And our little strip of unmown "meadow" with its volunteer wildflowers is my new favorite image of summertime.
Enjoy this longest day.
billie hinton’s camera-obscura:
life and lessons on November Hill Farm
Thursday, June 21, 2007
summer solstice/the longest day
This pretty much says it all about the longest day of the year:
And our little strip of unmown "meadow" with its volunteer wildflowers is my new favorite image of summertime.
Enjoy this longest day.
And our little strip of unmown "meadow" with its volunteer wildflowers is my new favorite image of summertime.
Enjoy this longest day.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
raccoon synchronicity
My last night at Weymouth I glanced out the window and saw something very small scurrying along the ground. My first thought was that it was an injured kitten, so I ran out to see. It wasn't a kitten. It was a baby raccoon!
The baby let me get incredibly close. I went inside for the camera and took these photos - very blurry as it was deep dusk and I wouldn't use the flash. Still, you can see the characteristic markings that make raccoons so very charming.
The most amazing thing about this sighting is that the main character in the book I was revising has a significant encounter with a raccoon - she looks out and sees one, though it's not a baby in the book.
When I got home I immediately turned to Ted Andrews' wonderful book Animal-Speak. This is what he has to say about raccoons:
Raccoons are extremely curious, which is partly why they often get into things they shouldn't. They love to explore. Their nocturnal excursions can be likened to mini-adventures. They can be very curious about new realms and will examine anything that fascinates them.
One of the most striking features of the raccoon is the mask that it wears. Although some associate this with thievery, it actually gives the raccoon a very powerful mystical symbolism. The use of masks to achieve altered states and for other healing and ritual purposes has been a part of every society. Mask making is an ancient art employed all over the world for ceremony, celebration, and in magical practices.
Concealed behind a mask, people could become something or someone else. Masks are invested with mystery. They are tools for transformation. The hidden aspect, the secrecy , helps promote the transformation. It helps us to change what we are to what we want to be.
Just as there is with the raccoon, with masks there is ambiguity and equivocation. When we wear a mask we are no longer who we thought. We make ourselves one with some other force. We create a doorway in the mind and in the physical world a threshold that we can cross to new dimensions and new beingness.
***
All three main characters in my book are on this journey, but the female who sees the raccoon is the one whose path most matches the words above. Amazingly, the above passage has given me a much-needed clue to my character, an aspect to her that I had not yet discovered. It's already layering into my next edit.
The raccoon sighting is a gift. A synchronicity. Being so close to a baby raccoon was itself magical. That it fit so perfectly with what I was working on went even further. Discovering the deeper layer is part of what makes me love the writing process. Every day is a treasure hunt. Every character is a mystery.
The baby let me get incredibly close. I went inside for the camera and took these photos - very blurry as it was deep dusk and I wouldn't use the flash. Still, you can see the characteristic markings that make raccoons so very charming.
The most amazing thing about this sighting is that the main character in the book I was revising has a significant encounter with a raccoon - she looks out and sees one, though it's not a baby in the book.
When I got home I immediately turned to Ted Andrews' wonderful book Animal-Speak. This is what he has to say about raccoons:
Raccoons are extremely curious, which is partly why they often get into things they shouldn't. They love to explore. Their nocturnal excursions can be likened to mini-adventures. They can be very curious about new realms and will examine anything that fascinates them.
One of the most striking features of the raccoon is the mask that it wears. Although some associate this with thievery, it actually gives the raccoon a very powerful mystical symbolism. The use of masks to achieve altered states and for other healing and ritual purposes has been a part of every society. Mask making is an ancient art employed all over the world for ceremony, celebration, and in magical practices.
Concealed behind a mask, people could become something or someone else. Masks are invested with mystery. They are tools for transformation. The hidden aspect, the secrecy , helps promote the transformation. It helps us to change what we are to what we want to be.
Just as there is with the raccoon, with masks there is ambiguity and equivocation. When we wear a mask we are no longer who we thought. We make ourselves one with some other force. We create a doorway in the mind and in the physical world a threshold that we can cross to new dimensions and new beingness.
***
All three main characters in my book are on this journey, but the female who sees the raccoon is the one whose path most matches the words above. Amazingly, the above passage has given me a much-needed clue to my character, an aspect to her that I had not yet discovered. It's already layering into my next edit.
The raccoon sighting is a gift. A synchronicity. Being so close to a baby raccoon was itself magical. That it fit so perfectly with what I was working on went even further. Discovering the deeper layer is part of what makes me love the writing process. Every day is a treasure hunt. Every character is a mystery.
Friday, June 15, 2007
breaking news!
Cody, our 4-year old Quarter Horse, did his very first jumping lesson today. He trotted and cantered, on the lunge line, over 18"cross rails and then 2' verticals. And did it quite beautifully, too!
I was simply unwilling to take my eyes off him long enough to grab the camera and take photos.
I told my daughter, "well, there's your C-1 horse." To rate C-1 in Pony Club, you have to jump 2'6" - and we're not sure the pony can do that before my daughter outgrows him. No worries now, at least not for my husband, who has been watching me careen through "next horse" adverts for the past year.
Cody was so proud after. And snuggly. A great Pony Club mount. :)
I was simply unwilling to take my eyes off him long enough to grab the camera and take photos.
I told my daughter, "well, there's your C-1 horse." To rate C-1 in Pony Club, you have to jump 2'6" - and we're not sure the pony can do that before my daughter outgrows him. No worries now, at least not for my husband, who has been watching me careen through "next horse" adverts for the past year.
Cody was so proud after. And snuggly. A great Pony Club mount. :)
Thursday, June 14, 2007
out and about / more photos
I loved this sign alerting visitors to the garden that the ants are beneficial and not the fire ants many of us are encountering lately.
The view toward the frog pond, from the writers' kitchen:
A particularly friendly bunny:
A clematis points the way to the gardens at the foot of the writers' kitchen stairs:
The view toward the frog pond, from the writers' kitchen:
A particularly friendly bunny:
A clematis points the way to the gardens at the foot of the writers' kitchen stairs:
Monday, June 11, 2007
where I was/what I did
My room this trip, where I managed to get through the entire ms and dropped the page count by 45 pages!
The writers' kitchen:
The writers' library:
The writers' porch:
Another view:
The writers' kitchen:
The writers' library:
The writers' porch:
Another view:
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