On the Air

Every Friday morning from 8-10 am, my friend Maddy and I control the airwaves of WRBC, the Bates College radio station.  We've had a two-week break due to exams and vacation, but this Friday, we're back.  I'd love it if you'd tune in!  It's a thrill to know that friends and family are listening.

www.wrbcradio.com/listen

Love, Eliza

Honestly

There's a new theme in the media: Survival Strategies.
(see: nytimes.com/survivalstrategies)
Newspapers and magazines are filled with chipper articles on "how to make do with less, how to get through these hard economic times, what to do when your retirement fund has disappeared." I could go on, "the joys of camping when you have lost your house, dinner by candlelight when the power has been shut off, biking for fun, recreation and transportation..."

I actually like finding ways to beat the system, so I have to admit that I am drawn to these articles.
What is a clothesline but a way to be off the grid?

Shopping at Whole Foods yesterday I noticed there was a sale on iced tea. Old habits draw me to the small glass bottles of tea which are displayed in such a way that I could not walk by without seeing them (Honest Tea: 5 for 5 dollars!) The clever marketing strategy promises serenity, centeredness, balance, and nirvana. In a trance state, I place them in my cart.

Waking this morning, I went to my computer and read "Survival Strategies" at the NYT online. A reader wrote in about the joys and cost savings of brewing your own iced tea. Of course!! It almost seems TOO easy!

This afternoon as the sun blazed down, I placed a glass pitcher full of water and two tea bags on my back porch. Two hours later I wandered out to find a pitcher of golden tea! Add ice cubes, a squeeze of lemon and some sugar or honey and there is a refreshing drink.

It is not just money that is saved. A lot of energy went into getting those little bottles to the store and energy will be used to recycle them should the buyer choose to do that. Trucks barreled down many a highway so I could have my single serving of Honest Tea.

I will miss the serenity, though, now that I will be making my iced tea at home. But I'll save the bottle cap with it's thoughtful directive. Maybe I CAN relax now that I don't have to get in my car to get a cool drink! Cheers!

Earth Day 2009

In sixth grade, I was told to come up with a four syllable word as part of a homework assignment. That evening,
I wandered into the living room at 160 Oak Ridge Avenue where my parents were having their nightly before dinner drink and conversation. Anxious to get this assignment over with, I asked Dad for a suggestion. He didn't hesitate.

"CONSERVATION" was his answer. He went on to define it and I decided it was a word worth knowing.

Conservation |ˌkänsərˈvā sh ən|
noun
the action of conserving something, in particular
• preservation, protection, or restoration of the natural environment, natural ecosystems, vegetation, and wildlife.
• prevention of excessive or wasteful use of a resource.

On this Earth Day, may you ponder this word and think what it means to you.
Conserving land from development, preventing deforestation, leaving coal and natural resources in the ground and exploring alternative forms of "clean" energy, conserving fuel, conserving electricity, the list goes on.

Earth Day was started in the 1970's when caring for the earth was kind of a hippie movement. Environmentalists were considered "tree huggers". Caring for the Earth has taken on a new level of urgency and complexity now, with global warning acknowledged as a serious threat to life as we know it.

As for today, celebrate this amazing blue planet we live on. Take a walk and notice the spender that is our home.

Begin it

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.
-Goethe

Hi All,
Tuesday evenings are my night out in Harvard Square. I am taking a class at The Cambridge Center for Adult Education with the same teacher I studied with twenty years ago. He is still experimenting with how art and writing go together and so am I. I'm beginning to think about how to teach this to adults and elders and kids as well. So I signed up to see what he has to offer as a teacher and honestly to see how people respond to the process.

I've started teaching writing to adults and it has gone really well. But art is more risky, people are more intimidated or so I thought. Now I see the teaching points for writing practice apply to art as well. It's really about leaving the inner critic at the door and forging ahead. Turn off the controlling mind and listen to your heart and the source of all creativity, whatever that is. It's all about being in the present moment.

Meanwhile, I am having a blast. Taking a class carves out time to work. Sacred time to do the thing I love. Like a yoga class, or writing class, there are no interruptions, just focused activity in the presence of others doing the same thing. Surprisingly I am finding that writing and image making are communal acts. The energy of others doing it around me helps my mind to focus.

