On Monday …
Arrived in Rio on time if not a little earlier than hoped to a joyous welcome. Although was the weather was unexpectedly cold; all is well and happy!
It is good to see the ‘children’ almost fully recovered from the accident and no longer on crutches. However ; for my son-in-law the long recovery, loss of earnings and 18 months unable to work has been difficult and psychologically crushing. So while he has kept busy, even published a book of short stories and as we say in England ‘kept up appearances ’
They have received compensation for the accident, that met some of the costs incurred and and some loss of income sadly, the damage done over and above will perhaps never be addressed. So he is left wondering how he can return to work and his profession (or any job) that had barely started as a recently recently graduated Social Worker, enter into the social and local economy that is vital to any man or woman without having to count the pennies or begging/asking for help.
I don’t pretend our visit will end or their troubles in some respects it might make make the situation worse. Although we are family, and our contribution to their well being is totally unconditioned, we still live in a culture where the man is seen to be strong and the provider.
So while I didn’t for this to be a supplication; it has become a wish that we look at the homeless people on the streets and there are more and more each day and wonder what caused their misfortune ; and why asking for help is considered unworthy and a sign of weakness … and worse begging!
So back to my stay in Rio and with the street theme .. I note that the street art in Babilonia has grown. For a while we had some ‘cleansed’ and corporate images to celebrate the Olympics; these have now faded or been ‘replaced’ …
Silent Sunday …
Here we go …
Today I go to Brazil; I have looked forward to this day since August last year when we returned home from our previous visit. Although we do not need to find our living costs we have to save each week find money to pay for flights which have risen over the last years. Nonetheless we found the money we are making another trip. I am so excited and have been counting the hours as we have got nearer to actually booking the taxi and our departure from Heathrow! So while all the bags are filled, I will find space for my tea in the hand luggage … I simply loath the tea that is served on the plane so I take a little selection of teas that I know will just need a cup of hot water,these will make the next 12 hours or so, bearable.
A snapshot from the Bodleian ….
Today, as if you didn’t know is my last day at work in the library before I go on holiday. It marks the end of a wonderful year. Lots of achievements and milestones reached both sides of the Atlantic that have outweighed any misadventure that might have occurred … and they did!
The last few hours are only to be painfully slow!
One of the highlights this week was a visit to the Bodleian Library in Oxford. This will be documented fully when I return from Brazil.
It was a staff outing for a select bunch from the museum and special collections teams; so we could share some experiences and items not seen by the general public. For me this embroidered bible; (its age and provenance I cannot remember at the moment) was a joy and a nice snapshot!
Alphabe Thursday … G is for Glorias or gratitude
In my Dictionario Brasileiro de literatura de cordel the poem; G is for Glorias or gratitude
Glórias damos toda dia
A estás coisas divinas
Que deus envia aos poetas
Como as águas cristalinas
Que jorram com abundância
Das inesgotáveis minas
The poet suggests that when we are offer grateful prayers to the heaven, the god returns these glories like a constant fountain of crystal clear waters.
A comforting thought when we forget to acknowledge our inner strength, that we call upon daily whether or not we believe it comes from something outside or not!
I am the woman!
Today … 3 days before I go to Brazil, in any woman’s life is destined to be a wonderful trip. For me it is a culmination of a year’s planning with the all angst and delight of a mother separated from her child.
My blog grown from that abyss of emptiness felt in those days 4 years ago, holds no delight.
Today, I can think not to much of those Wednesday’s women wood engravers in this melange of mother-ness that I have tenderly smothered for the last two year … bit melodramatic? perhaps …
So I continue to celebrate the advent of my holiday with a memory from last year when my daughter and I attended our first taste of wood cutting in Rio … she has carried on to learn, I returned to my lino, wood engraving and my methods; but am looking forward to trying Brazilian ways again …. and even sharing mine developed over the last year!
Weekly Photo Challenge … My Muse
For me it is more who is my muse rather than what ? Although the answer is connected. I have written much about my dad; who was a craftsman of integrity and diligence and how he encouraged me as a little girl to draw and be creative. Sadly, when I was twelve years old, he left me and my siblings with our mother. I cannot remember how I coped with the separation .. but can still feel the grief.
As an adult I can understand why he left (it was complicated) however, no matter how I try the little girl cannot forgive him for leaving us in a vulnerable and unstable situation without the aforementioned diligence and integrity he showed in other areas of his being.
He is dead now; and the little girl still yearns to make things better and bring him home … even if it is to say ‘ Look, Dad this is what I made and it is for you!’
So for the most part I call upon the strength of that 12 year old, she too a powerful muse, who just got on with life without a dad and successfully; but then when I need a creative push I wonder what he would say
‘Just draw … anything … that cup … Nipper’
This is not a cup … but the result of one of those ‘conversations’ …
The weekend was good!
It has been a good weekend with London, shopping , lunch, Pride and the escaping off! (when the crowds got a bit too much!)
Then, there was back to back Glastonbury and the Dalai Lama.It was lovely and only a few days before I go to Brazil.
It couldn’t have been better, I have waited for these days, careful not to make the trip to visit my daughter, the one and only and the prime motivation of my ‘other’ life.
My work in the library; especially now I only work 4 days a week, is a constant source of knowledge and camaraderie in a common cause. I am not in a battle, but getting books and information on the ‘shelf’ for a student is no mean feat, it takes a concerted team effort.
My blog continues to grow and gain interest and my art has come to the fore.
Today I help ‘take down’ the Summer Show which I had the good fortune to share with … I am not sure how all this happened ; so I lift an offering to the one who provides , a flower.
A painting from early in my practice when some ‘marks’ come together.
Silent Sunday …
Saturday …
Off to London this morning ; to do a bit of shopping, lunch and enjoy the Gay Pride festivities.
It has been a good week. The holiday plans are almost complete, bags nearly packed; all is well. At a week to go there is a healthy glimmer of happy anticipation. We, my daughter and I have an unspoken rule about ‘plans’ for the future; her with her homesickness and me, with my empty nest we are inclined to grizzle about our ‘misfortunes’; this, for the most part is acceptable we are allowed to be sad. However, life does go on and we overcome the grief with a degree of success.
So our coming holiday will be a joy; three weeks of love, hopefulness and plans to make our subsequent separation will be gently made.
By way of celebration I share a picture from last year.
Coat Hanger Doll's House 