by Lucille Clifton
(at St. Mary’s)
may the tide that is entering even now the lip of our understanding carry you out beyond the face of fear may you kiss the wind then turn from it certain that it will love your back may you open your eyes to water water waving forever and may you in your innocence sail through this to that
More notes for the house sitter:
Eli will poop outside the litter pan at 6:45 every night. If you see him scratching the floor , put him in the litter.
Precious can open every door in the house. Lock all the doors at night.
Precious will remind you to fill every food dish in the morning by standing and meowing until you fill.
Litter pans; two in the master bath, two in the girls bath, one in the laundry room and one in the attic.
The litter pan in the attic has to have the smelly clay litter because Eli will only use clay.
Do not let Liam outside with Jules because he will bite his neck, even though Liam is a Jack Russel and Jules is a 90 lb greyhound.
Nikita can’t go out until he has his thyroid medicine.
Don’t leave Paula’s study open because Cho and Eli will pee in there.
Be sure to keep Obi, Tallullah and Maggie away from Ivy who they try to kill.
Eli only bites when he is over excited.
If the cats get into the dining room, be sure to hide the littlest Matrushka dolls, or the cats will eat them.
We left five bags of litter, two 40 pound dog food bags, wet cat food and 30 pounds of cat food in the laundry room closet.
Be sure to pick the poops in the dog pen on Wednesday before the garbage is picked up.
Cats: Obi – tiger, Maggie – double toed black, Talullah – double toed black, Precious – mostly white calico, Nikita – tiger with white & dot on nose, Eli – black and white, Bella – peach colored calico, Ivy – dark calico.
Dogs; Jules – big tiger brindle greyhound, Guinnie – dark chocolate greyhound, Cho – fawn Galgo Espanol & Liam – Jack russell
I am learning a lot. The lessons are coming in waves and tides. My autistic godson Jacob teaches me about humility, the limits of understanding, patience, love and observation. He also taught me about a new way to play, using an old familiar tool – the listening strategies of Pauline Oliveros. When he told/showed us that he did not want to be touched, I thought, “OK. What then?” And then Jacob, his mother and I began to dance and play with sound – following, leading, echoing, waiting, listening. I could feel new doors opening, new ways of connecting, even when one of my favorite ways was not (for the moment) available.
My grand baby daughter Laila Rose is teaching me about being. With Laila, there are vast canopies and expanses of just being, holding, softness and appreciating. Lots of quiet joy. Not a lot of doing. While she was here, we went in to see BMC teacher Sandy Jamrog, and learned about laid back nursing and new ways of touching to support balance.
My daughters are teaching me about what it means to love in a truly unconditional way, and about the limits inherent in mothering..
My ailing knee is teaching me about waiting. About the diligence of healing. About what I want. About slow dancing.
In June, I will be studying with Mark Rashid again – more learning, opening, changing.
Some lessons are ambushes, some are surprise packages, some are things I sent for. I like the differences and the challenges. I like learning!
Every now and again, I like to share something from my body of work. I like calling it that because the work is all grounded in the body: ours, the horse’s and hopefully yours. I hope that the videos give you at least a tingle of kinesthetic empathy and shiver that they give me, even after seeing them again and again.