December 12, 2007
Dearest
Radish Reader,
Every year I paint my Mom's garbage can - It's a personal tradition.
This year I said to Mom, I'm thinking of doing orchids!
Mom said, in a certain tone she has, "Orchids?"
So I said, "Or hermit crabs."
Hermit crabs were preferred to orchids, so I consulted the art expert on hermits,
Holling Clancy Hollings, in his book, PAGOO.
I soon was distracted by his beautiful octopus painting.
SING IN PRAISE OF OCTOPI ! ! ! !
Here's a view showing the eye, mouth, and tentacles. I put a starfish on top.
Neighbors
always admire my Mom's garbage can. They want me to do theirs. But - I say,
Paint your own garbage cans!
If you need an octopus lesson, I provide one herewith.
Oh how I love octopi! So cuddly! So smart! I found this cute little octopus
video, please enjoy.
http://www.reuters.com/news/video/videoStory?videoId=51101
AND - an octopus discovered ancient treasure!
http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSSEO23203920070725
THEN - I REALIZED THAT 2008 IS THE YEAR OF THE OCTOPUS ! ! !
Hence my new years' wish for 2008! May all your good luck come in 8's !!
!
One further note - spiders seemed to be very popular this Halloween, did you notice? Maybe that bodes well for all 8-legged creatures. In anticipation, I am working on an Octopus Greetings Card.
Reading List - I have discovered James Salter. I'm reading Burning the Days.
He is a pilot. It's his memoirs. He has a way with remembrances, and a way
of describing takeoff at dawn that makes me remember when my dad gave me flying
lessons in his little Piper Cherokee. We reached speed and I pulled back the
stick, and the earth dropped away so delightfully I laughed!
Winter is a nostalgic time, when the garden turns blue and brown, and I'm
luxuriating in nostalgia at the moment, since I'm moving joyfully to a new
house, a blue one by a brook. I'll bring along a tuber or two from my old
garden, but my main feeling about plants and rocks and trelli is, they have
roots! Let them stay.
DANCE NOTES:
Go to Fabric Mart in Hawaii,
http://www.fmart.com/
click on "Hula Supply" and then click on "Pau Skirts"
! ! ! ! ! !
Write soon, dear radish reader.
//////////////
June 5, 2007
Summer
rambles:
It became summer overnight, with 90 degrees every day, except when thunderstorms.
l love the sound of rain, and I like to be in rain. I bought tiny stick-on
diamonds and put them all over my umbrella like raindrops. Craft stores sell
great stick-on diamonds by a company called "Me and My BIG Ideas."
The ones I bought are called "Rhinestone Singles," in case you are
interested. They have a website....
Did you know that "rhine stones" were rock crystals found in the Rhine River? Whereas the "rhino" in rhinosceros is his nose. Baby rhinos are cute in the way that bulldogs are cute.
By
the way, the meaning of Radish is "root."
Oh my
gosh! I saw the most ADORABLE woodchuck. Sitting up like a teddy bear, eating
a red apple slice.
This week I'm plotting the rescue of a big rose bush. They're going to pull
down 4 buildings near the train station, and we went scouting around. Behind
one abandoned house a huge beautiful red rose is in super-abundant bloom!
I know from other ventures that all vegetation will be demolished with glee,
so it's up to me to salvage what I can before the heavy machines move in.
They also have some very nice large evergreens, but I'd need a truck.
I plan next Sunday morning to go for a walk with a shovel and 2 or 3 large
garbage bags, and some twine, and see how I fare.
Hmmm - I might need a wagon - it would be too unwieldy to squinch into the
car unless I prune it, which I don't want to do.
Anyway I'll let you know how it turns out. Maybe if I remember I'll bring
my camera and make a documentary!
Rose Rescue!
Since I hatched this plot, I have suddenly noticed some really beautiful rose
gardens from the train window, I take that as a sign of approval from the
rose universe.
Sometimes the train goes over a river. Since I have been swimming a lot lately,
I always imagine swimming across whatever rivers I see. Yesterday I tried
a few somersaults, until I got water in my nose.
Today's advice: Swim!
