Reading, Architecture and Holloween

Architecture 2051 at Vermont Technical College

(top left to right: Holly Walker at her house; Erin Fajins; James Vincent;

center left to right: Michael Wilson; Professor Paul Hartmann and Jamison Cook; Jamison Cook;

bottom left to right: Jess Mosman; Majken Thomas; Ashley Fernandes

I just finished reading The Women by T.C. Boyle, about the wives and mistresses of Frank Lloyd Wright, a novel that vividly brings all the contradictions of Wright's personality and creativity to life, and filled me with images of the horror of love and divorce one hundred years ago. One hundred years ago--that sounds like a long time, doesn't it? Yet Wright is still seen by most people as a contemporary architect and visionary. Just this summer my brother, a long time fan, went on about Wright's attempts to marry buildings with landscape. I remember reacting with a slightly bored, jaded attitude--but reading this book has rekindled my curiosity about him, getting me to take another look at images of his buildings.

Coincidentally to my reading, Holly Walker and Geof Finkels invited us to attend the presentations of the students in Professor Paul Hartmann's Architecture 2051 class at Vermont Technical College. The students had come to their house to see the site, and were making proposals for a pottery studio for Holly. When I was a teacher, I sometimes had projects where students made proposals for real sites, and I know how working this way makes a project really tangible for them. There were actually two classes, and two days of presentations. Almost all of the students took the project very seriously and made clear presentations of their ideas. It seems as if they fell into three categories: an addition to the west, connecting the garage and the house with a studio, or a separate building to the east. After the second critique, I walked around the property with Holly, offering my own suggestions, trying to consider her needs as well as the feasibility of construction by Geof. On Saturday Mark and I went back and all four of us walked around, standing in different spots so Holly could go inside and see if a building where we stood would affect their views.

I love architecture and building, probably inherited from my mother, though I never considered it for myself (though my sister became an architect). Of course the reading and discussions has made me think about buying land and starting over--really getting it right this time. I don't think we are going to move any time soon, but it has to be sooner than later if we are going to do it in our lifetimes. Going into a classroom full of young people coming into their own strengths and ideas was so invigorating. It did make me miss being a teacher and how vital it is for everyone involved (teacher and students) in a studio where questioning is encouraged, and all ideas are allowed expression.

Now I am reading Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. It focuses more on Mamah Borthwick than Frank Lloyd Wright, fleshes her out in a different way than in T.C. Boyle's book, makes her dilemma about leaving husband and children for a married man seem more complex than in his book. She was an early feminist, a creative force who couldn't quite find the right outlet for her own intelligence. I feel that Horan has captured many of my own frustrations through her character. Again, this is a novel based on historical figures. Many known facts are accurate, but it is Horan who supplies the angst and internal conversations. Mamah's frustration about how to use her intelligence is hitting me hard, as I see myself spinning my wheels instead of going to my studio. Good books do this, don't they--make you think about your own life and what you are doing with the gift of time.

Well, Holloween came and went in Randolph along with a fierce rain storm. We live in an area where children and parents from all the surrounding villages, as well as our own town, come to say "Trick or Treat!" I was prepared with too much candy, knowing I could bring back unopened packages to the supermarket. Last year we had between 300 and 400 visitors, this year I gave out about 250 pieces of candy. The rain became a deluge just when I was at the bottom of the bowl. I could open another package, knowing I would end up eating most of it since parents and children were running to their cars to get out of the rain, or blow out the pumpkin and turn off the lights. I choose the later (can you see my halo?). Many of the parents, as well as all the children, were in costume. I remember going out with siblings and friends on Holloween--we were allowed to expand our circle wider than just our known neighbors, so I didn't mind giving candy to all these strangers. Plus I got to take alot of nice pictures.

