softly, softly
it comes and it goes
without a sound
Some days the sky is blue….some days the sky is gray.
1630. change
clouds roll in
and the clouds roll out—
changing moods
1629. all smiles
she claps her hands:
horses cross over the meadow
pose for a photo
Heels clicking, running together across the field, smiles and laughter bright as a sunny Spring sun, three horses. My pockets are empty—next time I’ll bring treats!
1628. Spring returns
beside the biggest tree
there lives the smallest house
who goes there?
An old picket fence, three wooden ladders and one more in back, a long green sliding board, a blue bucket seat on a swing, two yellow pussycats, and pink binoculars. Cool breezes flow through the open windows airing out the house. Spring returns.
1627. thoughts of a tree
who is that
in the looking glass…oh ho,
that’s me!
1626. no pumpkin
orange belly
sits still like a buddah
fat, fat, fat!
*
like a pumpkin
orange as a pumpkin
that’s no pumpkin!
Like a pumpkin. Orange as a pumpkin. But that’s no pumpkin! Think I’ll go home and make some pumpkin bread with walnuts!🎃
1625. mockingbird
mockingbird—
nothing much to tweet about
lifts off and away
Mockingbird sits silent on top of the scrubby shrubbery looking around—for something to mock?—then in a flash spreads open its black and grey wings, lifts its long white tail, and is gone.
This bird species, “known for singing late at night, even past midnight, are opportunistic omnivores feeding on insects, fruits, seeds, and occasional greens.” Last summer, we often observed one particular mockingbird—it had a banded leg—that always showed up around Tommy’s dinner time to scarf up some kitty kibble!
1624. listen up!
white side up,
fold both ways, fold thirds, lift, close, turn,
decorate
It’s a bird! The silent, symbolic language of the age-old art of folding paper, origami. These are the instructions used for making all those little birds in yesterday‘s post, No.1623. This one has just five steps. Some origami might have nearly fifty different steps, some even more!
1623. take a piece of paper…
like potato chips
one just isn’t enough
a bunch of birds
A piece of paper is full of possibilities.Take a piece of paper….you have an idea and begin to fold then before you know it the idea disappears and dissolves into a bird and one thing leads to another and before you know it you have bunch of birds, little blue birds, chittering.
1622. time out
me and mikey
in the middle of the day
doing nothing
There’s Mikey. I stop what I’m doing and just smile. Often times when I see Mikey, I walk over to where she is, reach down to put my hand on her soft fur and thank her for being here. Bertrand Russell said, “The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.” I agree.
1621. one tiny feather
no longer fluttering
tucked away in its mouth
one tiny feather
We never know what we might see on our walks. Here was a red-bellied woodpecker, lying still, not moving at all, on the pavement by our feet. It looked so peaceful. Carefully, Dan lifted and held the bird in his hands, its body light as air, still slightly warm. Though its body was no longer alive it seemed that its spirit was lingering. We laid it down on soft ground under a tree and covered it over with leaves. I thanked it for being here on this earth and wished it well in its journey on to the other side.
1622. humpty dumpty
this old house
where it used to be
the soft earth
*
once were dreams
rocks and stones all tumbled down….
the soft earth
So many years, so many dreams, dust to dust. Rocks and stones buildup…breakdown…the moon then sun…the moon then sun. Time. You can never catch it….it’s always on the move, day by day. Ancient poets tell us, Months and days are endlessly passing travelers. So go the years. Are you and I eternal travelers, too?
1619. top to bottom
top to bottom
holding on, leaning all the way
8-story trees
1618. five in the morning
reading by candlelight
a car rolls by in the rain
now and then
I love the morning quiet. Funny, how I don’t notice the quiet until there’s a little noise. Reminds me of an audiobook I recently listened to—Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking.
1617. afterwards
sun settles down
stretching out longer, longer
chain link fence
Giant fishing net scooping up the golf course!
Although I knew it was there, only later at home when I looked at my pictures did I really see the chain-link fence.
1616. sit down
sit down—
the weather’s always changing
have a cup of tea
This book is old, paper is curling and turning yellow. It originally cost $1. You can’t find anything to buy for a dollar anymore, not even at the dollar store.😉
1615. who done it?
three clues
a hat, black glove, & spectacles
who done it?
A walk in the woods turns up three clues—a hat, a black glove and a pair of spectacles! Hmmm. This is one for Phryne Fisher, the best private detective around. You can find her on PBS: “Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.” She sleuths with panache. She’s sassy, smart, and stylish. Check her out!
