spring rites

It’s been an eventful spring break. I have eggs and peeps on the brain, which may explain this drawing of Maine College of Art student Molly Steinmetz. She’s a maker and shaker that needed to be drawn, and with tulips no less.

In between lots of walks and sorting out tax stuff, I read Here Come the Humpbacks! at a Peaks Island benefit for our fiercely independent local bookstore, Longfellow Books, which suffered major damages to their store during a February storm. We showed them some love. Thanks to Eleanor Morse for pulling it together and Scott Nash for the design below.

What is it about rocks? I visited the UNE art gallery to walk the labyrinth last week. Seemed like a good spring rite.

Even though it is near a parking lot, it’s still a peaceful spot surrounded by trees and a cemetery. I found more stones inside, in a remarkably ingenious installation by Kate Cheney Chappell.

Later the same day, I found a sure sign of spring among the stones on Peaks Island.

I joined my colleagues at Maine College of Art for a reception in honor of our fellow professor Daniel Minter, whose book, Ellen’s Broom, just won the Coretta Scott King award. I’m so proud to know him; he’s not only deeply talented, but a teacher to us all.

Several originals are on view in the Joanne Waxman Library on the second floor of the college. A carved broom from his collection tops the display.

I love that he included actual linocuts.

He carves, prints, and adds watercolor for the final illustration. A neighbor presented him with an old broom as a gift. Brooms are culturally significant to the story of Ellen, and likewise for Daniel, who employs their symbolism in his art regularly. Bravo, Daniel!

The broom idea surely worked on me as I felt an undeniable urge to sweep away winter during yesterday’s Snow Day.

We tried celebrating with a picnic but it was just too cold.

This morning I tried another custom, standing an egg on end at the precise moment of the vernal equinox, 7:02 AM.

One worked, and one didn’t. According to Chinese custom, if you stand an egg on its end on the first day of spring, you will have good luck for the entire year. The egg represents the life force in many cultures, and is particularly used to symbolize the rebirth of nature in the spring season.

Time to sweep and then decorate some eggs!