I keep forgetting to speak...I read and enjoy...but...I have a book for you....from the Canadian side where spring is just a bit later! Patrick Lane There is a Season "Lane writes evocative descriptions of the animals, birds, insects, and plants that are his garden, and of the relationship he has to them all. Accompany Lane as he wanders his garden, where botanical “madeleines” release in him a flood of memory."
I love the Philip Larkin poem! Spring Cannot be Cancelled has been my morning ‘wake up and reading something calming and uplifting’ book for a few years, always on the bedside table. We are heading into autumn here in Australia, a beautiful season but I will still be looking forward to spring.
This book is so delightful—thank you for the recommendation. I first checked it out of the library where, when asking the librarian how to find it, elicited her own delight in the title. I loved the book and Hockney’s exquisite paintings so much that I had to procure a copy for myself. I lucked into a pristine used copy at Powells for a mere $14.95. Indeed, Spring cannot be cancelled!
Speaking of Spring...can anyone recommend a how to book on Nature Writing? I think I will finish up with Life With Picasso (quickly , lol)and reread Spring cannot be Cancelled.
I'm in the PNW and spring is IT for me. The apple and cherry blossoms, the tulips. Every year I wait to see if my roses will bloom (orange/pink). I am grateful that I'm here to see them. The University of Washington has a live cherry blossom cam on YT. Still early .....
As I read this post, a 'discovery" that I made a couple years ago kept coming to mind. I spent 2021 keeping phenology circles to track the weather, moon cycle, sunrise and sunset times, as well as the changes in nature that I noticed in my backyard and neighborhood. One of the things that I noticed was that when trees are ready to leaf out, the trees that don't make some kind of fruit, flower first and then leave appear. Trees that flower and become fruit, leaf out and then flower. I imagine this is a form of protection of the fruit. The leaves create a protective shield of sorts. Slowly, our Maple tree is flowering and the squirrels and birds enjoy the treat, chilly winds rip the flowers off and next to it, the apple tree sits waiting for the weather to warm more.
I have spent the last month struggling to get going on my plans for the year, but after expressing that to several people, realized that almost everyone has been feeling that way lately. And I've noticed that strongly the last couple of years too that I have a period of feeling like it's time to get going, but I can't. . . yet. . . and there is a month or two of waiting and being slow. Obviously, it's that UNLOCKING season you talk about in your Almanac Zine! I've noticed in my following of the seasons (this is really my spiritual path as a Sister of the Moon), and informed by the celtic wheel of the year, that there is a very pronounced period of "spring announces it is coming" and hope and energy and inspiration are renewed, but it has not arrived yet, and we are not yet resourced (physically and mentally) to bring our visions into active manifestation.
Using Spring instead of calendar dates (like your chart that replaces seconds with heartbeats): such a fine idea for a year that feels splattered with false starts. Neil Fiore (The Now Habit), a favorite, says, "Keep starting and ending will take care of itself." So "what to start today?" reminds me of a favorite Christopher Robin line (Sneezles): "Now what to amuse them today?"
At certain times of the year, I feel like time is both— linear and circular! And that is what has sparked my fascination with the ancient idea of 72 microseasons —each lasting just 5 days. Five days seems like a linear, human-sized, tangible amount of time. Yet the small linear segments are part of a larger Circle of an entire year, which is, in turn, part of a larger Spiral made of many years.
The poem I always keep coming back to is “Answers to Letters” by Tomas Tranströmer. The image of himself, rushing along spiraling corridors, and sometimes pressing his ear to the wall to hear himself rushing by on the other side is exactly how time feels for me…
"Sometimes an abyss opens between Tuesday and Wednesday but twenty-six years may be passed in a moment. Time is not a straight line, it's more of a labyrinth, and if you press close to the wall at the right place you can hear the hurrying steps and the voices, you can hear yourself walking past there on the other side." https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/answers-letters
Great visuals-- I like how you showed the steps within the straight line. And I’m glad the idea of micro and macro perspectives on time sparks your imagination! I’m always happy to see where your curious mind goes-- 10Things brings me weekly joy.
Oh yes-- it’s a beautiful book. I appreciate her Beginner’s Mind point of view.
She writes “ It didn’t matter if I only roughly understood the woods that I was about to enter, for I always discovered along the way some thing I hadn’t known when I started.” So encouraging to anybody who can let their own natural curiosity lead them their learning. Sort of mirrors the philosophy of unschooling and delight-led learning-- for adults as well as children.
What a beautiful collage! I love the colours and patterns in this. Please direct us to the post where you show us how to make these, pretty please! :-) I'm sure there has been one but I can't find it.