Trick or Treaters--top picks

More Trick or Treaters

Lectures, Mine and Others

I am going to Kent, Ohio this week to give a talk on woven figured textiles (drawloom and jacquard production) at the Kent State University Museum. The poster above has all the information of date, time, place--and if you are in the area, please come hear the talk. It is free and open to the public. There are several exhibitions of work on view too that I look forward to seeing, as well as seeing the work of the students of Janice Lessman-Moss. It is always good to see Janice, so I know it will be a great trip.

Takako Ueki, owner of Habu Textiles, talking to the VT Weavers Guild

Saturday morning I heard a wonderful talk by Takako Ueki, owner of Habu Textiles, at the meeting of the Vermont Weavers Guild. Takako sells the most amazing yarn and is a wealth of information about the materials she sells. She is a natural storyteller, and each time she picked up another skein, she would take us on another fascinating journey. I realized that so many of the processes she was describing have been embedded in cultures for generations--knowledge handed down from parent to child--identified with families and villages. Sadly much of this knowledge--making bamboo dents, splitting ramie into fine almost invisible thread, making double sided gold paper yarn--is being lost to the current generation who has found more lucrative professions. As I listened I wanted to try everything--but of course the skills of the masters she was describing come from dedication to one thing--the person who could make the incredible ramie did not know how to make the woven ikat weft. I don't have time to master any of these skills, nor do I have the discipline to focus on one thing. Trying to become a better weaver is enough for me. Still, it was a wonderful morning listening to her stories, and dreaming about places where people have valued special yarn and the cloth made from it. Each time Takako would hold up a roll of plain weave--incredible plain weave--I would take in a deep breathe and sigh in appreciation.

Six residents of Randolph area reading memoirs

Idora Tucker reading from her memoir as her daughter, Sara Tucker, looks on

Last week six residents of this area who have been meeting weekly at the Senior Center gave a reading from their memoirs. My neighbors, Sara Tucker and her mother, Idora Tucker, are both my friends, and they invited me to attend the reading. When the original organizer stepped out of the picture, Sara, a writer by profession, stepped in to help guide and encourage the others. She is very proud of their writing, as she should be. They did a beautiful job of interspersing their stories, doing three rounds where they each read sections of their stories. I definitely wanted to hear more, and it gave me a deeper appreciation for the people in this community.

Mark starting to paint the house

We are having a new roof put on our house, and while there is some staging on the roof, Mark has started to paint the house. Though we have been discussing potential colors for months, suddenly we needed to make a decision. Choosing color is so hard--especially from a 1 inch x 1 inch color chip that is representing an entire building. We bought some blue green paint but before it even got on the wall we both got cold feet. In my mind the entire house looked like an overly sweet decorated cake. Then we decided on gray, with dark gray trim--and bought those paints. Then we bought a small sample size of green, very similar to the current color. I am not sure how it will end up, and the main part of the house won't get painted until next spring, but we will see.

Each Day a New Arrival

"This being human is a guest house, each day a new arrival..." is how Rumi's poem The Guest House (as translated by Coleman Barks) begins. Well the other day the new arrival was not as sweet as some of them. The exhibition on Indonesian textiles scheduled for Bard, and all the events surrounding it, including the demonstration of weaving processes that I was to do, have had to be cancelled due to construction delays on the gallery. I am so disappointed, but it did introduce me to some interesting colleagues as well as increase the books I have on Indonesian textiles. And while I was ordering them, I also found an amazing book on Indian printed textiles using mordants. So always some good, along with the bad.

I am reading Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner, which is going to be the next book discussion at Kimball Library here in Randolph. It is fiction but every word resounds with the truth of a lived life. It is making me think about how we construct our stories, cast ourselves in both good and poor light, carefully editing to create the picture we want others to see. So what I include or don't include in this blog is a form of posing. No matter how honest I want to be, through inclusion and exclusion, I am fabricating a public persona.

