Shrug and Foolishness

Here are pictures of the cotton shrug I knitted last week. It's way big, probably because it's loosely knit cotton. Essentially, it's a rectangle to which you add ribbed cuffs and sew sides together for about 5 inches from cuffs. In any case, I love it and have been so delighted that we've had slightly chilly days that have been perfect for snuggling into the colorful soft cotton.



Until the other day, I had no idea what these flowers were:
Now I know they are crimson columbine. They sprang up in the place where I decided to pile all the flowers that were sent for Patrick's remembrance ceremony, let them go back to the earth. It's a spot by the back screened-in porch, by a wild, unkempt trellised rosebush. I guess that perhaps there were some of these in one of the arrangements....??

Anyway, before I identified it, I spent some time just looking at the flowers. I thought they looked whimsical and funny, like jester caps...and it seemed an important observation as I have also had the strongest feeling that Patrick, in an archetypal way, was/is like The Fool... there's more to explain in that than I can do right now, but I think it's not a bad way to metaphysically explore some of the meanings in his life and death, and his struggles with addiction, the dichotomy of his own bad choices and his innate wisdom. Well, here's one quote on The Fool as depicted in Tarot:

"This whimsical character is numbered zero because he represents both the beginning and the end of the journey toward self-awareness. Innocent and wise, naïve and deeply insightful, the Fool is often represented in the tarot as dallying along a cliff. He is a risk-taker, an adventurer, someone who lives fully in the present and recognizes that the universe is constantly changing. To less daring souls, he sometimes looks like a silly child. Like Shakespeare's fools, he often has more insight into the drama on the stage than the other characters do..."

Getting back to the flowers that have appeared - once I figured out they are columbine flowers, I looked up flower meanings....several showed Columbine = Folly.

and I shall leave it at that for today...
love, Zann