Skip to main content

Angel of the North as Dancer (Episode 54)

 Angel of the North as Dance 54

PodBean Link for those who like to listen


This morning there is a tang of wood in the cool air. It is the kind of scent that might come from opening a little used cupboard door or how I imagine the very centre of a conker smells.

Alt Text says this week’s photo is: fabric in the air. I say it is ‘Angel of the North as Dancer’, a photograph of the ‘Angel of the North’ shawl by Kath Andrews Designs. I enjoy lying on the patio to capture photos of the shawls in flight while Kath throws them in the air. This year we have made a set of twelve of these photos into a calendar and we had fun showing the images to people at the Yarn Gathering Show this weekend and talking about how they were created. (The images not the people!)

I was thinking about lipstick last week. I don’t wear lipstick. I did when I first met my wife and strangely enough we wore the same colour back then. But the last time I bought a new lipstick was thirteen years ago. I bought it because I was meeting Dolly Parton. The photo from the ‘Meet and Greet’ thirteen years ago came up in my memories on my phone last week and as always it gave me a lovely tingle of joy. My lipstick, foundation and pink shirt go with the moment itself! Winning the ‘Meet and Greet’ was a dream come true. I hardly moved from outside the arena all day because I didn’t want to miss the instructions of where to go. I also didn’t want to crease my shirt! I used to have a real thing about being early because I couldn’t bear the thought of being late and this was the ultimate in being punctual. Over time I watched everyone else enter the arena and take their seats before I was led to the ‘Meet and Greet’ area. It felt good to be heading somewhere after standing around for quite some time. When Dolly stepped off the tour bus she shone and radiated joy. That moment in time was a gift. When I was going through my memory boxes recently I realised that I don’t need the photo to remember the moment or the feelings, but I do really, really love it. I like to read the Dolly Parton book Dream More at least once a year, and so this week I am going to make myself comfortable with a cup of tea and settle into it again. September, with its new year vibes, feels a very good time to revisit the book. It also ties in with the Neuro Linguistic Programming learning I engaged with last week.

 

At the weekend I enjoyed a different kind of meet and greet when I was able to help out at the local yarn show. It felt good to welcome people and I loved the different conversations that can evolve after a short introduction. It’s good to talk. Saying things out loud makes a real difference and brings connections. I like these new mini connections and I also love when I look forward to seeing people who I am pretty sure will be there. If you watched my 15 second Circus video when invited this weekend then please know you always make my day when I see you. The story behind the video is that Kath asked Pinder’s Circus if we could have the advert from the end of the road as a souvenir. I wanted to make a video for my sister to remind her of our trip and of Yuri the clown. We loved our circus trip and felt very lucky to be able to take a short walk to see trapeze artists, a clown and a whole range of circus acts.  

 

I love it when people’s talent shines from them. Here’s to all the sparkle we each bring to the world with our interactions, connections and individual joys.

 

I had prepared two poems for this blog because they went with Autumn, but I will save those for another time and whilst I am thinking about sparkle and people and connections I will share ‘The Stars are Clays’:

 

THE STARS ARE CLAYS

 

Because I didn’t listen in science

or had forgotten that stars were big balls of gas,

I told you that under a silenced moon

an unnamed god had taken aim

then fired.

 

I told you that they followed

each upward trajectory

after hearing someone’s cry

of Pull.

 

I said, the stars are clays

held by the galaxy,

to pattern the darkness

for you and me.

They have been shot

into smithereens

and are shining there now for us.

 

Even though I knew the sun was a star,

that the shine had something

to do with immense pressure

changing hydrogen to helium,

even though I could have told you

that there were hundreds of billions of them out there

I didn’t.

 

All I was actually sure of was that

I needed to stand in the darkness

with you.

 

Will you lift your eyes and look with me?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Singing as the Darkness Lifts 13/11/2023 (Episode 11)

  Singing as the darkness lifts 13/11/2023 PETRICHOR   Me and my brother on a farm holiday when we were little and me and my brother at Bletchley Park more recently.   I am a poet who does not like the smell of petrichor. Last night it rained enough to make puddles on the path, so the smell is not in the air. This pleases me. Instead there is a refreshing, just there, note of herb and I learn that fruit flies too are sensitive to that smell of rain on dry ground.   When I was at school one of the projects involved counting fruit flies. I do not remember the exact logistics, but think it had something to do with tabling the numbers with different markings on their rears. My turn one lunch time resulted in me wracking my brains for the knowledge I needed when I dropped the lid of the fruit fly housing and some of the numbers headed for the freedom of the laboratory ceiling. I didn’t let my group down, but I do think a fruit fly flew up my nose during the proc...
2 comments
Read more

'Sisters at the Snooker' (Episode 24)

Singing as the Darkness Lifts 19/02/2024 Episode 24 Podbean Link for those who like to listen This morning the air seems to smell of egg nog. Inquisitive, I sniff again. Later, I realise the scent is lifted from my body and is from my shower gel. I wonder how many scents are mingling around me. Alt Text for today’s photo tells us this is: “Two women taking a selfie”, but as me and my sister like to see it this is... “Sisters settling in for the semi-finals at the 2024 Welsh Open”. This was my first time at the snooker and I remember learning most of what I know about it from watching it at my granddad’s house when I was young. It was in black and white in those days and frequently viewed without sound, but I remember the joy of a 147 break and the peaceful way my grandad watched it. When we were walking to the venue, I said to Katie, “I’m really looking forward to seeing a 147.” And she replied, “That’s not gonna happen sis. It’s very, very rare. Although it wo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is He Puffin or Is He Vulture? (Episode 39)

  Singing as the Darkness Lifts, Episode 39 Is He Puffin or Is He Vulture? PodBean Link for those who like to listen   This morning the smell of cut grass is in the air, slightly hayed by yesterday’s sunshine and today’s gentle misty drizzle.   This week’s photo had to be ‘Ronnie Jumping for Joy at The Great Orme’. Not just because I love that orme, not just because it is the picture for June on the #LookThere calendar, but because of the alt text suggestion I got when I was preparing to share it on social media to welcome in the new month. This alt text has to be one of my absolute favourites... “May be an image of puffin and vulture.” It made me laugh each time I thought of it and wondered which one of those Ronnie was! In this Word document alt text says it’s a stuffed animal in the air, which makes me love the alternative version that appeared the other day even more.   I love to find humour in things. I find i...
Post a Comment
Read more