2006. the world at my feet

once was a tree

velvet world at my feet

54 million years

 

I can see the world at my feet. I’m lucky. I love where I live. It’s wild. Day after day I can go outside for a walk where I might see a fox darting across the road, or some deer lounging in good company or leaping thru the woods, or watch a blue heron suddenly stab its perfect beak into the creek and come up with a tasty fish. I might look up at flying formations of geese overhead honking across the sky, or stop and gaze at the beautiful velvet mystery of moss at my feet. I amaze at how something so lowly and silent can lay dormant for eons and come back to life again after 54 million years. 

2005. the lookouts

up on the roof

facing east, west, north, and south—

the lookouts 

In the morning, they gather and chatter, enjoying a joke or two, surveying the whole wide world from their point of view. Then, one by one, they rise up, lift up, fly up….off and away. 

 

2004. it’s spring!

dandelions 

tumbling onto sidewalks—

delish!

I found a recipe for fried dandelions blossoms. It said they have a flavor similar to mushrooms and they’re delicious!😋 

2003. moody morning

beyond the clouds

small as the moon faraway,

that’s the sun

 

Never too early or late to look up at the sky.

2002. far out!

must be

the old hippie hen out there

is still laying eggs!😘

 

Make Love, Not War!!!

2001. rata-tatt-tatt!!

a tangle of trees

big red-headed woodpecker

hammering holes

 

Rat-a…rat-a…ratatat…ratat-tatt! Rata-tatt!! Tatt-tatt!! That’s got to be a big one! The unmistakable booming sounds of the pilieated woodpecker draws my eyes to look up searching thru the tangle of trees until I spotted the tall barren trunk of dead wood and waited for any sign of movement. There all the way up near the top, I saw a flash of red, the big bird with head jabbing, neck snapping, beak pecking, hammering, hammering away!!! It’s always a thrill to see life so alive. 🙏🏻 

1999. three scenarios

look at me,

pretty as a picture!😁

well, almost

*

pleads innocence—

but he looks guilty to me

says he was framed!

*

please, please

give him some cheese

make him smile

 

Just playin’!

2000. bloodroot

beautiful—

death and decay….blossoming life

existing side by side

 

What a beautiful thing, Life. Today is Easter. For those who celebrate, Happy Easter. For those who do not, celebrate Life that goes on and on no matter what. 🌺 

1998. perfect, she says

artwork, artwork 

here, there, and everywhere

service with a smile!

 

I always enjoy a visit to my framer. Aside from her high-quality framing services, Rachel Isaac is a top-notch fine artist. It’s always a delight to see what she’s been working on in her studio gallery. Rachel’s collage work features botanicals including pressed flowers, leaves, bug wings, intricate paper cuts, and vintage photographs. https://www.instagram.com/rachelisaacart/

By the way, the Mill Artist Studios (Rachel’s location) in Manayunk will be welcoming visitors to their semi-annual Open House on April 12 from 11:00 to 5:00. 

1997. the cats’ meow

swishy wishes 

whisky whiskers seeing fishes

it’s the cats’ meow

“Yay! Yay! It’s Caturday!” — 15 x 18” — Origami

This is the latest in a series of posts featuring origami fishes (see posts 1979. and 1993.)  When I showed this composition to Dan he said, that would make a good flag! I thought about that and came up with a slogan—Yay! Yay! It’s Caturday! It’s been fun, but I might be done for a while with folding fishes. 

1995. purrfect!😸😽

mikey and willey

together forever at last

purrfectionately 

Dan has been busy at work making papier-mâché clay cats, creating a collection of life-size Quintessential Cats. Here’s a closeup of my Mikey Girl and Willey Boy.

 

1994. guppies

two guppies

like ships passing in the night

pancho & cisco

 

 

Amusing myself watching guppies. It could make you dizzy. They’re always on the move. I took a bunch of pictures. Hmmm….maybe I’ll do a guppy series.  

1993. a riddle

what’s gelatinous,

gooey, and sometimes crunchy?

fish eyes!👀 

 

Did you know that fish eyes are considered a delicacy in many Eastern cuisines, where they are prized as an umami-packed treat reserved for special guests? While here in the West, fish eyes have been used innovatively as a way of making egg whites, say, for Fish Eye Ice Cream! 😝 What won’t they think of next! 😘

1992. life goes on

$3.99 ‘n’ up

hey, is that ‘open’ or ‘nope’?

fill ‘er up!

$3.99/gallon.  Ackkk!!!  And so it goes.😝 

1991. that’s a post!

flowers planted

on top of the chain-link fence... 

who did this?

On top of the chain-link fence surrounding the cemetery—pretty flowers. That’s a post! I stopped at the light, took out my phone, put the car in reverse, backed up to the flowers, rolled down my window and snapped a picture.😘

1990. no thanks

pizza anyone?

thanks, but no thanks….

yuk!

