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PSALMS OF MY SOUL
Kabbalistic Sephirat HaOmer - day 17 which is two weeks and three days of the Omer.
TIFERET sh b’TIFERET - HEART of HEART ספירת העומר
PAIR OF HEARTS. Heart of Heart - Balance, Beauty, Truth, Compassion
http://sephirathaomer.blogspot.com/2015/05/pair-of-hearts-day-17-tiferet-sh.html
http://sephirathaomer.blogspot.com/2015/05/pair-of-hearts-day-17-tiferet-sh.html
'Counting the Omer with Edith and after Edith'
We were 'a pair', and today the Omer pair is HEART.
Today, as most days recently, I think of my truly beloved friend, Edith, BFF, obm. Her memorial is this Sunday, following the week of Tiferet. Edith died 5th day of the Omer, 12 days ago. From my heart each day in prior years and the first days of this Sephirat HaOmer season, I shared with Edith the meaning of each Omer day as I understood it - all around me, coming through me and within me. Being a religious and spiritual woman, Edith enjoyed learning about my faith. (She knew more than me and chastised me for not knowing "all the bible", including hers.)Edith had been a church organist, and I am a temple musician. We shared many interests, especially gardening. Was really gardening of the heart... We had opposing thoughts too, especially on who should be US president and cancelled out each other’s vote! For heart reasons, we restricted some of our conversations.
'Counting the Omer' today is HEARTbased within Truth, Beauty, Compassion, Harmony and Balance. This composed most of our days and years, especially Edith’s personal 95 years. Tomorrow Edith would have celebrated her 95th birthday surrounded by hearts’ love. (Yes, you know I am tearing.)
One of Edith’s sons following his mother’s, obm, death called Edith and I “a pair” and now I realize that we were a ‘pair’, a team. (Edith is growing pears in her garden.) I hadn’t analyzed our relationship. I didn’t stand back and examine it. I was just deeply within it. Yes, dear Edith, I acknowledge that you were the age of my own mother, obm, and what that means to you.
I appreciate the friendship concept offered up by a son. Concocting TIFERET-filled still lifes together in her home and garden for my photo group's photography themes over the prior 4 1/2 years, and appreciating the TIFERET of life, we were 'a pair' for at least a couple decades but knew each longer as I drove by each day and saw Edith gardening and would wave. I am still feeling it. Feels better than the immediate mourning, grief and loss I endured upon Edith’s passing over, and from my heart--shared love-filled memories with Edith’s family. I had spent part of practically every day or evening over the years with Edith, a neighbor a few blocks away.
Edith did enjoy my photo projects although I didn't always use her ideas regarding props. Recently I didn’t act to reach up high to a shelf holding her deceased husband’s eagle sculpture. At times, Edith’s fast moving mostly unfriendly cat didn’t want to stand still either. You can see Caty's photos in my Edith web site*.
I think the best photo I ever took in Edith's home that wasn't of Edith-- was an awesome one that my photo group in no way appreciated yet weeks later someone else also staged it, and I shared that with Edith. I would tell Edith how many FaceBook ‘likes’ each photo received from our projects.
Edith and I used to set up still lifes. First time I ever created a still life was with Edith and fruit. We had different opinions how to make them look best. Edith liked fruit standing in same direction, more harmonious, and I liked various, more chaotic, and I’d place some upside down. Yes, we really spent a lot of happy, joyous, fun, creative time together... Edith would have me add her garden’s red or yellow hibiscus flowers to my swimming pool shots. There should be some shots in the Edith web site. Floating flowers are also in a video I made, Ripple Reflections, *** in tribute to Edith and her pool. I was ecstatic in Edith’s pool, especially when shooting from the heart.
Can't recall the theme... but in Edith's dining room I looked through and shot through a hanging chandelier crystal and photographed lots of fruits in patterns layered in a bowl on Edith's table by the curtained window. Awesome. Definitely one of my more strange creative photos filled with light and weirdness. OH, I loved those dark purple skinned bitter passion fruits and luscious orange persimmons from her tree. I made a YouTube movie of Edith preparing her dried Persimmons**.
With a fruit prop, used Edith’s magnificent large cream-colored table cloth (maybe amazingly crocheted by her mom). I neatly refolded the precious ancestral cloth. Photos in site.
(My own mom, z”l, obm, used to love the lights from hanging crystals. My creative artist gardener mom, died young 1969, would have loved Edith, so humble and nothing pretentious about Edith, an 'earth mother'. My mom used to love creating still lifes with her own art for her photography. Hmm, In Hebrew my mom’s name was ‘heart’, Lev, Leba, thus Tiferet.)
I used to often stand by Edith at the sink and photograph her there, preparing, creating, cooking, cleaning. At times Edith would let me turn the cooking vegetables, or cut and prepare the persimmons for ‘drying'. Felt good that Edith trusted me with her foods and utensils. (I did good.) The large wind chimes with hummer at window above sink were a gift from me. Figured I'd bring in a hummer as Edith spent time making the Hummers’ sugar water drink.
Each morning Edith would heart-fully tell/show me about the twinkly lights she’d see emanating from the distant palm trees. They totally delighted her.
Each morning Edith is with me as I see the twinkles, like now. This morning, some of them entered my kitchen as I wrote on computer. I do believe it is Edith visiting me, filled with Tiferet.
In Tiferet sh b'Tiferet 2018,
- Joy Krauthammer
* Edith:
** Persimmon movie:
*** Ripple Reflections in tribute to Edith movie:
