http://whalesbreath.blogspot.com/

The new blog, 'whale's breath', is up and running. You can find it here: http://whalesbreath.blogspot.com/

Thank you, and happy new year!

linda

afterword

yesterday, i labeled my post with three hash marks (# # #), the traditional writer's symbol for the end of a manuscript. Barring a series of afterwords, this entry marks the end of the blog Grandfather's Shirt (pleatedmile.blogspot.com). The adventure leading to that last post felt like the culmination of a chapter in my life, and, in a parallel way, the chapter of Grandfather's Shirt.

Now, i'm ready to take some time off as the year closes; I'll post word as another blog comes to birth, perhaps with the new year.

My missing yellow pencil found its way back to me, and i press it furiously to paper in many of my works of art. i press it here with the same love.

# # #

'I don't believe,' the traveler said to the statue. He heard a reply. 'You don't have to believe. You just have to show up.'

receipt novellas

A few months ago, I mentioned here the fabulous paper receipts that come from pharmacies and groceries and the like. The lengths of the receipts are so generous, one could write a novella on the back.

I sincerely believed this. It was as though I'd laid a challenge for myself on the table.

Well. This week, I not only completed a 7th paper receipt novella, but this one was a 3-parter.

for Mr. Rodrigue

the monstr cloud
one eye glaring through
foggy swaths of steely gray
grins
with ferocious gaping teeth.
i will remember you

love for the bugs

it is difficult to get your soil outdoors to produce natural foods without insects and mites and worms and grubs, all the fascinating life forms we used to say 'Yuk!' at when we were kids digging in the dirt with sticks. To help the earth nourish your little garden plants, your tomatoes and okra and raspberries and peas, it makes good sense to be hospitable to the critters that support the plants and their roots and pollination. Water and compost (especially including gooey eggshells and fungal mushrooms and active yogurt and moldy breads decomposing into the dirt) can help say 'Welcome!' to life.

I've been looking up different versions of the legend of the poinsettia. The gist of the story is this:

Long ago, a young child in Mexico looked forward to the village's annual Christmas celebration. One year, the child was worried. Other kids were bringing gifts to lay at the manger, and the child was poor with nothing to bring.

On the way to the celebration, the child saw some green weeds along the roadside, and felt an impulse to bring these to the manger. The child lay the weeds there and left.

In the days or minutes that followed, the weeds took root and grew into beautiful bright red plants. The villagers called the wild blooms 'Star of Christmas' and 'Flora de Noche Buena'.