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Me Musing .
. . October
19, 2008 . . .
As I continued
last night to sort through my 'possible' Bricolage'
stash
I found
some real treasures!
I
liked to make giant-sized journals back then!
The cover featured a watercolour done by Jo Ondes.
I also found an envelope addressed to Robert in New York
and a Japanese Etigami postcard done by Judith Atisa-egami
I
had saved as 'samples' some envelopes and notecards I had done in
the mid 90's when I was on a roll
of writing to a number of friends
(what came to be known as 'Novel-ettes' due to their length!).
That was back B.C. (Before Computer for me) so it was all done in
long-hand, then photocopied on BIG
paper,
which I then hand-painted. You can see some examples on my Studio
site.
Well
. . . one of the envelopes had an address on it and that, of course,
began me musing about how Robert came into our lives (outside the
Portland area) at that time.
I
had finally managed to drag my husband to a 'spiritual evening'
at the New Renaissance Bookstore in Portland. On Friday nights they
had speakers as a 'meet the author' type of gathering. When we arrived
the line was around the block. I had been to a number of those evenings
and had never seen anything like it. What seemed like hours later
we got inside and up the stairs on the way to the meeting room,
which by then was filled to overflowing. They announced the speaker
would be doing another gathering the next evening at a larger place,
so we headed home . . . I was very disappointed as we were to have
company arrive the next evening from the Bay Area, so I figured
that was the end of that idea!
To
my surprise my husband announced the next afternoon that we would
leave the friends a note and go to Portland to see what all those
people thought was sooooooooooooo important that they waited in
line all that time for! When we arrived (early this time), there
was one other person already there. He looked at us, down at my
shoes and announced, "you were in front of me in line last
night . . . I recognize those fancy socks!". Well..............that
was Robert!
Robert
had moved to Portland for a few months to check it out before deciding
if it would be a good move for his family . . . all the way from
upstate New York. We hit it off right away and invited Robert to
dinner a few nights later. We corresponded for a few years, then
when I moved here we lost track of each other.
I
also found a few postcards done in the Japanese Etigami style .
. . picture writing . . . done by another 'found friend' in Portland!
I had attended a 'Menopause' seminar and had met Judith there. It
was one of those 'walk into a room full of people and right away
you spot someone who you know
you just have to meet'. As I recall Judith had the most beautiful
thick graying hair! We did meet and talk and then began a friendship.
One of our Adventures
was to attend an Etigami afternoon at the Japanese Gardens. Ladies
from Japan were demonstrating the lovely art of writing postcards
using paint colours and stamps which had various meanings in Japanese.
They were much more interesting than the postcards sold here. A
way of writing about where they were and what they were seeing without
putting 'words' on them . . . a sort of picture writing.
I
also found a letter that Judith had written me in 1996. The reason
I had saved it was because it described a lovely tradition that
a friend of hers experienced. Before the friend left for Krygystan
as a consultant, a party was given in Portland for her and invited
were some Krysys students. Her friend mistakenly drank from one
of the Krygys guest's glass and when she realized what she had done,
she apologized. The students laughed and giggled and then explained
that in Kyrgystan it is a compliment
to drink from the glass of someone who you admire! They said that
after their parents' guests had left a party, they would invite
the children in and explain the qualities of each of the guests.
The children could then choose to drink from their glass thereby
taking on those admired qualities!!!
Judith
said that what we call this time of year as 'Indian Summer', they
call 'Women's Summer' because after
45, women bloom again . . . and flower! (Menopause must begin
early in Krygystan!!!!!!!!!)
Well
. . . finding those treasures led me to dig out one of my giant-sized
journals !!!
And
the one I was looking for had a watercolour on the front and saved
letters from a special friend I had met in New Mexico about that
same time period (mid 90's).
In
those years I looked forward to traveling to New Mexico once a year
and just soaking in the smells, colours, textures of the area.
I especially loved autumn as it was the time of year of the scent
of piñon wafting out of the fireplaces . . . it is a smell
I can even now bring to mind and enjoy!
I
had been visiting in Taos and decided to explore around the area,
enjoy the fall colours and visit the Picuris Pueblo. I happened
through the little town of Vadito and pulled over to check out what
appeared to be an old adobe outbuilding with a sign saying gallery/antiques.
That stop was the beginning of a sweet friendship with Jo (the artist)
and Al her husband.
Jo
and I carried on a long-distance friendship through hand-written
letters for a few years. At times it was almost two letters a week!
We both could hardly wait to see what writing or treasure came in
the mail. As I sat and read some of the letters last night, Jo was
just a breath away from me. I imagine that part of the closeness
we shared was that we were both in the 'energy' of feeling we were
ready to move into something new, but not yet having enough information
for 'the move' to come about. (Kindred
spirits in 'escape artistry'
as she liked to call it!)
Jo
explained that when she and Al had married 25 years before, they
agreed that in order not to
become stuck
in a way of life, they would begin a new
adventure (which usually involved a move) every 5
years!
I
remember hearing that and thinking 'YOWIE'
. . . (on the one hand it would keep your life very interesting
and expand your talents, but on the other hand . . . moving every
5 years could get real old . . . although
as I thought about it, I realized that from the time I was
21 until that moment, I had often moved at
least every 3 years!)
It
was in that letter that she signed her name Jo M. Ondes (as in 'Moving
On'!). Later she explained that Ondes was French for 'wave', a symbol
to her of movement.
Along
with her letters, I found this in my journal:
(It
is not enough to be flexible . . .
one must
be fluid!)
Needless
to say I immediately went to whitepages.com to see if Robert, Judith
and Jo still lived where last I corresponded with them. Robert and
Judith did; however, it took some detective work to find Jo as it
had been 10 years since our last writings. I knew they had moved
from Vadito to Kansas, then on to Michigan. I found in Indiana a
couple by the same names, so tomorrow when the Post Office opens,
there will be 3 letters in the mail to 3 interesting 'old' friends!
Didn't
Grandma used to say: 'Good things
come in 3's' ??????
P.S.
. . I just got in the mail the new book by Sir Richard Branson that
I ordered and on the back cover in his handwriting is this message:
'The brave may not live forever
. . . but the cautious do not live at all!'
Until
soon,
Che'usa
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