Dispatch № 031

Hello wonderful people!

Kyle here with another dispatch from our little intentionally confusing project.

Jeannie is busy cooking up a special paid members only email so be on the lookout for that if you are one of are magical supporters. If not be sure to see the little note she has in the middle of this email. Until those paragraphs appear read on for a short glimpse into our lives since we last spoke.

Equinox

Fall has arrived here in the desert, the temperatures are beginning to drop and the birds are returning to their winter digs. This is certainly the best of all seasons here in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico and if you ever consider visiting our oasis now would be a choice time to appear.

Some of you have probably noticed we've been quiet with these dispatches the last few months. We certainly offer our apologies for these lapses - we have simply been consumed with a myriad of tasks whose attention has required the uptmost diligence and persistence to see through to completion.

I pen this quick dispatch as we linger in this liminal space refocusing our selves back into the realm of the world and not just a dirty old basement (literally) which is where we've been working the bulk of this summer. You see, there is a lot of rather unglamorous work which goes into resurrecting a 100 year old building. Cleaning, like, a lot of cleaning and then painting, so many layers of paint. If you've been wondering just what Jeannie and Kyle have been up to then that is pretty much the sum of the story.  

Our intent was to get the new space opened up by October but due to a number of circumstances this is not going to be quite possible. We are aiming for a grand opening party tentatively positively December 7th - the 12th year anniversary of us moving to Truth or Consequences. This seems fitting as it's a new start to a new 12 year cycle for us, and well, 12 year cycles are generally a "thing".

Thank you all for your attention as we journey through this spanning of time known as life. This space here is long overdue for our full and whole hearted attention again and we are oh so close to returning to this part of our project with full power. There is just some paint to be rolled out first.

Up next is a little message from the ever lovely Jeannie, after which I've included a story some of you undoubtedly have already read or heard, but it's a remarkable story nonetheless. Every time I think about what happened I am filled with unbound gratitude for the people I share time on this planet with.

Thank You All!

A Small Flock

I now have three new weavings to share with you. One is available via random draw, one via silent auction and one for patrons only.

These three works are some of my favorite woven creations thus far. They are pieces which tap in deeply to the essence of why I love this art form and connect me with what it means to be a human on this earth. The feelings wrapped within these threads somehow transcend time but root also into this moment through the tactile and visual journey they contain.

Perpetual Possibility is available via silent auction.
A full description and album of photos here.

Morning Illuminations is available via random draw.
A full description and album of photos here.

Pendulum is available only for patrons, but you can see an album of photos here.

Three Photos

I took these three pictures two and a half weeks ago.

Some minutes later I put my fingers on these same rocks and worked my feet up ripple, crack and undulation. Linking features together like puzzle pieces. My toes inching ever up.

After some more time I was nearly to the top of this cliff at a bolted anchor performing the procedures to get lowered back to the horizontal realm. It was late and the virga, present all day, was just barely starting to reach me as I perched up there where crows haunt.

A bright flash and my left arm contracted and coiled itself up tight in a spiral - straight up from my shoulder next to my ear.

I GOT STRUCK BY LIGHTENING.

My arm zinged with the intensity of a million volts and stayed spasmed and immobile; I smelled burning which I was sure was my flesh (it was not). Without hesitation I knew the first order of business was to get off the cliff.

Jeannie  lowered me back to earth mustering heroic composure after having just witnessed the rock explode around me in a scene she describes as an over the top movie stunt of lightning striking. Some rock was vaporized in a cloud of black smoke (the aforementioned burning smell). Rock was pulverized into dust and still more was sent hurtling as freshly formed pebbles and boulders towards the heavens until gravity took over and pulled them back to this crust we live on. The noise, she assures me, was deafening.

I returned to earth and we got me untied and made haste down into the forest and the safety which comes from not being the tallest object. There were a half dozen more lightning strikes and a decent rain for three minutes and then the squall was over.

My arm spasm slowly released and after an hour the zing subsided. The shock and adrenaline wore off and Jeannie’s pinching assured me I could still feel my fingers. No damage.

I was struck by lightning and walked away unscathed.

The Luck:

At the top of this climb I sat on a ledge while I dealt with the anchor. In sitting my left shoulder was in contact with the cliff-the lightning entered my hand and left back to the earth through the shoulder, sparing my organs and heart.

Only Luck.
So live your life.
That is the story.