Marking Time (and other things)

While many of us, myself included, are finding it hard to find and keep focus, some of the Olds students from last year have completed their homework.  One box is being returned today, another will be sent to me next week.

No one knows what the future holds and this year has driven that lesson home like a bull dozer.  But we can only do what we can do, and even one step forward is still progress.

Yesterday I only managed one towel, but one more today and I can cut off the first 10, separate them and get them into the washer/dryer so I can begin hemming them.  I'm not sure if there will be more than 18, but that doesn't really matter.  I am using up the left over bits of tubes as weft, and any stash reduction is good.

The college has offered to provide extensions without charging a fee, so I know some of the students have applied for that and a few have let me know that they are making some progress.

While it would be easy to get mired in disappointment, Life has provided us with an opportunity to examine our lives and determine if we are on the road we want to be or if we need to change things.

I don't want to make light of the negative impact this year is having on many - far from it.  But as a society, we can take the opportunity to look at how our society is shaped and decide how we want to change it.

As for most of us participating in things like weaving, this activity is our 'bonus' time.  Very few of us even try to earn an income (I never say living).  We do it because it brings satisfaction on some level.

I love the thought of people using my textiles in their lives and experiencing happiness from that use.  My textiles are not made to languish in the linen closet - far from it!  Their very existence is to be useful in this life, not preserved in a museum somewhere.

Not that there is anything wrong with that, either.  Just...it warms the cockles of my heart to think that what I have made brings someone a tiny bit of joy in the using.

So, here we are mid-July.  While things begin to gradually open up more here, other places are seeing gigantic surges of Covid-19.

I truly hope all my students and friends are staying at home if they can, wearing a mask if they have to go out, maintaining physical distance when/if they do.  And wash their hands when they get home.  Let's beat this pandemic back so that we can meet again next year and continue the journey.

Stay safe y'all!  And happy weaving.