From left around the table: Liz, Anne, Mario, Mark, Marianne, Derek, Isaac, Susanna

Of course I want to include the wonderful dinner party we had the other night in honor of Anne Lindberg and Derek Porter. Anne just installed a new large piece in an exhibition H2O in Newport, NH--close enough for them to visit and for us to see her work. Anne was second year to Liz, Marianne, and I being first year at Cranbrook. Age has nothing to do with being the elder here. She was a great role model in school, and has continued to be an inspiring and cherished friend. Mark and I were able to get to spend time with her and Derek when we lived in Lawrence, Kansas (2000-2002) since they are residents of Kansas City. It has been wonderful to watch their lives bloom in terms of creativity and success. Since Derek is also the Director of the MFA Lighting Design Program at Parsons/The New School, we can figure out some NYC gatherings, or try to draw them back to Vermont.

Saturday Mark and I drove to Boston for the day, to meet my sister Robin, and her children, Daniel and Molly, up from Maryland. This really was a widening of the circle for us. It is three hours to Boston, a reasonable one day trip. When we lived in New Bedford, MA, we went up there sometimes--usually to the galleries or museums, but we had never been to the Peabody Museum at Harvard. So we met Robin and Daniel there. The fourth floor, with its old cases, wood silky soft from the touch of so many hands over the years, is totally inspiring. Each case is full of objects; many are textiles. it is the kind of exhibition that is out of fashion, as one can see when contrasting it to the exhibits on the other floors which have computer-screens and videos and lights and whistles and lots of visitors with children. This floor was empty except for us--a real treat.

Mark looking at objects on 4th Floor of Peabody Museum

On the third floor, the Peabody is connected to the Harvard Museum of Natural History, and we went across to see the Ware Collection of Glass Models of Plants, made by Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka from 1886 to 1936. They show that their makers paid careful attention to the smallest detail of the living plants, and used the most careful craftsmanship to execute models that seem to breath. Since I am enjoying all the colors and variety of the flowers around Randolph this summer, and trying to capture them in my weavings (will post images soon), I was definitely awed by this room. We might have missed this wonderful collection if Laurie Sverdlove hadn't mentioned it to me when I told her we were going to the Peabody.

Mark, Robin and Daniel studying the glass flowers

One of the Glass Flowers in the Ware Collection at Harvard Museum of Natural History

Now that we have gone to Boston once, I think we will go back soon to see the other museums and galleries. Going into town from the north seemed really different than from the south. We did manage to get lost, both going in and out of town. Next time a good map will be our companion. When we got on I-89, I felt a great sense of peace--ah, the road to home.

Settling Back into Home/Future Commitments

It's been a busy week, settling back home, considering some future commitments, and having lots of social engagements. Walks with friends, returning to the gym, dinners with friends have all been great, but now I am getting cranky. I know that means it is time to return to my studio work. The quiet and focus of my own work is my balancing mechanism. Tomorrow for sure. Meanwhile I will share some of this week's activities. Below is the view from Geof (standing) and Holly's (sitting right) back porch, where we enjoyed a dinner, sat by their fire pit and watched the sunset.

Enjoying sunset with friends

Mark and I went to the Hood Museum in Hanover, NH this week. They have an exhibition of Indonesian textiles up until August 31 and it is very inspiring. I plan to go back and sketch, but I wanted to have a quick look in terms of one of my future commitments, which is to demonstrate some of the textile methods used by four groups of Indonesian peoples in conjunction with an exhibit that will be mounted by the Bard Graduate Center. The Study Day Weaving Power: Meaning, Methods, and Materials of Island Southeast Asian Textiles program in which I will be involved will take place on November 6th. In the morning the curator of the exhibition, Florina H. Capistrano-Baker will walk the participants through the show. Then I will demonstrate some of the weaving processes used to make these cloths, followed by lunch, and then a trip to the MET for a presentation at the Antonio Ratti Textile Center by Christine Giuntini, textile conservator. It is going to be a wonderful day and if you are interested in participating or getting more information, please contact Rebecca Allan, Head of Education (if you click on her name it will bring you to a site with her email address).

