739. staying power

walking the “ruffer”

is often a test of wills

“ruffer” is tougher  🦊❤️

When I walk Ruffer he always carries his tennis ball. He has been playing a game of dropping his ball, sitting beside it and when I walk toward him and get close, he will quickly and adeptly pick up the ball and continue to walk. Last evening as a thunder storm approached I decided to stand my ground and wait him out. Well after 10 minutes I looked at the sky filling with black clouds. Then I looked at Ruffer’s eyes watching me watching the clouds… I walked toward him… he picked up the ball… he walked merrily along… I guess Ruffer doesn’t worry about impending thunderstorms! Lol 🦊❤️

 

738. perpetual oasis

there’s an oasis

well… just barely a puddle

but squirrels think it’s grand  🦊❤️

For years I’ve been keeping an eye on a little hollowed out cavity at the base of a small tree. It’s almost always filled with water regardless of the weather. It is an oasis for squirrels, chipmunks, bugs, etc. I really enjoy these little hidden treasures of the trails. It is also fun sharing them on this blog. 🦊❤️

737. the last voyage

a ship of yellow

lighted on a sea of green

floating never more  🦊❤️

Everyone remembers that split second when the helium balloon they were holding suddenly escaped from their grasp and floated toward the heavens. It went up, up, up up and started its journey to who knows where. When I spot one of  these vagabonds at their journey’s end I feel a touch of sadness that their journey of a lifetime has finally come to an end. 🦊❤️

 

736. facing the music

when you plunk the strings

your face reveals their deepness

your eyes close to see 🦊❤️

I was at an art fair yesterday. There was a great jazz ensemble playing. I’ve seen them perform before. Equally as wonderful as hearing their music was watching their faces as they performed. Their level of communication with themselves, each other and their music as displayed by their faces while playing was awesome. I stood alone at the gazebo railing and got lost in “all that jazz” 🦊❤️

 

735. winston

how his eyes lit up

when he saw her head his way

not a jimmy fell  🦊❤️

 

What a wonderful time I had watching Winston calmly and meticulously eating a frozen custard with jimmies. He was being treated by his “grandparents” who took real delight in spoiling him. Was a nice way to spend time on a hot summer night!! 🦊❤️
 

734. merry go round in my mind

standing way down here

looking all the way up there

all so dizzying 🦊❤️

Sometimes I just stop and look at what I am surrounded by and it makes my head spin with wonder.  🦊❤️

 

733. strength in closeness

family of fungi

grandma and gramps - mom and dad

mary and jimmy 🦊❤️

Fungi are pretty delicate things.  Yet… this family of fungi standing close together in the barren emptiness sure looked strong to me. Now some will say, “But Danny, not everyone has a family. This will make them feel bad. ” Then I say, “Family is what you say it is. Family is who you choose to stand close to.”  The scene spoke to me on many levels.  🦊❤️

 

732. hiking with a pigeon

pigeon on the path

lighting again and again

i say, “a good sign!” 🦊❤️

While hiking the other evening with my son Kevin, we encountered a pigeon walking on the trail. When we would get within a foot or so it would take off, make a wide circle of the area and then land on the trail about 10 feet ahead of us. It repeated this routine multiple times over the distance of 1/2 mile of the trail. Weird eh?  Anyone have any idea what it was up to?  I believe it was a sign of good things to come! 🦊❤️

731. for kevin

piano music

will enchant his peaceful place

near… and far away  🦊❤️

I was honored to have been able to paint a picture that brought a meadow to a living room, joy to a family and music to a meadow. 🦊❤️

 

730. (a) being among the stars

stars on the big screen

stars hovering overhead

“please silence cell phones”  🦊❤️

I like to get to movies early so I can mess around with my cell phone before the message to not mess around with your cell phones shows up on the screen! “PLEASE SILENCE CELL PHONES & NO TEXTING DURING MOVIE!” Technically taking selfies is not prohibited I guess…  🦊❤️

 

729. time of the year

yet another year

beginning to show its age

time… goes quickly now  🦊❤️ 

I’ve always found that the time between August and December seems to fly by much quicker than any other time of year. I felt the speed start to rev up this morning when I saw hints of autumn inhabiting the trails. What is true in nature is true in life and living as well. 🦊❤️

