Labor Day 2015 through the vision of Edmund Marion Ashe and Molly Wheeler Wood Pitz

Edmund Marion Ashe (!867-1941) Work n.d. Oil on Canvas. Photo by Wayne Stratz

This guy caught my eye as I entered Iron and Coal; Petroleum and Steel at the Michener Museum in Doylestown.

For my ancestors in the Lehigh Valley it was Fabric and Cement; Slate and Steel. I grew up as Bethlehem steel descended, slate quarries were illegal swimming holes, grandmothers who quilted worked days in sewing mills, and grandfathers made Mack trucks or told stories of deaths in cement hoppers.  Unions were the friends of generations of workers who remembered conditions. Labor meant something.

My dad worked with the tools of a draftsman, but did not escape the industry that sprang from what the ground contained. He drew on paper of what would become blueprints, which in the field became the places where concrete blocks were formed.

Now Bethlehem Steel is a casino. Drafting tools have been replaced by Autocad. Scrubbers keep the cement dust off of cars. The students at my school travel north to see the Mack Truck museum.

and my dad's drafting tools are used to draw art in my studio.

Molly Wheeler Wood Pitz (1913-?) Lime Kiln at Night, 1936 oil on Canvas. Photo by Wayne Stratz

and in the end...

after gluing down 67 pieces of glass
... after meeting friends for breakfast, who desired a glass penguin
... after buying apples and cabbage from local farmers
... after getting the kitchen prepared
... after making 8 doughs (which didn't bother my bum wrist at all)
... after grating potatoes and cabbage
... after greeting mom, dad, and aunt
... after turning the oven on
... after stretching and topping and rolling 8 strudels (2 of each, those mentioned plus grape)
... after greeting sister here and saying hi to sister out west
... after eating with family as the last strudels baked
... after greeting friends
... after seeing my family to the door with hugs and thanks for carrying on the tradition
... after greeting more friends
... after finally turning the oven off
... after serving plates of food and glasses of beverages
... after sitting back and enjoying the presence of friends
... after maybe one or two snarky comments
... after saying good bye and your welcome
... after a few moments alone with Mosaic Woman in the living room

I stretched out on the couch, awake enough to hear jazz.  And I realized that I almost never stop and just listen.  So I did.  I closed my eyes and listened.

Look What The Lizard Dragged In

A huge fan of mine, who happens to be Mosaic Woman's mom, saw the lizard and thought...

"cat" "sister" "violet" "Siamese" "birthday" "suncatcher" ... see how six simple thoughts can lead to a commission.

I have considered doing a cat in glass, but always imagined a Stratozpheric take on an Egyptian cat. But the eyes were important to the client and to keep it simple and highlight the eyes I went with the face. The eyes are the blue glass of the sky surrounding the lizard. But the lizard was not done dragging cats from my studio. The scraps left over from the land the lizard lives upon cried out to become a cat itself and so I expanded the suncatcher into a mosaic mandala...





It currently is looking for a new home but seems happy enough hanging out with the rest of our mandalas .


If one can trust tracking info, the Lizard is showing up in Denver today (photos of the finished stepping stone will be shown once Snowcatcher get it). By the way she is on etsy herself!

Wordless Wednesday: O is for Oregon 1992

Wordless Wednesday

Jazz on Tuesday... for Cate's Adventure

Mosaic Woman just called to say she is heading home with her sister and everything her sister is taking with her on an amazing adventure, for tomorrow she is moving to South Africa.

So tonight she is going to spend her last night in Pennsylvania at our place and I am quite happy that she will be the first person to sleep under the only quilt top I ever put together. A friend quilted it and got this for saving the top from a dresser drawer.

As I sit here there is jazz playing from our stereo, and by no mistake it is jazz from South Africa. So for Cate and all who venture out into adventures>>>

HAIR!

It has been 11 years since I said to Mosaic Woman that I would not cut my hair till the end of summer... it has been cut twice since then.

A few months ago I announced on Facebook that I planned to get my haircut and buy new socks over winter break... I guess that sometimes I need to write my plans down....

October, 2008:

Saturday night we were celebrating the 50th anniversary of my aunt and uncle, whose house I vacationed at each summer. I remember playing amazing whiffle ball games with my cousin and eating waffles and sausage for dinner one of the nights. His younger sister, grew up to run a beauty salon.

