Susan Joy Clark

Consider the Lilies

Matthew 6: 28 – 30 NKJV “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”

I took this photo of the lilies above this past weekend. Beautiful, aren’t they? Recently, I commented on a fellow blogger’s iris photo, and I said that a fashion designer could take inspiration from it. At the time, I wasn’t really thinking about the passage in Matthew cited above, but it fits perfectly.

Here is an iris I photographed at the Presby Memorial Iris Gardens.

Look at this iris. There does seem to be a parallel between it and women’s gowns, doesn’t there? It’s diaphanous, soft and ruffly. It made me think designers could take inspiration from flowers.

It made me wonder, “Has a fashion designer been inspired by the shapes and textures of flowers?” I looked up “gowns inspired by flowers” on Google, and here is some of what I found.

I also found some fashion illustrations from Grace Ciao, a fashion illustrator from Singapore, where she incorporates actual flower petals into her illustrations.

You can see how man can be inspired by God’s design in nature. God tells us in this passage that even (King) Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as well as one of these flowers of the field — which are only temporary and fade. God cares for us more than He does for the flowers, so why do we worry?

Why do we worry? For me, I think I feel a sense of responsibility for myself. Where my responsibility ends and where God’s provision begins can feel a little confusing. We do what we can, but there are circumstances (like world-wide pandemics) that aren’t really under our control.

I had been planning on this post for a while, but through some quirk of timing — God’s timing? — for the first time in a long while, I did some major clothes shopping this past weekend. I had a shortage of certain summer clothes. I had very few summer dresses or shorts that fit right. A little doggy ate up my last pair of summer sandals (true story!) I made do with what I had for a while, but it worked out that God provided, and I felt I was able to get several new things.

God does expect us to take certain actions in faith, but then we can expect God to do what we can’t do for ourselves.

Celebrating Creativity, Collage art

Creative Collage Art

I was perusing my “Art I Like” board on Pinterest and curated this art collection on a similar theme — collage. Collage artists here use pencil shavings, old newspapers and magazines, old sheet music, recycled Metrocards or assorted recycled junk to create pleasing creations and even recognizable famous faces or artwork. Only one piece in this collection is not technically a collage, but a sculpture, but since it is made with old sheet music, as some of the other pieces, it seems to fit. I only republished pieces where I could trace the artist and credit him or her.

Collage of Audrey Hepburn (made with old newspaper and magazine clippings) by Ines Koudis

Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, made with recycled junk, by Jane Perkins

Sculpture made from old music books, by BeckyJArts on Etsy

Beethoven collage, made with notes cut with Xacto knife from sheet music, by Erika Iris Simmons

Van Gogh’s sunflowers recreated with wood wrapped in newspaper, by Lee Kyu-Hak

Collage of Itzhak Perlman, made with recycled Metro cards, by Nina Boesch

‘pictures of magazines 2’ by vik muniz ‘a bar at folies bergères’, after edouard manet

Creative Life, Poetry

Cabin in the Woods, #Paint Chip Poetry Rondelet

Cabin in the Woods

Sweet cabin mine,

Hidden among the forest trees,

Sweet cabin mine,

Surrounded by divine design,

By day, I observe honeybees,

By night, a firefly’s light I see,

Sweet cabin mine.

The challenge from Linda Kruschke of Another Fearless Year this week is to write a rondelet, using one (or more) of the pictured paint chip colors, and using “cabin in the woods” as a title.

According to The Poetry Dictionary by John Drury, a rondelet is …

RONDELET (ron-deh-lay’; French, “little rondel”) A form consisting of seven lines, with a refrain and only two rhymes. The rhyme and refrain scheme is AbAabbA (capital A = refrain). The refrain lines (A) each contain four syllables; the other lines (a and b) each contain eight syllables.

Explorations, Food Adventures

Weekend Coffee Share — Cedar Bean’s Coffee Joint

Iced black cow and cinnamon chip scone at Cedar Bean’s Coffee Joint, Cedar Grove, NJ

So, this week’s Weekend Coffee Share is all about … well, coffee! I have been giving Dunkin quite a bit of business lately, but Friday, since I had a little more leisure, decided to give an indie coffee house some patronage and drink in some atmosphere as well as coffee. I went to the Cedar Bean’s Coffee Joint in Cedar Grove, New Jersey.

