December 3, 2019. Our rosemary has not looked all that well since the freezes a year ago, and cutting it back was on my list after our first 2019 freeze. Well, good thing I’m slow getting to that list!
This reminds me so much of my friend, Margaret Fabrizio, both the words and the rosemary. I visited her at her San Francisco home in October 2011. Margaret is approaching ninety, but she refuses to let the years slow her down. She’s an accomplished artist who is also a classically trained harpsichordist.
In her fifties, she purchased land in the mountains above the Russian River, declaring it The Cazadero Nature and Art Conservancy. She affectionately refers to it as The Land. It’s a mix of meadow, redwood, oak, and douglas fir. It has simple, small buildings, and it has art installations in the meadow and along groomed trails throughout the forest. I remember an herb garden that had a dense bed of head-high rosemary. I remember walking across a bedd of dry leaves beneath a bay tree. She told me, “We’ll spend two nights there, because you have to wake up on The Land to truly appreciate it.” It was like sleeping outdoors, but sheltered. I consider that visit to be one of the key moments in my life.
Margaret’s efforts these days are focused on quilting, primarily Siddi quilts, or Kawandi. She traveled to India specifically to learn the technique, and she has become quite accomplished. She recently attended the Verona Textile Festival, uninvited, and displayed her quilts just outside of one of the venues. She was quickly accepted by her peers and became a darling of the festival. http://margaretfabrizio.com/
If you visit her website, click the YouTube link on her video page. Her videos give a small hint of the vitality she has. She’s an amazing person.
Oh my,Ken! I’ve been enjoying Margaret for over 30 minutes … and there’s more to watch on youtube! She is magnetic, to say the least! I love her conversational tones so full of emphasis. I’m flattered my poem reminded you of her. And grateful for “meeting” her via videos. Thank you.
Plants show us so much just when we least expect them to.
I really like your second stanza, especially the lines
“each a tiny cue to possibility
each a confirming metaphor”
And also the last two lines of the poem…sort of how I am feeling today.
Good reminder: my rosemary could use some pruning as well. Love the beautiful reminder in this darkest time of the year for us that this season of decline is a season which will be followed by the next…
Thank you! We’re coming up on the new moon right after the “longest night” … LOTS of opportunity to tune inward … rosemary blooms through this “deprivation of light” and shows me that I can too … that it’s more opportunity (to go inward) than deprivation.
Ah yes, the urge to bloom!
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Thank you! (I came right in and let the poem bloom …)
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Nice!
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Thank you!
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This reminds me so much of my friend, Margaret Fabrizio, both the words and the rosemary. I visited her at her San Francisco home in October 2011. Margaret is approaching ninety, but she refuses to let the years slow her down. She’s an accomplished artist who is also a classically trained harpsichordist.
In her fifties, she purchased land in the mountains above the Russian River, declaring it The Cazadero Nature and Art Conservancy. She affectionately refers to it as The Land. It’s a mix of meadow, redwood, oak, and douglas fir. It has simple, small buildings, and it has art installations in the meadow and along groomed trails throughout the forest. I remember an herb garden that had a dense bed of head-high rosemary. I remember walking across a bedd of dry leaves beneath a bay tree. She told me, “We’ll spend two nights there, because you have to wake up on The Land to truly appreciate it.” It was like sleeping outdoors, but sheltered. I consider that visit to be one of the key moments in my life.
Margaret’s efforts these days are focused on quilting, primarily Siddi quilts, or Kawandi. She traveled to India specifically to learn the technique, and she has become quite accomplished. She recently attended the Verona Textile Festival, uninvited, and displayed her quilts just outside of one of the venues. She was quickly accepted by her peers and became a darling of the festival.
http://margaretfabrizio.com/
If you visit her website, click the YouTube link on her video page. Her videos give a small hint of the vitality she has. She’s an amazing person.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh my,Ken! I’ve been enjoying Margaret for over 30 minutes … and there’s more to watch on youtube! She is magnetic, to say the least! I love her conversational tones so full of emphasis. I’m flattered my poem reminded you of her. And grateful for “meeting” her via videos. Thank you.
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She’s a treasure.
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Plants show us so much just when we least expect them to.
I really like your second stanza, especially the lines
“each a tiny cue to possibility
each a confirming metaphor”
And also the last two lines of the poem…sort of how I am feeling today.
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Betty, thank you – I learn so much more looking at plants than staring in the mirror (or at my belly button!)
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Changes yield contrasts. – They are a gift making visible what would otherwise go unnoticed. May you always have the urge to bloom.
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Thank you, Ali. Yes, Nature’s way of highlighting!
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Good reminder: my rosemary could use some pruning as well. Love the beautiful reminder in this darkest time of the year for us that this season of decline is a season which will be followed by the next…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! We’re coming up on the new moon right after the “longest night” … LOTS of opportunity to tune inward … rosemary blooms through this “deprivation of light” and shows me that I can too … that it’s more opportunity (to go inward) than deprivation.
LikeLike