1847. home

things look different

this early in the morning,

opening my eyes

Waiting at the red light, I looked out thru the window to the left and saw the rising sun. Beautiful, I thought to myself. The wide open field, the grasses, the trees, the hazy clouds, and shimmery sun. It’s so beautiful. . .and it’s where I live. Home. I gave a nod to the sun and drove on.

Ordinarily, I don’t like to go out driving this early in the morning. Sometimes, I suppose, it’s good to get out of your comfort zone to realize where you are, to appreciate home.

1846. orange sky

mom and the girls

under the stars and the moons

flying kites

 

“Flying Kitties” — 6-1/2x6” - Origami Composition 

Last week when I posted 1837. “Samurai Bandits” with the old dog, Agatha said, “Nice, but where’s the cat?!” So, Agatha, this one’s for you!😽

Here’s Agatha—

1845. Mr. & Mrs. P

out back on the slope

the Mr. and the Mrs.

pumpkins, please 

My upstairs neighbor decorated the hallway with two Halloween 🎃🎃, but he had to take them outside because they were “going bad.” He told me he forgot to coat their insides with vaseline to preserve them for Halloween. He said it really works every time! So there’s a tip for anyone who wants to know how to keep their pumpkins going for the holidays.

 

1844. goldfish creek

a deer in the trees

and two more in the creek, but

no little goldfish

 

The air was crisp, the water clear enough and tasty. This is the creek nearby where I’ve watched little goldfish swimming around. It’s a mystery where they come from. Somehow they seem to just appear with the water as the creek fills then just disappear as the creek dries up. From the time I was little, I’ve always loved watching them, there bright orangey animal bodies. It cheers me to see them swimming around and around, they seem so happy and free. So every now and then I walk to the creek hoping to see the goldfish again.

1843. hey, little darlin’

here comes the sun🌞 

here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo

say, it’s all right

“Here Comes The Sun” — You gotta love that song, no matter who sings it, The Beatles or Hight Priestess of Soul, Nina Simone. Every morning, no matter what, the sun comes up grinning and lights up the world. If it is your nature to be happy, go step outside early in the morning and listen to the music rising up in the airy sky.

1842. don’t touch!

something beautiful

caught my eye. . .a rainbow hugging

that slender tree

Walking along the trail in the woods, something beautiful caught my eye like a rainbow of color wrapped around a slender tree. I smiled. I looked again and thought, oh no, stand back, it’s poison, and you know what that means! Even so, I was a reluctant to leave. It was so pretty. . .and you know what they sometimes say about “pretty.” All those colors—the green and gold and red and rust and bronze—the way they wrapped around the trunk all the way from the bottom ground then leaf by leaf up the trunk. Like I said, I didn’t want to leave, so I took a picture so I could zoom in and get close, real close.

1841. all the little pumpkins

56 pumpkins

all lined up waiting to be blessed

by Mother Mary

I smiled when I saw this single row of little pumpkins lined up in front of the Mother Mary Statue across the street from the Catholic Church. There were 56 in all, that likely had been painted by the children of the nursery school there. I couldn’t help but imagine the sweetness of the vision of so many children all carrying their pumpkins and laying them down one by one, possibly with a simple prayer in their hearts. 🙏🏻🥰

1840. fallen giant

once was a giant—

emptiness of an old pine

no longer standing

 

Coming to a fallen tree, Dan climbed up onto a stone pillar to take a picture, honoring the giant pine that used to be. Here is his picture:

1839. classroom in the woods.

the teacher called out—

put your pencil on your head!…

and the trees leaned in

 

It does my heart good to see classrooms of children camped out in the woods writing about what they see and think and feel. As we were walking by, the teacher here called out, “If you’re finished writing, put your pencil on your heads!” That sure got my attention. I think kids naturally like to make things up, they like to write, but even so, it must not be easy to gather the attention of 20 or 25 eager minds and bodies out in the open each doing their own thing. Hats off to school teachers!

1838. end of the day

quiet as mice

as the sun settles down—

ducks by the creek 

 

On our way home, catching a glimpse of time, the sun on its way down, a small family of ducks settling in at the edge of the creek secure for the nighttime dark and cold. 

1837. home sweet home

the old dog,

being just a dog, always barks

at samurai bandits

“Samurai Bandits” — 6x6” — Origami Composition 

There was an old house facing south, six by six. It looked warm and cozy with lights all over the place, indoors and out, and a red door for good luck. In the front yard there was a black dog by the gate and the dog, being just an old dog, was flying kites looking up at waves in the sky and barking at samurai bandits hiding out in the clouds all the way up to the heavens. Having fun.

