Thursday 2 August 2012

it's a wrap, folks.


my four days in Los Angeles have sped by.
Claudia and her family have been so very kind
made me welcome, fed and watered me,
given me a comfy bed
& taken me to gaze at extraordinary flowers in the dark of the night.


today was the last day of our class
there was much last minute bundling
a good deal of stitching
considerable trepidation when faced with cutting

 

and at the very end
the New Orleans tradition of lagniappe 
[something extra]
introduced in San Francisco by Nikki
made its way into our class as well

during our preparation day for the class
Claudia had taken me to Runyon Canyon
to gather windfalls

i happened to notice a large infestation of Dactylopius coccus*
on an Opuntia cactus
we scraped a small amount off with a stick
[about a half teaspoon's worth]
and i put it in my backpack

today it became the last bundle

not a bad wrap at all.





* for those wondering what a Dactylopius is
it's cochineal
meaning the red stuff is beetlejuice. literally.

5 comments:

  1. For meself, wouldn't know that "dacty" stuff if it hit me over the head.
    Fortune (definitely) favors the prepared mind...such a red!

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    Replies
    1. Cochineal in California??? oh my. For some reason I've always assumed that cochineal was an exotic bug from some other continent (not found in N. America)...thanks for the wake-up ;>]]

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  2. i like how the color is so reflective of "there". (or where. or here. oh, heck.)

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  3. and then there's that last treasure.

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  4. Oh my gosh only you would notice cochineal (and know what it is!) in the Canyons. How wonderful, gathering it yourself and making a beautiful rememberence from your trip.

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