Happy Canada Day, everyone! I am taking a blogging break this week to hang out with family and friends but I'll be back soon with new posts and to catch up with my blog reading. I hope you are having a fabulous week, too!
This is a sad post, I should warn you, but one I want to write anyway.
Last week, a whispy, feathery little creature came into my life in the shape of a blue jay nestling-soon-to-be-fledgling. Through a series of events, including a severe thunderstorm, a couple calls to our local wild bird sanctuary, a 5am search through my neighbor's bushes in the courtyard (along with notes to them as to what the heck I was doing out there), it found itself living amongst our potted plants and under a tree that overlooks one corner of our balcony.
The nestling's parents soon found it and immediately began feeding berries deep into its belly and kept watch from the tree branches above. My first lesson from the wild bird sanctuary: it is a myth that birds will reject their young after human contact. Of course, I am by no means saying that it's okay to handle baby birds but if a nestling has fallen from it's nest and it appears okay (no broken wings or legs) and the nest is safe, it can be returned to it. The parents will be relieved to see their nestlings back in their nests or in a safe environment. If it is a fledgling bird (it is able to perch on a twig or a finger), then it may have been pushed out of the nest by the mother, to start its flying lessons. If the baby bird has been wounded, the parents might reject it so it's best to call a wild bird sanctuary or a vet for advice.
By the end of the day, I had grown entirely attached to this little family. I shared in their joyful reunion - albeit from behind my bedroom window. The little one flapped it's short little "wings" and loudly chirped in relief, "You found me! You found me! Now feed me!!" The father looked on while the mother closely inspected every square inch of their youngster's body. Once it was assessed that their baby was safe and sound in this strange new home of blue pansies and purple flowers, the parents took turns finding it food. Their search for food was relentless until the nestling fell asleep in the day's heat.
Every morning, I woke up to the sounds of a whispery little voice calling from the balcony and then the flapping of wings and a stronger voice responding. I learned that blue jays are considered songbirds and their reportoire includes a range of tunes beyond the screaming squacking that often sends my cat retreating into another room of the apartment. There was the short, quiet "ack, ack, ack" when the mother called out to her young, followed by a pause to hear its response. And there was the low, soft, whistling when the mother flew down to the nest (courtesy of Michaels craft store and an old easter bonnet) to inspect the nestling and to tuck in its whispy feathers.
One morning, I heard the screams of the bluejays and I jumped out of bed to see the cause of the commotion: a black bird quickly leaving the balcony with the bluejay parents giving chase. I quickly looked down to where the nestling had been the previous evening and, thankfully, it was fine. That day, I began hearing "ghost chirps" and took to looking at the sky for impending battles.
The blue jay parents were attentive, though, and J and I kept our windows closed and drapes drawn so as to not disturb their little family. It came as a shock of dismay then, to wake up Saturday morning and to realize that I couldn't hear the whispy little voice on the balcony. I knew that it had died. Eventually I went to the balcony door and looked out, hoping that I would be wrong, but no, our little nestling's little body lay still. I was somewhat relieved to see that it hadn't been attacked but had just died for whatever reason.I hate the phrase "survival of the fittest".
I was depressed for the rest of the weekend. Yes, over a baby bird. We had left the body on our balcony so that the distraught parents could see it. The mother quickly swooped down to the tiny body and peered closely at it. They spent the morning dropping berries around the little beak. And the lamenting calls of the mother...! The breaking of her little heart cut through mine. I had to leave the apartment. It was too hard to witness.
The next day, as I talked with my mother-in-law, she suggested that I write a post about this experience. I thought that perhaps it was too sad, too depressing. She pointed out that, yes, it was sad that the little one had died despite everything, but that I had also been given a chance to observe a family of blue jays up close. Closer than normal. I had seen love and hope and perseverence and joy along with the sadness. Bittersweet.
Things to Do on a Sweltering Hot Day in New Jersey
New Jersey is positively lush during the summer months. Heavy vines drape themselves over trees, marsh grass thrive along the canals and brooks, and right now millions of little white flowers and honeysuckle are blooming and casting their scents though the forests. And I found one lone poppy waiting for me on the top of a hill...
When I think of certain people in my life, certain words come to mind - and not necessarily the usual ones like shy or outgoing, short or tall. Certain people in my life bring to my mind words like cappuccino, cupcakes, encyclopedia, green, adventure, poetry, radishes, snowblower, shortbread cookies and clay.
Mary brings to my mind the word colour. That's the first word that pops into my head when I see her. Her gorgeous collages and mosaic sculptures are eye candy. Her home is a happy world of key-lime green and tuber rose pinks. Colour shines from Mary's spirit like light. She should never be photographed in black and white. (Yes, I know, Mary, I photographed you in black and white once before. Tear it up!)
