480. ….and that’s the truth!

sitting strictly, eyes closed

entertaining endless thoughts—

in meditation 

 

(To meditate or to meditate…. Honestly, I would rather lounge a little, sit in my easy chair with a cup of tea or hot cocoa, and read poetry out loud. And that’s the truth! 😉)

479. looking ahead 👀

three poles

and a bucket of snow

counting the days

 (When things aren’t going your way, it helps to find something to look forward to 👀!)

478. C-H-A-O-S

into each age

a little bit of chaos

must fall

(I was just thinking: What if chaos was only a five-letter word for change, the ongoing change that cannot be changed, so intertwined is it in the great web of Life itself? What if we could not make change a big deal? Just settle down with the changing scenery of the passing seasons….and just flow with it….and maybe make our own needed change along with it.)

477. kooky

cats and buddhas

in a mind of their own making

kooky

(This picture may not get many ooh’s or ahh’s….who cares😁. It’s fun just to play and look and think and feel and see for oneself.)

476. looking for an angel?

who knows, 

you might find an angel—

don't give up

 

Are angels really real? Do angels have wings, or do they just appear here and there, dancing there heavenly dance?

(Have you ever gone somewhere looking for something, only not to find it. But you wanted it so badly that you kept looking and looking and looking….and then all of a sudden, right under your nose, there it was where it had been all along, only you couldn’t see it. You just had to open your mind to the possibilities.)

475. scratching my head

on the wall

where did this come from?

a game of jacks

(At the end of my neighborhood walk, I happened to look up to discover this huge white symbol.  Wow, weird! I turned around and looked around the building behind me to see where that reflection might be coming from….and found nothing, so I’ll never know for sure.  Reflecting on the symbol,  it reminds me of that old-fashioned game of jacks that I played as a kid. Hmm….I wonder if this was just Life playing games and tricks and giving me an interesting picture for my blog!😉)

 

474. waiting….

the sun,

even when you can’t see it,

always shines

*

just 

wait for the cloud

to pass on by

*

everything

has its own beauty

even a shadow

 

(This is a picture of my next painting—a Japanese tea bowl—taking on form, waiting for color to emerge.)

473. be a mushroom

no single energy

tugging against another—

peaceful

 

(Walking in my neighborhood, I was surprised to see these mushrooms at the foot of a tree. I didn’t think mushrooms would grow in winter. I was mistaken. I googled the question and learned that many varieties of wild edible and medicinal mushrooms thrive year-round. These are called “Velvet Foot.”) 

 

472. keeping an eye on things

suspicious man

outside the narrow opening

casing the joint!?

 

(If I keep an eye on Dan long enough, I can always get an interesting picture….we’ll, almost always.)

471. another sky

the sun going down

 birds flying higher….higher

in the face of God

(Another sky—nothing more to say.)

 

470. what’s green?

moss is green

and the moon is made of green cheese, 

or is it the sky?

(I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I never tire of looking at the sky.)

 

469. still life with orange

grass was green

graffiti on the wall

another sunrise

 

(I spent a lot of time alone when I was a kid, and learned to occupy my mind and hands with whatever was close at hand. Seems I still do.  One Sunday morning as I was waiting for breakfast, I found myself arranging the table in different ways, like composing a pleasing scene for a still life painting.)

468. the pose

just

a tilt of the head

says it all

 

(In the sculpture class, the model steps on to the stage, slowly feels her way into a pose, then settles down. One by one, the students settle in, the air becomes silent with intent as sixteen hands begin to mold cool flesh. Remembering my days in art class, as both the observer and the observed. 

This post is dedicated to artists engaged in the culture of fine art as they practice the art of observation and are drawn into the act of creating with their hands, or perhaps to those of us who simply appreciate engaging visually with the world.)

467. this time it’s FaceTime

catching a glimpse

of a man and his dog—

dan & ruffer

(Dan has a sweet gig walking ruffer most every day.  Lucky me, I sometimes get to go along for the walk…. sometimes in real time, sometimes in FaceTime!) 

464. his nose

 

a lamp

a flower

a nose

(This is a gift from Dan made by Dan. It’s a little ceramic oil lamp with a little ceramic flame. I made a paper flower for it. I love it….and so does Willey!)

