a bird
in the morning light
just sitting
*
soft and hard,
lightweight and heavy—
iron and feathers
After the rains, daydreaming in the cool morning light.
989. the shift
in the woods,
no need for a GPS—just
take it step-by-step
988. rain falls
falling down
one on top of another
and piling up
*
rain on rain,
one drop on top of another—
top-top-top-top…
Weather report: Well, it rained again yesterday. Here’s a picture—it isn’t exactly pretty. In the month of May, Philadelphia and the surrounding areas had one-quarter of an inch of rain. Now in the last seven days of June, we’ve had 10 times as much. And the drought watch continues. Strange.
987. weather man
stillness and solitude—
only the sound of that crow
on top
*
on top of the pine
that big old crow is shouting:
rain! rain! rain!
Crows—you’ve got to give them credit….they’re always on top of things!
986. meditating
far away
from the city noise, i can hear
the silence
*
silence….
broken by a rippling stream
and flutter of leaves
*
green leaves
high above a gathering
of rocks below
*
a frenzy of gnats
cloistered above the stream
meditating
A haiku moment….taking it all in.
985. who are you?
“i’m nobody, who are you?
then there’s the pair of us—
don’t tell”
*
looking out
from her bedroom window,
miss Emily
“I’m nobody, who are you? Then there’s a pair of us. Don’t tell…” so begins one of her love poems.
I couldn’t help but think of Emily Dickinson, one of America’s most-loved poets. I think she may have lived her entire life in the one house where she was born, reluctant to leave home or even greet guests. Miss Dickinson never married and in later life was believed to have spent most of her time in her bedroom writing poems and letters to friends. During her lifetime, just 10 of her more than 1,800 poems and one letter were published.
984. Hong Kong Hilton
it’s not likely
i’ll ever get to china,
so i pretend
*
stir fry pork & peanuts
hong kong hilton chopsticks
sencha tea
983. big
how big is big?
is this one big enough?
i wonder
*
he had a dream
to paint a bigger picture—
three trees
Here’s what C. S. Lewis said: “You’re never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.”
982. honk!
honk! honk! honk!
4 o’clock sunday morning—
who’s dang car is that!?
Some days it feels like the old neighborhood’s all gone to pot!
981. whistling
right after saying
my camera just won’t focus
guess what?!
*
holding on tight
walking the tight rope
on tiny feet
*
life on a string
going with the flow….
whistling
This isn’t the picture that I wanted. I was going for a different view of the flowering grasses but my camera just wouldn’t focus. I must’ve taken half a dozen shots. All the while, the breeze was blowing and the tiny bug kept walking on. No, this isn’t what I wanted but it’s what I got. I guess that’s the secret. When you can’t have what you want, be happy with what you’ve got! I wonder if the little bugger might have been thinking the same thing!
By the way, if you enjoy Chinese films, look up “Life on a String.” It’s a mythical fable of an old master’s journey surviving life’s trials of loss and love.
980. groovy
it’s all so real
the flowers, the sun, the trees…
can you feel it?
*
grazin’ in the grass
birds singing in the trees…
can you dig it?
It was the boots and the head that got me. I couldn’t help but watch and wonder what he must be thinking, how he must be feeling. Groovy. Looking at these pictures got me to thinking of Hugh Masekela’s song, Grazing In the Grass.
979. sowelu
three lines
like a bolt of lightning
sowelu
I recognize this immediately when I saw the symbol carved in a tree on the trail. It surprised me to see it there and I wondered…how did this get here?…who did this?…why?
978. life lessons
spring
summer, autumn, winter…
and spring
*
in the classroom
scattering in the wind
cherry blossoms
🌸
This is a commissioned origami piece that I had posted earlier in blog #950. I had originally thought of it as two trees growing old together and still blooming. Seeing it now, installed in a classroom with a few more pieces floating across the wall, it seems to have taken on a renewed life of its own. I composed the first haiku then, the second one now.
977. this is it
yesterday’s work
it’s a work in progress—
standing tall
This is a few hours of cutting papers and folding and placing and looking, and then taking a picture. I don’t know what this will finally be but for now, this is it. And for now it makes me think about trees and life and how everything’s all a work in progress. Everything changes.