After the meal, she asked me if I ever donated my hair to locks of love... before the calendar page flips to June, I will make my third donation. The appointment has been made.

... who knows, maybe I will buy some socks soon.

who needs a daily planner

I have made attempts at keeping one. I have. I really have. But now when I see them in the stores, I feel it would be just a waste of money. Well, I know it would be a waste.

And there are times I mess up. Last week I was talking about going to the NSTA conference in Philadelphia to one of my classes and a student said, "But isn't ..//... happening next Friday." And yes, I had been asked about my availability when ..//..... was scheduled. Feeling guilty, I sent an e-mail acknowledging my imperfections, but not mentioning the brief but quickly fading thought I had of not going to the conference.

...//.... can happen without me.

Now what is happening next weekend was beyond my control... Kind of. You see how could I pass up on the national conference happening in my neck of the woods, even if we had already signed up for a craft show that weekend, and then my father-in-law decided to come to Pennsylvania. How the man planned a four day visit on the four days of the conference is beyond me. So, I can't really not see the man, considering that with this upcoming visit I will have see him, on average, once every 1679 days since I met Mosaic Woman.

OK, so it looks like this... an epic day in Philly on Thursday ending with an evening of jazz at Chris's. Get to Philly early on Friday, but beat rush hour home so I can help Mosaic Woman set up for the North Penn Select Craft Show. On Saturday thanks to two wonderful friends who have agreed to help Mosaic Woman at the show, I will head into Philly, but get back in time to help take down the booth and then an evening with the rarely seen family. Sunday... let me check my non-existent planner... I will head back to Philly for the final four hours of the conference. Who knows, maybe worship with the Jesuits in Society Hill and I have my eye out for a jazz brunch. Do you know of one?

see, who needs a planner when you got a wondering/wandering mind that unfolds with your life. and if I am lucky, I will unfold into some Burmese Food at Rangoon in China Town.

Luckily for now this isn't even penciled in, so I can change plans on a whim.

...

after the show

exhausted, but back at work I was gardening with the students. People ask how the show went... if they have the time they will hear this...

First off there were more friendly faces on Monday than Sunday (who would have guessed), and now it was faces I had seen before. The woman who taught the Lenten retreat which inspired a few of my designs came with her husband, a minister with Mondays off. On their heels were my parents. Then there was my friend with pancreatic cancer along with his wife. And finally a friend from church who drove twice to see us, on Saturday before the show began and then on Monday after reading my last post.

There was a woman whose boxes were in my way when I was groggy and feeling rushed early Sunday morning, but who I chatted with off and on through out the show and grew to like more and more. Thank God for time to dash first impressions.

There was the feeling that our display was much improved, and with ideas to make it better.

There was the feeling that we both had, that even though the sales did not meet our hopes, we were glad we went on the adventure.

Then there was the guy who when I asked if he needed a hand, said "feel free to applaud."

I may have given a wise response back to the man. Both of our spouses may have sighed.

Thus I met Barbara and Louis Booth, who came from Long Island, so had the extra expense of hotel rooms. Lou makes jewelry and though he does 50-70 shows a year, had never ventured into Pennsylvania before. He was filled with jokes, advice, stories, and angst about schools and teachers. That story made me sad for how some teachers treat their students and a desire that I continue to strive to treat my students as humans who deserve compassion and respect. I may have lost some points when I told him I was a teacher, but I gained many when I told him that I made bread with my students. He was a great neighbor to have for two days.

here is our new Honda Fit set to go home, to see some craft fair photos, click here

struggles with the storm

I am having difficulty with Jesus rebuking a bunch of men on a stormy boat. The fisherman were in a fearful place. They knew of no such power to calm storms at sea. They knew people died in shipwrecks.

What am I to get from this? Have no fear for Jesus will save me from what appears certain death.

Or is it the fear that prevents a full life. Panic is not good, ask those men playing with millions on Wall Street.

I went into this weekend a bit panicked. A busy schedule will do that for me. A trip planned on Saturday, company coming for lunch on Sunday, a house not so tidy, work to do on this and that... how could one survive such a thing.

Well, we survived. My parents got their Christmas present on Saturday... potato pancakes. Here I am in action at my sister's place...


