over under over under, under over under over

What's so hard about that?

My first experience with tapestry was when I was a senior in High School and I took a class at the local YMCA.  We wove on basic wooden frames leaned against the wall before which we sat cross-legged on the floor. It seemed a simple thing, if time consuming, and we were young and flexible enough to pursue weaving this way without undue pain.  And I certainly thought, "Over under over under, under over under over.....what's so hard about that?"

When I returned to the art of weaving so many years later, I still carried with me that idea - that this has to be so simple.  Why, then, has it turned into a type of Hydra, with ever increasing numbers of directions and skills to pursue like Hydra's multiplicity of heads. As soon as I think I've grown in skill, there is something else that spins me around, and demands my attention.

I cannot stop thinking about a scene in the movie "Frisco Kid." When blocked by a vertical drop down to a swiftly moving river, the experienced protagonist (Harrison Ford) maintains it is safer to go around, while the "greenhorn," Avram (Gene Wilder), says to himself, "That doesn't look so hard." Confused why his "pard" insists on going the long way, Avram sets off after him. Until his horse is panicked by a rattler, gallops toward the cliff and jumps off into the swirling waters below. 

I feel like that guy.  

I've naively muttered to myself, "That doesn't look so hard," then clutched the reins and gone galumphing over the cliff.

But what a happy surprise! The water is exhilarating and refreshing; there is much more depth and challenge than I ever expected. There is much to learn, much to play with, and enough to keep me in the saddle for years to come. It's a skill and it's an art. It's often frustrating,. And definitely addicting. 

I apologize, though.  I don't know what the rattler represents in this analogy....​

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