1836. hitchhiking?

a little pony

standing with two umbrellas—

scratching my head

Yesterday morning standing on the sidewalk in full view of the cars passing by all day, a 2-foot pony with two umbrellas like it might be hitchhiking if only it had a little thumb! Driving by again hours later it was still there…. I quick pulled out my camera and snapped a picture. Just a pony is just a pony, but a pony with two umbrellas, now that’s something to think about! Does anyone know anything about the symbolism of ponies with umbrellas?

 

1835. under the covers

hiding out

two eyes, a nose and whiskers

under the covers

Early mornings are dark now and chilly and all I wanna do is stay in bed under the warm covers later and later and even after I get up all I wanna do is get back into bed and stay under the covers. I’m weight there with you, Mikey!😻😘

 

1834. lady butterfly

butterflies 

flutter, flutter, flutter by

lady butterfly

 

“Lady Butterfly” — 18x12” — Origami Composition 

Softly, softly swaying, smiling her shiny eyes, dreaming her dreamy dreams, Lady Butterfly.

1833. today’s the day!

today’s the day!

today’s the day, all day long!

happy birthday dan!

 

He’s my heart of  hearts!💖 Wishing Dan a wonderful day all day long!🥳 

1832. totally tickled

in the shower 

tickling me all over—

baby spiders!

My cats have always enjoyed chewing on house plants, so the safest safe place to hang out in my home is in the shower. And this spider plant is totally tickled!

1831. feeling buzzy

bumble bee

think i’ll just stay down awhile

feeling buzzy

 

I just couldn’t get it together this morning. You know what they say, “Better late than never!”

1830. do you hear cicadas?

rain keeps falling

and my ears keep ringing….

chilly morning

*

standing face to face

with the stone cold Buddha….

are his ears ringing, too?

According to the web ringing in the ears is common for people, and cats and dogs too. But what about Buddhas with their large ears?

 

1829. Skylar

surprise! surprise!

s - k - y - b - l - u - e

say “hello!”

Say “hello!” Well, he wouldn’t, though he’s a good talker but on his own terms! That’s Skylar, named for his sky blue color. He’s a Blue Indian Ringneck Parrot, getting his daily D’s hiking up on Andorra Meadow in the Wissahickon. What a surprise! You just never know who you’ll meet on a hike through the woods. 

1828. double take

final cut

reaching out for one last big bite

sneaky snaky tree

 

Walking along the trail, she did a double take. That fallen tree resembled a huge serpent ready to take a deadly bite out of that other tree! He quick pulled out his camera to take a shot….she did the same!😘

1827. it’s autumn

it’s mighty cold

and all the leaves are turning red 🍂

woohoo!

 

It’s 38° this morning and 21 days till Halloween. Red’s my favorite color. Just sayin’! 👻 

1826. kinda magical

before dawn

outside my front window

three deer

 

How many times I’ve looked out the front window and watched people passing by, or cars and trucks  or fire engines or the morning school bus taking children to school. This  morning, it was still dark as I was just about to sit down in my reading chair when I looked out the window and saw three deer under the street light standing there on the grass, leisurely feeding on the acorns fallen from the tree next door. Now and then they raised heads carefully to look around.  I wished them well and said a prayer for their safe return home to the woods nearby. A few minutes later, I looked again and they were gone. 

It’s kinda magical to me to be living in close proximity to the beauty in nature’s wild animals and now and again to observe deer and foxes and rabbits and herons and hawks, and Canadian geese flying high from golf club to golf club! And it’s reassuring, too.

1825. the host

autumn sprouts

clamoring to blossom and bloom

before the first frost

 

Taking up residence, three or four different kinds of young greens, sprouting around this tall trunk of a dead tree. Hmmm. . .it’s autumn now, not springtime. How unusual. Will they all be winter hardy? Could this be a sign of yet warmer temperatures to come? Hmmm. . .

1824. holy moly!

holy moly!

my mouth is puckering—

flying dragons!

Cold hardy, the Hardy Orange Tree. It’s also named the Flying Dragon Tree, with fruits too bitter and sour to eat but if you dare, you might live forever like the majestic, heavenly Flying Phoenix in Chinese Mythology. 

1823. caution! ⚠️

october sun

illuminating the foxtails 

beware!

It was the sun illuminating the tall, fluffy seed heads that caught my attention. Later I looked up the plant. Foxtail or Timothy grass? Timothy is a perennial that is beneficial for feed, while Foxtail is a summer annual weed with bristles that can be harmful to livestock and dogs. 

1822. fun house

in the funhouse 

posing for pictures 🐱🐭

cat and mouse

 

Captivating exhibition at the Michener Museum in Doylestown. “Interwoven”— Anila Quayyum Agha’s cross-cultural expressions in sculpture, embroidery, painting, and drawing. Exhibition runs now through January 11, 2026.

1821. flowers

mirror, mirror 

on the wall, who’s the fairest

of them all?

