9 Moons Ago

Had a blast in Philadelphia this weekend. Went on a kind of spur of the moment decision. Spent the night at Jennifer and Nick’s house and met their adorable daughter, Olivia. Jen and I went out to lunch with her sister and a friend on Sat, hung out with her family that evening and had a light dinner and brownies for dessert, then that night watched the Aviator. Sunday morning went out for breakfast and then Jen and I took a trip to downtown Philly to visit Chinatown. Lots of lovely pottery, incense, bamboo plants, clothing, guys slinging crabs into buckets on the sidewalk and cool supermarket food.
I bought my nephew a little drum, and for Cam and myself, a Christmas ornament…well, that’s what I’m going to use it for..it’s a metal fan with a red ribbon tassle beneath it.
For myself I bought a flat cloth purse, some chopsticks, and red slippers. YAY!
I had a lot of fun catching up with Jen and Nick. Thanks for such wonderful hospitality guys! It was great fun!

Well, I’ve been coming here less frequently, and that’s partly on purpose. Nothin much thrilling going on at the moment. I am, however, planning to visit with friends over the next coming weeks, so that should be fun.
I’m in a kind of creative slump at the moment, never-the-less I’ve written a poem, illustrated a card for my Mom’s Birthday and bought some watercolour paper in hopes of creating some paintings before I leave for Australia at the end of next month. Time will fly by though, I’m sure.

I’m going to be doing a re-vamp of the site when I get back home to Melbourne, so hopefully that will inspire me too! I’ll try and do a drawing for this site in the next week or so..or maybe even tomorrow..who knows? Thanks for all the encouragement! Now I’m off to make some bruchetta with my homegrown tomatoes!

Here’s the latest poem:

Narragansett Beach

On New Years Day
We walked along Narragansett Beach, the wind
Smacking our face with cold.
We turned and walked backwards, coats
Curling around our four frigid figures.
I don�t remember the things we said that day
Or for how long we walked,
But I remember the isolation of it all
And the wild whiteness of sand.
The happiness of friends on an icy plateau
With the brave saltwater crashing against the shore.

Where did that day go?
It hovers in memory, in the way which
The coldness sequestered a large population from
The beachfront. We all took in the silent beauty
that day
And each one left, able
To do what they wanted with it.

Amy Lehr Miller
August 11, 2005

Today is not my day for drawing. Of course I picked a difficult subject, so it’s my own fault. I liked the last one better, but you win some you lose some. I’ll just keep drawing in my sketchbook. Drawing with the mouse is getting to be a chore, despite my improvements. Maybe I’ll go do some watercolours.

Rather dissapointed with what I can offer on the drawing front since I can’t show you the sketches I did today in my sketchbook due to a distinct lack of scanner. So instead I offer you a photoshop drawing of some woman who was in the Irish Times paper I bought a couple of months ago.:

I think my photoshop skills are vastly improving though..thanks to Kat for mentioning that she thought so too.

Went to a local baseball game last night..that was fun. My brother’s girlfriend’s sister sang the National Anthem. What’s more, she did a good job of it. She’s quite a powerful soprano and it’s her birthday today, so Happy 23rd Marianne!
I was going to write a poem tonight, but I’m listening to jazzy music and it’s too hard to concentrate on something like poetry at the moment. I’ll write another time. Instead I offer you a poem from June that resonates with me tonight, especially after coming in from watering the plants.:

What I Miss and What I’d Forgotten

I miss the rolling hills and the eucalyptus.
I miss the wide open sky that stretched out over everything,
Broad and dreamlike. Impressionistic Playground.

I miss “Aussie Rules” football
and the crossword puzzles how Mum would look up
Gilbert and Sullivan in the Complete Gilbert and Sullivan book.
So today,
Today it came on TV as I rode the bike..this Aussie Rules Footy.
Mum’s team was above ours at no. 13 on the ladder.
We remained at the bottom rung.

Now I observe life
Here in the States.
I’d forgotten Pizza nights on Fridays
and lightning bugs on warm muggy nights, watering the plants.
I’d forgotten petty things and annoying things and
being confined.

I realize at the end, before leaving, I stopped speaking up.
I stopped fighting because that is what I thought would get me through it all.
But now it’s worked against me here.
I take it all to heart.
and realize that our family has as many problems as all families.

Somewhere along the line I’ve grown up more.
Yet somewhere along the line
I’ve grown more sensitive.
I’ve become more emotional and cry more easily.
So the place place to calm down is outside.

Outside where the nature may be more
suburban and sterile than what I’ve grown
accustomed to, but to where it is still green
Green and peace and lawn and tree.

Red maple, green maple, rose and
petunia. Willow and Forsythia.
Day Lilly.
Grass and gravel. Concrete
where I learned, with Kathy, to rollerskate,
Guided by our older “sister” from next door.

Fireflies light my way Home tonight.

A.L. Miller
June 2005