Image: Artwork for Diamonds Hadder Field notes: 'The Raven the Coin and the Waterfall.
It seems I’ve been away a lot these last 2 months.. this happens every year. The winter months bring storms to the hills and I can’t pull myself away from the drama of such things. The lure of the woods is strong in me. It’s also at this time during the winter moon cycles that I seem to replenish the well of water with new ideas, Hadder and other things related.
A quick story as I reconnect with Diamonds Hadder this week and fire up the brick kiln, I walked 14 miles upriver this weekend.. in and out of the raging current… through waterfalls, stumbling into the frigid water, climbing giant boulders and trudging through narrow black canyons. I had a lot of time to think about things. It was an amazing time of self-reflection.. time well spent in the cold shadows of the virgin canyon walls. On the final day I was in a very narrow slot canyon and I came upon a waterfall. It was a magic place that I dreamt of… cold and dark and still. It was the end of the road for me… I was there a while in quiet contemplation… alone with my breathing and shivering hands. Behind me I heard a sound… and suddenly a giant raven came down through the narrow canyon.. it’s wing flaps echoed off the canyon walls in a loud strange deafening noise which startled me for a moment. It was the most beautiful moment… it was real… it was getting dark and I was running out of time.. yet I didn’t want to leave. “Is that you lord Zabble?” my voice echoed down the canyon… I fell asleep on the gravel, perhaps under spell, and during that time the raven approached and whispered in my ear… seems it wasn’t a raven at all… but another puzzle piece I needed to complete the story of Diamonds Hadder. My life is blurred by a reality and fiction. I’m surrounded by kings and queens in places I only dream about. At that waterfall I finally came to terms with something and I really didn’t care if I ever made it back… I’ll tell you about the raven and the coin and what I was told to do in a few days time.. when I gather my thoughts and put pen to paper. I left an old broken piece of me there in the narrow canyon.. a shell of my former self.. in the blue waters of that magic waterfall I’ll never forget. My new ghost now walks the tower. “Thank you master Zabble.”
PS. A working version of "Hell Fall" is now on the front page.. just minor edits left, but good enough for loud listening, enjoy it. -j