Reaching for the Moon

Full moon time again. This marvelous photo is part of a series titled Moon Games that photographer Laurent Laveder created using his children as models. I highly recommend that you take a look at what Laurent has done at Moon Games. The images are quite magical and I imagine it was a lovely experience to play with one's children and the moon at the same time.

We've all dreamed of climbing up to the moon at times, haven't we? I know I have done my share of it. When I was a child, one of my favorite occupations each month was kneeling at the window, resting my arms on the sill and gazing out at the full moon and stars late at night when everyone else was asleep.

We humans have been moon gazing for a very long time. There's something about it that stirs and revives us. Of course, that inspires art, whether it's Laurent Laveder's photos or haiku by the famous Japanese poet Matsuo Basho (1644-1694). Here are three of my favorite Basho poems about the moon.

The pine tree of Shiogoshi
Trickles all night long
Shiny drops of moonlight.

Among moon gazers
at the ancient temple grounds
not one beautiful face

Spring too, very soon!
They are setting the scene for it --
plum tree and moon.

Have you ever written haiku or other forms of poetry about the moon? Do you reach for the moon from somewhere deep within yourself? What does the full moon mean to you?

Meanwhile the sun is rising outside the windows with an orange glow. Yes, spring is certainly arriving here in Oregon. Violets, daffodils and even some early tulips ornament the landscape. The hills are green again, even though we still could get more snow in the mountains. Each spring, completely fresh.

Full moon gazing and springlike appreciation-- and on a practical level, the next two weeks will be busy ones in my casita. Composer Laura Rich and I just had our second run-through of the songs in A New Wrinkle. It's great to hear them, but there is still more work to do to get the singers comfortable enough with the material to warrant recording the songs. I'm also rewriting the script of the play some. We're still revising some of the songs, too. So there's all that regarding the play.

This week, I am beginning work on what will be a series of video clips for You Tube that will document the process of creating A New Wrinkle (and other creative ventures from Sage's Play.) I am working on putting the first three of these clips up soon. It's playing around with a Flip Cam and so far has been lots of fun.

In addition, I'm moving in mid-March. The move is not a big one geographically. I will still be in Ashland. But it entails all the usual packing, so my place is now filled with empty boxes and packing material and the piles of filled boxes increase each day. I will be sharing a home with my friend Louise Pare. I'm looking forward to it.

And check out the trailer for this documentary on women artists, "Who Does She Think She Is?" Although women comprise more than half the population, it is more difficult for them to succeed as artists. If they are raising children, that demands a great deal of creative attention and rightly so. Even those without children encounter the prevalent assumption that all the great artists are men, and the cultural bias toward art created by men. I am looking forward to seeing the whole film.



That's the full moon news from my neck of the woods.