466. just imagine….

light/life

flows in lines, line by line

space by space

*

beyond just

marks on a stone wall,

this is a life 

*

interesting—how

one story leads to another

….just listen

(We all have a story. People’s stories run the gamut. They all deserve to be heard. We all have a story….this is just one.)

465. full up!

a box full of tissues

a hat full of feathers— 

sun full of snow

(Whenever there’s a forecast for snow, I always look around for the sun and that’s a snow sun for sure. Hey, how’d she take that picture?)

463. things change, and yet

industrial plants

electronic towers….

what’s next?

(Standing by, observing the changing tides of man….and in the end, heaven and earth shall prevail.)

462. just looking

not much to see

where the house used to be—

the two of us….looking

 

(It’s fun sometimes just to roam around and see what there is to see.  He likes to look for old relics of things, things that used to be….I enjoy looking at Dan just looking.)

461. my reverie….

rubbed elbows with stars,

played in the dirt with marbles—

just an old dog

*

some kind of selfie,

no need to accomplish a thing—

happy old dog

(A different kind of selfie:  when I was 4, Johnnie Ray told me I’d grow up to be Miss America….when I was 12, I was the sixth grade marble champ….and now at 75, no need to accomplish anything….I am who I am, a happy old dog—I was born in the Chinese Year of the Dog 🐶)

By way of additional information these glass balls are detail from a photo taken at The Phipps Arboretum in Pittsburgh, where I saw a Dale Chihuly exhibition.  If you ever have the opportunity to see this glass artist’s work in person, don’t miss it.

460. out on a limb

it’s not like

anything they talk about:

meditating

 

(“If they would teach us from the time we’re little to meditate and get in touch with all that our souls know, we wouldn’t fight so much.” —from “Out On a Limb,” by Shirley MacLaine)

This is a mixed media origami picture: 5 x 7” - paper, watercolor, beads

459. winter’s arrived….

16 degrees

tall grasses throw golden shadows

warming me

 

458. the sky

not much to say

just a pretty picture….

that’s all

(The sky’s never empty, not really.)
 

457. sweet dreams

a smile on his face 

satisfied and happy, two

sweet

(When the work is done, remember to take a break and savor the sweetness.)

 

456. drawing circles

the pond

draws circles…circles…circles,

right up to the steps

 

(Life loves to create.)

455. yum

a pair of chopsticks,

 fistfull of tofu and green beans,

and a bowl of white rice

(I enjoy a good book with dinner. “Another Day Not Wasted: Meditations on Photography, Art, and Wildness.” This was a Christmas gift—thanks again, Liz.)

454. dreaming of summer

getting dressed

on a frigid winter day—

dreaming of summer

*

another cold morning

north winds blowing cold outside

bones aching inside—

dressing in a hurry now,

dreaming of summer flowers

(It’s good to have something pleasurable to look forward to.)

[The first verse is a haiku, the second a tanka. Both forms have long been highly regarded in Japan.  Tanka, originated in the seventh century, is possibly the central genre of Japanese literature. It was the preferred verse form in the Japanese Court where nobles competed in tanka contests and women and men engaged in courtship. I prefer tanka for the room it allows for favorable expression.]

 

453. winter woods

winter woods:

all those trees without leaves,

shivering

*

goosebumps rise

as sunlight dwindles down—

i love those trees

(Now and then when feelings of loneliness creep in, I go to the woods and walk a while among the trees….and I feel at home among friends.)

452. the cat’s meow

winter storm rolls by:

“wake me when it’s over,”

she meows

 

(In my next lifetime, I want to be a fat and happy cat!  Well, maybe not quite fat, just a little plump. 😻)

451. fairy cups

clinging to life

in a bed of old leaves

fairy cups

(Nothing like a leisurely walk to bring me down to earth.  My senses are always taken by the beautiful bounty to be discovered in the woods.)

This is a picture of xanthoria parentina, a common form of yellow orange lichen. It can be found growing on rocks and trees in many climates around the world. There are approximately 13,500 species of lichen-forming fungi. They are important to life on the planet.  Like trees, they provide a means to convert carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into oxygen. We need them to live.

450. 5 a.m.

foggy morning 

first smoke of the day

bicycle rides by

(I never tire of looking out the window.)

 

449. just do it!

tell me, my friends

what are you resolving to do

in 2022?

*

don’t just tell me

don’t only talk about it—

go ahead and do it!

 

(Happy New Year! Make it a Great Year!)