Homecoming

I have come home

Home to the ever changing waters of the Basin

Where Rusty pups blend with rusted pillars

and herons fish in the salt ponds hardly noticed

by inquisitive noses.

I say noses because I wonder if their eyesight is fading just a bit

for they are old maids now.

Where springtime blossoms abound.

Looking inland a thin line of last year's bullrush heads

catches my eye.

ideas for marks or stitches on a future piece immediately come to mind.

It feels good to be thinking that way again.

Two weeks with the little munchkin and never a needle and thread

picked up....

For when a toddler goes down for a nap

grandmothers do too!

I didn't realize two weeks away would have the effect it did.

Eagerly entering the studio on my return

pieces on the design wall and fabrics gathered in bundles

looked foreign to me.

What had I in mind when pinning these beginnings on the wall?

It has taken me four days to get back into the groove. 

This piece, this huge piece

had already begun to take shape before I left home

and is now telling me with great conviction what it needs.

It feels good to have cloth in my hands again

Threaded needle being pushed and pulled through layered silk and linen.

Living again with thimble on one finger

and finding it still there as I go to do other chores about the house.

It just becomes a part of you

so familiar that you don't even notice it is there.

Being away has confirmed that, for me at least,

it is so important to immerse myself in the creative process....

To live it every day.

There is no way I can create and grow

just by dipping into it every now and then.

So I am grateful for living far from the madding crowd

close to the woods and tidal waters

that inspires me

and draw me into a window-filled studio every day.

Having said all that

the little munchkin inspires me too

and I will of course be sharing tales of my visit

 after a bit more catching up at home.