my northern exposure moment

dance with abandon
mixed media collage
8 x 10 solid aspen
(c) 2009 julie king

i love taking the long way to work. a back road leaves our sleepy little town and meanders over a river and winds up a hill through a wooded area. between bill and me we've seen deer crossing the road several times. the first time for me, i was driving alone and came around the last curve at the top of the hill and 3 deer were slowly making their way across someone's back yard and over the road. they are always going the same way in the morning -- toward the river. once we saw them come leaping away from the river and across the road, making me comment that they wanted to get home before dark. lol

around 6:20 last thursday morning, bill called me to say he was stopped in the middle of the road as 5 deer took their sweet time crossing. and all at once a memory from a few years ago came flooding into my mind. i was living in my little indiana home town and presley was still a wee lad of a pup. i was on my way out bright and early one october morning to take him for his 12 block walk (3 blocks west to the cemetery, 3 blocks north to high street, 3 blocks east to ruth's house, and then 3 blocks south to home). as i stepped off the porch a funny clip clop noise came riding on the wind. puzzled, i stopped and looked around. and, there about 1/2 block east was a doe standing in the middle of the street looking at me. it was quite a stalemate as i watched her and she watched me. presley was oblivious and just anxious to get on with the walk. after a few short minutes the doe turned and headed on her way toward the elementary school and the creek that ran behind it. it was just like the moose (or was it an elk??) that walked the streets of cicely, alaska in northern exposure. now to be known for ever more as my northern exposure moment. hee hee

i just finished the collage in this post this evening. it's a sweet little nothing of a piece on an 8 x 10 piece of solid aspen. it features pieces torn from 2 books i bought at an auction this last fall. one is the accounts ledger of a mr. wilbur foreman with detailed listings of expenses and income from 1950 to 1958 (all written in pencil). it tells a sad story of decline as the last 2 pages of entries you can barely read his very shaky handwriting. i've saved the pages with writing but tore pieces from the blank sheets for the background of this collage. the second book is a thesaurus of quotations, copyright 1941, the property of iona warren. it has seen a lot of good use, with the bookbinding all shot and the pages falling out. she had gorgeous handwriting but alas only her signature appears in the book.

makes me want to go to an auction, an old bookstore or an outdoor flea market. anyone care to join me??!!