By Kim Nelson, on July 13th, 2010%
Reaching back to my earliest years, I can’t retrieve a time when I didn’t write in a diary, a log or a journal of some sort. Wordplay, wordsmithing, “word-work,” has saved me time and again. Writing is my element, my medium, my retreat and my escape. I love words. It’s a forever kind of love.
Recently, however, I’ve been inclined to add more color ~literally~ to my words. So I followed the lead of many contemporaries and embarked on an art journal journey. Simple concept, art jornaling: Add images to the ideas. Here is my first entry. I had a really happy day. Can you tell?
I AM ART!
On the agenda:
Plant sunflower seeds (For the third time this season. Why? So the thrashers and bunnies have snackies, it would seem.)
Supply buying trip to Michael’s
A session with Kevin at Plexus Pilates
Make a card for Susan
Press flowers from the garden
New soap in the shower
BE HAPPY!
By Kim Nelson, on June 7th, 2010%
Paradise has it’s price.
My little bit of the Sonoran Desert is bursting with new life, and it distracts me at every turn.
I’m compelled to wander through my mission garden several times a day in an effort to catch the quail off the nest and sneak a peak at the 11 eggs therein. Excited to see the brown cotton ball babies as soon as they hatch, I check often so as not to miss the big event. Fortunately, the brown turkey figs, which I share with the cardinals, are ripening, so I’m well-nourished on every foray.
On the other side of the house, the yellow finches love the wildflower garden, and obviously ~overtly~ they love each other, too. There’s a whole lot of chasin’ and matin’ goin’ on. And I am, apparently, a voyeur, because I cannot stop watching. The flit, they fly, they dance low in the sky; and I watch every move, regardless of what’s on my morning calendar. I might soon be expert on the mating practices of yellow finches. Just saying.
Then there are the butterflies. At least 8 different varieties, and lots of them. Honestly… a friend came by one morning, looked out back and said in low, controlled voice, “That is a lot of butterflies. It’s creepy.”
And I’ve developed a personal relationship with nearly all of them. I know the adult food sources and the larval options. I know the plants they prefer, but the sorts they’ll eat if they have no choice. I know way too much about desert butterflies. What did I expect?
I planted a bird and butterfly garden right outside my writing window. It’s in full bloom. Birds and butterflies abound. Caterpillars rapel across my window panes and spiders skitter after them.Then the lizards and roadrunners get into action, hoping for a quick snack or a sip. And I watch. For hours. Lest any of us forget– BULLETIN — I AM a writer!
Some days I worry that I might never write again. But then I’m wont to remember… this is the Sonoran Desert. Temperatures are nearing 110° most afternoons. Soon, the wildlife will retreat to the cooler ends of the days, leaving the middles for writing.
And I AM, after all, a gardener, too. So I’ll enjoy this little bit of paradise, and appreciate what a gift it really is.
Wanna join me?
By Kim Nelson, on February 27th, 2010%
“Through all the world there goes one long cry from the heart of the artist: Give me leave to do my utmost.”
~Isak Dinesen
Oh, Isak, I get it!
I want to write, have to write, intend to write.
Then stuff gets in the way.
Internal. External. Stuff.
Circumstance, thought, diversion, onus…stuff.
Yet The Writing waits.
The Writing sits in the basement of my mind, peering up through the cracks in the floor. It waits for me to open the door, walk through the dark, down the steep, narrow stairs and bring it up. Bring it into the light. Bring The Writing into being.
The Writing waits ~for me~ to write.
Tell me…what is waiting for you? And what are you waiting for?
By Kim Nelson, on February 15th, 2010%
In poetry,
Truths emerge
That might otherwise
Require
Lubrication,
Stimulation,
Serious social manipulation.
2 Gin Rickeys
Good red wine
Or absinthe over a sugar cube ~
Fine.
But in poetry,
Unprovoked,
Façades fall away,
Barriers break,
Illusions fade to opaque;
And the truth
Jumps onto the page
Big, bold and unashamed
And it declares
I AM.
I am THAT I am.
By Kim Nelson, on January 21st, 2010%
Following In The Footsteps of The Greats
Henry David Thoreau did it.
So did Jack Kerouac.
Others include Ernest Hemingway, MFK Fisher, Wallace Stegner, Walt Whitman, John Muir, George Orwell and Jack London.
Aside from being famous and accomplished writers, what connects these illustrious talents?
A quest.
During their lifetimes they each undertook a journey, a sojourn into the world, to better understand the human stories, to experience for themselves the worlds within worlds. They left the relative comforts of lives and routines so they could better tell the tales for which they’re known.
While on these odysseys, each relied on the generosity of family and friends, the kinship of other writers and artists, and the kindness of strangers to provide shelter and creature comforts while they focused on the great works that would later make them famous and enrich the lives of generations to come.
And now, a new talent is on the cusp of emergence.
My friend and fellow writer, Jane Devin, frequently published in The Huffington Post, embarked on a year-long, cross-country journey last October and chronicles her adventure online at Finding My America. Jane blogs regularly, Tweets almost non-stop, photojournals, and speaks before community groups interested in new media and writing. All of this, and she still has time to drive across the country and work on a novel.
Jane’s talent is so apparent that GM is providing her with vehicles and Verizon with phone service. The rest is up to us. Jane usually stays in any one place for two or three days; and she’s thus far been sheltered by generous folks willing to give her a bed and a roof for a few nights. But now, she ventures into a part of the country with no acquaintances and few followers. She could use a little help.
If you’ve ever considered yourself a patron of the arts, consider offering that patronage to Jane. Go to her website. Read her content. Discover what she is discovering and join her on her journey.
And if you feel inclined to offer support, do so. She’ll appreciate it. We’ll benefit.
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