976. eating greens
little beetle
crawling up to the top
bite by bite
*
grey stones
and a red and green beetle
eating greens
975. a dog’s life
the dog lives
for the day, for the hour,
for the moment
‘A Dog is a Dog is a Dog’ - 6” x 6” - Origami
…. doing my best to live for the day, for the hour, for the moment.
974. far away
off in the distance
three visitors in the woods
keeping their distance
I swear when I took this picture, there was only one chair there, it was red.
973. a walk in the woods
which way should I go?
go left, go right…and don’t give up
keep growing
And the Old Master said, “If you want to know about life, look to Nature.”
All the wisdom of life is stored in trees. If I could read minds, I’d like to read the minds of trees and start with this one. Maybe it would say: You are who you are. No need to conform, to follow the crowd and do what everyone else is doing. Just be yourself. No excuses, no apologies needed.
972. the linden tree
linden flowers
i lie beneath the branches
and dream
This is the time of year these charming trees are in bloom. Their sweet, earthy fragrance is unmistakable. The linden tree is a romantic thing, with its furry yellow flowers and heart-shaped leaves. When you walk along an avenue of these trees in bloom, or even just one, you understand why it can make you dream.
971. birthday girl
too many candles
to put on the cake, she settles
for just seven
Today’s my birthday—Happy Birthday to me!
On your birthday it’s good luck to eat long noodles for a long life. That’s a Chinese custom that I’ve been following every year all my life. It works! Last night Liz cooked up a tasty dinner of Longevity Noodles and a yummy Lemon Ricotta bundt cake. Tonight I’ll be sure to eat long noodles again.
970. pile-up
pile-up
34 cushions and bolsters
the morning after
Everyone looks a little hung over. It must’ve been a wild night!
969. hallelujah!
the coast is clear
heading north now all the way
to the moon
*
sun settles down
and the rocket-ship lifts up
up…up…up
By early evening the haze was lifting, and the air quality much improved. I open the windows and breathed another prayer. Hallelujah!
968. praying for daylight
everything’s gray now
windows closed all the way tight
praying for daylight
Wildfires burning in central Canada since early June continue to create hazardous air quality, filling the atmosphere with smoke and haze hundreds of miles away down into the East Coast of the US. Yesterday while driving in the car with the windows closed my head was aching, eyes burning and itching, throat irritated. I came home and closed all my windows and said a prayer of safety for everyone—people, trees and the land, and all the wild animals. 🙏
967. fun!
30 feet down below
water, rocks…half-a-dozen snakes
fun!
It was a bright, sunny day. There I was standing on the bridge, gazing down into the creek, water rippling, rocks shimmering. Ahh, yes. And then my eyes spotted the curlycue on a large rock. A sizable snake—it must’ve been 5 feet long, maybe longer. Then I spotted another snake on a nearby rock. I kept looking all around the rocks, and found more snakes curled and sunning. I’m glad they were so far away—that made it fun, not frantic!
966. passage
morning mist
an old friend looking on
and lingering
*
spring and autumn
the young and the old
coming and going
965. sundown
looking up
watching the sun go down—
bird on a wire
*
the sun goes down
with the thundering sound
of silence
Seeing a bird on a wire, alone, always makes me stop and gaze….and brings my thoughts to Leonard Cohen’s song, “Bird on The Wire.” His ballad is a beautiful meditation on the human struggle to be free.
964. topsy-turvy
just think about it
chaotic, jumbled, disordered
this is life
*
topsy-turvy
higgledy-piggledy, hugger-mugger
isn’t it great?!
*
all over the place
every way you look at life,
it seems mixed-up
*
this picture—
look closer my friends….
it’s upside-down
*
isn’t it pretty?
Pretty or Plain. Silly or Sage. Awful or Awesome. Bad or Good. Wrong or Right. These are all only made-up thoughts in the mind. For a realer view, try turning things upside down. It’s all a matter of perspective, and the ways that you choose to look at things.
963. scarecrow
community garden
looking up at the scarecrow
smiling
962. la la la la
my sweetheart and i
watching the world go by….
happy as clams
This warms my heart. Canadian geese are known to pair and mate for life. Out in the woods, and for that matter, anywhere that I happen to be, whenever I see a goose I look for the mate….and think about love. When I saw these two huddled together on that little rock in the middle of the creek, I thought of Dan.
961. brunch
dandelion
and drops of glistening dew
caught in the web
*
a red spider
in the late morning dew
munching brunch!