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Friday, September 10, 2010

"Proverb"

The Byrds sang "Turn, Turn, Turn" straight out of the Bible, except for the last line. The music is by Pete Seeger. The Byrds' version was released when I was a very little child, the Viet Nam war was going on, and I couldn't understand why my dad railed against hippies for saying "make love, not war".

To everything, turn, turn, turn
There is a season, turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

To everything, turn, turn, turn
There is a season, turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven.

A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together

To everything, turn, turn, turn
There is a a season, turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven

A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing

To everything turn, turn, turn
There is a season, turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven

A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time for love, a time for hate
A time for peace, I swear it's not too late

I argued with my Sunday school teacher Mrs. Blazy about this song. I didn't want to accept that God sanctioned war or hate, especially when the horrors of Viet Nam were on TV every night. I'm sure I was responsible for some of Mrs. Blazy's gray hair for this and other religious differences.

I have an ongoing war against the maple trees that try to reforest my yard. I pulled these in spring, and thought their deaths ought to count for something, so I scanned them and did a lot of PhotoShop because I was studying new techniques. The original scan is below just to show that I actually did some work to get it to look like this.

I sang the song while yanking the baby maples. I can't help myself. It's a good song, and I'm not going to live in a maple forest with squirrels throwing things at my head and eating my fruit before it's ripe. Okay, there's nothing I can do about the squirrels short of shooting them, and I'm not ready to take that step... yet.

Everything changes. David Crosby isn't the fresh-faced boy he was in the '60s. The maple leaves will be changing colors soon, then falling, then snow and bare branches before I have a new crop of maple seedlings to pull out. There are a lot of proverbs about change, but this song speaks to me most because I find the truths in it so uncomfortable to deal with.

25 comments:

  1. Your post brought back so many memories. It's almost as if I had written it about myself including the Sunday school teacher. Mine was so upset with me he told me he was sure I was going to go to hell if I didn't change my ways soon. I never changed and really don't think I"ll be spending any time in Hades for it.

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  2. I love the part about the squirrels throwing things at your head--that's so funny! I like how the leaves turned out, and I ended up singing the whole song(very badly I might add, but nobody was here to listen except the pets and they didn't seem to give a !@#% anyway!)

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  3. @Carol -- I don't think I'm going to Hades either. I think children have wisdom that adults should hear.

    @Mary Lou -- I was thinking of you when I did this post. I figured you'd enjoy the Byrds flashback :)

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  4. What a wonderful post. Love what you did with this root and your leaves.

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  5. The historical perspective, your choice of the Byrds song and the illustration using the changing maple leaves all work so nicely together. Very thoughtful.

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  6. Thiis is a really lovely post. It also brought me back to that same time although I don't have a Sunday school story to tell. But I certainly was a rebellious teen!

    I love what you have done with your sacrificial maple. It's a beautiful piece of art and the chosen background is such a complimentary pattern!

    I answered your question about my technique through email ;)

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  7. Thanks Vicky, and thanks Lolo too, especially for answering my question about using Prismacolors over acrylics. (Use heavy scrapbooking paper, bristol board, or even brown paper bags.) I love how easy it is for artists to share their tricks!

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  8. Great submission, both in words and imagery! I love that you made the maple leaf deaths count for something. Thanks for your comments and suggestions at my blog!

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  9. Thanks Abby. I'm glad you took the suggestions as intended. I'm never quite sure if people are open to help.

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  10. Heisann!

    Yes, we can have much fun with the computers in making art- and if the result is like what you show us, everything is all right.
    Marwellous ;:OD)

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  11. oh what a wonderful post!!! and your pieces are stunning!!!

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  12. What a beautifully designed baby maple to start with-- and I love what you did with it!

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  13. This is such a great post linda... :)

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  14. I enjoyed reading your words, as well as the parallel imagery: nicely unique. I thought as I started, that 'it's late and the post is too long', but before I knew it I had finished it and was wanting more... nice job!
    And oh dear; remember to make love not war to those squirrels too. It may still be their time to heal.

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  15. I love the colors in these! I am soo ready for fall!

    All of your work is stunning. :-)

    Thanks for dropping by my blog, btw. ;-)

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  16. Thanks everybody!

    @Richard, I'm not sure about those squirrels. I think it's time for war. They ate every pear and apple off of my trees, and this was the first year my baby trees were going to really produce. Grrrrrr.....

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  17. Great post and I love this song which is now rerunning through my head! Thanks for your visit to my blog, I enjoy visiting yours :)

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  18. What David Cosby isn't fresh faced.?.. me neither :)

    Thanks for showing us the original, it really is inspiring to see what you make of it. It's a lovely design.

    well sorry for using lovely - err it has a good repetition but the different elements are well balnced and hold our interest

    but seriously it is a pleasure to behold

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  19. like what you have done with the maples:) nice to see a before and after too.

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  20. Thanks! The song went through my head a lot too after looking it up on youtube. I'll try to remember to put more WIP shots in future posts. I just get absorbed in what I'm doing and tend to forget until I'm done.

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  21. Wow, what beauty you've created here! Love this technique, how you found inspiration in and had a vision for something that might have just been cast off. Yes, a time to every purpose! Hope those little squirrels skee-daddle! ;o)

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  22. Thanks Michelle, and thanks for the follow Chris!

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