As a child Dr. Karla-la-la lived with her family in the Aurora Historical Museum, an old Victorian mansion in Illinois where her mother was the curator for a collection of curiosities ranging from mastodon bones to gramophones. Around the time she learned to talk, she began whispering poetry in her mother’s ear and insisting that she write it down. As natural as her freckles and bright red hair, poetry and the crafting of stories has been a part of her life since the very start. A world traveler and lifelong student of creativity and consciousness, her writing bridges the numinous and ineffable with themes involving time and space, the magic of bees and the mystery of grace. Her published dissertation explores the phenomenon of grief and transformative power of symbols, synchronicity, and the intersection of spirit and matter, topics which she continues to explore in her research and writing.
Triggadora
Synopsis:
Triggadora is both ancient and ageless and carries the heart-wisdom of the elders and children who have been my teachers and guides. She believes in freedom of the heart . . . freedom of the mind . . . freedom of the imagination to experiment and examine and explore. She knows that the uni-verse is one verse filled with infinite variations of rhyme, and poetry, being her dominant discourse, is the way that she expresses her love of life and her love of the Source of all life.
Look with your fingers, taste with your toes
there’s more than one way for the knowers to nose
and the yes-rs to guess and supposers to pose.
All senses have their sense-ability, but the challenge is for us to see
through many lenses and impart a way of seeing with the heart ~
a vision of the whole that includes both mind and soul.
The best thing about Triggadora is what she has to say. Her bubbly expressions always begin in an adoring way with a clever pet name, expertly fitting and never the same:
“Oh my Hummingbird!” Triggadora will sing when you are fast and flittering. Or “My precious Pebble!” she may call, when you’re quietly sitting thinking of nothing at all. If you’ve scraped your knee she’ll have a look and whisper, “Sorry dear Bumble Snook.” Then she’ll patch you up proper with glittery-glue and a pat and a peck and a smiling “Good as new!” If you’re up early she’ll declare, “Oh Birdy, are there any worms left out there?!” And if she finds you up late in the night, she’s sure to squeal with delight, “Opossum” she’ll say, “what a brilliant way to stretch in and out of a glorious day!”
Triggadora stories have been read at the California Institute of Integral Studies Transformative Education Intensive, and the Wisconsin Writers Association Conference where they were enthusiastically received by adults in the audiences. The stories appeal to a broad range of readers, from young children to elders, and fit squarely within the genre of ‘adult inner-child’.
The following is one of nine short Triggadora story-poems.
Stay tuned for more Triggadora musings.
Trigg’s Onometry
Triggadora has studied many subjects, some that are rather obscure, and others that are quite common and dragged on for year after year. She has degrees from prestigious colleges, and certificates from outer space, and admits that some of her knowledge is quite impossible to trace.
Of the many things Triggadora enjoys contemplating, triangles are at the top of her favorites list, for she finds them most captivating. She knows that within them is contained the wisdom of angles and dangles, as well as knowledge yet unnamed that is waiting to be untangled. There’s a triangle in everything that you can see, and touch, as well as things that are invisible, but that matter very much. It is for this reason, as you shall see that Triggadora adores the art of trigonometry.
“A triangle” Triggadora postulates, “is indeed a most stable form, but often their assistance is taken for granted and leaves them feeling forlorn. Has it ever crossed your mind,” she asks, “when sitting on a folding chair, to thank the triangles under your behind that are balancing you in the air?”
The laws of trigonometry reveal the unchanging fact that there are consistent rules by which all triangles must act. Presently we do not have to guess, thanks to a fellow named Pythagoras, and can accurately deduce the length of the hypotenuse. This is achieved with the application of his clever rule, that A squared plus B squared equals C squared, which you may have learned in school. Because of this discovery there is no longer any reason to doubt, and by applying his helpful theorem one can confidentially plan the shortest route.
With the assistance of trigonometry one need not be a giant, or spend hour after hour calculating the width of a lake or the height of a towering tower, but can measure indirectly, with ratios in place, and locate precisely where objects are in space.
When performing trigonomic ratios Triggadora is never complacent, and always takes care to place the opposite dimensions over those of the adjacent.
A ruler and a compass are often required for determining hidden triangles, and the discoveries that this discipline has inspired have untangled some remarkable tangles. They’ve guided the course of explorers and the calculations of mathematicians, as well as careful carpenters and very clever magicians.
Carrier pigeons are born with the knowledge of trigonometry and so can successfully deliver their message when flying from point A to point B. Honey bees can do this as well, when they return to the hive to tell, by doing a vector dance, where their friends are sure to find nectar and don’t leave it up to chance. By wagging their bee-hind at an angle, in relation to the sun, they relay the coordinates that their fellow bees will not forget.
Airplane pilots use trigonometry too, with take-offs and while cruising and landing, but most don’t call it trigonometry, for to them it’s just “plane understanding”.
It’s no surprise that butterflies use trigonometry to lift and flutter and float, and although they are the masters of poetic coasting, they are quite averse to boasting and you’ll never see one gloat.
“Yes,” Triggadora says with a glow, “I look for triangles wherever I go, and pay particular attention to those in the snow – for it’s a very big mistake to overlook a little flake! Of course there are grand pyramids that get a great deal of attention, but there are many less popular triangles that also deserve mention. There are triangles perched on the tops of trees and kites made of triangles that float in the breeze, triangles on wingtips as well as the masts of great sailing ships. There are triangles that are consistently right by degree and other that are obtuse, and although they are not pointed and lack sharp wit, they are equally of use.”
Judging triangles in a pageant can be difficult indeed, but with the help of sine, cosine, and tangent, one can do this with accuracy and speed. “To be a-cute,” Triggadora points out, “has nothing to do with size, for with trigonomic astuteness we are able to realize that weather mammoth or minute, all triangles contain dimensions with which one may compute.”
And beyond the seen there have always been triangular thoughts and positions which influence group dynamics and personal dispositions. For example, when flying in the air and looking down below, there may be someone on the ground looking up and waving hello. The angle of depression from one point of view is elevation from another, yet both are equally true. Only by knowing the observer’s position could we ever hope to uncover a relational perspective that is truly objective.
It is clear as air, and whether we see them or not, triangles are everywhere and they matter a whole lot! I hope the power of what they do will be inspiring for you. Who knows, perhaps one day a triangle will lead the way by synthesizing left and right or up and down or outside-in, so that even from opposites sides, everyone can win!
