterflies.

A gift from our neighbors

Last weekend, two of our neighbors brought over a carton of fresh tomotoes grown in their garden. I couldn't keep myself from a rhyme:

This is Just to Say

We have eaten

the tomatoes

which were delivered 

to our house

last weekend

 

And which

you were so kind

to offer

 

Bless you

They were delicious

So sweet

And so cold

(with apologies to Wm. Carlos Williams)

The plovers watch the sun set over Lake Michigan

Looking for the small details...

Blooms of the hibiscus are falling daily from the vine along the old jungle gym. These, along with grapes from the grapevine, dried leaves, twigs. Small things. I sit at the table on the patio and think how each season these same things find their way onto the patio blocks. The apples, again, are beginning to proliferate. Some of them are munched half-away by the delighted squirrels and rabbits who inhabit this place. Tonight, the Perseid showers are expected, but it's so cloudy I'm afraid it will be difficult to see. Still,  Willy and I plan to go out about 11 tonight just to see. Plenty of summer left to enjoy. Six o'clock and I hear someone shooting baskets at the hoop in the alley.

And so it is August

August 8th already--the summer flies. We've had some wonderful weather--cool, with balmy breezes in the afternoon--perfect for walking the new pup, Willy, to the park. The clematis vine climbs ever higher along the garage wall. Light changes, playing hide and seek from moment to moment. I have been taking my Holga camera out to the yard to find some new ideas for the Garden project. Hoping to do some encaustics tomorrow with some work that I've taken in the last few weeks. Days upon days I wonder where I am going with all this. I have to keep telling myself that it's worth it, that it's what I love. I am overwhelmed with all the digital things I should be learning. Perhaps that's why I've gone back to the Holga for a little while. I so miss being in the darkroom and the hands-on work of making a photograph. But change is good and so it must be for me too.

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