Cedar Bean’s exterior on Pompton Avenue, Cedar Grove, NJ

View of inside coffee counter at Cedar Bean’s

I ordered an iced coffee drink called an iced black cow, a cinnamon chip scone and a house made yogurt parfait called a Yumyah.

Iced black cow and cinnamon chip scone

my Yumyah yogurt parfait

I sat down on a leather couch in company with this hipster buck.

It seems perfectly appropriate to come here either with a companion or solo. If you’re solo, you can work alone on your laptop or read a book from the book cart.

book cart at Cedar Bean’s

The iced black cow is a mixture of flash chilled coffee, black cardamom syrup and milk. My coffee drink was subtly sweetened. I asked for “a little sugar,” so they were careful not to oversweeten it. It was a lot less sweet than my coffee usually is, but that was fine. It was healthier, and I was able to appreciate the coffee and spice flavors a little more. The cardamom flavor was pleasant and not overwhelming, like having a little cinnamon with your cappuccino.

The owner, Dave Fletcher, came over to me and had a chat with me, and without me even telling him I was a blogger or any reporter-like probing on my part, he told me a whole story about my iced black cow coffee drink. The name “black cow” is a tribute to Steely Dan and their song, “Black Cow,” as he shared that he is a fan of the band.

He also explained the history of the black cardamom syrup. Dave shared with me that due to a trade dispute between India and Saudi Arabia, they weren’t able to get regular cardamom for a while for their chai drinks. Instead, they got black cardamom which is quite a bit different from regular cardamom and has more of a smoky flavor. So, they developed this black cardamom syrup. He did not feel he was a fan of the black cardamom but noticed that many of his customers liked it.

Honestly, when I placed my order, I was not sure how I felt about cardamom in particular and am not sure even now I can discern between regular and black cardamom. I do know I appreciate a little spice in either my coffee or tea. My goal when I came was to savor something a little different than a chain like Dunkin or Starbucks has to offer, and I think I achieved that.

The cinnamon chip scone was wonderfully delicious. It was surprisingly very moist in the center, more than I expected for a scone, and had a really nice crisp, flaky exterior. The yogurt parfait was also surprising in a positive way.

I read my label and saw sweetened condensed milk on my yogurt ingredient list. That might sound like it would be a little too sweet, but it wasn’t. It was a little sweeter than I expected, but it had a good balance of sweet and tart. I’m a big fan of berries, and my berry topping was very tasty. I read what I thought was “cohberry” on the ingredient list. If I did, I think it was a misprint, and it should be cowberry, also known as “mountain cranberry.” There were also blackberries, blueberries and raspberries and a homemade granola topping with all organic ingredients.

Cedar Bean’s has a really, pleasant atmosphere, with this corner leather chair …

and this crackling artificial fire.

Dave told me that he has a background in graphic design, and although we didn’t fit this into our discussion, I imagine then that he designed this clever logo, a coffee bean with antlers.

Some mellow jazz was playing throughout the place, and, at one point, I recognized “Take Five” by Dave Brubeck.

One thing that I enjoy about indie coffee places is that they often seem to support the arts in various ways. This is important to me as an indie book author and as someone interested in all forms of the arts. This support was evident here at Cedar Bean’s.

There was this groovy piano just outside, welcoming patrons to play.

This sign board was tucked into a corner when I was there, but Cedar Bean’s hosts an open mic on Thursday nights. Since I’ve been so actively writing poetry lately — even a coffee poem — perhaps, I should return as a participant.

Open Mic night sign at Cedar Bean’s

The place even showed support for student artists with a scrolling slide show display of artwork, including pottery, from students at Cedar Grove High School. A barista behind the counter explained that the art exhibit was closed to parents due to Covid, so Dave decided to display the students’ work this way.

If you are local or just visiting the area, come enjoy a coffee at Cedar Bean’s. If you are not, I hope you enjoyed a “virtual visit.”

Creative Life, Poetry

Carnival Ducky — A Limerick

There once was a carnival ducky,

Who wasn’t so terribly lucky,

Each night, as he swum,

He was shot in the bum,

But my, that ducky was plucky!

It’s fun to be silly. This was written for Carrot Ranch Literary Community’s Anyone Can Poem limerick challenge.