Catalog from exhibition at Hood Museum

If you have been following my blog, you know I am into food. I was almost ecstatic to have dim sum and Korean food in Chicago, and was talking to Holly about it one day. She didn't know about dim sum, and I went on and on about how delicious it is, and how time consuming to make, and how sad that we don't have it here. Then I went home and found this ad in the newspaper for a restaurant in Burlington that is serving Sunday dim sum! Is this proof that if you ask, you will receive? Then after visiting the Hood, Mark and I went to check out Yama, which I vaguely remembered hearing about. We had their bulgoki lunch box, and I immediately went home and emailed some friends to arrange another trip to Yama and the Hood.

Hope for me in Vermont

Today we went to Chelsea (just over the mountain) for their annual Flea Market. Chelsea is a very beautiful town with two village greens. Both were full of vendors and this usually quiet small town was overflowing with people. I get overwhelmed by too much stuff and though we want/need a dresser and some chairs, and this was probably the ideal place to find them, we left empty-handed. We did see some interesting objects, including a wooden wheel chair and a sewing table that had a ruler drawn onto the surface.

Chelsea Flea Market

Wooden Wheel Chair

Detail of sewing table with ruler drawn on surface

I am reading two books lent to me by friends, both on the impending or perhaps already present collapse of the world as we know it. Sara Tucker, who has one of the most curious minds I know, and who shares her curiosity with readers on her blog, The Aggregator, lent me Sacred Demise by Carolyn Baker. Baker says there is no equivocating about it, the collapse is here. World Made by Hand, by James Howard Kunstler, lent to me by Marianne McCann, is a novel that so clearly describes the collapsed world that I have been walking around visualizing everything around me without electricity, without internet, without government. It tempted me to buy every hand tool I don't already own that was on sale at the Flea Market today. It also makes me think that being a weaver is going to be a good trade in the future. I am also thinking that using raw milk in my yogurt and cooking is not only delicious, but familiarising myself with the future. We not only got fresh milk today at Howe Farm in Tunbridge (just south of Chelsea) but we got some farm-raised meat too. This aspect of Vermont, knowing where your food is coming from, can not be beat.

I have been watching the counter on the lower-right of my blog, Neo-Counter. I am always surprised to see the numbers increase, and how many countries are represented. Sara's blog mentions 143 countries in a recent survey, WorldAtlas says there are 189 to 195 independent countries depending on your biases, and Bob Dylan says 193 on his Theme Time Radio Hour Around the World Show. I wonder how I can get hits from all 195 countries? It reminds me of family road trips where we always tried to find one liscense plate from every state. It seems to me it was always hard to find one from Vermont. Maybe it is so beautiful here, people just don't have to go anywhere else--or, I had to move here to finally log the state plate. When I logged on to write this, my count for the blog was 40 countries, and 2558 visitors. Of course, I didn't put the counter on until about a month ago, so that is really higher. Maybe that is like debating 193 or 195 countries.

When I was in Chicago I had a chance to meet Kathy O'Neal, who is helping Brother Kim with the Colloquy 2009. The information about this gathering is on the right side of this blog. It is going to be held October 12-15, 2009. Kathy and I discussed past Colloquy and what I should do as this year's presenter. I am going to do a lecture on my life as a weaver, as well as a presentation on contemporary jacquard and my use of the TC-1, and I will also do a demonstration on designing for a TC-1 using Photoshop. If you want to join us, please contact Kathy. This is a rare opportunity to gather with a small group of people obsessed with weaving and looms. I think the conversations can get quite heated about things like tying treadles or maybe how to read drafts--the kind of thing that you just can't discuss with everyone. Maybe you don't want to talk about such things, but I always love hearing how other weavers think and act.

