Falling
Today, we went out to the garden and picked every squash that looked ripe. I’d have liked to keep them on the vine another couple weeks to cure, along with the few remaining immature fruit that are growing there, but we’ve got snow in the forecast. Yes, I said it - SNOW.
And I’m excited for those first flakes, truly I am - but mostly I’m just feeling so glad to have limped my way to the end of another summer. August was miserably hot with day after day in high 90’s - and halfway through the month a massive wildfire started to the west of us in my most beloved stretch of forest. The flames are still a long ways off from the ranch where I learned to ride (and where Eric and I got married), but I fear that so much of the aspen forest in the valleys has been reduced to ash.
Apart from a few blessed days of cool at the beginning of September, this has meant the heat was paired with thick, smoky air (the kind that just settles, heavy, in your lungs) that kept us indoors. Basically just consider it the perfect recipe for a creative slump! I’ve had just enough energy and motivation to get myself into the studio to work, but not a lot else. My camera sat idle. When I tried to write, I found myself out of words.
But that promise of snow - of cool weather and a dampening of the fire - I’m putting my hope in that.
Working on pieces for autumn has been…sort of an interesting experience so far. Normally, I’m making things in anticipation of experiencing my favorite things about fall. But this year, so much is going to be different. It’s entirely possible that this major cold snap we’ve got coming is going to freeze leaves off of the trees and we won’t get much color here in town. Our favorite corn maze decided not to open this season and my parents aren’t hosting their annual Pie Party (aka, my favorite holiday of the year!) due to Covid related concerns. And the aspens - I said I was going to spend as much time as I could in the canyon this year, but the roads are closed because of the fire and who knows what will remain when they reopen?
So I guess I feel like everything has an air of wistfulness about it - and I get the sense that I won’t really be able to live my life by following the old seasonal markers I’ve made for myself. In the studio this has meant drawing on memories of the season instead of drawing on anticipation if that makes any sense. Looking back instead of looking forwards.
In a lot of ways, the thoughts and patterns running through my mind keep bringing me back to what it was like when we lived in California. When I was making from a place of what I’d lost. I keep realizing that I’m sitting with my head cocked a little to the side, thinking how interesting it is to suddenly find myself at a place that feels like a crossroads. Interesting indeed.
The newest collection will be up in the shop on September 26th, but here are a few snaps of the first finished jewels. More pictures (and stories!!) will be rolling out on Instagram just a little later this week.
