Want To Learn Something New In 2022??

— Georgia O'Keeffe

This is actually so creative I can't even

Dandelion

You open your eyes and look around So bright and blue, the sky You’re in your mother’s embrace, so safe and sound Till the wind blows out and makes you fly

You fly around in the wind’s embrace You see a child running after you With giggles and a big grin on his face You’ve never felt so special, have you?

Suddenly, you’re grabbed by a hand, so wild And you close your eyes in fear But when you open your eyes you see a beautiful child And you know that it’s going to be safe here

The child smiles and whispers down in your ear And you feel so contented to hear his secret You feel happier when he says “you’re beautiful, oh dear” As he continues wishing for a little pet

He blows you away and the wind catches you  But now you finally understood That there’s nothing else that you want to do Because being a dandelion feels so good

I bought a quarterly needlepoint magazine from 1991 today for $1 at an op shop, and there’s a four page spread about a woman who completely faithfully remakes samplers from the 1600s and the part that blows me away is that she was keeping women in history alive.

The original sampler maker was a teenaged girl called Loara she’s the only one known of seven siblings in that family. She was born approximately 1632 and had passed before her father had in 1656 which they know because it was mentioned in his will.

So in the 1630-40s a girl made a sampler, in 1991 a woman had put in years of research before recreating the sampler as Loara had 350 years earlier , and I’m reading about it in 2024.

Embroidery keeps women alive in history, and it’s part of why I love samplers so much.

Here’s a quote from samplers that I think about often:

lullaby at 102º by Traci Brimhall

follow your dreams at a sustainable pace

Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

{Words by José Olivarez from Citizen Illegal /@fatimaamerbilal , from even flesh eaters don't want me.}

Vincent van Gogh. Evening Landscape, Nuenen, 1885.

advice from dad

So, my Dad is a 73-year-old Mexican man who has lived here since he was 16. He was in Watts during the riots in 1965; in 1992, when I was in LA, as soon as the Rodney King verdict was announced, he called me, told me what was coming, told me how to stay safe. He has survived horrible living conditions, being kidnapped, physical abuse, prejudice, discrimination. He learned English, got his green card, pays his taxes, works hard, and has three daughters. 

I thought he would be devastated today.

But he wasn’t.

He saw that I was sad and angry, and he asked me why, pretending he had no idea. I almost started crying. And then he said, “no se me chicopale.” 

It means, don’t lose heart. Don’t give in to despair.

I asked him why he wasn’t upset.

He said, basically, “The world has always been this way. There are always people who are afraid, who are racist, who are awful. This is not new. And it will never go away. He won. We can’t do anything about that. All we can do is what we can do. Fight for what matters to us. Take care of each other. And don’t lose heart. And here, I got these unsalted cashews for you and a bag of jamaica drink mix and can you show me how to use the new washing machine because it’s not working.”

And, for reasons I can’t articulate, I feel a little better.