There’s nothing new under the sun. Nature’s always been way ahead of our game, hasn’t She?
keeping it simple....reflecting on life with pictures and poems in the Japanese tradition of Zen
784. monkey business
There’s nothing new under the sun. Nature’s always been way ahead of our game, hasn’t She?
783. daily feast
Mushrooms get their nutrients by digesting, dead or decaying organic matter such as leaves, pine needles, and wood. Did you know that mushrooms are neither plants nor animals? They belong in a kingdom of their own. I suppose this all means that no matter what kind of diet you are sticking to, mushrooms are OK!
782. the game of life
“Paper-Scissors-Stone” was a game played by children worldwide. It may still be played—I don’t know. Though this game began in China as an easy pastime, it was also a game of strategic action, of using only the hand and determining when to open it, when to cut/shoot, when to hold tight. Simple yet profound.
780. by the sea….
Wouldn’t this make a fun jigsaw puzzle! 🧩 Some 40 years ago, I quit cigarettes and haven’t smoked since. The thing that saved me was making jigsaw puzzles at night!
779. yesterday’s surprise
777. my Ulysses
776. hangin’ out
775. just ask the birds
773. into the misty
772. the scene
I was in a room the other day and saw a deep-sea diving helmet in the middle of the scene. Cool, I’ll take a picture, I said to myself. There you have it: two hands, two phones….but in reality there was only one phone. I scratch my head.🥴 Hmm, how’d this happen?
771. souvenir
770. centerpiece
769. space travelers
It was the evening of the lunar eclipse, and the moon was full. I went out behind the house to get a picture. Hoping for a perfect picture, I was so busy focusing on the light of the slow-rising moon that I didn’t notice the distant light below moving in along the railroad tracks….but my camera saw it! I suppose I could say that my camera has a mind of its own!😘
768. why?
767. to sit or not to sit
At last…. A bench to sit down and rest, take a load off my back and feet. I look at all the leaves settled down on the bench….they seemed so peaceful resting there….I couldn’t bring myself to disturb them. I took a picture and went on walking.
766. turning point
Be like the deer. When in doubt, take time to get grounded—stop, breathe, listen to your inner wisdom. And as the holy man said, “follow your dreams, creativity and heart, and see what happens….”
765. a puzzle
764. fast friends
I didn’t take this picture. A friend sent it yesterday—I thinkcit’s a great shot—with a challenge to put it into my blog.😜 Yo!
763. simple work, simple pleasures
762. the lookout
On the grounds of Northwestern Stables at the foot of the Wissahickon Woods, a brood of hens was softly clucking their way thru the sparsely scattered grasses just outside the barn. One hen, a big one, kept a careful eye on them….and on me, too! 👁
760. sun worshipper
759. life’s a dream
758. i love my mom
757. attuned
756. stuck!
755. Dew
Everything passes. This may be the first rule of life. The Japanese suggest that life is fleeting and it is in the world’s fleetingness that we see its beauty. We rejoice in the coming and going of things precisely because we know they will not last.
During his lifetime, Kobayashi Issa endured many hardships and experienced the deaths of parents, wives, and many infant sons and daughters. Through all of this, he continued to write simple poems about nature and little creatures. His poems are among the most loved haiku today. Here is Issa’s farewell poem: