815. New Year’s Eve


morning meditation
reflecting on the year gone by
a heart, a crane, a cat
*
end of the year
with nothing much to say
only….thank you 




My home has several small shrines, each one with a candle I light every morning. This one is where every morning I send out a prayer for the gods to bless the whole world, no exceptions. May we all do our best.




814. say cheeze, pleeze! 😁


ice on ice
stalactites and stalagmites
say cheeze, pleeze!😁




There’s Charo, taking off her gloves, focusing in for a good picture of the wall of ice going all the way up to the top of the hill. It was mighty cold! 🥶 






813. fiddling around



loave of fishes
one becoming many
too many?
*
fiddling around
with a bunch of selfies
look out, Marilyn!



During Covid with a lot of time on my hands, I took a bunch of selfies and fiddled around with edit features to erase the lines and wrinkles of age. I shared the pictures with Dan who turned them into this picture, reminiscent of Andy Warhol’s silkscreen painting of Marilyn Monroe, the ‘Marilyn Diptych.’ 

I wonder how I’d look as a blonde….😘





812. it’s the sky


it’s not the sunrise
or the sunset that gets me—
it’s the great big sky




Rachel Naomi Remen, a trained pediatrician, is best known as an author and teacher of alternative medicine. A physician once came to her suffering from burnout and depression. Remen counseled him to, at the end of his day, ask himself: What made you feel grateful? What made you laugh? What amazed you? What did you learn?

From time to time, I remember to reflect on my day and ask myself these questions.




811. ‘the look’



brrrr….
it’s frrr-frrr-freeeezing outside!
what’s this
*
another hat!?
when are you gonna make 
me a sweater?!




Willie’s so cool. He knows what he wants, and knows how to give me ‘the look’ to get it! Of course, we don’t always see eye-to-eye, he doesn’t always get what he wants and when he doesn’t, that’s okay. He doesn’t give up. He knows the importance of purrrrsistence and is always willing to look deep into my eyes and give me another ‘look.’  That’s my Willey!😻😍






810. whoppers! 👀


backyard eats
three birds feast
trash to treats
*
hey guys
here’s something to crow about—
it’s a smorgasbord!
*
in the suburbs 
my imagination grows,
and so do the crows




Patience pays. Just give things a little time and voila!…a feast!  Look at the size of those crows! 👀 





 

809. look for the joy



be joyful
make peace with the universe
it will turn to gold




“The soul is here for its own joy….When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy….Make peace with the universe. Take joy in it. It will turn to gold.” Rumi





808. it’s Christmas Eve

 

turn up the lights
it’s Christmas Eve with Santa
ho! ho! ho!
*
today and every day
wishing you love and laughter
with family and friends


 

Merry Christmas everyone!






807. 57 to 8!!!


today’s 
a stay-in kinda day
i think i will 

 


Today’s forecast:  high-winds, rain, snow, icy roads, temperature dropping down 50 degrees!!!😱 Think I’ll stay in.🐶






806. curious



it was in the woods
it’s not a rock or a leaf—
hmmm….


what is this—
a seashell or piece of coral?
how’d it get here?



“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” Carl Sagan

Interesting that things look different close up or far out, that if you get curious, shift your views a little, mull things over, things may look different and you might discover something, maybe even something incredible. I believe there’s poetry everywhere, just look around.



805. the light


i keep looking back
like a child for its mother
is she still there?
*
like a ship at sea
searching for a beam of light
in the distance


 

“What you are seeking is seeking you.” Rumi






804. clean sweep



feeling cluttered?
slow down, open the shutters and
sweep….just sweep




 Sage advice from the ghosts of brooms gone by!😆 






803. we three

 


hi-ho, hi-ho
it’s off to hike i go 
hitchhiker🍁



It was that same rainy day, that all-day-kind-of-rain rainy day. A little bit warm, misty grey and soft, wet and sloppy. Hiking along, singing our song. Celebrating. Charo and me….and our hitchhiker friend! Full of wonder. Wonderful.


 


802. hidden treasure


half asleep
do cats dream when they sleep?
under the covers




That’s Mikey, half asleep under the covers, her treasured glitter ball tucked away in the corner to toss and chase again….after the sun goes down.😸

Did you know that cats often times aren’t sleeping deeply, just snoozing lightly—cat-napping—getting the rest that they need yet still alert? And unlike most people, night time—when the sun goes down—is their time for action?

 




801. time out for lunch


sitting down
at the dining room table
two hats



Hats anyone? I don’t need any more hats yet I’m making hats! I totally enjoy the pleasure of working with my hands, working with colors and textures, enjoying the look and feel and fun of hats! I have a bunch of bits and pieces of leftover yarns and wanted to do something with them so I’m making hats to donate. Lucky me! 🎩 🧢 👒 





800. what’s true


too much—
taking a break from the art
with a selfie


 

I can look at art just so long and then my brain turns off and I need a break. “Too much of a good thing is not a good thing.” It’s true.

