1012. returning home

they say home sweet home

and fondness grows with absence

there’s no place like home  🦊❤️

I just returned from our annual race in Vermont. This year’s trip was 13 days long and was like no other race adventure before.  At the end, I felt homesick and could not wait to get back home.  It was wonderful to get back home to my love Yulan. There’s no place like home.  🦊❤️

 

1011. wind, water and sunlight

 

 on the rip’lin pond

diamonds of sunlight bobbing

the wind comes and goes 🦊❤️

Simply describing as best as you can what is right in front of your eyes is poetry. Sometimes it’s magic too. 🦊❤️

1010. post race processing

sun’s light overhead

water skippers dance their dance

their shadows dance too 🦊❤️

•••

in the rushing creek

a still pool as smooth as silk

water skippers skip 🦊❤️ 

I stood on a little bridge looking down into the rushing water that continued its task of carving its way through the ageless rocks of Vermont. I was surrounded by the overwhelming beauty and majesty of the Green Mountains above me. In the midst of it all I watched Water Skippers dancing in a tiny pool of still water bordering the careening water. I watched their shadows dance on the pool’s rock bottom. I looked at my son Kevin silently standing beside me. Our jobs done.  I felt still too. 🦊❤️

 

1009. and in the end

when all’s said and done

all the waiting and watching

worth all the worry  🦊❤️

I could not be prouder of my daughter Jennifer and my son Kevin as they ran at the annual Infinitus Trail Running event in the Green Mountains of Vermont. Jen ran a great race in the marathon event over the extremely rugged and challenging course. My son Kevin completed 306 miles in  the 10 Day Mountain Trail Event (888). Congratulation on jobs well done. 🦊❤️

 

1008. crazy good times

one of the best thing

‘bout going to do crazy things

crazy good friends  🦊❤️

(nick, chris, kevin & dan)

In the recesses of nowhere land, crazy good friends are to be found. 🦊❤️
 

1007. what am i waiting for?

my head in the clouds

her eyes following a bird

watching and waiting 🦊❤️

Recently I have been watching dogs running around  doing what dogs do. Whatever it is they are doing at the moment is all that they are doing at the moment. They aren’t waiting and watching for something to happen, they are fully involved in what is happening. Such a great lesson… arf!! 🦊❤️

 

1006. hurry up and do nothing

a do nothing day

watching the fly strip hanging

even the bugs doze 🦊❤️

Sometimes a day full of nothing to do except doing nothing is wonderful.  I wonder how many folks have no idea what a “fly strip” is? 🦊❤️

 

1005. climbing mountains

a mountain of socks

basking in the noontime sun

gentle breezes blow 🦊❤️

 I wish I would have been able to find such beauty in such  un-beautiful scenes much earlier in life. But mountains must be climbed first…🦊❤️

1004. be back in a flash

at the speed of light

we are beamed from here to there

and back in a flash 🦊❤️

Talking with Yulan on the phone yesterday via Facetime, I  looked and realized that our images were traveling at the speed of light between here and there to get to where each of us was.  I posted my photo because Yulan said I should.   🦊❤️

 

1003. my name is yuki

my name is yuki

such a sweet japanese name

fit for a haiku 🦊❤️

  

Whenever I need to smile, a sweet soul like Yuki comes galloping out from nowhere.  It is a Japanese name for dogs signifying good fortune. How fitting that Yuki should be featured in today’s post. 🦊❤️

 

1002. leaning

trees on the roadside

“just lean into life.”, they said.

“just lean on your friends.” 🦊❤️

 While leaning into life recently, I forgot the importance of  leaning on the support of my friends and family. As always… the trees were there to remind me. 🦊❤️

1001. focusing on amadou

four hooves on a horse

a wild white pinto for sure

hear them clip-clopping? 🦊❤️

I have posted about Amadou many times. What can i say? 🦊❤️

 

1000. a grand day

one thousand haiku

day after day i posted

hope for tomorrow 🦊❤️

I started writing haiku around 2014. I have Yulan to thank for that. Todays photograph is an image that I posted in my Photoblog on 4/5/14. It is one of my favorite posts. I was not adhering exclusively to the 5-7-5 format as I do today. I thought it would be a nice thing to repost that haiku and image and make it the 1000th consecutive haiku post without missing a day.  Writing this post has become a very important practice for me… always looking forward to tomorrow. Thank you for your encouragement over the years by your views and comments. 🦊❤️

999. off to the mill

rolling down the road

years and years of rings of life

diesel fills the air 🦊❤️

I had a sad feeling when I saw a timber truck loaded with trees. Silly sentimentality. 🦊❤️

 

998. pleasant surprise

coincidental

we meet unexpectedly

free coffee… free talk 🦊❤️

I had a 9:00 AM oil change. My friend Paul had a 9:00 AM car window repair. What a surprise.  We had complimentary coffee. We talked about infinity and many more interesting things.  People in the waiting area wondered…What a great way to start the day… coincidentally. 🦊❤️

 

