Monday, June 25, 2012

Animal of the Day



An eight-legged bear dressed in a painter's tarp and sporting a gas mask,
shrunk down to itty-bitty size and sprinkled liberally over the Earth's surface
(especially the wetter parts)

He or She is a Tardigrade, which is fun to say.
It means "slow walker"; Also known as Water Bears, go figure.

Resistant to heat, cold, toxins, dehydration, radiation, pressurization and Outer Space.
Tough little buggers. 

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Solstice, June 20

SUN, mixed media
Not a very good photo, see my shadow? I cast a shadow on the sun, how's that ; )

This longest day of the year sure feels like it. 
The spay-neuter clinic I've been working at is on hiatus until the new Vet arrives; 
when he gets here there'll be plenty of New and To-Do, likely changes to the anesthesia meds (which suddenly became my department due to pay cuts) and back into the swing of things, but for now there's nothing, and I miss the routine and the busy-ness of that good work.

My hands need work to do, meaningful work, making and mending, loving the living and dying. 

Since leaving the shelter I worked at for 5 years I've felt slightly unmoored. It was time to go, no question about that, but finding the next thing is an ongoing challenge. My previous job was janitorial work; I liked the zen of it, the bringing order to chaos, and the small Saints found tucked among the lifer custodians, the resoundingly human crew of night shift cleaners.
Henry Darger's artwork. Big Fan.
I miss shelter work, though I'm not sure I'll ever return to it. The never-ending tide of lost and unwanted and broken creatures was much to bear, but it was good to help and to hold, to comfort and care.  My friend has dived into it with love and grace, and I'm grateful to her and all the others who continue this work.


I'd like most of all to find a place for the things I make. Literally, as in not having to make little paths around the paintings and clutter in my burrow.
So far the only luck I've had is painting the local sports mascot on river stones.
votive offerings for the Cult of the Big Red Pig

Good thing it's local, the shipping charges would eat me alive.