874. a wish



a ceiling fan
a few strands of hair
a wish
last night
i called two friends
hey, it’s snowing!



Last night just as I was getting ready to settle down and settle in, I looked thru the window outside down at the ground. It was wet. Then I looked up and saw it—the snowing. I got my wish for a little snow! Smiling, I called two friends to celebrate the news. Sharing always makes things better. 





873. memories


leaves everywhere
across the creek, along the trails
i miss the woods




Leaves everywhere, on the trees, fallen down to the ground, floating across the creek. Beautiful. By now, they’re long gone and now, it’s been more than a month that I’ve been unable to walk in the woods. I miss all the old familiar scenes, the smells and sounds, the daily wonders of it all. Anyway, I can still enjoy these pictures. 






 

872. good & plenty




hershey’s kisses
and books and music and movies
my library rocks!





Along with lending books and music and movies, my library gives out chocolate. I love my library!πŸ₯°





871. enjoying time



shadows aslant
sun rising up in the east
just sitting
*
shadows aslant
watching time passing by
up and up





Just sitting….doing nothing and everything. Rising up….going nowhere and everywhere. Enjoying time.






870. chuckle!



old woman
caught in the act of having 
a good chuckle 


 


You don’t need much to feel happy, not really. Goethe, the German philosopher, wrote, “One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.” And I would add to this: ….and have a good chuckle! 

(photo by Tony Lomastro) 





869. David


a man and his bike
going everywhere, all the way
to heaven

 


“David” - 6” x 6” - Pen & Pastel

This is David. Artist, model, brother, lover, friend. David was a fine artist, a professional model, a devoted brother, loving partner, and everybody’s friend. David and his bike were one, traveling together far and wide. He was highly regarded by artists as the best model around and when I had to find a new way to earn a living he said, “Aw, Mimmy, you’ll be great.” He gave me his contacts and off I went modeling for the next five years, making my way with one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I loved it. Thank you, David.






868. two men



two men
make their way up the long hill
in quiet company 
*
the sun is rising
and a new day is dawning
two men





I was drawn into the beautiful quietude of this scene. Two men making their way up the long stairway…. together,  side-by-side, step-by-step, slowly, silently. I wondered. What was their story. We all have a story.






867. oh, buggers!


oh, buggers
it’s that darn cat again
scram!
*
saying my prayers
thank god for the screens,
that’s a willey!


 

Up front and close with Willey!






866. squeaky clean



squeaky clean
stepping out of the shower
east meets west
*
opposing views
meet somewhere in the middle 
merging





“Squeaky Clean” - 12” x 9” - Pencil & Pastel

We need to clear away the bustle and dust to see the fundamental harmony of opposites. Life can become more interesting and enjoyable when you begin to view it from different perspectives.







865. end of the line….



frozen creek
through the iron fence—
watching my breath



 

Where do things come from? Where do they go? Watching my mind. The best things in life are to love and to breathe. 
The thought came to mind of The Traveling Wilburys’ song, “End of the Line.” Click here for the lyrics:






864. winners!


lower the stakes
don’t play to win
play to play
*
the three amigos
the bear, the owl and bunny
over the moon!

 


Oscar Wilde said, “Life is too important to be taken seriously.” So is Happiness. When it comes to being happy, don’t try so hard….remember to play! And remember to share your winnings! πŸ»πŸ¦‰πŸ° 




863. 90% 🌧️ rain


i pull up the shade
and peak out through the window—
i go back to bed





Sometimes it’s better to start all over again!






862. what?


numbers
1 2 3 4 5 & nine 
what?
*
on and on it goes
where it ends, nobody knows
what?
*
numbers on the wall
in the meditation hall
what?
*
what does it mean
what does it all mean
what?





Question everything: What? Nothing can ever be known for certain.





 

861. a tanka



stick of incense
one more cup of coffee
gaggle of geese
clamoring by, morning high
let me go write today’s blog





I like riding tacos kiss me more room to Rome.🀣 
That’s what came out in dictation mode. Sometimes iPhone gets it wrong, all wrong! What I really said was this: ‘I like writing tankas, they give me more room for my mind to roam. (A tanka is a longer verse, 31 syllables versus 17 syllables for a haiku.)





 

860. all your flowers



your life
your family, friends, your world,
yourself
*
so many flowers
that blossom then bloom—
love….




Take good care of your flowers. Water your flowers, weed your weeds, fertilize….and remember to say, I love you. I love you!❤️ 




859. old friends



what should i do….
here’s something old, not new
it’s red and blue
*
like an old friend
arms wide welcoming me
with a smile




“Soaring Cranes” — 18” x 15” — Folded Paper

This is an old origami quilt I’d long forgotten until entering a friend’s home, I saw it there on the wall. It stopped me. Seeing it was like seeing an old familiar friend come back to me.

Some mornings, I don’t know what to do for a post. I struggle for something new to say and share. Sometimes all I can do is turn old into new. 