 

728. my friend dan’s shirt

from where does it come?

inspiration for what’s next…

one just never knows  🦊❤️

I have coffee every Friday morning at a local farmer’s market with my friend Dan.  He has a great collection of Hawaiian shirts. Yesterday I was really wowwed by his selection.  The grid background and very simplistic flowers and leaves reminded me of my painting style as well as my obsession with graphs and Excel spreadsheets.  The creative  wheels in my head have been furiously turning since seeing the shirt. One never knows when inspiration will show up.  🦊❤️  
 

727. longing for b&w tv

broadcasts without glitz

clarity… simplicity…

 black and white footage 🦊❤️

I recently saw the wonderful documentary “Hallelujah” which was about Leonard Cohen and his lifelong writing of new verses of the song, “Hallelujah”. I was particularly struck by the great b&w footage of Cohen being interviewed on various broadcasts. It seemed to me that the plain, simple sets and backgrounds really added impact to the interviews.  Maybe it is the absence of glitz getting in the way of listening. Maybe the interviewers were more interviewers than entertainers. Maybe it was just Cohen’s way and words. Or maybe simply my longing for “imagined” simpler days. Regardless, it is a movie well worth seeing. 🦊❤️

(My selfie photo was taken at a recent visit to an art museum.

 I knew it would come in handy someday!)

726. a day at the shore

as the time passes

i grab family tightly

a day at the shore 🦊❤️

As time moves forward, things change, people change, families change, vacations change… everything changes. 

Yesterday I dropped in on the evolved version of family summer vacation at the shore.  So much was different… yet the same.  I had a great time and grabbed tightly onto and basked in what the moment shined on me.  🦊❤️

725. how many ( ) does it take to fix a ( )

how many (blank)

does it take to fix a (blank)?

a really old joke… 🦊❤️

When I saw a gaggle of green shirted workers tightly crowded around a worksite I chuckled. I thought of the really old joke about how many (fill in the blank) does it take to change a light bulb. 🦊❤️

 

 

724. gift that keeps on giving

when its time is done

the cucumber magnol-ya*

just keeps on giving… 🦊❤️

I love Cucumber Magnolia trees.  I love them when they tower overhead. I love them as they lie in final rest on the forest bed. I can touch their tallest reaches with my hands. They keep giving to me… and the living things that they touch. 🦊❤️ *(magnol-ya used rather than magnolia to make it two syllables!! Lol)

 

723. be sure to read the fine print

a box full of plush

all free and ready to hug

 (mem’ries excluded) 🦊❤️

Since I believe that stuffed animals are real… I always feel sad when I see them being separated from those who made them come to life…. 🦊❤️

 

722. work in process

finally it lands…

that mark of paint that breathes life

where there once was none  🦊❤️

There is a point in the process of painting a picture at which my doubts are transformed into certainty.  From that point forward each new mark of paint knows exactly where it belongs in the puzzle.  I love reaching that point in my process. 🦊❤️

 

721. the significance of the insignificant

three scrawny upshots

their shadows are so precise

the sun’s artistry 🦊❤️

I love those spacious moments when I allow myself to be blown away by the immensity of the smallest and most insignificant things… 🦊❤️

 

720. cold case

picked clean to the bone

all the vital organs gone

skeletal remains  🦊❤️

I am a believer in removing and repairing the evidence of crime as soon as possible so that its stigma and aura don’t haunt a community. This strategy is referred to as “Broken Window Theory”. It has been a controversial practice as it is alleged to be responsible for overly zealous policing when practiced improperly.  Despite the contentious debate, it is hard to deny the importance and value of creating environments that visually signal safety and responsibility rather than irresponsibility and bad behavior. These are the.  “low-hanging fruit” opportunities of community safety efforts that everyone can practice. 🦊❤️

 

719. wireless positivity

 

this electric sky

transmitted from me to you

without any wires  🦊❤️

I took today’s photograph intending to focus the accompanying haiku on the beauty of  the flaming orange morning sky. I just couldn’t craft one to foot the bill. Instead my mind got lost in the amazingly magical capabilities of these things called smart phones. They can be a powerful tool  of transmitting  positivity to others. 🦊❤️