Happy Belated Birthday again, Mary!
This past Sunday, fun-loving Michelle Ward and her talented friend and artist Judi Riesch, invited me to spend the day with nine artistic bloggergals and artists at Judi's home. I can't even begin to tell you how inspiring that day was for me. All the women are mixed media artists, creating collage and assemblage pieces. My focus is usually in photography and sometimes in encaustic painting so it was a real treat to be a "fly on the wall" on Sunday, hearing these women describe their creative process and seeing their artwork first hand.
Judi Riesch is an amazing artist with such an open, generous spirit. Her home is filled with her own artwork along with those created by other artists... thick handbound books filled with small objects and beautiful paintings, frames with tintypes, feathers and wires, assemblages in boxes that seemed to tell stories... I think my favourite part was walking through her rooms and seeing all the gorgeous little displays and sigh-inducing vignettes Judi has created through her home. She really has a terrific eye for details and for putting individual pieces together, creating a collection that has feeling and meaning. She had me thinking, Maybe I could do that in my home, too?
My friend and bloggergal Karen came to the get-together and brought a group of her friends who are currently visiting her from various parts of the country and in Judy Wilkenfeld's case, from Australia.
Judy Wilkenfeld brought out her incredible handbound book, The Twelve 
Tribes of Israel, and explained to us the meaning behind each of the pages. I was impressed not only by the beauty of the book was but how much research had gone into creating each page representing an Israelite tribe. Every tiny detail added to a page had a deep symbolic meaning and Judy's explanation of the pages was fascinating.
Judi's friend, Bee Shay, also showed us pages from her own beautiful books. From what I heard, her studio is a treasure trove filled to the brim with finds from Nature.
I finally got to meet Karen's friends Jerri, Joy and Kathryn. Leslie came and brought her camera which makes me smile because we both share a love for photographing our surroundings and our cameras tend to be within hand's reach.
Thank you, Michelle and Judi (and Judi's sweet husband, John) for organizing and inviting me to this bloggergal get-together!
Photos (top to bottom): Michelle holding one of Judi Riesch's assembled books; Kathryn, Joy and Karen admiring the pages of another assembled book by Judi; closeup of Judy Wilkenfeld's book, The 12 Tribes; Judy W. looking through Judi R.'s book; Bee talking with Michelle; Kathryn, Leslie and Joy sharing a peek into Judi's book.
The last couple days have been busy with the everday necessities and I haven't had much time to work on my artwork. Yesterday, I thought that if I had to describe my day to someone, it would seem relaxing although it certainly didn't feel that way. Instead it was all Go! Go! Go! And I don't even have children!
At the end of the day, J and I met up for a walk in the park and as we walked down a path surrounded by daffodils and trees in bloom, I could feel my shoulders relaxing and my mind shifting from my To Do List to the scenery around me. Reminding myself that "I am here now, in the Present" has become a personal mantra lately. It's proven to be a good way for me to let go off my worries and what-ifs which if left unchecked, can snowball into full-blown anxiety. Bringing a camera with me helps with that, too. It's easy to live in the Present when I'm focusing a lens on my immediate surroundings.
As I was happily clicking away, photographing closeups of pink and white blossoms, I noticed the pale moon in the early evening sky. What a beautiful sight.
The perks of this past weekend included:
It's been seven days since my last post. Sounds like a confessional and perhaps it is. Seven days ago I found myself writing a post that I rewrote about twenty times and eventually deleted. It was one of those moments when I just needed to step away from the keyboard and refocus. So I wrote a letter to my mom, made a flurry of phone calls to old friends, packed away my winter clothes, unpacked my summer clothes, filled two big bags for the Goodwill with stuff that I never use (how can two people have so much tupperware?), and reorganized my apartment. It felt GREAT!
Seven days later, now, I'm back feeling refreshed. I have a tall sugar-free (is that really possible?) vanilla latte with one pump less of vanilla and one pump more of espresso sitting to my left. I'm listening to Jenevieve of Tea With Demeter's excellent music playlist. Hearing new music is one of the best pleasures in life, don't you think? I've also taken to listening to itunes radio podcasts. They're free so check them out if you haven't already. One of these days I'll figure out how to make my own playlist...
There are strawberry cupcakes and a bloggergal get-together in my near future. I'm pretty darn excited about them both. The weather forecast is calling for rain but that's okay as I've got my new pair of rubber boots - chocolate with light blue umbrellas all over them. Perfect for dancing a Rainy Day Jig!
And I hope you have a good weekend, too!
