The Social Porcupine

silk tatted lace edging for my wedding dress If you asked me as a young girl what I wanted to do when I grew up, I wouldn't have had some answer that suggested I wanted to labor away for some corporation eight hours every weekday. I had no visions of being a Redcross nurse and patching up soldiers (unless it was for the other side), or of being some schoolteacher (I'd have encouraged all the students to play hooky), or of being the secretary to the President of the United States (nor of being the president).    No, I'd have told you that I would much prefer to make leather shoes and spin yarn for sweaters for my babies... and tat lace. Even now, I can't imagine a better aspiration than to sit in a rocker of luxurious wood on embroidered cushions and tat yards of silk lace with my silver shuttle. We all have a grandmother, or a friend who has a grandmother, who made lace. Depending on their heritage and background, they may have done tape lace, bobbin lace, ...

If my ten years of blogging has taught me anything, it is that if a steadfast blogger woman goes MIA it is because she has stumbled upon the delights of cloud nine. After all these wild illusions, I am no different.  (Yes, I am engaged.) I have missed this blog though, and my lucky readers will be glad to know that my fiancé is also a writer, and we are keeping the other accountable to our earthly passions. The writing shall carry on!! Andy (aka Shagbark Hick from twitter or Randy from his Substack County Line Notes ) and I plan to be married sometime in the spring as soon as the wildflowers are ready to be made into bouquets. There is little to do this winter but to make my wedding dress. And, of course, for us to get to know each other's families and faith as thoroughly as love urges one. Our first picture together, taken by my little brother in my father's junk yard.  If you all remember, I left end of last summer for a long road trip that lasted just about five...

If you had the opportunity to step inside a temple of the Church of Latter Day Saints, would you?  Last month two LDS missionaries came inside a little bookstore I was taking care of for the day. Delightful conversation about theology, anarchy, and adventure ensued. I told them about my church hopping days. Before they left they handed me a little brochure, "I think you'll appreciate this." It was information about a temple just built in Helena... and it would be open for visitations until dedicated! Yes, I was interested. I finally made it out yesterday, the last day before being closed to non church members. Really, it was a fascinating, thought provoking experience. There were many pieces of art throughout the entire building, some of it original paintings others quality prints. One of the most unusual and loveliest was of God hugging Jesus. There was texturized carpet and embroidered chairs and large chandeliers. So many mirrors, and I badly wanted to get ...

Last weekend I taught hand sewing and embroidery at Turtle Island , an off-grid thousand-acre nature preserve in North Carolina. I also participated in blacksmithing and netmaking classes and went on a long quiet walk... discovering I shared a birthday with one of the founders. It was a beautiful weekend to unplug and pick up skills. The students were a delight. I watched them fall in love with sewing, some of them claiming they'd never thought such a thing possible. The truth is matters of femininity are far from despicable once we move past the lie that we're incompetent. The word empowerment gets thrown around a lot, but it's simply capability and joy.  Some call it domestic servitude... because they want more corporate slaves and fewer competent women guiding communities. A skilled, capable woman isn't a doormat. She's a queen with a broom in hand ready to beat the pulp out of that doormat so you'll feel welcomed in her domain. ,, ...

What's it like driving twenty hours in a day? First let's squelch the misconception that traveling is exciting. Instead of sitting on your cozy couch staring out your sparkling windows with curtains you sewed you're cramped in a driver's seat staring out a bug-smeared window. Simple as that.  This morning I woke up at some rest stop in South Dakota. It had a ridiculous sign posted "encouraging" people to stay only three hours. I slept six.  Lost the sheet of metal I'd skillfully duct taped to the top of my car to cover a busted skylight. Dear God, pour the rain on my enemies. (Please don't let my enemy's car be parked next to mine tonight). I listened to the rest of the audio book "Body Keeps the Score". Excellent material. Sustenance: half a bag of chips, a sourdough peanut butter sandwich, a square of chocolate, water, one coffee, vitamin d capsule (forgot to take other vitamins).  Many friends called.  When driving through ...

Women are leaders in grace, conversation, and reconciliation. You know what odd combinations I love to see most in evangelical home churches? A woman fully living in her femininity, and yet quite not silent in church. It isn't that I wish to defy 1 Timothy 2:12, but that I understand sobriety isn't the absence of speech or the presence of silence. It's that I understand that the works of the Proverbs 31 women are so perfectly aimed the attention lands where she intends --her fine work, her husband, her community.  Several years ago, I attended a dance that demonstrated traditional femininity and masculinity through honor, sacrifice, respect, and romance. The oddest of statements was issued: women traditionally were the leaders of conversation in society. They hosted spaces for men to converse, and certain women were sought after for invitations  because the spaces they held invoked the best discourses. Arguably, these women weren't brazen or given to much de...