718. “gimme shelter”

honey locust thorns

once warding off mastodons

now… keeps birdies safe  🦊❤️

I stood looking at the fierce thorns on a Honey Locust tree.  Their original purpose was to protect the tree from plant eating Mastodons thousands of years ago.  Today a bird’s nest is cradled by the razor sharp thorns to  provide its temporary inhabitants safety. Nature is amazing… 🦊❤️

 

717. rapt attention

a field of flowers

watching the sun’s every move

with their big black eyes  🦊❤️

 As I passed a patch of Black Eyed Susans I couldn’t  help but stop and notice the rapt attention that they were paying to the sun. Be like the sun - shine, give warmth, always be there even when the clouds roll in and eyes will be happy to watch you and wait for you to show up on your daily rounds! 🦊❤️

 

716. simply solid

stone on top of stone

nothing fancy… nothing slick

function - not fashion  🦊❤️

Solid simplicity is so dignified and dependable. It is the bedrock of all that serves us well.   🦊❤️

 

715. life is a metaphor for life

i am not afraid

floating into mother earth

because… you’re with me  🦊❤️

When I saw this shriveled leaf being held tenderly by the green leaves I thought of a book that I just read entitled, “Not The Last Goodbye”. It was the final book written by David Sevan-Scheiber MD who wrote extensively on life, death, healing and cancer. This was his memoire of his final days of living with cancer and the importance of humility, friends, family and surrender in his process of passing on peacefully.  Seeing  the leaf being tenderly supported by the vibrant green leaves brought a lump to my throat. As the mind and heart open… life becomes a metaphor for life. 🦊❤️ 

 

714. who’s counting?

in the early morn

way before the sun does rise

my three lines do dawn 🦊❤️

I happened to look at the statistics on viewership of my daily haiku blog.  As of yesterday 8/5/2022 I have posted the blog for 713 consecutive days. In that period of time it has been viewed 22,707 times. I am gratified that in nearly two years time so many people took the time to visit. Most importantly for me is my desire to post daily haikus that spark constructive thought and a positive message to my visitors to start their day.  Publishing my daily haiku in the predawn hours has become a valuable practice for me. Thank you for visiting! 🦊❤️

 

713. remembering sister jean

a fifty cent book

as i held it in my hand

i could feel its age  🦊❤️

Again the local book hutch on the way to the trails provided me with a nice subject for my haiku post. A 50 cent, Dell paperback of “Wuthering Heights” printed in the 1960s caught my eye. I could tell it was well read and enjoyed. The back cover, worn thin by handling was reinforced by brittling Scotch tape. The yellowed pages felt tenderly thin and delicate. In high school Sister Jean often spoke of the author Emily Bronte with admiration and fondness. I never read the book… like so many other books I didn’t read.  I almost want to go back and rescue the book and read it… but I won’t. Sorry Sister Jean. 🦊❤️ 

 

712. window of opportunity

up in the window

above the maddening crowd

“hey look, here i am!!”  🦊❤️

Take time daily to look up into the sky and believe that you are not alone.  Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Mother Earth, The Universe, etc.  - take your pick. “Hey… I see you up there! Hello!” 🦊❤️

 

711. “did ya hear me comin’?”

clip-clopping along

wearing my beads and my bells

“you hear me jingling?”  🦊❤️

While hiking the other day I could hear a faint jingling combined with muffled clip-clopping? As it got louder, I was met by a beautiful horse sporting a new necklace of beads and bells. The rider was ecstatic that I heard the bells from a distance.  The horse was just happy being a horse I think! 🦊❤️

 

710. light, camera, action

in the back alley

a wall full of character

making its debut  🦊❤️

This back alley wall - a hodge-podge of textures, decay, repair, windows,  door to nowhere, pipes, art and an overhead light glowing an eerie green is a sighting that “flips my switch”. 🦊❤️

 

709. the gift of slowing down

lounging by the pool

peek-a-booing with the sun

life in the slow lane 🦊❤️

Of all of the things that I am grateful for, finally learning how to live more regularly in the slow lane is one near the top of the list.  That is not to say that I’ve become lazy, it’s that I’ve started to just have fun “doing” instead of needing to “do more” in order to have fun. It’s quite a wonderful change. Thank you universe for beating me into submission!!! Lol 🦊❤️