1387. Elvis

give me 10 on 5

robbing the piggy bank—

running on Elvis!

I went out for an early morning hike. On the way home, my eye caught the flashing E…E…E on my dashboard, so I pulled in to the gas station. “I’d like 10 on 5,” I said, then put down 9 singles and 4 quarters on the counter. (Earlier, I’d left home with just keys and driver’s license, no money, so i had to rob my coin box for gas money.) The salesclerk glanced at the bills and coins, rolled his eyes and gave me a sideways look. I gave him a smile, “I need gas….my car’s running on Elvis!” 

I remembered the time a gas station attendant filled up my car then said with a big smile….you musta been running on Elvis! Some people we never forget.😚

1386. bumblebee

deeper and deeper

diving in to a sea of green

a bumblebee

*

bumblebee 

lost in a mountain of petals

getting smoked

 

As I watch the bumblebee ascending the mountain of petals, diving in—disappearing into the petals then reappearing—again and again, I imagined what it must feel like—how soft, how cool, how tasty and fragrant. I looked up Hydrangea Paniculata and read that sometimes this flowering plant is smoked as an intoxicant. Then I imagined the bumblebee feeling a little tipsy! Hmmm… 

1385. mellow meow

saki-sake

seven cats sipping saki….

mellow meow!

 

“In a Mellow Mood” — 12 x 15” — Origami Art

Midnight Concatenation—cats and sake, saki and cats—serenely sequestered, sitting back and sipping saki all night long. I made this collection of saki bottles three years ago and didn’t know what to do with them, so I set them aside to age. Then these seven cats just showed up and….voila!

1384. reading poetry

reading poetry

the bookworm scurries to get

off the page!

 

I opened the book to read and there was the little bugger! I’ve seen those minuscule bugs before on book pages or on sheets of paper and always wondered—what are they? where do they come from? where do they go?  do they ever get any bigger? Does anybody know?

1383. drink the day

never the same

it boasts a thousand faces

the sky

At last, the heat spell cooling down a little….down to 63° overnight, sleeping with the windows wide open, waking to the sounds of crows at dawn.

“Set wide the window. Let me drink the day.” Edith Wharton  

1382. street hawkers

street hawkers:

lucky ducks peddling their wares

and fresh lemonade

 

COME AND GET IT! FRESH LEMONADE!!         Across the street from Rita’s drive-in soft serve ice cream, members of The Lucky Ducks gang hawking handmade bracelets, rings, necklaces, and homemade lemonade. Delish!

1381. looking up

muggy morning,

looking up, murmuring—

a dove

 

‘Twas a muggy morning, the air thick with humidity clinging to grasses and leaves and trees—the murmur of a dove looking up at the sky saying, “oh, boy, it’s gonna be another hot one today.”

1380. lookin’ good

the dapper man

must have the latest hat—

forget the shoes!

That’s a picture!😉

1379. feeling good

morning prayers

on top of the cross

a crow

 

It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life….And I’m feeling good. That bird sitting on top of the cross  brings to mind Nina Simone singing “Feeling Good”—it’s a great song!

1378. newlyweds

morning breezes—

white morning glories flutter

like newlyweds

 

Along the fence line, fluttering softly on waves of green leaves, two white peonies floating on air like honeymooners. 💕 Here’s to young love and Saturday nights!

1377. enough

rollin’ along

just singin’ our song

side by side

Lazy day, not much to say, nothing much to do….just being together is enough. 

1376. getting buzzed

morning breeze

flutters her sunny petals

the bees hang on

*

high on life

not one, not two, but three

little bees 

*

if i were a bee

i’d zoom right in for

a foursome!

Right about now, wish I were a bee—i wouldn’t mind a little buzz!

1375. a feast

looking down in

the center of a universe:

spider

 

More demanding on my eye than the tree or the thousand leaves or the play of shadows and light, the bullseye won’t let me go. My eye keeps going back down to that prized perfection of a living thing suspended in light, the workings of a solitary spider no bigger than the nail of my thumb.👍 A feast!

1374. four friends

four friends

going our separate ways

in concert 

 

Taking refuge from the heat of another sweltering  summer afternoon, that’s Rachel, Gloria, and Dan. The four of us coming together and from time to time going our separate ways. Taking in the sense of spaciousness and fullness as we focused and meandered our way in the midst of art and inquiry and wonder. We were at the Berman Museum in Collegeville to see Enrique Bostelmann’s black and white photography and Francoise Gilot’s prints and paintings. Both were excellent. The exhibition will be there thru December 15; and if you go, be sure to stop at the Collegeville diner for a bite to eat.

1373. samadhi

in a shady spot

feet dipped in the creek

keeping cool

 

When I’m feeling hot, it feels good to run my hands, and especially my wrists, under cool running water. Down in the creek, the frog has the same idea sitting there on a rock with his feet submerged under water, eyes wide open like two headlights in the dark. Like a Buddha, the frog just sat there for the longest time….no where to go, nothing to do, fully absorbed. That’s samadhi. 

1372. the heat is on 🥵

zooming along

then the screens went black!

who pulled the plug?

There we were yesterday morning—Mikey and I—starting the week with our Monday morning Zoom Yoga. One minute I was leading the class, then everything stopped in mid-stretch….I froze on both screens and then they turned black. We lost power! Oh, well….Nothing to do but lay back and wait….