Kathy O'Neal talking to me about Colloquy 2009

Birthday Cake

It's always a good morning when I return to bed with my cup of coffee and read. It's a sign of relaxation and leisure. This morning I noticed that the leaves on the trees almost obliterate the neighboring houses and I am left with a view of the hill behind town that reminds me of the view from the bedroom of our former home in New Mexico. I always felt that hill was a protection, and watching the morning sun hit it and turn it golden was always a thrill. Selling that place, with a house that we built ourselves with great effort and hope, was emotionally difficult, and I think I managed it by denying my attachment. So it seems that as I settle joyfully into Vermont, I can relax my internal walls, and allow memories of New Mexico to return. I remember when I studied psychology in the '60's how taken I was by the theory of cognitive dissonance. Upon making a decision, one is at first overcome by the sense that you made the wrong choice, and then that quickly is replaced by a firmer conviction that you indeed made the right choice. So now I feel safe enough to allow good memories of New Mexico to return without it threatening our decision to move to Vermont.

I wanted to post pictures of my weft-backed double weave for days, but I didn't want my friend Sara Tucker to see, because I wove her a birthday cake. Yesterday, after the opening of Into the Woods, we had a joint gemini party. You can see her and her sister Martha holding the weaving below, as well as strawberry shortcake. 

Sara Tucker (r) and her sister Martha holding Sara's birthday cake weaving

I actually gave Sara the weaving earlier in the day, and she put it on the back of a chair as a display for everyone to see at the party. It amazed me how it fit perfectly, and suddenly I really could conceive of a furniture collaboration with Mark--something he has been interested in for a long time. I don't know how long it will take for that to take shape, but probably now that I can visualize it, it has a chance to happen.

Sara's Birthday Cake weaving on display for party

I also wove a birthday cake for my Aunt Bess' party, which will take place August 30th. She is going to be 100! I don't think Bess is reading this blog, so she probably won't see the weaving until her party, but if she is, then she can look forward to seeing it in person. I am posting both the front and back of her weaving, so you can see how different they are. I wove both birthday cakes face down, so I saw the colorful floats develop, not the sharp definition of the front. Both these weavings made me very happy. Pleased by the complicated structure that made the imagery possible, pleased by the thought that I was giving them to specific people who make my life better, and pleased by the silliness of them, which seemed perfect as a birthday present. At the party, my other friends lined up to tell me when their birthdays are coming, so they too can get these cakes. 

Front of Aunt Bess' Birthday Cake weaving

Back of Aunt Bess' Birthday Cake weaving

And besides having a pot luck with good friends and the most delicious food, much of which came from recipes in Deborah Madison's book, I received a wonderful old collapsible wooden ruler from the Sacca/Billings and an intriguing collage from Laurie Sverdlove, who co-curated Into the Woods with Dian Parker. They are pictured with Tom Batey (who did the card) below. I took this picture before the opening, which is good, because the gallery was packed for the next few hours and all my pictures just show backs of people. The show was appreciated by all and the hard work these three people did was justly praised.   

Right to Left: Laurie Sverdlove, Dian Parker, and Tom Batey, standing at side of Laurie's painting just before opening of Into the Woods 

So what was I reading this morning? Flatbreads & Flavors by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. I haven't cooked from it yet, but I will. They are travellers and cooks and I relate to their writing. I go through phases where I stop reading and stop cooking, and life is a little duller for the lack of these activities. Getting ready for the opening and party got me in the kitchen, and eating Holly's foccacia with Liz's green cheese spread and Mark's lentil soup made me want to find more delicious recipes. Tonight I am going to try Alford and Duguid's Pizza with Rosemary and Garlic, and add the rest of the onion filling from Madison's book that didn't go into the empanadas. Ahh, good living! And just look at the poppies in our garden. 

Colloquy 2009, Books and Friends

I have been invited to be the featured presenter at Colloquy 2009, which meets at the St. Meinrad Archabby Guesthouse (Indiana) from October 12-15, 2009. Originally established by Ken Colwell in Mineral Point, Wisconsin, it has been held for many years at the Archabby, where Brother Kim Malloy is the weaver. Kathy O'Neal is the contact person for information, and you can find her contact information in the sidebar of this blog. The gathering is small so if you are interested in attending you should sign up soon. I have heard wonderful things about this gathering from Laura Foster Nicholson who was a presenter in the past, and look forward to several days of intense conversation on textiles with others as equally obsessed as myself.