*

in it together

all these flowers—

sharing secrets

 

Shhh… We all have our secrets, even these flowers.

1820. white snowcaps

weaseling in

on a mountain of hot pink—

white snowcaps

 

Popping up in anyone’s bed wherever they please, it’s cool how mushrooms don’t follow the rules,

1813. the tango

step, turn, stretch, turn,

lifting arms, ruffling feathers—

the tango

Life is magical. Over by the golf course at the edge of a little pond, I turned to see the tango of two great herons—one white, one blue—dancing to their own music in the soft light of late afternoon. 

1812. cinnamon sky

cinnamon sky

a solitary bird soars high

singing for the moon

The moon is always where it is, in the sky up high, let me sing a little song.

1811. ka-ching! ka-ching!

just push a button

sit back, all eyes on the screen…

ka-ching ka-ching!

 

Inside the casino: glittering lights and colors and sounds at the slot machines. It’s easy. Just slide in your card or your bill, push the button, sit back and watch the 777 and BARS spin round and round. Then do it again…again…and again. They make it so easy to be a winner! and loser! What a world—Ka-ching! Ka-ching!

1810. bling bling!

the night shows off 

the razzle dazzle, bling bling

of money🤑

     

Atlantic City.

1809. the morning sun

cloud filled morning 

waiting for the sun to rise

walking the beach

Be happy if there’s something to be happy about! When the moment comes, don’t lose it! They say life can last a hundred years, maybe more. Maybe you’ll live a full thirty thousand days. (rephrased from “Cold Mountain, 101Chinese Poems)

1808. the chase

rolling in….rolling out

playing tag—you’re it! no, you’re it!

sandpipers and the sea

By the sea….by the sea….

1807. mandarin

mandarin

one a day, day by day

keeps the doc away

 

When I was a kid, they were just two kinds of oranges—navel oranges and juice oranges. Now, the choices of grown:  Navel, Seville, Valencia, Tangelo, Mandarin, Tangelo, Tangerine, Clementine, Blood, Cara Cara, Lima, and likely more. I like the Mandarin—maybe it’s the Chinese in me. They’re cute and also sweet, easy to peel, and a bit chewy with good fiber!😘

1806. perfect

holding on

as the runners run by

long lost dream

 

Wanting to take a quick picture of two runners running by, but I was slow on the draw. Hmmm.

There was a time I wanted things to be perfect, the way they tell stories in fairy tales. Now it’s okay for some things to be clear and some things to be fuzzy. It makes life interesting and gives me something to ponder. Are crab apples, really apples? Yes. All crab apples are apples, but not all apples are crab apples. A crab apple is tiny and sour and bitter, not sweet enough like the big apples to eat raw, but they can make a tasty pie or an interesting little poem.

1805. bittersweet

intermingling

both the bitter and the sweet 

making lemonade

Bittersweet. Pretty sprays of golden berries tumbling down the mountain of green leaves, waiting for wings. One thing leads to another. Bittersweet: bitter and sweet, bittersweet chocolate, lemonade, yellow berries, green leaves, gold doubloons, birds chittering. Rich. 

1804. butterflies

on the road— 

taking a moment to rest

and just look

 

Working on my latest origami composition, I don’t know yet what the final piece will look like but it will have butterflies. Rambling now… One of the things I like about making art is having things just the way I want them. Life isn’t like that. Things just seem to happen, like it or not. So I suppose, one way or another, the thing to do is just keep going, feeling my way step by step, one day at a time and in the end, if I’m lucky, things will turn out for the best, maybe even better than I thought. That’s life. You never know, just keep going.

1803. 28,854.75!

abandoned,

or is it just chilling?—

red schwinn 

Seeing that red bike dropped to the ground took me back, way back 70 years to school days. I remember the fun—riding all over on my bike, but I can’t remember if it was red or blue, all summer long during school vacations. Used to be that I could think back 10 or 20 years or even 30 to some memorable times….now it’s 60 or 70. I shake my head. Life’s been interesting with all kinds of ups and downs. Makes me think how glad to have lived all those years (28,854.75 days!) and I’m still here. I wonder what’s next?

 

1802. nothing?

what’s that? nothing?

look again: two eyes and a nose

can you see?

Is something there? I thought I heard a rustling among the leaves, or was that the wind?  I stopped and looked, and looked again, and then I saw two eyes and a nose looking back at me—a very young deer nestled down under cover of a large fallen tree. I quick took a few pictures and had to focus in to share. Can you see it? (scroll down)

 

1801. cheers!😻

chilly morning 

cat on my lap, quilt on my feet

two of us purring

 

Happy Caturday! 😻 Cheers!

1800. kitchen window

kitchen window—

all the birds are clamoring 

to come inside

 

Early in the morning all the birds are clamoring, clamoring to come inside my kitchen window. Be silent, just listen.