Postcards in the Air : IN THE MOMENT

Thursday, August 29, 2024

IN THE MOMENT

watercolor illustrations for my postcards

This morning, I woke up remembering sitting around a table recently with long-time friends on a warm summer evening and the joy of being part of the relaxed conversation and camaraderie. I went to the window and watched a heron skim over the surface of Mission Creek. I sat to read an essay by a cousin, Carrie Clauson, about the importance of cousins.

Elizabeth Fishel, the leader of the writers group I belong to, once commented that the small moments we all have are not only personal but universal and can resonate with anyone, and are good writing material. Just before a summer hiatus of our group fifteen years ago, she suggested that we each send postcards to each other over the next couple of months. Her idea was my inspiration to write Postcards in the Air. I started with postcards I bought at a store, then found a printer who reproduced my designs as postcards, I sent out those postcards, and then I began to write a weekly post that I published as my blog.

This morning as I turned on the tap to wash my morning face, I listened for the cold water to turn to hot, a subtle difference in sound. I smiled and wondered again why the temperature would affect the sound of the water spilling from the tap. As I was doing my daily puzzles sitting on our tiny balcony overlooking the creek and Oracle Park, I heard what I thought was a very loud car radio blasting music. I wondered how anyone could sit in the car. Bill came out on the balcony and said it wasn't a car radio, but a soundcheck at Oracle four blocks away for the concert that night for Journey, Def Leppard, and the Steve Miller Band. I couldn't help myself and swayed with the familiar music. It was unbelievably loud, but we both wanted to go sit at the new McCovey Park across from Oracle to listen. When the soundcheck stopped temporarily, the Chinese string instrument music of the tai chi class exercising at the pavilion across the street from us gently floated in the air.

While listening to the sound check and then the Chinese music, I also watched a Zoom presentation by Carl Rohrs, a well-known calligrapher and teacher in the Bay Area, about the influence of early 20th-century poster art on the psychedelic poster artists from the 1960s who continue to produce work for rock bands. Rohrs showed posters that the group of artists created in the 1970s for bands such as Journey, Def Leppard, and the Steve Miller Band. As I was listening to his talk and to the different styles of music, I watched two small origami balls that a friend gave me that hang next to an open window. The balls danced quietly with the gentle breeze coming into the room.

The small happenings of life, including various levels of sounds, feelings, thoughts, music, and images, often seem to intertwine. These moments become a good way for me to beginmy morning.