One of two new bookcases

Lucky me! Mark just finished building two new bookcases for our front room. Not only am getting the stacks of books off the floor of the office/guestroom, but there is actually space to add books. I have been quite good lately about not buying books (practicing fiscal responsibility) but I think those empty spaces are going to undue all my restrain. It is going to be fun for my tutorial students to go through my shelves. I suspect some of them will get tempted to sit and read at night rather than weave. Actually, it will be a good way for them to rest a bit, and get inspired at the same time.

Trudy Otis showing her twisting machine

I keep raving about Vermont in this blog, but that is because it is a terrific place and keeps surprising me with new wonders. Yesterday I hosted a small pot luck luncheon for some weavers who I thought would be interested in seeing my TC-1 in action. Ann Levy came from the northern part of the state, Dena Gartenstein Moses from the south, Edith House and Trudy Otis from north central Vermont, and Susan Rockwell, Dee Goulding, and myself from Randolph.  I first met Ann Levy (sorry, not shown in any of the photos because my picture-taking was poorly done yesterday) at the first North Country Studio Workshops in 1993. As soon as she heard I was moving to Vermont, she emailed me. She has been studying jacquard by going to The Centre for Contemporary Textiles in Montreal, working with the incredible artist and teacher, Louise Lemieux-Berube. She brought some of her work with her to show us, as did Trudy Otis. Trudy also demonstrated the twisting machine, shown above. I really want one of those! If any of you readers have one you aren't using, please send it to me. I hear they are sometimes available on e-bay but I don't have the patience to check that out.

Dena, Susan and Edith (left to right) watching Trudy

Besides having a wonderful lunch (and people were kind enough to leave enough for our dinner too), it is thrilling for me to find so many fine weavers in the state. New Mexico was also full of weavers, but most of them were tapestry weavers, following a different interest than mine. It feels as if there are more kindred weavers for me here. Trudy's scarfs are such a delight of color and structure and perfect finishing. To me the lunch was a mini-version of what I expect to find at the Colloquy.

'Tis a Gift to Be Simple

The weaving above, Chaos and Order - #2, came to my mind after reading Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. The description of collecting and stacking used tin cans and old newspapers till they filled the parlor spoke to me of a ready-made art installation. Such a heart-rendering book; pages of poetic sentences where I just floated through the imagery not even trying to grasp their meaning, just their flavor, smell, sensations. Whereas this book made me lonely, reminding me of corners of my life that I don't usually peek into, I think my series of weavings, Chaos and Order, are happier interpretations of ways we sort and gather and collect the elements of our lives. I don't usually frame my work, but these small weavings were sewn onto foam board and mounted, then framed without glass. You can see more of them on the website of Hibberd-McGrath Gallery, located in Breckenridge, Colorado.

Yesterday we went to the Town Meeting. Every town in Vermont holds a local meeting on the first Tuesday of March. In some towns everything is done by verbal tallies, but Randolph uses paper voting ("Australian Ballot"). This year they made it possible for people to discuss the items on the ballot, so the meeting went longer than we had anticipated. Being new to town, we didn't know most of the people or issues, and just sat observing how lines were drawn as the meeting progressed. One young woman courageously spoke up, several times, voicing her concerns about the environment, recycling, our future. I was struck by her willingness to be polite, thinking how at her age, had I dared to talk up in such a forum, I would have probably said something like, "F.... you, you are destroying my future!" Then I thought how my generation is now in control, and making a mess of it just like all the generations before us.

This is actually the first time I have ever attended a local government meeting. I think it is one of the aspects of life in Vermont that drew me here. Even if I still have a sense of alienation about me, that will probably always be there, still I know that I am a part of this town now, and being informed about the budget, which is paid for by our taxes, is a responsibility I need to take on. I won't be running for select board (I just wanted to run home and jump into bed and pull the covers over my head by the end of the meeting), but I do want to be a conscious member of this community.

