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?