I am horrified to learn from so many people that they don't know how to swim,
and that water scares them. Almost invariably, this is followed by an account
of an early childhood dunking at the hands of one's father !!!!!!
If you want to love water, but fear it, start from scratch. Get a colorful
inflatable baby pool and sit in it every day while reading or doing some other
relaxing thing. You could have a few rubber duckies or other items around
you for fun. Do this all summer. You'll feel more friendly towards water after
living in it for awhile.
I like the photos in a book "The Art of Tivaevae: Traditional Cook Island
Quilting" (University of Hawai'i Press). A lot of the quilters have their
portraits taken standing in shallow water at the edge of the sea. That's so
nice!
Write soon, dear radish readers!
Love,
Joy
...................~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
April 12, 2007
Dear friends,
As I write this, Spring is trying to spring, anyway, with much
blasting of icy rain and whipping about of branches. In my garden, forsythia
and snowdrops are blooming! Hoorah!
I took this picture yesterday. I love fireboats!!!!! So exhuberant!
Altho everything else is brown and drab, green leaves are bravely surging
from the dead tangles that I really should have cleaned away, I suppose. Now
I have a big plan to go out and get mulch. Your town probably has a place
where you can get mulch for free. Call the Department of Public Works and
ask them. They are nice.
Even on these cold mornings, birds sweetly chirp! Listen to them on your computer,
if you can't be outside.
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Song_Sparrow.html
is one of the many many sites - I really like the "dawn chorus"
sites, especially in New Zealand.
Colleagues will wander about the office hunting to see where the birds are?
or, if you must be silent at work, read this attempt at sounding out the birdsongs,
it's funny!:
http://www.caculo.com/mnemonics.htm
Of course, its best just to walk outside with your head up and your ears wide
open.
Walking along 59th Street on the edge of Central Park, I heard a mockingbird
singing away madly! A couple passing by also heard, and the woman said to
the man, "Listen to that bird singing!!" The man said, "Yeah.
It's fake, isn't it?" ooooohhhhh!!!!!!
Walk in the blowing rain without an umbrella! Enjoy cold rain on your head
and stinging your face! EEEK!
Celebrate Spring and do a New Thing! I'm one of those who always has a long
list of things I want to do. Let's declare this a New Year's Day, and start
off boldly, singing as we swing down the mountain path. I just finished reading
Vivienne de Watteville's Speak to the Earth - I'm inspired and feel like I
just got back from a long sojourn in the wilderness. She is an inspiring figure,
and anyone who mentions wildlife conservation speaks of her with reverence
- look up http://www.responsibletravel.com/Copy/Copy901052.htm
I did just get back from the beach in Florida, with pink sunrises, blue skies
all day, and monumental sunsets. Water water everywhere! Everyone needs a
dunk in the salty sea. Read Pagoo, by Holling Clancy Holling. Mom read it
aloud to us growing up, and it has lots of beautiful pictures. It is one of
my childhood influences, upon which I have based my life. Makes you love the
sea, and the adventures of small creatures, and makes you want to paint beautiful
pictures.
Hence today's drawing lesson! Enjoy, my little paguris!
Write soon, dear radish readers!
Love,
Joy
////////////////
January 29, 2007
Dear Radish Reader,
It's gotten very cold finally, and I am hiding indoors, reading about voyages of discovery. It's most fun to read the actual journals written by the explorers - Try William Dampier's journals from his voyages around the world in the late 1600's - you can download them for free from the Gutenberg project.
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/d#a6190
I'm also reading the voyages of Captain Cook, who went to Tahiti and also Hawai'i.
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/c
Also if you are in a sea mood, Joseph Conrad is great!! Try him.
Valentines Day is coming soon. Make heart-shaped cookies using my "Cooky Cutter Cookies" recipe. Also I have valentines you can make - so start early - it's fun to do these projects with friends.
Speaking of friends, thanks for writing! Here is Stephanie and her elephant drawing.They are now in my Radish Readers Art Gallery!
Write soon!
Love,
Joy
////////////////
-------------
Click heRe foR my letteRs of 2oO3 ...
--------
Click heRe foR my letteRs of 2oO2 ...
(all material is ©2003 by Joy Sikorski)
Cliquez Ici (that's french for click here) to go back to today's letter.