Beautiful Fall

Today is one of those under appreciated fall days. The kind that everyone gives short shrift to. It was grey and dreary- not even a breeze to portend the rain & snow heading our way this afternoon. The leaves have turned russet after their gaudy fall display. Everyone seems to have retreated inside. I love the damp coolness...... Welcome winter!

Killer Dog

I chose to park in a slightly different place that morning, thus changing my walk into work routine ever so slightly. Some construction has filled up the small side street where my business is located so I was a little distracted by the internal cursing in my head. "Why don't they ever think about the businesses they are disrupting? Would it kill them to not park all three major pieces of heavy equipment right in front of my entrance? If all 4 city workers choose to eat lunch on my stoop again complete with folding chairs and coolers spread out I am going to have to say something."

I barely noticed the small tug at the end of the leash tethering my precious little pooch Henry, but I did notice the shark like snap and cloud of feathers around him. Crunch, crunch. He was rolling the still peeping body of a sparrow around in his mouth trying to get a little traction to swallow the mouthful of bird. I don't know what I was thinking but I wrestled the bird from his mouth and left it on the sidewalk. Did I really think it would make it after such a mauling?

I know it is the way of the world... not so much eat or be eaten, but eat AND be eaten. There is many an animal in the woods who would make a quick snack of Henry or even me. But to be present at the dispatching is a little troubling. Was it cruel? No, it was swift and sure. It was also all instinct on his part. Food presented itself and he partook. I ,too, am a meat eater and understand that it means one less sentient creature in order to stoke my body. It is just one of those thoughts that rolls around and around in my head, not making sense.

And then I had chicken for dinner.

I Need Some Of This

A couple of weeks ago I planned to meet my friend Annie for a girl's night in. I went to Manchester early to catch a show at the Currier Museum, then wasted an hour walking my dog around the old neighborhood before meeting Annie. I love the old homes and density of Manchester. I ended up at Wagner Park, which most people call Pretty Park. It is pretty- very formal and peaceful with an array of evergreens, paths and lovely iron benches.

My insides have been a swirl lately so Henry & I decided to finish up with a little meditation and sat on a bench. And right on the bench was this stone which reads "Peace is in You." It made me so happy. Someone left it there and I found it! And I could use a little of what it was espousing. I practically giggled.

I went to the other benches to see if there were more stones..... and there were! I picked up three more and put them in my pocket. Then I sat down to contemplate my bounty. "You are a pig for keeping this wealth all to yourself," I thought. I reluctantly placed the stones back on the benches where I found them, keeping only my red stone. "But you really like them and they mean something to you," I thought again. Sigh, how could I keep them and share the bounty? I went and picked up one more to give to my friend Annie and left the others for someone else.

I hope someone who needed to find those stones found theirs. I hope it was as meaningful to them as it was to me. Even if it wasn't meaningful, maybe it will bring them meaning some day.

Martha Graham

Henry performing a very Martha Graham-esque spin & swirl.

We went to see the Martha Graham Dance Company this past Thursday at the Dana Center at St Anselm College. It was a very educational experience. Normally that phrase has all sorts of negative connotations- as if you were being force fed information. In this instance education and dance worked well together.

The Artistic Director, Janet Eilber, spoke between each dance, which was also interspersed with historic films of Martha Graham herself dancing. Her first dance was in 1926. Graham was the originator of expressive modern dance, as we know it today. She used fabric and hair to accentuate the movements of the body and was not afraid of using awkward movements to convey an emotion. Graham was an American original and huge part of our cultural heritage. For these reasons it becomes important to "learn" about her. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

The dancers were good- performing historic pieces. Some of the dances felt dated- a little too melodramatic for modern sensibilities. Others felt fresh and as pertinent as any modern dance out there.

I suppose the biggest shocker for me was that Copland's Appalachian Spring was commissioned by Graham to create a wholly American dance. Having studied music as a young girl this tidbit of information was divorced from my performing it with a band. Graham also used Isamu Noguchi to design the sets for Appalachian Spring... and here I thought he was just a faboo furniture designer for Herman Miller and sometime sculptor.

Clearly I still have a lot to learn....