Cathy's Blog!

Posted on July 20, 2026July 20, 2026 by Cathy Edgett

To Be Porous

Because I love the poetry of Jane Hirshfield, I loved this interview with her on YouTube at “Jane Hirshfield at PoetryEAST”.

I return to many of her poems but this is one of my favorites. From watching this interview I learned that most of her poems come from what she’s experienced or seen. This is not imagined. It’s “real” though the leap of vision is hers, “To be that porous, to have such largeness pass through me”.

The Supple Deer

The quiet opening

between fence strands

perhaps eighteen inches.

Antlers to hind hooves

four feet off the ground

the deer poured through.

No tuft of the coarse white belly hair left behind.

I don’t know how a stag turns

into a stream, an arc of water,

I have never felt such accurate envy.

Not of the deer:

To be that porous, to have such largeness pass through me.

– Jane Hirshfield

Artwork of a deer on an outside door at Commonweal in Bolinas, CA

Posted on July 19, 2026July 19, 2026 by Cathy Edgett

Art

My friend Mirka Knaster, a member of Fiber Dimensions, a group of highly talented fiber artists in the Bay Area has a blog focused on art, specifically fiber. In this post she writes about the Chiharu Shiota exhibit currently at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.

Mirka writes: Yarn installations are Shiota’s way of “painting” three-dimensionally, outside of a canvas. The thread functions the way a line does in a painting. Strands of red yarn are connective webs that resemble blood vessels or neurons in the brain. In Diary, papers and photographs are embedded in the web. Shiota says: “When the body is gone, the objects which surrounded them [sic] remain behind….As I wander the stalls of the markets in Berlin, I find especially personal items like photographs, old passports and… diaries. Once, I found a diary from 1946, which was an intimate insight into the person’s life and experiences. While [I am] looking at those [handwritten] pages, their inner self is revealed, and I can feel their presence.” This installation reflects on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II through lingering traces of history in the objects Shiota finds and in the absence of the humans who once had them.

Check out her post: https://www.mirkaart.com/blog/2026/7/14/symbolic-red

It’s only on view at the Asian Art Museum until July 27. https://asianart.org

Here is Shiota’s website: https://www.chiharu-shiota.com/top

Handmade door for the fairies to enter a rock in my yard.

Posted on July 18, 2026 by Cathy Edgett

Low Tide

This morning I noticed the darkness at 5:15. Yes, the fog is in but still there’s that sense of the tilt toward fall. I’m with the plants and creatures that survive at low tide, and then, again in the high tide, the covering, renewing, feeding, fertilizing.

Posted on July 17, 2026July 17, 2026 by Cathy Edgett

Rodeo Beach at Low Tide

Today I was again at Rodeo Beach. I was surprised to see a hole in a rock I’ve taken zillions of pictures of but today the light and the closeness to it with the low tide allowed me to see right through it. I often see it as different animals, and today again invited imagining like looking at clouds.

Now I see the rock facing east, not west, nuzzling the rock next to it.

Walking further south than usual because of the low tide

Posted on July 17, 2026 by Cathy Edgett

Who’s In Power?

In the photo below, what do you see? Is it a giant Heron next to a tiny house? It’s actually a full-sized playhouse with a normal sized Great Blue Heron standing next to it, but the Heron is in front of the house on a hill, and the camera angle skews sizing. In this way, Trump continues to distort what we know and see. He’s the one in power. He’s the one who shows tampering in the election process and yes China and Russia may be involved with their bots, but they are on the side of Trump, not the side of “we the people”. Who benefits from Trump’s policies? The super rich, and their money and news sources support Trump. Vote his cronies out!

Great Blue Heron stands proudly next to a full-sized house!

Posted on July 17, 2026 by Cathy Edgett

A Moment Is a Moment

My teacher of Sensory Awareness would say “A moment is a moment.” This morning I woke up to those words. There’s something about going through old photos that makes that so clear. All those moments.

I spent time yesterday in the garden after seeing photos of each reincarnation. It’s filled in beautifully, a gift.

I came across this photo from a neighbor’s garden, a paradise of flowers and birds. May we each have access to the garden within and this garden we share, and may we cultivate what matters to us now, and now, and now.

Four years ago, this sign was up at Abbott’s Lagoon to warn of protecting the otter pups. I saw the mother and pups swimming at the time, and this photo affirms what I saw on Tuesday across the lagoon on the dunes was a bunch, a romp, a family.

Mother and two babies swimming back to their nest.

Posted on July 16, 2026July 17, 2026 by Cathy Edgett

Memories

Recognizing I was going to need to delete some photos or pay more for storage, I settled into what I expected to be a small task, perhaps an hour or so, but then I began. I had around 36,000 photos, starting in 2006. I started slowly, and then began to build. I’ve now deleted 6,541 photos and 50 videos. I see that I probably have more photos of Great Blue Herons, Egrets, and Rodeo Beach than anyone on the planet. My grandson is also a well-photographed treasure trove. In February, 2023, I resided on a houseboat in Sausalito. That’s where I really got into taking photos. It was a small boat and at low tide, the egrets and herons could walk around it, so I would walk around the outside of the boat following them and taking pictures. Mt. Tam was also a favorite. On February 24th it snowed on Mt. Tam, a rare event, and naturally I have photos to re-visit.

Mt. Tam drifted with snow February 24, 2023.

And then more snow with fog rising up in greeting.

A beautiful mountain as seen from the houseboat, AKA a floating house.

Posted on July 15, 2026 by Cathy Edgett

Zeroing in on Abbott’s Lagoon

I was thrilled when I saw a Great Blue Heron at Abbott’s Lagoon. Then I saw the Great White Egret next to it. I approached closer and closer, and still they were quietly enjoying the view, and then, at times, busy grooming. Even birds, get ready for the day. They weren’t bothered as I circled round them, entranced with their ability to cleanse, appreciate, and savor what we all share, the gift of life!

Maybe a little more – a bend of the head –

A little closer to make clear what we share.

Posted on July 15, 2026 by Cathy Edgett

Abbott’s Lagoon

Yesterday I drove out to Abbott’s Lagoon in Point Reyes. It was early, sunny, and warm. I was alone. I’ll show pictures of my walk, and then, in the next post zero in on more photos of a Great Blue Heron and Great White Egret grooming with a view. I also saw across the lagoon what I knew must be otters since they hang out there, and slide down the dunes, and also groom. This was a huge lump that stayed still, and was gone when I returned. I came home and zoomed in on the lump. Otters huddle together in what’s called a “romp”. For sure, two otters, but I think there’s also two babies. It’s that time of year. Quite a day. I’ll try to give a taste with photos.

Walking down the curving and narrow path

A Romp of Otters resting and warming on the dunes

A tapestry of color – so many blues and greens!

Coming back, I see a Great Blue Heron who is usually in this spot.

Regal and patient, he or she waits to catch and chomp a fish.

And there’s the bend in the Trigger Neck!

Posted on July 14, 2026 by Cathy Edgett

Together

Desmond Tutu:

When we see others as the enemy, we risk becoming what we hate. When we oppress others, we end up oppressing ourselves. All of our humanity is dependent upon recognizing the humanity in others.