Life, Change, Death and Transformation

I’m sure I was half-cat. If you want to upset a cat, change something. Cats do not care to adjust, adapt, take change in their stride. They complain, sniff, stalk about, and, if truly indignant, poop on your pillow. So much for change.

Unfortunately for us cats, Life IS change. It’s animated, exuberant, dynamic, energetic, vigorous, moving, CHANGING.

Mr Al tried to teach me this, but back then I was certain that if only I could get it Right, change would stop. If I could get it right, that perfect homeostasis would be mine for ever. Perfection. Stasis. No more uncertainty.

I struggled to become perfect.

Not surprisingly, this did not happen. Instead, once he’d reached his prime, Mr Al’s lungs gave out and he died. Now there’s a Change for you!

I tried hard to “get it”. Life is Change, he had said. Growing up is change, moving is change, working is change, every aspect of living was change . . . and death — well, death was the biggest change of all!

But that would mean . . . that death was the biggest part of Life?


Change, not cessation. Was that a sort of — metamorphosis? Could death simply be a form of . . . transformation?

My Daddy — a gentle soul

I'll never forget you, Daddy.

My daddy had the gentlest soul. He made friends with the insects that invaded his garage.

“Bumble Boy” was a truly unintelligent bumble bee who kept flying into the garage whenever the door was open; my daddy would shoo him out, worrying that Bumble Boy would be trapped in the garage overnight.

“Arachne” was the spider who skillfully wove a beautiful web -- inside the garage, where she was likely to starve. I remember my daddy scuffing through the long grass at sunset to stir up the moths and other insects hiding there. He would catch them, carry them to the garage, and throw them, like sacrifices, into Arachne’s web.

One time, two of our housecats caught a bunny; my daddy rescued the bunny, drove far out into the countryside, and let the bunny go where he would not be worried by cats.

Surprisingly, my daddy was not much of a “pet” person. When my sister and I pleaded to be allowed to keep the orange kitty who arrived in a shoebox on our doorstep, he said no til it was pointed out it was late and the kitty would be left outside overnight. Not surprisingly, this kitty cleverly attached himself to my daddy and became “his” special kitty, walking up his body each morning to peek into his eyes to see if he was awake.

I cannot imagine ever forgetting these details about my daddy — but I am young, and memories get lost. I will journal about my recollections, hoping that while something is lost, much is gained just in remembering.

My daddy died

Dear all,
My daddy died on 09/18/07. I hurt.

Used LoriZ's hand-decorated papers in my tip-ins!

I had saved a whole weekend for making my tip-ins for the arttechniques swap. I had formed the basic plan each piece would take, and had figured out the paper-engineering well in advance. Now it was Time to Play!

For one piece I needed lots of interesting foliage. The green LoriZ papers were perfect for this. I pulled out my Sizzix and two different leaf dies and, wow!



I really liked how the leaves worked together!



For another piece I needed an outdoor view -- this LoriZ altered music sheet with a beautiful palm had just the feeling I was going for!



More about my tip-ins next post!