The graphic above is the result of this week's assignment.

feisty tripod

Just another nice picture and a glimpse into that nice fall day with the tripod, agile as ever...

wonder dog

Today is Niki's birthday. 1994-2007
Loyal companion, intrepid adventurer, even on three legs.
We miss you, Niki. Thanks for being our guardian for 13 years.

Easter

Like a rabbit, Easter jumps all over the place. Sometimes it crops up in the early, dark days of March with its lion weather of wind and a sudden snow storm. Some years it arrives in the glory days of April, even occasionally falling on my birthday (April 23). Easter has been around a lot longer than Christianity. Easter was originally a pagan holiday. A rite of spring.

Easter falls on the first Sunday after the vernal equinox and the full moon. (Did you enjoy the amazing moon this week?) This is the start of spring when day and night are equal in length.

In England, before Christianity, the coming of spring was celebrated with a feast honoring the goddess Eostre. Early Christians simply adopted this festival with hopes that people would make the shift. The resurrection of Jesus tells the story of life after death. Nature tells the same story! What an amazing thing for early people to see the world come alive after the short days, long nights, empty root cellars and food shortages. All living things appear to die in winter. Animals hibernate, leaves are off the trees, the world is frozen. Then slowly buds open, birds return, the world is alive with activity, the days grow longer, gardens are planted, the first peas poke out of the ground. What better reason is there to celebrate?

Easter and its pagan roots represent hope and new possibility, growth and new life. In that spirit, I wish you all a Happy Easter!

another look

peaceful

"Why this photo?" you might ask. It is not a clothesline, it is not a family member, it is not making a statement, it just is.

It is the front porch of a New Hampshire country store on a river in a mill town. Granite step, brick wall, wooden door, bench. If only those walls could talk.

august ruston lizotte

My sister Ruth sent me this photo of her Grand Kid, Auggie.
It's too good to leave flagged in my inbox, I had to share this!
We all need a reason to smile and since we have to wait a week
for Eliza's next radio show, this can tide us over.

For more on the radio show, see my posting dated january 30; Radio Dreams

take a minute to breathe deeply

Where ever you go
May that place
be more beautiful
because you have been there.

With your mind
your body and
your spirit.


Hi All,
At the end of each of my writing classes, I
read a short passage aloud to the group.
Above is the one I used this week.

I learned it from my first yoga teacher,
Ruth Williams 27 years ago.
She recited these words at the end of each class
during shavasana (शवआसन),
which is sanskrit for "corpse pose."
You get the idea.

I found the reading so inspiring, that one day
I brought a pencil and paper to class and lay them
near my mat. During shavasna, I rolled off my mat,
grabbed the paper and pencil and scribbled away as quietly
as I could, not at all corpse like, but
I got the words verbatim! Years later, I still love the simple directive.

How do I know it was precisely 27 years ago that I started my
yoga practice? I remember asking the instructor,
Ruth, if yoga was a good way to get in shape after having a baby.
YES! she answered emphatically. Was she ever right.
I have been kept in some form of physical and mental and emotional
shape by yoga ever since. I have been blessed with talented
teachers: Ruth, Page, Maggie and now Erin Jade over the years.
And Carrie, born 27 years ago, is an avid yoga student herself!

Back to the reading:
I have tried to live by these words.
Like so many things, sometimes the simplest ideas
can be the hardest to do!
We can always try.

Namaste

April

TAXES, SNOWDROPS, NIKI'S BIRTHDAY, MY BIRTHDAY, CHERRY BLOSSOMS IN DC, MUD, FORSYTHIA, GRASS, MY BIRTHDAY, RAIN, UMBRELLAS, WET DOG, PURPLE CROCUS, FRESH ASPARAGUS, EASTER STUFF IN THE STORES, CHOCOLATE, THESIS, ROBIN, GOLDFINCH, CHICKADEE AT THE FEEDER, BUDS ON TREES, FINGER NAIL MOON, ICE ON THE WINDSHIELD, TAXES, MY BIRTHDAY, NIKI'S BIRTHDAY, RAINY NIGHT, SALAMANDERS.