Autumnal Striptease

Slipping free of their leafy cover

the trees show so much limb

the embarrassed birds fly south

abandoning imprudently exposed

summer nests for the modesty

of the Bible Belt.

Gleefully the impudent shrubs

flaunt their berry-studded undergarments

while the deciduous luxuriate

solely in strands of ruby holly

and strategically placed bittersweet.

Sporting mistletoe crowns

strung with poisonous pearls

they invite the kisses of jack o'lanterns

that watch leering from the stoops

wizening into themselves

dying happy.

5:26:09 PM      trackback [] 

No inhalation but inspiration

My friend T had a dinner party Saturday night - several people I used to work with and a couple of spouses. The time seemed to fly by. I ate way too much lasagna, drank too much wine (but at least I passed on the weed!), and then ate too much brownies and ice cream. M's husband fell asleep by the fireplace and I think I could have easily done so, too. We joked about partying while middle-aged. T is pushing 60 but has at least twice the stamina I have. MJ is planning for her 50th in February. I was the youngest. On Sunday I felt like the oldest. I didn't sleep well, probably from the caffeine in the brownies. So I got up very early and spent the morning futzing around with my new TypePad blog-home-to-be.

Late in the afternoon (after a nap), I met my friend Lori at the Saxonville Open Studios event. I only had about 45 minutes to look around since I got lost on the way, but since there are only about 15 artists working there I managed to take in most of it. Like just about all of the artists' studios I've been to in the Boston area, this group is located in an old mill building. The artists don’t reside in this one, as in some others, but it looks like great work space. I really liked a lot of the work I saw, particularly Emily Rubenfeld's fruit and Anne Gilson Haney's playful collages.

Lori bought a couple of prints; she's still getting settled in her house and just finished renovations, so she's in the mode of decorating her nest. I picked up a tiny fired clay bowl by Kay Jorgenson D'Orlando, whose bio says that she's a "PhD neuroscientist whose artist self emerged recently after slowly working her way out over my lifetime." I also made off with a stack of art postcards, which I love to stick up on my office walls in lieu of the real thing, which I generally can't afford. I do have some nice photographs and prints that an artist friend has given me over the years. And lately I've been "email & phone dating" a sculptor (as yet geographically challenged), so we'll see what creative inspiration he may bring.

10:53:42 AM      trackback []