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My five African walking sticks: Grasslands, Lilac-Breasted Roller, Giraffe,
Red and Yellow Babette, East African Crested Crane. |
How far did you walk today? What sensations did you have? Where did your mind go? Did you have fun? It is natural for our bodies to crave walking. Our ancestral Homo sapiens and before them our hominid precursors spent a good part of every day walking: for water, for berries and other edibles, searching for animals, to find wood for a fire, to get from one area to another. They established the baseline for healthy human bodies.
Last month I shared three of my Happy Sticks, painted walking sticks that celebrate the gifts of our African Ancestors. Since then I moved on to the last two: the East African Crested Crane and the giraffe. I left you with my not knowing how I was going to make the crest for the Crested Crane. I started out thinking I would need to use wire to make it stand up.
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First attempts to craft the crest from wire.
The result was wimpy. |
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I tried tying raffia in knots to stiffen it.
It took a lot of raffia and the result was ugly. |
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| I moved on to making the mane for my giraffe stick. |
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I began making the giraffe's tail
by wrapping paper ribbon around the stick. |
I did not like the Yellow Ochre I had used for the giraffe's spots. After researching African giraffes I decided to change the coloration to that of the Somali giraffe.
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I completed the giraffe's mane.
Do you think the hairs are too long?
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| Do you like the giraffe's tail? |
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| Working on the giraffe showed me a simpler way to make the crane's crest. |
I have always marveled at the beauty of cranes, so graciously depicted by Asian artists.
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I hope the base of my crane (and its head above)
establish the bird's elegance. |
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| Giraffe and crane snuggle up together. |
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Do my Happy Sticks remind you in some way of Africa
and encourage you to continue the human tradition of walking? |
On Monday I hiked to Oregon's Sahclelle Falls near Cascade Locks, three miles up and back. On Tuesday I ran up and down the stairs at least twenty times, preparing for
Nourishing the Spirit, an exhibition of meaning-centered mandalas by me and some of my students. On Wednesday I did a half-hour saunter around my neighborhood. Each of these experiences had a unique feel.
Monday I felt the heat of the sun, mist from water cascading on the rocks, the need to strengthen my lungs, and the kinks in my hips. On Tuesday, I was aware of my feet dancing on the carpeted stairs; I changed shoes three times. Wednesday's saunter was all about the movement of air, the feeling of a slight breeze sighing through tree leaves. All of these experiences made me exceedingly grateful for legs, hips, butt muscles and for the ancestors who laid the foundation for human movement upon this wondrous earth.
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With the walking sticks completed I'm moving on
to figuring out what to do with the happy bones I crafted. |