All these spring references that I feel an urge to get my hands on, need more reading time. I did enjoy the Hockney references and the poems. Does it feel that spring has sprung all of a sudden, or is it me?
I really feel your excitement for the arrival of spring - longer days, warmer temperatures, and the bursts of color as flowers begin to bloom. We tend to have rather gloomy and rainy springs up here in the PNW, so every sunny day is an absolute delight. This past winter (I can say that now, can't I?) seemed especially grim. Thank you for another lovely newsletter!
I have such ambivalence to spring. Cherry blossoms! Daffodils! Just right warm days with more sun. But ALLERGIES. Watery eyes! Stuffed up nose! Raging headaches! I swear they get worse every year. I do have gargantuan strength pharmaceuticals that help over time but I swear nature is trying to kill me at times. 😫
Another great post Austin. The bit about long-day plants and short-day plants was especially fascinating to me. Spring is my favorite season and I always start to feel more inspired when there is more daylight, the trees start getting new perfect leaves, and flowers start blooming. This understanding of how different plants need different amounts of dark gives me a new appreciation of the dark periods. I'm also excited about a new class in surface design I just started -- more excited than I've been about a direction for my art in quite a long time. Maybe my personal dark times are starting to pay off! Here is a four-leaf repeating pattern I created over the weekend. Since I was very young, I've always looked for and found four-leaf clovers. It seems March is the best month to find them in north Georgia before mowing starts in earnest and the heat starts to stunt their growth. Just another reason to love spring! https://vanessa-lowry.pixels.com/featured/whole-lotta-luck-vanessa-lowry.html
I have a similar photo of Donald Hall looking sideways at me from the cover of Poets & Writers. He shames me into keeping on when I'm feeling whiny about work. :)
I keep forgetting to speak...I read and enjoy...but...I have a book for you....from the Canadian side where spring is just a bit later! Patrick Lane There is a Season "Lane writes evocative descriptions of the animals, birds, insects, and plants that are his garden, and of the relationship he has to them all. Accompany Lane as he wanders his garden, where botanical “madeleines” release in him a flood of memory."
I love the Philip Larkin poem! Spring Cannot be Cancelled has been my morning ‘wake up and reading something calming and uplifting’ book for a few years, always on the bedside table. We are heading into autumn here in Australia, a beautiful season but I will still be looking forward to spring.
This book is so delightful—thank you for the recommendation. I first checked it out of the library where, when asking the librarian how to find it, elicited her own delight in the title. I loved the book and Hockney’s exquisite paintings so much that I had to procure a copy for myself. I lucked into a pristine used copy at Powells for a mere $14.95. Indeed, Spring cannot be cancelled!
Just got around to reading last week's Tuesday newsletter and it's a gem. Thank you. More light!
Speaking of Spring...can anyone recommend a how to book on Nature Writing? I think I will finish up with Life With Picasso (quickly , lol)and reread Spring cannot be Cancelled.
I'm in the PNW and spring is IT for me. The apple and cherry blossoms, the tulips. Every year I wait to see if my roses will bloom (orange/pink). I am grateful that I'm here to see them. The University of Washington has a live cherry blossom cam on YT. Still early .....
As I read this post, a 'discovery" that I made a couple years ago kept coming to mind. I spent 2021 keeping phenology circles to track the weather, moon cycle, sunrise and sunset times, as well as the changes in nature that I noticed in my backyard and neighborhood. One of the things that I noticed was that when trees are ready to leaf out, the trees that don't make some kind of fruit, flower first and then leave appear. Trees that flower and become fruit, leaf out and then flower. I imagine this is a form of protection of the fruit. The leaves create a protective shield of sorts. Slowly, our Maple tree is flowering and the squirrels and birds enjoy the treat, chilly winds rip the flowers off and next to it, the apple tree sits waiting for the weather to warm more.
Lovely
I have spent the last month struggling to get going on my plans for the year, but after expressing that to several people, realized that almost everyone has been feeling that way lately. And I've noticed that strongly the last couple of years too that I have a period of feeling like it's time to get going, but I can't. . . yet. . . and there is a month or two of waiting and being slow. Obviously, it's that UNLOCKING season you talk about in your Almanac Zine! I've noticed in my following of the seasons (this is really my spiritual path as a Sister of the Moon), and informed by the celtic wheel of the year, that there is a very pronounced period of "spring announces it is coming" and hope and energy and inspiration are renewed, but it has not arrived yet, and we are not yet resourced (physically and mentally) to bring our visions into active manifestation.
yesss! the unlocking!!
Using Spring instead of calendar dates (like your chart that replaces seconds with heartbeats): such a fine idea for a year that feels splattered with false starts. Neil Fiore (The Now Habit), a favorite, says, "Keep starting and ending will take care of itself." So "what to start today?" reminds me of a favorite Christopher Robin line (Sneezles): "Now what to amuse them today?"
