I am from

In the red thread Circle Guide program, Shiloh Sophia invites participants to connect with our origins, and write a I am from poem. Where are you from?'

I am from sage brush, juniper and mint in roadside ditches
   Yarrow in the pasture, that I grind between stones
        Then set in the sun to dry, knowing/not knowing
              There's something more to do

I am from songs around the campfire
    Pumping water and carrying it back to camp
       Sleeping bags and clear night skies
          Waiting for the blue flash, when the lantern goes out

I am from hikes in the woods
   Little mountain mosquito bites that
      Won't itch, if I dont scratch them ....
          I scratch them!

I am from befriending chipmunks, while my mother watches for birds
    From my father's fishing pole and tying flies
         Pan fried trout, fresh from the stream
              Calling the deer, as hunters have, time behind time

I am from lonely child only child
    Day dreams and stories read before bed, 
         myths and legends
             Fuel my dreams

I am from summer adventures with favorite cousins
    Learning constellations dancing in ink black summer sky
        Milky way, a stream across the heavens
             Orion, Cassiopeia, the weeping Pleiades
          Great and little dippers, Pegasus, Leo

I am from church on Sunday, and Grange on Fridays
    From a line of preachers, teachers and farmers
          Midwives and healers stretching back across the plains
                To the southern forests, to the Celtic lands
I am from piano lessons and singing in the choir

    From drawing the neighbor's ponies, 
        Hanging clothes on the line and polishing silver
           4-H and crafts with my mama
            Oregon vacations, Reading after dark

I am from Magpie and Red wing Blackbird
     From echoing Meadowlark's trill and singing to my mountains
        While waiting for the schoolbus
             In the brisk morning air

I am from teacher's college, 
   Honors English and Music theory
      Natural history, with ancient forests and volcanoes
          Life drawing and Opera workshop

I am from a third floor dorm room and my first roommate
        She, one of ten kids, and me, one of one!
            Music Major and minor
                 Learning to bump along

I am from romance and disappointment
      From young motherhood and marriage
           Nursing and making yogurt
                Messy houses and enough books to fill a library  

I am from art and science
     Mountains and stars
          Healers and dancers
              Wise woman and mystics

I am from astrology and tarot readings
    Color and Theory
        Living in community 
             And taking up the harp

I am from a dancing dragon tattoo
    Living by the sea for awhile
        Teaching Reiki and gathering stones
             Basking in starlight

I am from here and there,
   From the songs of my ancestors, and of my grandchildren
      From asking "is there another story you'd like to tell?
         Sharing the songs of the stars
             
.... Posting to Paint Party Friday - where are you from?
            
    

Wisdom's Table

I'm so very honoured my Snow Queen post was chosen for this week's featured blog over at Paint Party Friday!  Our Winter Showcase opening was well attended and so fun, I especially love visiting with the other artists! I'd spent the night with galfriends in nearby Portland, so was glad to return in time for our reception. My Snow Quien is in the wall to the left of the doorway.

In the Gallery

As the year winds down, I'm finishing my Red Madonna Sacred Path painting, which has been a year long pilgrimage. I need to add gilt, gold and silver, and a bit more attention to these ladies and the world tree.

Pilgrimage of the Divine

My red thread SiStars and I are clearing our altars, preparing to join the feast laid at Wisdom's Table! This journey will take us two years, to 2020, and features several Magdalen and mother Mary scholars, joining Shiloh Sophia and her wonderful team. We share poetry, stories, laughter and tears, and receive teachings from the Hebrew and Christian traditions, (and others, as women share from their own paths) Painting instruction comes on the full moons, and we share a monthly call and beautiful meditation. 

As we prepare for the coming season, here is one of my very favorite poems! 
Blessings and love

AE  Housman (1859-1936)

A Shropshire Lad (1896)

From far, from eve and Morning 

From far, from eve and Morning

From yon twelve-winded sky,

The stuff of life to knit me 

Blew hither, here am I.

Now for a breath i tarry

Nor yet disperse apart--

Take my hand quick and tell me,

What have you in your heart.

Speak now, and I will answer;

How shall I help you, say;

Ere to the winds twelve quarters

I take my endless way.

HâPpŸ Paint Party Friday!