March winds have arrived in full force. The tricky sun is at odds with air gritty with flying dust. It's the kind of day where you have to be careful that you don't do something that will change your life. It feels a little crazy. I've heard about the mistral in France and that judges often pardoned criminals "due to the mistral". Murder by mistral? Well, it could happen here. I try to find a calm place, cup of tea, it doesn't last long. But the fields are greening.
beauty is twice beauty
My meeting yesterday morning with 98 year old Manuel (birthday tomorrow) put a whole lot of things in perspective. This man, at his advanced age, is slim, gracious, elegant ~ and polite enough to put up with my questions for more than an hour. I brought him a bag of croissants and scones from Taos Cow but he said he'd already eaten a stack of pancakes ~ at dawn!
When I asked him if he had any tips about longevity for the rest of us, his became animated and said, "be outside, the sky, the mountains, sun". This is what he misses most at this time of life, as he is unable to walk his fields ten hours a day as he has done for most of his life. Then he added, "fresh home grown food - organic! we always ate organic food". And always home baked bread. His son is planning a community garden this spring and Manuel will be an integral part of it.
you tried going out
even with a coat
there was too much wind
too much
wind
(Alicia Suskin Ostriker, the volcano sequence, excerpt from "the next day")
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