Day 3535: Resilience.

 

"Resilience": photos, collage and digital.

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Click here: DEBUSSY, Clair de Lune.

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 2GN2S ...

 

 Pysanky

 These Polish-Ukrainian Easter eggs are painstakingly decorated with a tiny beeswax pen and then dipped in a succession of dyes. The different layers of dye and the wax -- which is melted off the final product -- create dazzling patterns that are a point of immense regional pride. There is plenty of folklore surrounding the eggs, too, and many people believe they offer protection from evil spirits. With the ongoing war in Ukraine, pysanky are being newly appreciated as a symbol of Ukrainian resilience. A display of these fragile works of art, collected from around the world, is currently showing at the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York.

An American-born daughter of Ukrainian refugees, Sofika Zielyk has dedicated her life to keeping the heritage of her parents’ homeland alive. The artist and ethnographer specializes in creating and curating pysanky – traditional Ukrainian Easter eggs decorated in painstaking detail, each one a dazzling gem.

 As Russian President Vladimir Putin presses forward with his violent campaign of bombarding Ukrainian towns and cities in a bid to dominate Ukraine’s people and erase its culture, Zielyk and others in the Ukrainian diaspora are embracing pysanky as more than a springtime ritual of renewal. They say it is a symbol of Ukrainian resilience, and that the country will survive.

 

"My two sisters, my parents and I lived in a tiny New York apartment [when I was growing up]. As I was falling asleep at night, I would watch my mother making pysanky. Everything was dark except the candle flame, which you need in order to create these eggs because you have to melt the wax over the flame."

 "This is an extremely ancient tradition that originated in Ukraine and it was passed down through centuries, mother to daughter. Pysanka is the symbol of rebirth. I always made them during the Easter season, and eventually a hobby turned into a profession. When I started researching the tradition, I realized that this was just more than pretty decorated eggs. It has a history of a whole nation."

 "It has a very special significance. Right now, when there is attempted genocide in the country of Ukraine, my ancestral homeland, this is a very important thing to do. The egg is so fragile and yet the tradition has not left – the tradition was not killed throughout the centuries."

 "When the war started, I was in shock. I was in disbelief, sadness – and then anger set in and I felt like I had to do something. I realized that pysanky and cultural diplomacy is my weapon." 

 

"So I put a call out to social media and asked anybody who’s of Ukrainian descent– anybody who cares – to create a pysanky and send it to the Ukrainian Institute. And it is an installation that is constantly changing because more eggs are arriving every day from all over the world."

"It is the ancestral, primal, symbolic response to the aggressor. It is our way of saying that we are here, we have been here for centuries and we are not going anywhere."

 

 

Update ...

 

I will leave the house on the hill today.

A day earlier than planned but Superman and WonderWoman will fly in late this afternoon.

 So I put my sheets and towels in the washer and the dogs put it all together and knew I was leaving. They are so smart. I have packed and brought everything downstairs, they watch everything. As I sit here working on my laptop they are more active than usual, so I put on today's music above thinking it would relax them. It works for me, but they evidently wanted to contribute and Zoey got her noisiest squeaky toy to chime in! Not what DeBussy had in mind.

 

I have been battling static electricity in my hair since yesterday. It was cold and I had my hood on.

If I looked like this little girl, I'd keep it, but I don't.

 

Laker & Zoey

Now both grand-dogs are doing their routine neighborhood check. There is a big black dog down the hill and sometimes they are all out at the same time. A part of their day.

 As is their nap on the patio couch, especially when the sun hits it. It is 59' now but to warm up to 78'. Such is life at the house on the hill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A lovely 4-1/2-minute video, Yo-Yo Ma, here.

 

Just because ...

 

 

Sandhill Crane & nestling

 

 

 

Smiles for Sunday ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                               Thanks for coming by today.