 

This one was easy to say no to.😘

1989. village life

waiting for the bus

running, laughing, hugging

….waving goodbye

 

Just past 8:30, the school bus stops out front. Children waiting skip around or just hang. Moms and grandmoms hang, and a couple of dads, too. I like to look out the window and take in the scene and reminisce back to time I rode a school bus every morning. I lived on a farm. When I wasn’t in school, I’d fetch fresh eggs from the chickens, or run thru the fields picking berries to make jam, or go fishing for little sunfish in the little brook and watch the little mice running back and forth across the floor behind the old tv, and then sometimes I’d see a big black spider crawling across the big white bathtub and I’d scream. I was so happy. After all these years, it’s still feels like yesterday, well almost. I was five years old.

1988. red chair

between two trees

sitting in quiet stillness

the red chair

The red chair immediately caught my attention. It had such presence. Puny yet powerful, quietly sitting there between the towering oaks. In today’s world of fast living and fast talking, it is the stillness that gets my attention….and the color, red.  It is my favorite.

1987. just like spring

 which way, gang

left, right, or straight ahead?

don’t cross the tracks!

Frisky young doe, first one…then two…three, four, five…six. We watched them scamper across the road running, like a band of bandits, racing along the long curve of grassy ground, then halting in a bunch, looking around where to go next. They were young and fresh, just like Spring.

1986. napping 😴

on the sofa 

knee crossed over knee….

zonked

“Let’s begin by taking a smallish nap or two. . . When in doubt take a nap. . . A nap is always a good idea.” Winnie the Pooh has a lot to say about taking a nap.  I like naps. Short naps are the best. 

1985. seeing red

ready to unfurl

buds of red leaves curled up tight

red, white, on blue

 

Wow. If I had a nickel for every red bud on that mighty red maple, I’d be rich as a quadrillionaire!😘

1984. read

in the bookshop

feeling right at home

reading books

 

A good book can make you feel right at home. A book is like a garden that blossoms and blooms. Books are like friends. Books are good things to have. “If you only read the books, everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.” Haruki Murakami

1983. the quiet

just sitting

waiting for the sun to rise

two buddhas

 

Early morning is a favorite time of day. Just sitting, listening to the quiet.

1982. our gang

hangin’ out

away from the crowd of grownups 

the little rascals

 

Yesterday’s opening of an art exhibit at Aubrey Arboretum was well attended. It was crowded and loud. Food was plentiful. Wines and children’s punch drinks also plentiful. The exhibition of paintings by Pragya Gupta was impressive and inspiring. My favorite takeaway was this photo of a group of children hanging out together. Made me think of the old black and white TV series, Our Gang.

1981. Lenten Rose

daring to bloom

in time for the lenten season 

lenten roses

 

Looking at today’s weather, it was 37° feeling like 29°. Here are hellebore flowers blooming on this cold, windy morning during the Lenten season just before Easter. Though not in the rose family, hellebores are known as Lenten Roses and are among the few flowers vital enough to grow and bloom in the snows and ice of late winter and early spring. They appear to be dainty and delicate, and yet.  

1980. snoozin’

 

shadows and sunshine

not too much….not too little

getting her Ds

It’s Mikey’s Day! Hey! Hey! It’s Caturday! 😻

1979. fish sampler

a thought, a wish

a fish…a fish…a fish…a fish…

blue on blue

“Making Wishes on Folded Fishes” — 6x15”— Origami 

In the beginning there was a thought, and then a wish, and then a fish, and a fish, and a fish, and a fish. I had an idea to fold some fishes, and I wanted them to be blue, so I folded a variety in eight or ten different shapes with one pattern of blue paper, but it wasn’t ‘right.’ I tried a different paper, but that wasn’t right either. Then another in plain white to better show the folds in the paper. Nothing satisfied me. Then I thought about trying tissue paper and painting the fishes. I lost count of how many fishes I folded. Then I had this idea to make a fish sampler. Making wishes on all my fishes—I like this one!

1978. talking to the moon

good morning, moon

what will this day bring?

that’s up to you🌖

 

Have a good day! 🌖 

1977. no dummies

one squirrel

climbing up and up and up

now what?!

 

Squirrels are masters of ‘hurry up and wait!’ I watched this squirrel low on the pole, holding on, not moving an inch, for the longest time.  Then up and up and up it went all the way to the top, and again holding on, not moving an inch, for the longest time. Which way next—left, right, straight ahead or straight down.  Was it thinking? Can squirrels think?  Yes. They use cognitive abilities to plan, solve problems, navigate; and their brains grow15% in the fall to help remember where they buried thousands of nuts.

