I took myself up Mt. Tabor today, on a rambling walk...

through the dog park (I wonder if people think I'm crazy, walking through a dog park with no dog)...

up trails, across roads, and around the reservoir,

all the time stopping here and there, searching.

I looked under trees, in grasses, along the paths.

I was hunting for feathers, and boy did I find them!

(I was also calling out, within myself, 'feathers, come to me!')

I found big feathers, little feathers, mommy feathers, baby feathers, tattered feathers, and pristine feathers, and even one dyed feather.

Now to prep them for their evolution...

I have been sick for the last week.  

I am trying to heal, but time doesn't wait for sickness.  I was able to take one day off school last week in order to rest, and now I am healing.  Unfortunately for me, at the end of my colds, things settle into my lungs and my throat gets dry, and I end up coughing a lot.  In fact, I can't really speak right now, it throws me into coughing fits so quickly (and I am SO sick of cough drops). 

So, I am being quiet.  I am eating home made chicken pho, and being silent.  

The clouds are covering Portland, and a subdued light casts over everything.  It makes for a rather nice, quiet feeling amidst everything, reminding me of an Ani Difranco song that starts,

The sky is grey

The sand is grey

And the ocean is grey,

And I feel right at home,

In this stunning monochrome,

Alone in my way...

I learned of a friend losing her dog today, and it absolutely broke my heart.  I lost my own dog, Buddy, a few years ago to ridiculous, frustrating, stupid circumstances that were totally out of my control.  Being as empathetic as I am, I feel for her and her little family and their loss.  

(I don't mind being empathetic.  It's part of me.)

In a bit, I will go feather hunting around the neighborhood....wandering seems the only logical, meditative act to work through those feelings.

I hope you having a beautiful, calm week...

Growing up in the soggy, green Northwest, you learn to yearn for two things....sunshine, of course, but also the rain.  After weeks of dry weather, which I don't mind in the least, and an explosion of wildfires, I have spent the last month wishing and hoping for rain.  Just a little.  Just to bring down the smoke, dampen the ground, and put out some fires. 

I am a water girl.  I have a connection to water, and while I may loathe the gray skies of winter and spring, I welcome their raindrops.  They water the plants, the trees, our earth and skin.  Rain builds up the rivers nearby, that center me in their vastness.

I would wither in a desert.

I lovingly made each link of this necklace, connected and shaped them, while wishing for rain.

The Raindrop Necklace is available in my Etsy Shop.

Sterling Silver

24"

This coming week, I'll be entering my 4th week of school at the Oregon College of Art and Craft in Portland, Oregon.  I've been here before, but this time it's different.  I find that people are nicer, more open to making friends, less clique-y.  It's most likely because the last time I started this process, I came into it mid-year, but regardless, it is a relief.  Every time I come to OCAC, I am reminded why I love this place so much.  There are only about 200 students here, and it's a pretty tight-knit community.  In addition to that, the staff and teachers are phenomenal.  There is so much passion in these people, it's palpable.  And that is exactly what you want to be surrounded by when you're spending thousands of dollars to get a stellar education.  Granted, this is my second time around, but I know that I will walk out of here far more knowledgeable than when I graduated from my Australian Alma Mater.  

It has been quite an adjustment, as far as time management is concerned.  I envy those students who don't have jobs, who can just study, and do homework day in and day out.  And heck, even have a social life!  I am definitely juggling, but luckily I am a 'busy bee', as Dave lovingly says, so I can handle it. 

Here is what I am learning so far:

I am much better at drawing than I thought.  Much better than 10 years ago!

I knew this already, but I LOVE history.  I find it absolutely fascinating.  My life is steeped in family history.  I am constantly thinking about history, and how it has affected how and where we are now.  I am two history classes right now and love the heck out of them.

Making boxes is so fun!  Working with board and book cloth is a lot more fragile than metal, but it is so much faster and very fun.

And of course...I am constantly reminded of how much I love working with metal and creating jewelry.  It is part of my soul, my heart.

What are you learning right now? 

Just as things began heating up in the Pacific Northwest, the fires came.  

Not just one or two, but many.  

The smoke surrounds our fair city, blanketing the sky in gold, orange, and purples each night at sunset. 

Knowing that these fires are raging to the South and East of us (and a few in Washington, too!), I cannot help thinking of all those brave men and women firefighters, and my heart prays for rain.  Raindrops are thus, finding their way into my work, drenching it in blue hues, and lending shapely drops to my designs.

 

Is it raining where you are?  Or are your sunsets infused with oranges and purples as well?

These beauties can be found in my Etsy Shop!

Ten years ago, I was about to go to bed in Sydney, Australia when my (then) boyfriend's phone beeped.  The message said "Turn on the TV, watch WWIII".  We thought it was quite a strange message, and it was quite late already, but we went and turned on the TV anyway.  

We sat entranced as we saw the first tower burning, and shocked as we saw the plane hit the second tower, LIVE.  There are no words to describe the horror of those moments and the hours, days, months to follow.  I was 19, living alone in a foreign country, and had already felt the backlash of simply being American.

I stayed up that night until about 4 am., only going to bed because I had school the next day.  My day was a haze...and at every opportunity, I scooted over to the student lounge to watch the news, in shock.  When I got home, it had been raining.  Storm clouds loomed over, and I thought it poetic for the circumstances.  As I walked down my street, I looked out over the cliffs and saw a striking rainbow out over the ocean, breaking through the dark clouds.  I rushed as quickly as possible into my flat, grabbed my camera, ran to the cliffs, and captured the image above.  A ray of hope, streaming out of death and destruction.

Our world is an extremely different place, 10 years later.  I think of those who gave their lives searching for the less fortunate, and send them my thanks.  I think of the children who will only know the ghosts of their parents, and send them hope.  I think of the people on those planes...all of them...and send them peace.

May they all rest in peace.