DAY: Thursday, even though I woke up feeling—think Bill Murray in Ground Hog’s Day—that it was Wednesday all over again and that it would be kinda nice if it were, in fact, Saturday.
MORNING MEDITATION: 10 minutes. Went pretty well today. I’m new at this, just 27 days into the journey. I find that more than observe my thoughts drifting by, I tend to bat at them like flies. “Shoo shoo, go away!” Technique definitely requires some refining. And speaking of flies, there were ants in the kitchen last night. A sure sign of Spring. But that wasn’t part of the meditation. See what I mean? “Shoo shoo! Go away thoughts about ants!”
TDC: There was a bonus Daily Cure yesterday. It was Women’s Day which is typically celebrated in Italy with the gift of Mimosa flowers. A little French café I like for afternoon pick-me-ups was giving its female customers tiny, silver-dollar-sized tartes au citron, having given themselves creative license to interpret the yellow of mimosa with the yellow of lemon. It was delicious, intense and totally unexpected. I felt appreciated as I nibbled it into nonexistence. How does that get to be today’s post? Because the goodness of that kind of gesture lingers.
The Daily Cure 
I would love your Woman’s Day!
It is, in fact, quite a sweet day. Yellow flowers everywhere.
Yellow is always so Spring!!!
You’re right. It is “so Spring”…in fact, I’ve noticed that every year towards the end of winter, I start talking about yellow as if it could, in some way, change my mental attitude or catalyze the change of season. After winter, we need yellow. I’ve noticed a lot of street vendors selling bunches of jonquils. They are so beautiful. When I was growing up our yard was full of them. Here I have no yard…so I am happy to see buckets full of them on the street.
What a sweet post! Tell me about meditation. Are you getting anything from it yet? Every time I’ve tried I’ve had the same results: batting away the thoughts rather than letting them pass on their own.
Hey, do you remember my friend Ardi Kramer from the wedding? Older, a producer, lives in Minneapolis? She just learned she has stage 4 cancer of the everything. She went from a lively lunch to the ER. It’s just awful. Hold your dear ones tight.
xo t >
Yes, I remember her well and she seemed immune to all ill, so strong was her aura. So so am shocked and saddened and will think of her. Keep me informed, please.
The meditation helps a lot!!! I am not very good at it, but part of the exercise is not judging oneself…just letting it progress. It’s a practice. But, I repeat, it does help.
So nice to hear from you again. I had a lovely yellow lemon bar yesterday made by one of our weaving guild members for our meeting. It was just so cheerful and bright. We were all women gathered to share our favorite collected textiles from around the world. Because it was from our personal collections not a museum, we could touch and feel everything – just a perfect women’s day!
That sounds like a wonderful day. Love the touching everything part. Please do touch!
we talk about the weavers handshake where you walk up to another woman and immediately touch what she’s wearing because it’s usually a wonderful piece of fabric.
that is so true! I mean, I’m not a weaver, but when I was dancing seriously, we used to look at each other’s feet and comment on arch shape…almost before anything else. do you have your weavings posted on a website? I think you’ve told me before, but I have lost it.
Tartes au citron, only in Italy. We had a women’s day strike that created some conflict. Our country is dividing into two groups.
It helps me to have a mantra when I meditate.
I know all about the conflicts…I follow them closely. I am keeping my distance in order to align with my own instincts and feelings right now. I feel we’ve left little room for nuanced thought or meaningful discussion. As for the meditating, I do have a sort of mantra related to the breathing…but I also don’t want to take myself too seriously. It is a fun new experience and I’m enjoying what I’m learning about how my mind’s messy inner workings.
that makes it sound like I don’t appreciate your advice. But I do! The digital realm makes clear communication hard. I take your comments seriously, I just take myself not so seriously. If you know what I mean. I’m serious about keeping up the meditating, I’m just trying to give myself the space to not be good at it and to even laugh about it. Which is something I’ve not always been able to do with regard to my own efforts.
I totally understand, the only time I took meditation seriously was when I took a class years ago. It was called “Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction” by Bob Stahl. Laughing about it is the best medicine. Keep up the good work and always give yourself space . You know what is best for you.
There’s definitely no judge holding 1-10 point card following your meditation! I find the more you do it the more you actually start to enjoy ten minutes of not thinking- it’s a relief really. And when I stop meditating for a while… (no reason accept something bumps its priority in my morning) and I start back- it’s like exercising. It takes a bit to get back in the swing of it- and finding the sweet peace spot. Your grey matter thanks you:)
I don’t have a website (yet) but I do have a photo sharing album here: https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-XN4pMM/
My latest piece, Purple Rain is now at a show in Minneapolis honoring Prince. So exciting!
That is fantastic! Congratulations!
Oh God, Janette, your work is beautiful. Just beautiful. I am os moved by it.
Thanks this is really nice coming from such a talented person as yourself! Purple Rain is the first of a series. The second is for Leonard Cohen (almost done), the third is for David Bowie (on the loom now). Lou Reed’s is in the planning stages. Then maybe I have to move on to those still alive!
I’m curious, do you work on commission? Do you sell in galleries? What happens to all your pieces? Do you have a hard time parting with them? I love Purple Rain. I LOVE Vagina Dialogue. So witty and beautiful. It’s fascinating and foreign to me to see an idea translated into a non-literal weaving. The cuts/slits in Purple Rain and in other pieces are intriguing to me. They draw you into the world of the weaving, and yet seem to speak to our pain which is then washed over by the day to day. The weaving goes on…smoothing them over with neat edges like scars. Fascinating.
I don’t sell pieces. They are in my son’s house, hung or stacked up in my house and some with friends. You are right, it’s hard to part with them. I really appreciate your notice of Vagina Dialogue. When I finished it, I looked at it and asked my husband what he thought it looked like. He got it right away and named it. One of the visually impaired weavers that I work with who is 89, looked at it and put her hand right in the opening and felt it, which a lot of people do actually. While her hand was there I told her the name of it. She yelped and jumped away from it! Too funny. Sometimes I think the slits are like windows especially if the piece is held up to the light. You see all the fuzzy wool and they are not so sharp and then they are very much alive. Hard to display that way though.
I am so fascinated by all of this. Weaving is so unlike anything I have ever tried to do or make. I love to read your stories and comments, too. The one about the woman jumping back is hysterical.
I didn’t start weaving until I was in my mid-50’s. A friend treated me to a one day workshop and I was hooked. You never know what lies ahead!
I love that idea. It’s easy to forget that our futures are ALWAYS unpredictable, often in great ways. Hmmm…wonder what I’ll do next.