Well, I didn't go upstairs and jump into bed, but went to the loom instead. Yesterday I wove with rayon yarn that has been on my shelves since the late 1970s. One of the parameters I have given myself for my current work is that I must use the yarn I have. I liked it so much, plain weave and basket weave, that I even read the manual for my digital camera to find out how to take a close-up picture that is in focus. The difference in light reflection and scale between the cotton warp and the rayon weft is beautiful to my eyes. It made me think, "Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free."

Reading

In 2005, before I owned my TC-1, while writing The Woven Pixel, I visited Alice and after working on the book all day with her, I wove in the evenings on her TC-1, and produced a series of four weavings, Postcards 1 - 4. Prior to coming, I prepared my warp at home by painting a warp using natural dye extracts developed by Michele Wipplinger. When I tied my warp to Alice's warp, I interspersed thin stripes of yarn that I had previously braided and dyed with indigo. All the weavings were done in a lampas structure, but Postcard-3, pictured above, was also brocaded on the loom. This is one of the advantages of a hand jacquard, that you can do manipulations like brocading or weft ikat that you can not normally do on a fully electronic jacquard loom. Postcard-3 is an apt introduction to this post on reading since it lists my favorite books from that year, still some of my favorite reading of all time. If you haven't read The Beak of the Finch or Michael Pollan's Botany of Desire or Second Nature, I highly recommend them.   

I like to read series of books, and some, like the Narnia series, I read every few years and still find them thrilling. Characters fill my head, become intimate friends, or enemies, and when I come to the end, I inevitably feel sad. Some of the current popular books, where a new one shows up each year, start to irritate me with their formulaic manner and I stop reading them. This happened to me with the Outlander series, but it reminded me of Mazo de la Roche's Jalna series, which take you through 100 years of the Whiteoak family in sixteen books. These are not 1000 pages each--in dire need of an editor, but very manageable swift reads, which often meant starting in the late afternoon and staying up all night to finish. Lucky for me, the Kimball Library in Randolph had most of the books, and were able to do inter-library loan for the few they don't own. I wasn't even sure if these books really existed, but I had a memory of reading them as a child, and the Internet proved that they did exist. On reading them I realize I must have been in high school, or at least junior high, when I first read them. They are definitely not children's books. And the characters are abundantly unpleasant. At the end I could not identify one of them, not one, that I liked. There were moments of course that I had sympathy for some of them, and always I wanted to keep going, to read to the end, but I am glad to say that no one I know is as thoroughly detestable as this family--self-centered, manipulative, shallow. Perhaps that is the appeal, that de la Roche did allow her fantasy family to have all the bad traits and bad luck we sometimes find in ourselves and in our lives. 

The Kimball Library hosts reading groups and I have been following the current one, The Never Setting Sun, which includes these books: A Passage to India, Things Fall Apart, Ake: The Years of Childhood, and Our Sister Killjoy. So far I have read the first three, though I missed the first discussion and will miss the next one. In other words, I have attended one discussion so far, my only foray into book groups. I did meet some interesting people, so I will go back when I can.

My other constant reading is The New Yorker. When we were leaving New Mexico, I let that and my Netflixs subscription run out. In September The New Yorker began arriving in our current mailbox. It is a bit like having north, south, east and west fixed again. I read them from cover to cover so I am always way behind, and partially read magazines can be found in every room of the house. Anyone who reads The New Yorker, or listens to NPR, immediately knows that I am a fan of both, since practically everything I say is a quote from one or the other.

My weaving, Postcard-2, shown below, is a quote, not from either of those places, but from the great Vipassana teacher, S.N. Goenka. Somehow it reminds me of my friend, Karen Benjamin, a wonderful tapestry weaver in New Mexico. We used to go for long walks together, which I really miss, and have inspiring conversations about being content, or rather, why we (i.e., all americans) are never content. So I wove Goenkaji's words as a reminder to myself: "Life as it is, Not as you want it to be."

Finally, to the weaving. The additional warp ends led to a bit of brocading. Not too much, just an accent amount.