When it comes to looking at art, I’m never sure which I enjoy more—the art on the walls or the windows. It was the painter, Pierre Bonnard, who said “The best things in museums are the windows.” I agree—this, too, is true.




799. Christmas



the lights come up
when the sun goes down
on candy cane lane
*
all lit up
heart to heart and hand in hand
it’s a feeling
*
christmas 
it’s a feeling in the heart
lucky me




Candy Cane Lane is just up the street from where I live. Lucky me. 
 




798. looking up, looking down



cold cold night
looking up at the light
where’s the moon?




John Ford once gave this advice to a young Steven Spielberg about making a picture: when the horizon is at the top, it’s interesting….when the horizon is at the bottom, it’s interesting….when the horizon line is in the middle, it’s boring.  I really like this picture. I think it’s interesting. I wonder what John Ford would say.😉








 

797. ho!


hold on to your hats
make jolly & cheer, loud & clear
ho-ho-ho & ho!




I made these seven little origami hats for the seven little dwarfs….HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!





796. take a hike!



get out!
horse shoes, bikes, feet and legs and
two hiking poles



When in doubt, get out—take a hike! There’s nothing like being outside on the trails! 





795. counting down


counting down
loading up the pickup truck
336 - 14 - 2




Counting down:  336 hours - 14 days - 2 weeks to Christmas!






794. talking to myself


every day i go
into the woods, the same woods
and yet….
*
i look around—
this must surely be heaven
and i bow down
*
i look around
and say, why—why is this all 
so beautiful?
*
and then 
i say to myself, who cares
….it just is



Step by step up the long, long Bells Mill Hill, my senses slowly awaken, brimming with autumn—the colors, the smells, the sounds underfoot and all the way up among the trees. I have to take a picture, I said to myself, and bring it home. I could die happy right now. 

That things are the same is reason to be grateful. That things are never the same is also reason to be grateful—beauty is beauty. Before I die, I hope to see the beauty in everything.



793. a thousand stories


on the sidewalk
between the blue and the gray
pink paper clip 📎
*
beyond the horizon
between heaven and earth 
the pink flower 🌸 
*
quenching my thirst
on a bright sunny day
pink lemonade🥤 
*
under blue skies
all’s right in my world
in the pink 😘




Everywhere you look, there’s a story to tell. It’s all a matter of perspective, how you see things, what you choose to see and say about it. We’re all living our own stories. I wonder if the ultimate goal in life is to live our own story and learn to love it.






792. ….and so with love



leaves change
leaves grow, fall and grow….
and so with love
*
imagine
a world without leaves or love….
no, please don’t 

 


“In every change, in every falling leaf, there is some pain, some beauty. And that’s the way new leaves grow.” Amit Ray
And so with love. 






791. all wet! 😘



a walk in the rain
stopping to take a picture
wetter than wet
*
water falls
all the flowers are gone
my feet are wet



It was raining an all-day-kind-of-rain. I went out anyway for a walk in the woods, dressed up in rain gear—my waterproof jacket and hood and pants and shoes. Two hours later, I was nice and dry—except for my feet, my waterproof shoes, no longer waterproof! Oh, well. Wait long enough and everything changes….you’ll see!😘





790. I spy


brrrr—
hey, it’s freeeeezing out here!
shivering🥶



Scraping frost off the windshield, a vision appears. I start seeing things and my mind flashes to “I Spy,” the guessing game for kids, ages 2 to 5. I guess I’ll always be a kid at heart. I see a talking seal or a lady’s boot with a furry cuff. How about you….what can you see?




789. bird on a wire



meditating
 at the top of his lungs
bird on a wire
*
bird on a wire
just doing his thing
freer than free




Driving along I look up, and immediately stop as my mind flashes to “Bird On The Wire.”  This is Leonard Cohen’s song, where he writes about the human spirit’s inherent struggle to be free and the ways the we  fail. But in the end it’s alright, because it’s the effort that counts.





788. have a good day!


i overslept 
doing the best I can
what day is it?




I overslept this morning. I’m in a fog. This is the best I can do for now. Have a good day!🐮





787. tenderly



rain 
 drops from the sky 
tenderly
*
touching me—my arms
my legs, the top of my head
so what…
*
wet is just wet
the trees never mind,
so why should i 




Wednesday mornings we practice dong stick outside. The rain came, tap-tap-tap-tap-tap, umptillion tender fingers. We stayed and practiced anyway….getting wet and wetter, forgetting to run for cover. Soon I was the rain, so at one with the creek and the trees and the sky. I felt alive.





786. weather report


windy weather?
don’t ruffle your feathers
just sit things out




Windy weather blowing south southeast. That was yesterday. Today’s a brand new day. Go out and enjoy it. Look for the sun, it’s always there even if you can’t see it.






785. it’s mind-boggling



a fly in the sky
forty-one to three hundred
thousand pounds




Think about it—300,000 pounds lifting up and flying off across the sky. It’s inconceivable, unbelievable….and yet. Ohh, it’s mind-boggling what the human mind can do. Everything begins with a thought. The next time you think something can’t be done, think again. Think higher, feel deeper. Keep looking up!