“"Keep starting and ending will take care of itself.”
I like that!
Just came across this one, too:
“Now begin in the middle, and later learn the beginning; the end will take care of itself.”
—Harlan Ellison
Or Eliot, Liittle Gidding:
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
At certain times of the year, I feel like time is both— linear and circular! And that is what has sparked my fascination with the ancient idea of 72 microseasons —each lasting just 5 days. Five days seems like a linear, human-sized, tangible amount of time. Yet the small linear segments are part of a larger Circle of an entire year, which is, in turn, part of a larger Spiral made of many years.
The poem I always keep coming back to is “Answers to Letters” by Tomas Tranströmer. The image of himself, rushing along spiraling corridors, and sometimes pressing his ear to the wall to hear himself rushing by on the other side is exactly how time feels for me…
"Sometimes an abyss opens between Tuesday and Wednesday but twenty-six years may be passed in a moment. Time is not a straight line, it's more of a labyrinth, and if you press close to the wall at the right place you can hear the hurrying steps and the voices, you can hear yourself walking past there on the other side." https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/answers-letters
Okay you inspired a whole blog post!! https://austinkleon.com/2023/03/23/circular-time-linear-time-and-microseasons/
Great visuals-- I like how you showed the steps within the straight line. And I’m glad the idea of micro and macro perspectives on time sparks your imagination! I’m always happy to see where your curious mind goes-- 10Things brings me weekly joy.
This is a great geometry lesson! If you zoom in on a circle, eventually it looks like a straight line...
And thank you for reminding me of Tomas Tranströmer — I have one of his books around here and need to read more.
A bot I follow on twitter for the micro seasons: https://twitter.com/smallseasonsbot
Connie, sorry I was thinking of Liza Dalby’s book: East Wind Melts the Ice
A gorgeous read. I haven’t read Lev Parisian yet-- it’s definitely on my list.
Oh yes-- it’s a beautiful book. I appreciate her Beginner’s Mind point of view.
She writes “ It didn’t matter if I only roughly understood the woods that I was about to enter, for I always discovered along the way some thing I hadn’t known when I started.” So encouraging to anybody who can let their own natural curiosity lead them their learning. Sort of mirrors the philosophy of unschooling and delight-led learning-- for adults as well as children.
What a beautiful collage! I love the colours and patterns in this. Please direct us to the post where you show us how to make these, pretty please! :-) I'm sure there has been one but I can't find it.
All these spring references that I feel an urge to get my hands on, need more reading time. I did enjoy the Hockney references and the poems. Does it feel that spring has sprung all of a sudden, or is it me?
I really feel your excitement for the arrival of spring - longer days, warmer temperatures, and the bursts of color as flowers begin to bloom. We tend to have rather gloomy and rainy springs up here in the PNW, so every sunny day is an absolute delight. This past winter (I can say that now, can't I?) seemed especially grim. Thank you for another lovely newsletter!
We’re having a PNW day here! https://twitter.com/austinkleon/status/1638168756726960130?s=46&t=reB2a2-L-k6a3ZsWuF6_ZQ
I have such ambivalence to spring. Cherry blossoms! Daffodils! Just right warm days with more sun. But ALLERGIES. Watery eyes! Stuffed up nose! Raging headaches! I swear they get worse every year. I do have gargantuan strength pharmaceuticals that help over time but I swear nature is trying to kill me at times. 😫
It’s like Sophocles said: “Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without a curse.”
Another great post Austin. The bit about long-day plants and short-day plants was especially fascinating to me. Spring is my favorite season and I always start to feel more inspired when there is more daylight, the trees start getting new perfect leaves, and flowers start blooming. This understanding of how different plants need different amounts of dark gives me a new appreciation of the dark periods. I'm also excited about a new class in surface design I just started -- more excited than I've been about a direction for my art in quite a long time. Maybe my personal dark times are starting to pay off! Here is a four-leaf repeating pattern I created over the weekend. Since I was very young, I've always looked for and found four-leaf clovers. It seems March is the best month to find them in north Georgia before mowing starts in earnest and the heat starts to stunt their growth. Just another reason to love spring! https://vanessa-lowry.pixels.com/featured/whole-lotta-luck-vanessa-lowry.html
“ Maybe my personal dark times are starting to pay off!” This would be a great cartoon caption 😂
You are welcome to use it!
I have a similar photo of Donald Hall looking sideways at me from the cover of Poets & Writers. He shames me into keeping on when I'm feeling whiny about work. :)
Love him!
https://www.pw.org/content/novemberdecember_2014