this land...

"Now as l was yound and easy
under the apple boughs.
About the lilting house and happy
as the grass was green."
-dylan thomas





I built a fort...
We moved coast to coast a few months ago, Port Alberni, bc
to Bear River East, ns. When l arrived l built a fort.

Choppity chop goes the axe in the woods
You gotta meet me by the fall down tree
-tom waits


As a kid l built forts, l loved it, a home away from home,
a shelter, a place to sit, a place to imagine. Grade six
was my most prolific year. Maybe it was because of
the neighbor's kids, a brother and sister, Kerry and
Holly. A sacred trio, we explored the forest together, we
explored each other. Sometimes Holly and l would lay
together, flesh to flesh on the forest floor, our pants down
around our knees, lay there silent while Kerry chopped
trees in the background When our little bums got cold we
would get up and continue our fort building.

There are unknown forces in nature;
when we give ourselves wholly to her
without reserve, she lends them to us;
she shows us these forms, which our
watching eyes do not see, which our
intelligence does not understand or suspect.
-rodin


Our best fort was a hut, the up turned roots of a giant fallen
tree, it had hallowed the ground and we built a roof, you
had to crawl to get inside, like a igloo. We found old bottles
and jars in the forest, some still had liquids and cremes in
them, we a built a shelf and placed them there like trophies
on the mantel. We had a old rusty canning pot that we put
rusty springs inside and covered with moss.
It was like Robinson Crusoe, like Journey to the Center of the
Earth, like The Lost World, like The Wind in the Willows.
It made me.



A person is so far formed by his surrounding, that
his state of harmony depends entirely on his
harmony with his surroundings.
-the timeless way of building




...his fort was the bush


...i don't know where his fort was, but he was so happy,
he was so nice, l don't think he needed a fort.
He was a fort.



go build a fort...


----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Because you're mine
I walk the line
-j.cash

I am going to leave you with a little music...
I bought an old record player and l visit a second hand store
to buy records. It's like going to the doctor, such a personal
thing to buy records. Sometime l'm embarrassed by what
l buy, but it's a secret between me and the store owner. But,
l found a treasure, a 1972 tribute to woody guthrie. It has
richie havens, odetta, pete seger, peter fonda and more.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------



This post never ends.
I have a lovehate relationship with artist trading cards but l
have suggested to the lovely sandra at New Times Arrived
that we exchange artistic post cards.
My friend Dale in victoria collects atc's, he has over two
thousand now, and he also sends out calls for mail art
he's a real nice guy, so send him some art, or if you want to
exchange visual matter with me, my address;
1119 mary jane riley rd, rr#1
bear river east, nova scotia, B0S 1B0
goodbye now