red thread haiku

  you'll remember my post i wrote a couple of weeks ago in which i mentioned a ball of red yarn - walking through the woods and leaving a trail.  i was tempted - believe me, i couldn't wait to go get some red yarn and wind it through the rhododendron, and along the edge of the river.  i started worrying, though, about some poor animal trying to eat the string - and worry won out in the end.  a red thread nest? now, that would be a stunning find and an incredible work of art for some little bird to execute.   i've settled, instead, on making ornaments as valentines for nature.  picture tying a red silk ribbon onto a branch at eye level, just next to a trail that is frequented by you and by others who are strangers.  imagine coming upon something like this out in the woods - a bit of metal dangling and swaying in the breeze - words that draw you in - simple words - a simple haiku.  picture the little quartz drop glittering in the sun, like a bit of lingering rain after the storm has passed.  i love this notion.  i love that you could write your own haiku across the back with a sharpie pen, and love that the copper will tarnish with age and with time.  i love that you could rub the back with a bit of fine steel wool to remove the old haiku, to replace the words with the changing seasons.  i love that the red silk, symbolizing the common thread that eternally connects us all, will eventually fade in the sun, in the rain, in the snow - but oh how soft, like a whisper, it will be....

i'm calling this my red thread haiku project.  there are a few of the ornamental poetry pieces for sell over in my etsy shop - each bearing an original haiku that i've hand engraved.  no haiku is the same; i compose them at the moment that they are inscribed across the copper.  i'd love to see what others choose to scrawl across the backs of the one or ones that they purchase; i'd love to have haiku appear here that folks have shared.  they are such simple, easy little bits of beauty to write - focused on nature, how could they be anything but beautiful? 

red ribbon flutters  

crimson bright against the woods  

cardinal loves this...

 

i'm very excited and pleased to share with you, as well, some news about an upcoming retreat i mentioned in an earlier post - one that is very much in keeping with that wonderful concept of red thread.  my good friend and creative coach lesley riley is hosting the red thread retreat, and i will be there too, along with fellow artist and pal claudine hellmuth; classes will be intimate, in a beautiful setting along the potomac river, three classes in three days.  lesley will be revealing more information in the weeks to come... xo

(for more reading on the red thread, you can visit here.) 

Comments

[tracey]

here is a haiku my daughter wrote for me when I completed my little studio in the woods:
Gray light in the woods
Bones buried by the long path
Lace blows in the wind

[Tina in McLeansville]

i love this....all of it! xo

[sandra]

red threads through my heart,
pulse full of warm intentions
for your happiness.

[Dorylyn]

A piece of thread I spy
Red, frayed, worn, strong
Knotted, secured
Softly accepting the winds
My life

[jen]

Maybe you already know about this reference? If not, further red thread goodness is found in the book Jo's Boys. It's the final Little Women book, where the kids from Little Men have grown up. Jo is talking to Emil before he leaves on a long voyage and I often think about this passage, find it inspiring when its challenging to be my best self... "I read somewhere that every inch of rope used in the British Navy has a strand of red in it, so that wherever a bit of it is found it is known. That is the text of my little sermon to you. Virtue, which means honor, honesty, courage, and all that makes character, is the red thread that marks a good man wherever he is. Keep that always and everywhere, so that even if wrecked by misfortune, that sign shall still be found and recognized."

I'm an intermittent blog reader and don't know if I've ever commented before but I did want to share this! I took a class with you years ago in California and always enjoy your work and your words. Long live the red thread!

[ellen]

Oh Nina,

I love the red thread..listen to this song by Lucy Kaplansky
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOun9Ksvqz4

the red thread..inspiring on so many levels

[Patricia]

What are the odds, Nina? In my journal and thoughts Recently I keep coming across the words Red Tent...popped in today for any update on your east coast venture and voila! Synchronicity? The beautiful universe calling? Hmmm...XO

[Patricia]

P.S. before we moved north, my childhood ran along the Potomac river....

[ellen]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAYyQ1Niy3w

much better version of Lucy's Red Thread
and I love the description of the Red Thread in her life

thanks again, nina

[lilylovekin]

I love the idea of copper discs hanging in the woods, little bits of magic. Oh you help me to conjure good thoughts.