Before I even had told my family that I would rather make them a traditional meal than buy them a present, my one sister had bought me a meat grinder for Christmas. You see Pop Pop, as we called him, used one to prepare the uncooked potatoes. My sister sent a few reminders for me to call my aunt to get the recipe, which had no Swiss cheese, black pepper, or parsley all of which went into the ones I had been making for years. Simple, but they did taste like those we feasted on in Emmaus, PA.

After the visitors-- part 1

Mary and Joseph received visitors in both Luke (shepherds) and Matthew (wisefolk) after the birth of their son, but what they did next is not something I want to tie together in a historically accurate timeline. In the silence of Wernersville, I sit with each separately and imagine the possibilities of each. Take the child to the Temple or flee to save his life.

LUKE 2:22-38 First time I went with them to the Temple I was amazed at the awareness of Simeon and Anna.

Before going into silence, we chat at dinner where a woman is talking about Zen and mindlessness. I think I see what she was trying to say, but I am baffled, and say that I see it as mindfulness. The call to be present. The will power to be aware of God's unfolding creation. And later reclining in my easy chair, I find two servants of God whose eyes glance upon a poor couple with child and see the savior. I have it so much easier. Four Gospels, thousands of years of tradition and established churches are all here and now to tell me Jesus is my savior. Can I see it as clearly as they did?

Ten hours later I am again traveling with the family to the temple. I hear Simeon's speech to Mary as if it is being directed to me. It ends with these words "... and a sword will pierce your soul too." How did those words sit with Mary? How much for one woman to take? Anna enters the scene and knows that finally her savior has arrived and announces it to all who are seeking the redemption of Israel.

My handout for the spiritual exercises this week reminds me that my goal is to get to Know Jesus, to Love Jesus, and to Follow Jesus. That means I am headed to the cross. Mary will have much more to endure. Mother to a savior is painful business. I know the story, but for her it is still unfolding. But that does not mean that following him 2000 years later is easy.

It takes me to Julian whose sound byte is "all things will be well" But God starts by telling her, "I may make all things well."

Exactly one year ago I flew to California where my sister was suffering. Two strokes, a few blood clots, and then surgery to remove cancer from her ovaries had left her wiped out. The chemo had not even started. Would I have guessed that she would visit us 12 months later? Coming by herself? Are all things well? I don't know. But I do know our God given human bodies can heal in mystifying ways and if there is a 5 year survival rate, than some survive. Sophia renews all things. Jesus reconciles all things. We are small in the midst of all things, but we are a part of it. I think of the strength in my sister's hug after I fed her strudel a few days ago.

My stoic self melts.

STRUDELFEST 2007

Mom Mom may have never used a table cloth with Korean print to make strudel while listening to Miles Davis..... but she was still with me.

It came late this year, then delayed a few days. Strudelfest usually happens in October, then it was to happen on Sunday, but a desire to help Mosaic woman at the craft fair and a possible ice storm caused a delay. So I got up at 6am on Wednesday and made dough.





For the first time since Mom Mom taught me how to do this (amazingly less than a year before she had a stroke), I went solo. Usually my mom shows up and helps with the veggie/fruit prep while my dad does a tiny bit and makes comments (son of Mom Mom type). Mosaic woman likes to help roll, this time she took photos of me rolling...










Back up, before you can roll it, you have to stretch the dough, and you better make it thin enough to see through it.... This one was one of those doughs that feel like heaven when you pick it up, others say something like... "go ahead and try to stretch me."




Anyway, Mosaic woman heated up some black bean soup for lunch during which I forced myself to pick up a piece or two of potato strudel.....





at 2:20 I jumped in the shower but got downstairs to add a pan of grape strudel to the potato, cabbage, and apple already on our table.





all that was left was getting it into our car and driving up to my parents where my sister, who was visiting from California (reason for the delay from October), and 10 other local relatives were waiting to feast.

We eat strudel, it is a full meal, though there have been times that we eat Mom Mom's chocolate cake for dessert!

Ask me if I believe in family Ghosts any other day of the year and I will likely say no, but strudelfest is different... why not have some faith and imagination and believe that Mom Mom's spirit is flowing through my hands while stretching dough.

so after a week of craft fairs, some teaching, strudel, my sister, and finishing my paper..... I am taking another day off and later will be driving to spend some quiet time with Jesuits this weekend.

Peace and family traditional foods be with you all.