Fifteen degrees.
Spring has long past sprung here, with the mercury rising well into the sixties most days, and even passing seventy on a few occasions.
And yet, that’s the temperature this morning.
This is Spring at 7,500 feet.
Just north of us, and to the east and west, storms swirled all day yesterday. Dawn brought a beautiful glowing sunrise, light clouds clearing into brilliantly sunny skies, but before noon, all had changed. A twisted harmony from The Mamas and the Papas ran through my head as I worked outside:
All the air is brown,
And the sky is gray . . . .
The skies were most definitely gray, but not the solid pale leaden hue I’ve always associated with the song; these were boiling, roiling storm clouds, whirling along a color spectrum ranging from the color of slush to a deep purple-y iron shade. But the air? Yes, brown. The surface soil here is entirely dry, thanks to the erosive effects of the fierce seasonal winds, and the top layer is daily swept up into the air in its own hard-driving horizontal dance.
For now, the skies are the brilliant blue of the chips in the earrings shown above. That will change by afternoon; snow is supposed to be on the way, arriving tonight and changing to rain tomorrow.
If the forecast proves accurate, it will be welcome, sub-freezing temperatures notwithstanding; we need the precipitation badly. We’ll be reading to begin planting the hardy early seeds next week, weather and temperatures permitting, and one more soaking of the soil will help immensely with the preparatory tilling. But it’s an indicator of how fast the weather can change in this place: rapid elemental shifts of enormous power and force. Fighting them is an exercise in futility; humans, animals, plants, all learn to adapt to survive.
These shifts are captured in the earrings that are today’s featured item: tiny chips of intensely blue sky falling to earth, bisected by a heartline in the form of a lightning bolt. From their description in the Other Artists: Miscellaneous Jewelry gallery:
Tiny chips of brilliant blue sky, random bits of hardened rain fallen to earth, are pieced together in these inlay earrings by Priscilla Aguilar (Kewa Pueblo). Each collection of blue turquoise chips is bisected by an inlaid sterling silver heartline, all placed gently into a slender sterling silver bezel. Backed by pale green banded serpentine.
Sterling silver; blue turquoise; banded serpentine
$235 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Now on sale at $100 off: $135 + shipping, handling, and insurance
RESERVED
It’s fitting imagery for this time of year: Life is often powerful, electric; renewal frequently carries (requires) the force of fire driven on the winds. In this particular instance, materials and imagery combine to invoke (and evoke) balance aplenty. The pieces of Skystone, hardened rain fallen to the green earth represented by the banded serpentine backing. Fire and air (wind) embodied in the zigzagging silver bolt inlaid down the surface, simultaneously the cleansing power of flame and the breath of life itself.
It’s a manifestation of this threshold season, and one that brings harmony to the unsettled air around us.
And at this time of year, who couldn’t use a little of that?
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owners.