1614. making music
don’t you know
there’s music everywhere—
ah ha! leaves
Is it not delightful to think about dancing? Passing by the familiar grove of bare trees, it was the percussive sounds—tick tickety tickety-tock tock-tick, like tap dancing—that caught my ear, making me stop and look up to watch last winter’s leftover leaves dancing to the music of their own fluttering, flapping, flipping, flickering beating beat. This old tree coming to life.
1613. homecoming
chilly mist outside
daffodils dancing yellow
inside
Day’s end greeting me coming home: my husband, my cat, and fresh flowers.
1612. on the light side
well well, now
not one but two vultures—
could they be flirting?!
Letting go any thoughts of doom….having a little fun!😉
1611. not true
chill in the air
a thousand tiny feathers
swiveling
I took this picture a while ago. Red tail hawk at the side of the road. It was forty feet ahead, perched on the split rail fence, sitting quietly. Beautiful, yet odd how it just sat there not moving, back to the road, facing the woods. As we carefully approached, bit by bit, closer and closer, the hawk still didn’t move, only its head. I took several pictures. I’d known that owls can rotate their heads to look around in different directions and thought they were the only birds to do that. Not true.
1610. life goes on
early spring
a single tiny crocus
barely there
Nestled in among the many fallen leaves, withered grasses and ground cover barely green, a single softly tinted tiny crocus was opening to the sun. Life goes on.
1609. movie night lineup
a movie star
finney, tipper, and mikey
drinking fish water
Monday night at the movies, well kinda. That’s Mikey, Finney, and Tipper keeping me company while I watch a movie starring Annette Bening, one of my faves. By the way, Mikey drinks fish water and the fish always swim up to greet her!
1608. morning reading chair 🤧
writing my blog
waiting for the sun
sneezing crazy
I am just getting over a cold. I haven’t been out much and don't have a picture to post or write about. The old haiku master said: Elevate the ordinary, whatever is in front of you. Keep it simple. Everything is worth writing about.
I scroll back through my pictures to the way it was a week ago: 5 o’clock in the morning, sipping coffee and sitting here sneezing like the wind blowing my nose. I’ve already used one, two, three…seven tissues all piled up one on top of another, tiny mountain. Throat sore, coughing, sneezing, trouble breathing. Doctor said—a virus, it’s been going around. More sneezes now, four more tissues. My nose hurts. I look down, smile, and take a picture leaning over my morning reading chair.
That was then.🤧 Today is good.😊 What a difference time makes!
1607. ancient tree
ancient tree
feeling the bite of time
chill in the air
It’s many arms now bare of green scented needles and abundant piney cones, whenever I see this tree I stop and gaze. I’m quiet. I listen. How many summers and winters has it seen pass by? How many dreams? And when the time comes, when the end is near, I want to be there to reach out and wrap my arms around its beautiful burnished body. And if I’m lucky, maybe, just maybe it will happen for me.
1606. saturday night
reading
in front of the fireplace
times are changing
Did you remember to change your clocks today? Push an hour ahead—it’s daylight saving time! “Three Simple Lines,” by Natalie Goldberg. It’s a good read into the homeland of haiku.
1605. wanderings
i love this tree
no longer splendid….
what now?
I’ve been working on this one for days. I think it’s done…
Emptiness is the best part of everything. I think. It’s what catches the eye, inviting imagination to come, to wander and wonder about some bird, or perhaps some other kind of creature, who took it upon itself to poke a hole in this tree that had been growing tall for 60 or 70 years, maybe longer, and changed its course giving it a new meaning and purpose. All this time, it was busy being a tree, and now what?
Where am I? What am I doing now? Why am I here? The tree doesn’t ask, it just goes along with the flow of whatever comes along today, and today, and today. Why can’t I? Some days I need answers. Some days I simply enjoy the imperfections.
And Leonard Cohen said, “There’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”
1604. woof!
yo-hey!
here’s one for the blog—
woof! woof!
Pulled over to the side of the road, a big high-top van, big paws on the wheel, sits with a big Saint Bernard in the driver’s seat. He barks, it shakes, I keep going….but not before I take a picture.😘
1603. forbidden drive
chairs placed just so
waiting for the parade to pass by
best views in town
A favorite venue for walkers, strollers, dogs, runners, hikers, and cyclists, Forbidden Drive is a 7-mile-long rolling gravel and asphalt trail that runs alongside the Wissahickon Creek along the outskirts of Philadelphia. It has a ton of picturesque views and is source to countless single-track trails that run up into wooded hills and sprawling open meadows. The best part is “no vehicle traffic allowed.” That’s where it gets its name.