1976. bees are buzzing

bees are buzzing

drinking sweetest sweetnesses 

of spring 

 

I went into the woods for the first time this Spring and saw a flower that was new to me —Winter Acolite, a member of the Buttercup family. A naturalist on the trail told me to look for these flowers. “If you’d like to see something special, there are unusual flowers blooming up there on the right. . .” He was quite excited and eager to tell me about his find. I found the flowers easily. The ground was covered with golden brightness 🔅shining like sunshine ☀️ and giving off a fragrance so, so sweet! 

1975. elvis

after the show

empty street. . .a lone rider

heading home

 

The clock change for daylight saving time always throws off my biorhythm for a day or so. This morning the ringing clock woke me for work. I really didn’t want to get up.  Lying in bed, I thought of the documentary film we saw last night in Ambler, “EPiC: Elvis Presley In Concert.”  Loved it!!

1974. a little wonder

after the snows

a kingdom of mushrooms 

 crowning the stump

 

The beauty of change. Think I’ll add this to the many wonders of the our world.

 

1973. hmmm. . .

put on your flip flops 

break out the old banjo and

just do it later!

 

On yesterday’s walk thru the neighborhood, a license plate stopped me—Just Do It Later!  Hmmm. . . I looked closer—Pura Vida.  Pura Vida is a way of greeting in Costa Rica, like “hi!”or “hey hey!” It translates as ‘pure life’ or ‘simple life’ and is the unofficial national motto for Costa Ricans who choose to live laid-back and optimistic by letting things go, enjoying life, and being grateful. Hmmm...

1972. a candle

heated tongue of flame

slowly burning its basket

of melting wax

 

The way of a candle. 

1971. cold hardy

thawing out

after the long winter freeze—

snow, ice, two goldfish

Thawing out, welcoming spring, getting ready for another season of fun in the sun on the links. Two orange goldfish, heads to the current of melting waters streaming into the spillway across from the pond in the Rolling Hills Golf Club.

1970. snow drops

fresh snow drops

in the shade of the old pine tree—

it must be spring

 

My eyes lit up at the sight of snowdrops in bloom. I bent down low to the ground to take a picture. 

1969. a story

sunshine and shadows

near and far, high and low

alone together

 

They say every picture tells a story. I can’t help but wonder what’s the story here. Did he just happen to sit down in the chair across the table from her? Were they strangers? Or were they a couple sitting together, traveling in two different worlds?

1968. at peace

laying my head down

closing my eyes. . .

at peace

 

Here’s a drawing from a while ago of Mikey and Willey sleeping on the sofa. Mikey is up there on cushions on the left, and on the right are Willey’s hind quarters and striped tail. 

“The more cats you have, the longer you’ll live. If you have a hundred cats, you’ll live ten times longer than if you have ten. Someday this will be discovered and people will have a thousand cats and live forever.” Charles Bukowski

1967. good luck!

trying to catch

a balloon in the breeze

click!

 

Good luck trying to make a balloon behave in the breeze so you can get a good picture? Can’t be done! Or can it?! 😘

1966. the wizard?

yellow bricks

climb all the way to heaven

is that the wizard?!

 

That’s the giant smokestack at Chestnut Hill College. All those yellow bricks, 80 or 90 feet high of them, made me think of the Yellow Brick Road and Wizard of Oz. 

1965. in the zone

side by side

two young girls sharing time,

out of time

 

Side by side, two young girls sharing space and time. Slowing down, sitting down. . .taking turns talking and listening. . .together. . .stepping out of time. 

This scene takes me back to the time Dan and I did this together. Time after time, we made time to sit down and read a book together, quietly sharing thoughts and feelings. I smile remembering. (Our book was, “The Courage to Be Happy.”)

1964. thumpety thump thump

mr. & mrs. frosty

waving hello and goodbye 

thumpty thump thump

 

What a winter! It’s great to see you! We’ll be back again sometime!

1963. snow again

snow again

counting the days till spring

1-2-3-4 wheelbarrows

 

It snowed again overnight. ❄️ 

1962. wow!

a real looker—

six feet tall with curvy curves

wow!🤩 

 

Yesterday’s snow was wet and heavy, perfect for building a snowman so I went out for a walk, hoping to find one for a photo. But no luck, or so I thought, until circling back toward home just down the street, there she was, big and beautiful—my very first snowlady, 6 feet tall with curvy curves, orange eyes, a rosebud mouth, and a silvery rhinestone cowgirl top hat! 🤩

1961. it’s still winter

it’s still winter—

snowed over night all night long

and still snowing!

 

That’s Mike, my upstairs neighbor, outside at 5:38 this morning cleaning off snow from his truck. Looks like about 12 inches. Glad I can wait til later to do my car—it’s right behind his truck.

1960. higher and higher

higher and higher

way up there in the sky—

what fun!

 

How many times I look up in the sky and think to myself. . .wish i could fly!