858. it’s warm


winter silence
all’s quiet but the wind
scattering
*
i wish,
yes, i wish it would snow
once more



“Snowflake” — 6” x 6” — Paper, folded & cut (Kirigami)

Wind in the clouds. The middle of February and the air is reaching middle 50s. That’s warm. Winter here is on its way out, fading fast. That’s how it feels. I wish it would snow.





857. life goes on….


this old oak
growing old and older
still lingering
*
taking shelter
in the big old oak
tiny mushroom

 


We all need one another. 





856. snap-crackle-pop



snap-crackle-pop
 chiropractic adjustment….
all better now!




 

I love my chiropractor!πŸ‘πŸ»





855. mud’s the word!



sludging softly
feeling the goo
my boots—
all i see is no not-mud 
and all I can do is laugh


  

I confess I have a thing for mud. I don’t want mud on my shoes. Not ever! I like shoes, especially my cold weather boots, and I like them to be clean.  I’m well aware that clean never lasts in the woods in winter. Nevertheless. 

Wednesday mornings I go out into the meadow to practice Dong Stick Qigong, standing there an hour or more doing health and longevity exercises with a long bamboo pole. Last week after days of rain, the ground was gooey with mud, brown mud. Yuck! I did my best, tried and tried to stay on just-green but the goo kept grabbing my boots. Yuck! At last looking down and seeing the reality, all I could do was laugh. Life always wins out. Mud’s the word! πŸ˜† 





854. at the stop sign….πŸ›‘


at the stop sign
diggy directions stop me—
what now?
*
lost?
don’t give up….take the next turn 
just keep going





Oh, how the mind can take us flying off into duh-dillion different directions all at the same time. Sometimes you just need to lose your way to find your way.





 

853. through the throng


trying to hear
above the din….even the walls
are leaning in

 


It was a Saturday night, and an opening for a group exhibition of art—hey hey hey Willy hey Willy—(sorry folks, I was dictating my comments when I spotted Willey 😽 getting into ‘no good’!) Now back to my thoughts. It was a freezing cold night, and people kept piling in to the small art gallery. I think it’s probably true that people like to go where the people are, they’re drawn to crowds. As for me, I go the other way. I like open spaces and quiet places….so, feeling cramped and crowded, barraged by too many and too much, I took a deep breath, headed for the exit sign, and squeezed my way out through the throng.





852. fun with dan and yulan*



look, yulan, deer!
see the deer, seven deer,
see how they run
*
oh yes, dan, yes, yes
i see, i see how they run,
run, run away!





After Saturday’s cold, cold single-digit day, the sun came up, came up to warm the early morning air. As we were walked down the lane just before reaching the bridge, we looked down into the wooded area and saw deer feeding. We counted seven—we always count. We watched the deer….the deer watched us watching. I fumbled for my phone to take a picture….the deer turned and hightailed away….away.

(*note on the title of this post, “Fun with Dan and Yulan”:  A sighting of deer always fills me with a simple sense of joy, a delight and wonder at the beautiful wildness of everyday life. With wooded areas so close to home, seeing deer is fairly common, yet somehow noteworthy. This time my feelings and thoughts took me back to childhood memories of “Fun with Dick and Jane,” the now-vintage school books where children learned to read through simple repetition.)






 

851. where’s my phoneπŸ“±


frosty moon
it stopped me cold—
where’s my phone?!

 


I don’t have my phone! Where’s my phone?!! I froze—then right away realized it was back in the pub we’d just dined in….




850. Willey speaks….


willey speaks: you can’t 
step into the same day twice….
make every day count!

 


“Willey Speaks” — 6 x 6” — pen & ink 

I went to a talk at the local library:  “In Love with Pens.” The guest speaker revealed her 30-year love affair with fountain pens. She’d had them and fondled them all over the world. England…Italy….Hungary…Japan….and France—ooh la la! She never stopped laughing and smiling. 

I told her about my own fondness for fountain pens in the drawing studio, but that I’d had to put my pen down, abandoned my pens because they kept getting clogged. She told me what to do. I did. Now my fave pen is in the flow again—here’s what it did last night.





849. February 3, 2015



looking back
a different place, a different time
still me 
*
world in my hand
wherever i go there i am….
love my iphone 




I thought about it for the longest time before doing anything, I resisted for years. Then I finally got a cell phone. Now wherever I go, there it is. I love my iPhone! 😘 





848. oh, boy!


today’s the day
make it a mickey mouse day
oh, boy! 



Meanwhile, standing in yesterday’s line, not interested in the white on white, she looks around, all around and sees an old familiar friend….and she heard him say, “Remember this: Something worth having is something worth waiting for— spread the word!”





847. either / or



white
on white….on
white
*
white
is white….
and yet



 
Waiting in line, the line doesn’t move. There’s nothing to do, but sit down and look at the wall. This could be viewed in one of two ways. Today’s man, like, watching paint dry. The artist contemplating an abstract painting, and seeing the mysteries of the universe.