Marvin

our paths met about 4 years ago while i was working at a kiosk in MacArthur Center mall. he was part of the service staff that emptied out the trash cans there. he saw that i had a ladybug tattoo and has called me "ladybug" ever since. all these years he has never asked what my actual name is. a reason for that is because he can't read or write. he can remember sounds of words and he gives people nicknames from what visually inspires him at that moment.

he showed me a composition book he was filling up with rendered drawings he did of charlie brown cartoons. the book is for his young son as a gift. marvin will look at the small comic frames printed in the newspaper and then draw them larger. he's very proud of his ability to be a human "copy machine."

a few months ago he asked me to get him a "campus". i didn't understand at first what he was referring to until he described wanting to put a picture on it as a gift. so then i was thought, "OH! A CANVAS!"

He surprised me with a drawing of Garfield as a holiday gift and he had me fill in the talk bubble for him.

i saw he wrote "STAR WARS" on the above picture he rendered and i asked him how'd he know to put that on there since he can't read or write. his response was, "someone just shows me what to put and i copy it."

i asked him why he hasn't learned how to read or write and he said "some people know how to drive really well. some people know how to get jobs." I offered to teach him and he said, "thank you but everything is fine just the way it is. let's just be friends." and gives me a small bow and big smile.

his spirit is strong and i'm grateful for the lessons i'm learning from our friendship.

one early morning...

why fret when you can create music?

new moon yantra

i volunteered to make the yantra for a new moon celebration. it represents kali ma.

"The Goddess Kali Ma is the supreme feminine manifestation of compassion as she frees us from the prison of our own ego." - http://www.goddess-kali-ma.com/

"The Yantra is a geometric symbol existing in the external world as well as a subject to be internalized within human consciousness. Kali is the Hindu Goddess of time, of change. She is the power of action, of the breath and of transformation (kriya-shakti). Kali's essence is Divine Love. Through time, breath and Divine Love all things are accomplished. If we surrender to Her essence, She creates the energy and all is possible. The Kali Yantra, then, contains within it the transformative energy of change." - http://www.towardstillness.com/kali.htm






acrylic on cardboard

earthsong

"The spiritual journey does not consist in arriving at a new destination where a person gains what he did not have, or becomes what he is not. It consists in the dissipation of one's own ignorance concerning one's self and life, and the gradual growth of that understanding which begins the spiritual awakening. The finding of God is a coming to one's self." - Aldous Huxley


me, elle and nay went to Earthsong in Stuart, VA. i can't even begin to tell the story of our adventures there. maybe it'll transpire in a graphic novel. a story about three unsuspecting women traveling to the mountains that discover their super powers under the new moon to help humankind. hmmmmmm. maybe. so for now, i'll tell the story through the images i took while we were there.


here is a list of things i experienced during our stay:

- ate some yellow wood sorrel. "nature's candy" - cameron
- learned about tulsi basil, heal-all and lambsquarters
- i heart air potatoes.
- we harvested sweet potatoes.
- seeing sooooo many stars under the new moon sky while being absorbed in the quietness of mama nature.
- gathered black walnuts


- meditated in the dharma hall
- met sasafras trees and sour wood
- white pine needles have medicinal properties
- i discovered the "alien plant" in my back yard is a pokeberry which is toxic and invasive
- i learned the term "invasive"


- shared stories and culture with cameron, emily and summer
- taught summer how to play the kubing and appointed her the kubing teacher
- played the djembe drum and rocked out
- helped build fires to keep us warm
- met the crystal singing bowl


- drank lots of yummy hot teas
- bid the sun farewell at sunset and said "thank you for your presence."



many thanks to cameron, emily, summer and uni for a our first memorable experience at earthsong.

for more images at Earthsong in my facebook album
CLICK ===> HERE <===

Also, for more info about about Earthsong go to www.earthsongretreat.org

an e-mail to mom

dear mom,

you're insight on taking care of plants inspired me to take action when i came back from the philippines. i don't consider myself having a "green thumb" but like you said, there's no such thing as one. you said, "taking care of plants is like taking care of a baby. you can't expect a baby to grow up on it's own if you just sit it there. you have to give plants their basic needs of food, water and sunlight."

i re-potted all the plants in the house and even bought a few more we saw at the store that needed a good home. i even bought a plant stand exactly like the one you used to have in the bay window of the kitchen. you know, they don't make those anymore. i purchased it from someone who was selling theirs on the internet.

it's been an exciting experience watching all the plants grow new stems and leaves. i talk to them too. i like to encourage the new buds to grow and i welcome them to the world. i've noticed all the original plants are growing so much faster, especially with the new soil. i can't believe we were starving them all this time.

i've attached a photo of my indoor garden. i know you'll be proud. i am my mother's daughter :) i love you and miss you lots.

-neleh