The seventeenth of August, and this morning, the fire maple’s uppermost leaves are all crowned with scarlet.
We are witness now to an early dance with dormancy’s small death in the middle of this late flowering of land and sky.
The latter is “late” only by the timing of their appearance relative to earlier blossoms; it is, in fact, one of the few aspects of summer we may still regard as “normal” here. Spirit knows precious little else has been in recent years. Even our wildfire season now refuses to follow more usual patterns, to say nothing of the rains upon which this small space of the world relies to prevent and contain them.
At dawn this morning, there was once again a reddening bloom in the western sky, remnant smoke, presumably, from the Conejos Fire over at Jemez, contained but with undergrowth still live and smoking. There are a couple of others across the state, too, some temporarily enhanced by controlled ignitions designed to bring them under control. Here, the only evidence of their existence is in the dusky red haze that clouds the otherwise crystalline air.
Fortunately, crimson-tinged maples notwithstanding, there are plenty of new flowers fully in season to ornament the earth: the russety reds of Mexican hat and the encircling bands on the firewheels and blanketflowers; the warm coral of globemallow; the electric golds of rudbeckia and sunflowers both wild and cultivated; the vast range of reds and purples and blues across the wild clover and thistle, the flowering sage, the coneflowers and bluebells.
I know that we featured today’s work within the last month or so, but it fits so well with the week’s themes, and with the world outside the window here, that little could be better-suited to this day — a warm flowering red, soft and gentle and seemingly alive with small spirits. From its description in the relevant section of the Bracelets Gallery here on the site:
Red Flower Rain Cuff Bracelet
A monumental cabochon of red flower jasper serves as the focal point of this magnificent unisex cuff. The stone, a warm, earthy rose shade with a mulberry and charcoal matrix of dendritic wildflower blossoms, is set into an elevated scalloped bezel, trimmed with twisted silver, and accented with a tiny chatoyant tiger’s eye cabochon at one side. The cuff, wide and weighty, features a hand-stamped row of matched thunderhead symbols chased along the center of the band, flanked at either edge by a single row of thunderheads. The band itself tapers slightly at either end for a comfortable fit. In the inner band, morning stars and other celestial symbols are scattered like constellations tossed across the pre-dawn sky. Band is 1-11/16″ across, narrowing to 1-3/8″ at either end; the bezel is slightly wider, 1-7/8″ long by 1.25″ wide; the visible portion of the stone is 1.5″ long by 1-1/8″ wide (dimensions approximate). Other views shown below.
Sterling silver; red flower jasper
$1,550 + shipping, handling, and insurance
This piece has always struck me as particularly timeless — or, perhaps more accurately, as transcending the ordinary bonds of time. Its’ a wholly traditional style infused with a forward-looking spirit: contemporary, yes, after a fashion, but more to the point, one that embraces the power and cycle of seasonal change.
And seasonal change is not merely upon us, it is near-constant now. We see this daily here, in real time, and today is no exception.
For now, although the red in the sky has mostly faded into blue, the haze remains at the western horizon. At the moment, the earth is still mostly green and lush, the hay in the fields low and dotted with a full color spectrum of clover as it awaits today’s cutting.
And while aspen and willow have begun to go gold here and there, the fire maple having already begun to summon the flames, there is still a whole world now entering the season when it comes most fully alive, this late flowering of land and sky that reassures us of existence of the hoop.
~ Aji
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