The Good Life
Enough food, and someone to share it with. M. France said it best:

Hunger and Love are the pivots on which the world turns. Mankind is entirely determined by love and hunger.
-Anatole France
(letter to George Sand)

Chicken Feed
We are chicken-sitting for my next-door neighbor! I always enjoy it, and so does young H who has been my right hand man. It's such a clearly illustrated equation: give chickens food, collect food (eggs) from chickens. I remember my fifth grade teacher, Mr. Iassagna, trying to hammer this life lesson into us: "Life is a two way street, people!" he'd boom from time to time. Of course, he was right, but it's an easier lesson to grasp in a hands-on way. Bring on the chickens!

PUSH BUTTON FOR GREEN LIGHT
Is it really that easy in life? Sometimes I think Yes, strangely enough, it is that easy! Sometimes, No way. Oh well, can't hurt to keep on pushing.

ONLY RESTING
In my circle of friends and acquaintances within the last few days: a death, a birth and what seems like everything else in between. Has felt something like standing under a waterfall...exhilarating but alarming: being knocked about a bit by the relentless force.

And death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore for the former things that have passed away.
Revelations 21:4

New beginnings for me as well: today I taught my first art class! I've pinch-hit for other people in the past; occasionally filling in when somebody took sick or had an emergency. I always enjoyed the student-teacher interaction, but never felt up to the responsibility of running my own class. But somehow, when I was invited to teach this semester I felt a little more ready to take it on and agreed. I called last week and asked about class enrollment and felt pretty relieved when I was told that I had six students signed up, as the minimum class number is five. Alright, whew! A nice small seminar size,I thought happily. But when I walked in this morning the class numbered fourteen! It might even be fifteen (which is the maximum) only one person didn't show up. I was a bit shocked for a moment, but quickly re-grouped mentally. Just like the waterfall analogy above, I can tell that teaching is going to be a bit of an adventure...both humbling and uplifting, as I find my feet. The students were wonderful though...no slackers...everyone painting flat out till the last possible moment allowed!

COMPLICATED


Hunger and Love are the pivots on which the world turns. Mankind is entirely determined by love and hunger.

-Anatole France
(letter to George Sand)

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So, these cookie cutters were a "just because" gift from my friend Emilie who came by for a cup (or three) of tea yesterday. I thought they so beautifully expressed a lot of things, such as the intricacy of love. And of course, heart-shaped cookie cutters are the very embodiment of the point made above by Anatole France, don't you think?

LEATHER LANDSCAPE
A bit of a departure for me. I was trying to shoot a macro shot of a leather bag hanging in my closet and didn't realize this bejeweled velvet clutch was in the background. Steep hill by moonlight?

Today being Martin Luther King Junior Day, here in the States, I noticed a terrific quotation by him on another blog, which prompted me to look him up on BrainyQuote. A lot of good ones there, some quite high-minded as expected, others more earthy and zingy. Here is one I enjoyed mentally chewing on for a while:

Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see.

An updated redux of Plato's Allegory of the Cave? Hard to tell, taken out of context.
******************************************************************************************************************************FAVOURITE: Leather Challenge.