PS: Power came back on after two hours. Later in the day we lost power again early evening around 5:30PM; it didn’t come back on again ‘til 4:30AM this morning! Thank the gods—today’s forecast is one more day in the 90°s!!🥵

1371. just think

93° 91° 98°

too hot to do much of anything

but sit and think

Some thoughts about thinking:

What you think, you become….If you’re going to think anything, you might as well think big….Did you ever stop to think, and then forget to start again?….Thought is the blossom; language the bud; and action the fruit behind it….I like my thoughts…. If you know how to think, if you really have that capacity, then you are a free human being.

1370. me & the bee

a little worn out

yet holding out for a bee

bee balm

*

petal by petal

bee on the bee balm

delicious

*

missing nothing

drinking nectar petal by petal

not blinking

*

seeing

also being seen—

me & the bee

 

Bee—holding his breath, petal-by-petal not blinking, not wanting to miss one single petal of nectar

Me—holding my breath, waiting-watching-not blinking, not wanting to miss a good shot

1369. gonna be another hot one

just hangin’

hangin’ on, hangin’ in 

hangin’ out

 

Nothing much left to say….

1368. so hot!

rose of sharon 

cool as a cucumber….or

faking it anyway 

 

Walking around the neighborhood after the sun goes down, now and then a soft breeze feels so cool….at least I think so. I pause to watch a rose of sharon riding an occasional wavy whiff of air.

My Pop was a great cook. I remember when he used to slice off a small tip from the end of a cucumber and press it right in the middle of my forehead, and how it would stay stuck on my head and cool me down….for a little while anyway. 

1367. Franny & Dave

lagging behind

but only for a moment—

born to run

 

Dave hikes thru the woods at a pretty good clip, calling, “Franny—come!”….and she does, but not until she’s ready.  A hunter by nature, Franny’s ever alert for foxes and fun and even on a hot summer day, she loves to run. She’s a Jack Russell Terrier. These dogs, belying their small size and ‘cuteness,’ are working dogs bred to be feisty, fearless and fast—up to 38 miles per hour! 

1366. modern living

modern living—

a home of the future?

tweet-tweet!

Tucked away in the safety net of a high-wire relay box, a bird keeps an eye on her nest.  I suppose you could call this creative living. Either that or, with the loss of more and more trees, one bird’s demonstration of the power to adapt. I wonder if we’ll see more of these nests up in the air.

1365. centerpiece

in a cool blue sea

on a hot summer day

1000 miles away

Beneath the wisteria vine in a small alleyway tucked away in the shade of two buildings, a small woman in a cool blue dress just sitting, gazing off into a distance.  This could be a painting.

 

1364. all star review

on a clear day

as far as the eyes can see

everything’s pink!

 

“Rosie the Elephant” — 12 x 20” — Origami Art

Recently finishing the elephant totem for baby Judah, I was on a roll for making more elephants. There are countless ways to fold an elephant, even one where when you pull the tail the trunk goes up and down! I was having such fun—one thing just led to another and another and another….

Here’s Rosie the Elephant and her All Star Review!  I was going to title this, “Council of The Elders,” but they said no—call it, “Rosie the Elephant.” 

1363. tongue twister

on a lazy day

racing around like crazy—

water bugs

*

striders

skeeters scooters skaters sliders skimmers!

Now that’s a tongue twister: striders-skeeters-scooters-skaters-sliders-skimmers! Try saying that three times fast!

1362. winners and losers

smile, be happy

you can’t win ‘em all

eddie the rat

Fourth of July it was hot, really hot!🥵  We went to the movies and saw “Ghostlight,” an American film about ordinary people just living life:  working,  laughing,  grieving,  hot-headed, charmed. It was terrific! Last night was even hotter, so we went to the movies again for another film to escape the cabin fever and keep cool. Midway thru the movie we left our seats and walked out of the theater, and went for a walk in the heat of the night. “That was terrible,” he said. I agreed….you can’t win ‘em all!

1361. prisoner

held prisoner

by the chain-link fence….

poison ivy

Rain drops on every living thing. Nature nourishes all its children. If we look serenely, we can see that everything can be worthy of a poem. 

 

1360. lift off!

camera shy

not waiting for a perfect shot—

the hawk

 

Driving home, my eye came alert as something swooped across the road up ahead. It was something big. Slowing down, I scanned the area for a closer look, and then I saw it down on the ground—a red-tailed hawk. Even though my car was stopped, I had a feeling the hawk sensed my presence—but not before I had a chance for a couple of pretty good pictures. “Pretty good” may not be “perfect” but it’s better than no pictures at all! 😘 I was lucky. 

1359. quartet

  

hiking to the creek

tongues, toes, eyes, and fluffy tails….

panting!

 

Husky quartet! Here they come—mom and her boys (she’s the light, buff-colored husky) hiking through the woods on a sunny summer day, tongues hanging out, tails up—on their way for a dip in the creek to cool off.  

1358. every time….

like a flower

blooming in tall summer grasses….

face of a deer

 

Have you noticed how the grasses in the field are growing taller than ever this year? Sunday morning as I paused to admire the tall summer grasses, a deer quietly appeared and held my gaze. Time after time, although I’ve seen the face of a deer so many times, it’s wondrous every time.

1357. what a sky!

hey, look—

a maxfield parrish sky

wow!

 

Early last night, I was sitting at the dining room table, reading. The phone rang, it was Dan. As we talked, I looked up and gazed out toward the living room. There was an odd glow to the room. I got up, walked over to the window and looked outside. What a sky! That’s a Maxfield Parrish sky, I said to Dan. (This picture is looking out the back bedroom window.)

Maxfield Parrish was an American painter and illustrator, whose work has been described as vibrant, whimsical, neo-classical. His early works were mostly black-and-white. Later, a magazine wrote, “To behold the work of Maxfield Parish (1870-1966) is to enter into a fantasy world of ethereal beauty.”