1602. david & goliath
young shepherd
goes up against the giant
undaunted
Tap-tap-tap…tap-tap…tap-tap…tap-tap-tap. It took a while for me to see where the sounds were coming from. Later on, looking at my photo, I immediately thought of David and Goliath. It’s not the size of the challenge but the size of your own heart that matters.
1601. daffodils
daffodils
so young and fragrant, like spring….
my wrinkled hand
*
daffodils
holing up in a water bottle
tsk! tsk!
1600. let’s romp
tall grasses
sparrows swing high, swing low….
reminiscing
“A Little Fun In The Sun” — 9x16” — Origami
A breezy sunny day, outside sparrows are frolicking on tall summer grasses at the bottom of the hill that runs along the railroad tracks behind the old house. Taking turns, the sparrows romp—clinging to the long blades, bobbing up and down, jumping on then off, bouncing over and over, shaking and twittering!
Wished I could go outside and play with them, but simply waved. I didn’t take a picture, this is my memory from last summer.
1599. eyes to eyes
far apart
keeping our distance
eyes to eyes
We stand a long time, simply gazing eyes to eyes. I like to imagine that one day we might slowly walk toward each other, step by step, pause….then bow.
1598. Bonnie & Clyde
house cat
quiet as a mouse
watching tv
I was cat sitting Bonnie & Clyde. That’s Bonnie, her brother is Clyde. We were all just hanging out. I feel very lucky.
1597. snow
take a gander
here’s one last picture of snow
isn’t it pretty?
*
bye bye winter
thank you for all the snow—
honk if you like snow!!
The last day of the second month of the year 2025. Winter is almost over. The snow’s all gone now. It was a good winter for snow—not too much, not too little. HONK!
1596. still life
still life
the piney smell of pine….
lingering
Winter is nearly over. It’s in the air. Nestled together on the soft earth beneath my feet—pale underside bark of wood, sprig of faded green, silvery lichen, and a single crusty cone. This once was a giant.
In the beginning, there was only the writing, or at least it appeared to me as writing burnished into a very small piece of wood. I pulled out my camera to take a picture for a closer look….then looked around on the ground nearby. Only then did I realize it was more than just a piece of wood and I wanted somehow to honor it in a post….
1595. when we were young
if only I could say,
let’s talk about the old days
when we were young
When we were young, we were the best of friends. We played together, traveled together, explored, discovered and learned together. When it was time to go to school, I only wanted to go with him to first grade but I wrote all my numbers backwards, so they put me in kindergarten. Years later, I remember the time we were just talking about this and that and my brother said to me, “Lan, you and I and Mom and Pop, we were all together in another lifetime…and we’ll be together again.” I can hear him even now, smiling. 😊
1594. take my picture!
out in the cold
“take my picture!” it beckons,
old carwash
1593. the lineup!
everybody!
hands up against the wall!
the lineup😆
I didn’t do this. This was in Dan‘s kitchen. What in the world was he thinking?!😆
1592. what joy!
ten thousand snowflakes
outside in the cold, what joy
to disappear!
….well, almost!
The snow’s all gone now. I think maybe it won’t snow again this winter, but who knows!
1591. hopalong
the grey bunny
on the white snow
hopping along
Gazing down into the creek, frozen over with snow and ice, I spotted the grey bunny. I named him, Hopalong.
1590. beyond the pale
two geese
flying along through the mist
imagine…
*
i wouldn’t need a thing
if i could fly with you forever,
not even a penny
“If there is life after the Earth life, will you come with me even then? Since we’re bound to be something, why not together?” These words from a poem by Mary Oliver immediately brought to mind a picture I had taken of two wild geese flying high, together.
Yes, there is so much enmity and suspicion all around in this world, but that’s not all there is. Yes, “There is life without love. It is not worth a bent penny…”
1589. step by step
he said she said:
no you can’t oh yes I can
and i will i will!
1588. paradise now
standing tall
the gentle giant sings—
let’s all get along
“Let’s All Get Along” — 11x13-1/2” — Origami
Birds flying high, monkeys swing low, and a mischief of mice. Like a preacher with his congregation, the gentle giant sings: Old things new, grey skies blue, it’s a good day now. Let the wind blow, let the sun shine, let the moon glow. It’s a good day now, let’s sing a song, let’s all get along….let’s all get along!
1587. street minstrel
street minstrel
plays his solitary song
the walls lean in
*
no one to hear, but
maybe a pigeon or two
up in the eaves
1586. the wind blows
over the rise
like a flock of geese heading home
turning white
1585. stuff happens!
oh, no!
that fish jumped out of the pond
and lost all its color!
Stuff happens! Sometimes all you can do is just smile.😆
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