Maricopa Hwy

       
                 

Converge

Diverge

Leaning In

100% 
Full force  
Leaning in 
45 degrees
Up
Shots fired target practice in the next canyon 
Wanting to ignore
Rationalizing
It is just a sound
OK

I can’t
The body won’t
180 degrees
Straight
Down

Haiku on Choice

One piece of paper.
  
Eagle, power, though one wing. 
Flip side, a full hawk.

Gemini

The sun is in the astrological sign of Gemini, the twins.  Ruling planet, Mercury, element, Air.

When I needed to write high school papers I never really quite knew how to go about it.  I had an editor in the house, so it made things convenient if and when I played my cards right.

A technique which I perfected through the years started with me yelling out my bedroom door, “How do you spell ‘such and such’?”  The reply coming from across the house, “Look it up!” would repeat for the first couple of spellings.  As I continued to call out for grammar help, if the pattern held up, I knew eventually she would have to dive into my paper.  She couldn’t contain herself.

She is Gemini.  Her craft, words.  Quickly arranging, expressing, thinking.

Like clockwork when she had had enough calling from room to room, the entire house would shake with her stomping across the kitchen floor toward my room, “Oh Gawd, let me look at that!” ripping the paper out of my hands, she went to town on it.  Either by doing an edit, or sometimes, if I was lucky she would rewrite the entire thing as in the case of Trout Fishing in America by Richard Brautigan.  That report was great….thanks Mom!

Walking the Bull

Today the blue sky jerked me out the door as if it had grabbed a ring in my nose, it pulled me up the hill in a hurry.  
The mustard had grown taller than me, a monarch butterfly led, the lizards scrambled as I crossed their loosely kept thresholds.
Slow
Breath
Realize
The beauty feeding this moment through these eyes into veins of soul. 
Absorbing
Feeling
Flowing
Trickling down these solid legs into the very ground where the mustard is rooted.
Seeded
Deep
Growth
Into flower which meets the sky
Which draws me up the hill

Taurus!

April 19, 8:56 p.m. (Pacific time)  through May 20, 7:59 p.m. the sun will be in the astrological sign of Taurus.  This earth sign is symbolized by the bull and ruled by the planet Venus.

Watch a bull:  Four feet.  Planted.  Firmly.  I see them watching, chewing, slow and methodical.  No rush no worry.

Glass Update

If you are looking for Glass:

Ventura area…….
The Ventura Museum is now carrying glass bead earrings, blown vessels, and solid core sculpture….and these little gifty numbers:

Ojai area….
Karin at Calais & Co has glass bead earrings.

All made with fire, sand……and Teal Rowe’s hands.

In the world?  Contact me for sales teal@tealrowe.com.

The reinforcement of your sales have been supporting the gift of my working in glass for MANY years now.  My appreciation is beyond measure.
Thank you,

Teal

Tale for an Aries

Happy Spring!

This year from March 20 through April 18 the sun is in the astrological sign of Aries. The symbol representing Aries is the ram, its element is fire, its ruling planet is Mars.

My brother and I grew up spending our summers with our parents in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.  Horse trailer loaded, we headed for the hills.  We’d stop on the way to buy staple foods and simple necessities like mole skin for our soon to be blistered feet, and fishing bait.  At the trail head with packs weighted by the well seasoned camp kitchen, grain, fishing poles, and bedding, off we’d go for weeks at a time into our new uncharted territory of the High Sierra.

John in the lead, leading Rama and Mom back there, leading Spot
A couple of days into the back country my brother would shift into high gear and just take off up the trail.  This was his habit.  His nature of heading out into the wild, alone.  After quite a jaunt, with the horses, the rest of us would show up at the intended destination, there John would be, looking bored, “What took you so long?”, “Slow pokes”, or some other biting remark.
Black Rock Pass 

Up the loose rocks and gravel of Black Rock Pass was one of our most torturous trips.  Tonight after Googling “Black Rock Pass switchbacks” the mention of the “grinding, grueling, endless trudge” brings the demanding trek to mind. Above the timberline, the hot sun reflecting off the rocky trail, I recall squinting up to see the switchbacks zigzagging into oblivion.  The family mood on that pass was heavy. The horses tripped more than occasionally from fatigue.  The blisters on my feet were making it hard to continue to walk.  Things were downright miserable.  I was wondering where my brother was, and my parents must have been a bit concerned too.

Just around one of the hairier twists of the trail I looked up to see John about the size of a pea, sitting on a rock way, way up at the top of Black Rock Pass.  It must have been a few miles up and he was there, alone for hours, waiting to greet us with his nonchalant, elbow on his knee, chin in hand, fingers tapping cheek, “Where have you been?”  I just wanted to kill him.

Can you guess that my brother has his sun Aries.  He is there first.  He knows how to climb a mountain.  See his blog jrowe2020.wordpress.com  He will butt heads in a big way when things aren’t going his way.  He goes for it without waiting for anyone. His inner machine runs on adrenaline.  And one of my brothers best trait is that if you are in the hospital he will rip the doctors a new one in order to get what he wants done, done….even if he IS in Saudi Arabia and the doctor in California.  AND, if you insert medical genius where Matt Damon speaks math genius, the movie “Good Will Hunting” and Matt Damon’s character sums it up nicely ….and so does this video:

John Rowe retrospective video

And so does THIS story.

Tale for a Pisces

Top of this St. Paddies Day to you!

This year from February 18 through March 19 the sun is in the astrological sign of Pisces.   The symbol representing Pisces is two fish swimming opposite directions, its element is water, its ruling planet is Neptune.

The following story, told to me by an Irish man about how his father used to fish the streams by hand in Ireland, reminds me so much of the many Pisces people in my life.

When fishing for trout by hand, one SLOWLY sneaks up to the water and puts a hand in, inch by inch approaching the fish from below and delicately tickling its underside, the fish becomes mesmerized.  The term for this technique is Guddling (see the link for a detailed story). The fish, merged with the water, does not suspect the human hand.  At the right time, the guddler grabs the gills and catches the fish.

From the nutshell of a story, to a general blanket statement, I notice how my own Pisces friends go with the flow.  The inner and outer is woven together for them through their dream world.  Many are artists, dipping their brushes and ceramic tools as they express that exact dream, whether it be a vision, feeling, or emotion.  They serve as healers and psychics and they don’t even realize it.   They seem easily influenced by those that they mingle with and they are sometimes misled, a bit like the fish in the description above.  I notice the work it takes to keep the focus on themselves rather than feeling a victim and blaming others.

Astrologically speaking, as we look at the “natal chart” of the exact time of birth, we see where the “signs” and “planets” are in the “houses” of the chart.  Through interpretation we can confirm the purpose we are living, and giving.   It can also show us areas in our lives that we may be not be completely aware of, thus leading us to guidance and a fresh vision.

Videos

I can’t seem to upload this first part onto blog, so Part 1 is linked to youtube:
And the rest are accessible here:
Ron & Emily Thiroux Threatt Interview Part 2
Nick Pacillio Video

                                            Ojai Style Bead Making

And for Ventura County Arts Council Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPEk5dizmzI