Thursday Art Date With Rain -- "Romance"

This week's Art Date prompt 

from Rain Frances is perfect

for February's upcoming Valentines Day!

I had to reach far back into

the Misty Vaults of Time

to find something suitable 

for this prompt.

I did this drawing sometime in the early 1970s

when I was a teenager in high school.

It was based on an illustration in 

some long-forgotten book by an artist 

whom I don't now remember either.

Pardon the blurriness of this closeup,

but it's the best I could get

through the glass.

If I were drawing this now, 

I would just ink the entire picture, 

but I was following the original very closely. 

Then and now, I almost never frame anything I do, 

but my hotelier grandma just happened to be 

getting rid of an old framed photo of a Greyhound Bus

(her hotel was also the local Greyhound Depot stop 

in her prairie town), so I used it to frame my drawing.

I made the mat out of a big piece of construction paper.

The original Greyhound photo was, I recall, 

somewhat similar to this old advert --

I should have just kept the framed photo "as is" --

apparently vintage Greyhound memorabilia

is worth a fortune now, LOL!

[Art and photos © Debra She Who Seeks, January 2022. 

Third photo is from the internet]

Unique Crafts

I salute crafters who have the 

vision and talent to create 

unique items of whimsical delight!

Crocheted and knitted items

need not be boring!

How about a crocheted 

Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch?

Who wouldn't want this?

Embroidery need not be old-fashioned!

It can speak to our modern times too!

And never underestimate 

the power of cardboard --

HRH wants me to make

an Iron Throne for her too!

She is threatening me

with dragons if I don't.

HELP!

Hurry Hard!

"I fecking love curling," says longtime blogging buddy Jackiesue of West, by Goddess, Texas so this post is for her! Enjoy all the curling going on right now at the Beijing Winter Olympics, Jackiesue! 

And incidentally, everyone, Jackiesue (formerly known as YellowDog Granny) is now called YellerDawg Granny (what a great pun, LOL!) and she has a brand new blog called Rabid Yellow Dog Democrat that is found here! Spread the news!

And now, back to the Roaring Game.

Curling is, of course, HUGE in Canada and always has been. Curling and hockey are how Canadians have traditionally endured our long cold winters. From our largest cities right down to our smallest villages, they all have curling rinks. When I was a kid, there was even a place in Saskatchewan called Broomhill which consisted of nothing but a curling rink.

Jasper Place Curling Club in Edmonton recently had a beautiful mural painted on the side of its building by Jill Stanton, a local artist who does bright, cheerful murals all over Canada and the USA (see more of her work here). The mural celebrates the history of curling brooms. I know that modern push brooms are so much more efficient, but I miss hearing that unique "slap, slap, slap" sweeping sound of old-style corn brooms on the ice.

[Photos © Debra She Who Seeks, February 2022]

You know, I almost got frostbite taking these photos of the mural in -30 windchill with my gloves off to work the camera. Sheesh, the things I do for this blog! Here's a photo of the entire mural taken by some other smarter photographer in the summer --

Her Royal Highness the Cat wants it to be known that she enjoys curling too!

Snow Rollers

Have you ever seen the natural, but relatively rare, winter phenomenon called snow rollers? I'd never even heard of snow rollers until I moved to Alberta and I'd never seen them -- until recently!

Snow rollers are snowballs which form naturally on the ground when winter meteorological conditions are "just right." They require a mild outdoor temperature around 0ºC and a light 'n fluffy snowfall of wet (not dry) snow, combined with a strong enough wind at ground level to get the snow moving. Here's a video of some quite spectacular snow rollers in rural Alberta --

Last week, snow rollers formed one afternoon on My Rare One's street! They weren't huge but they were AWESOME!

Here I am, helpfully pointing them out to you! (It looks like I'm wearing sandals but no -- those are removable snow gripper ice cleats that go over shoes or boots for better traction when walking.)

These baby snow rollers were on My Rare One's driveway behind my car. Those are my footprints.

They are so light and fluffy -- insubstantial really -- not hard-packed at all.

A quick squeeze and they disappear!

[Photos © My Rare One, January 2022]

Imbolc Cyberspace Poetry Slam

Today is Imbolc, a pagan holiday which celebrates, not Spring per se, but rather, the promise of Spring. It is also the sacred day of Brigid the Bright, the Celtic Goddess of (among other things) poetry.

The Imbolc Cyberspace Poetry Slam has been celebrated for quite a few years now by many pagans around the blogosphere. On February 1st (Imbolc Eve) or February 2nd (Imbolc), people post a favourite poem written by themselves or by another poet so that, collectively, a vast internet web of poetry is woven to honour Brigid.

This year I am posting a poem by Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk who recently passed away at the age of 95. He was a peace activist, author, poet and beloved teacher of mindfulness and walking meditation. Martin Luther King nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize in the 1960s.

The Good News

by Thich Nhat Hanh

They don’t publish

the good news.

The good news is published

by us.

We have a special edition every moment,

and we need you to read it.

The good news is that you are alive,

and the linden tree is still there,

standing firm in the harsh winter.

The good news is that you have wonderful eyes

to touch the blue sky.

The good news is that your child is there before you,

and your arms are available:

hugging is possible.

They only print what is wrong.

Look at each of our special editions.

We always offer the things that are not wrong.

We want you to benefit from them

and help protect them.

The dandelion is there by the sidewalk,

smiling its wondrous smile,

singing the song of eternity.

Listen! You have ears that can hear it.

Bow your head.

Listen to it.

Leave behind the world of sorrow

and preoccupation

and get free.

The latest good news

is that you can do it.

This poem is even more resonant in our currently troubled, unsettled times. My favourite image in the poem is the dandelion "there by the sidewalk, smiling its wondrous smile, singing the song of eternity" despite all the odds against it.

"Grow where you're planted" and "Never give up" are valuable lessons for us all!

Times Are Tough All Over

No one is immune!

Superheroes are also feeling the pinch!

Norse Gods have to take the subway!

Odin the Allfather too!

What's Your Favourite Tea?

I know there's a lot of avid tea drinkers

out there in the Blogosphere!

So this post is for YOU!

I have three favourite kinds of tea,

each of which must be a specific brand.

My first choice for a nice cuppa

is Symphony Blend by one of 

Canada's oldest tea importers/blenders,

Murchie's of Victoria, British Columbia.

It is a black/green tea blend

with "prominent Darjeeling-muscatel notes."

My second choice is Tetley's Earl Grey.

It has just the right amount and flavour

of bergamot for me.

Other brands are too floral for my taste.

In the evenings when I cannot drink caffeine

(because it will keep me up at night), 

I will drink a nice satisfying cup of

herbal Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait

by DavidsTea.

Technically, this is a "fruit infusion" and

not a "tea" per se, but who's quibbling?

So, what's YOUR favourite tea?

Tell all in the comments!