997. hawaii five o

atop the rock’s crest

the stoned surfer hangs a ten

hawaii five o 🦊❤️

My post today is a plain old fun post rather than attempt at being an armchair philosopher.   No subliminal message. No life lesson.  No release of my inner turmoil. No exaltation of my inner joy.  It’s just about a surfer making the most of a giant wave knowing that calmer seas are ahead. Well… maybe tomorrow’s will be just a fun post.  🦊❤️ 

 

996. eyes of a tiger

not too far from me

there is a wild jungle

eye of the tiger 🦊❤️

“Eye of The Tiger” is thought to be a symbol of strength, confidence, bravery and good fortune, Roman soldiers wore this stone for protection when they went to battle, usually in their breastplates. It was hoped the stone would also give them the strength and patience of an actual tiger. Tommy the Cat has the eyes of a tiger. 🦊❤️

 

995. happy mother’s day

there is no fanfare

no candy, flowers or cards

chirpy mother’s day 🦊❤️

 I love watching Eastern Bluebirds peeking their little heads out of their spring rental houses. As I hiked, I thought about Mother’s Day, my Mom, Grandmothers, my Sister, all long departed. I thought about my Daughter and my ex-wife. I thought about Yulan’s Mother. I collected in my head a listing of all the Mothers I currently know that I should wish Happy Mother’s Day to today. Then I thought about the miracle of motherhood.   Then I started thinking about Mother trees, bees, deer, snakes, dogs, cats, worms, etc., etc., etc.  Happy Mother’s Day to all of you. 🦊❤️ 

994. unintended consequences

those strands of white lights

meant to spruce up the garden

tulip petals wilt 🦊❤️

I found myself staring at a little tree in a garden adorned with a strand of white twinkle lights. The light strand was now cutting into the bark of the tree like a boa constrictor compressing its prey.  Sidled up to the suffocating tree was a tulip peacefully shedding its last petals. 🦊❤️ 

993. things that matter

years… they come… they go

people say we’re lookalikes

they should see inside 🦊❤️

I rarely get to spend one on one special time with my oldest son Jeff. Yesterday we were able to do that. A number of people said we lookalike. I don’t think so. Inside is another story. It was a wonderful day. 🦊❤️

 

992. “yo adrian!”

swaying side to side

the wind lands a right and left

a “rocky” story  🦊❤️

I watched a solitary dandelion in the final rounds of its match with the wind.  The wind blew from the right and then the left. The dandelion swayed with the wind’s blows. The seedpods clung tightly to the dandelion’s spindly stem. But we all know how this battle ends.  Next year the wind will have countless more matches to weather.  Dandelions never lose even when they seemingly do.  🦊❤️  

 

991. precious time together

peeking through a crack

two springtime flowers sunning

make the most of time 🦊❤️

I observed many wonderful sights while visiting the local arboretum. None was more captivating than these two little flowers peeking through a crack in a bench. The insignificant duo spoke to me on many levels.  Their cuteness together made me smile.  Their clinging to each other caused my heart to hurt a little.  Both feelings echoed, “make the most of time” 🦊❤️

 

990. monkey business

silent as a stone 

hear no and see no evil

rock solid wisdom? 🦊❤️

The three famous monkeys showed up in a small stone carving almost hidden among a stand of Japanese Maple trees at the Morris Arboretum near my home. What do these three iconic monkeys mean to you? 🦊❤️

 

989. sunset and beyond

the crimson sunset

pours into the evening creek

moon floating by soon 🦊❤️

We are all artists, poets, creators if we just allow ourselves to be touched and do something… anything in reaction to the things that catch our attention. You can do it silently in your mind or you can say something, write something or make something. Don’t judge your efforts… don’t compare your efforts… just do something and let it be. 🦊❤️

 

988. becoming airborne

you learning to fly

your parents have wings… no hands

they can only watch  🦊❤️ 

 I watched a little bird learning to fly. There has been a nest yearly on my balcony for quite a while. The little  birdie was stalled in its lesson as it clung to my screen door and looked me right in the eyes.  The parents were fluttering in the background as they watched its every move. They could only watch.  It made me think of raising my own kids and also about my relationships in my life. I thought about all of the times I “used my hands” so to speak to intervene in the flow of things. Some times it worked but most times it didn’t. As hard as “just watching” can be, I think all in all it is a good strategy. 🦊❤️

987. geometry of imagination

1. 

what geometry

like a sailboat on the sea

a windless morning  🦊❤️

Every once in a while the juxtaposition of things in nature creates a magical scene that allows the imagination to voyage to places that cannot be accessed otherwise. 🦊❤️

 

986. hold on to the railings

people walking up

and then they’ll be walking down

life is a staircase  🦊❤️

I stood and watched the people walk up and down the steep staircase that was outside of my friend’s artist studio.  I thought about life on many levels.  The ups and downs. The victories and the defeats.  Enthusiasm souring to inertia.  I watched them all holding on to the railing as they went up and then down the steep incline.  Thank God for railings. We must remember to hold on to them - they help… 🦊❤️

 

985. a good day’s work

not an ant in sight

just telltale signs of labor

their work shift over 🦊❤️

There are so many lessons to be learned by observing and pondering the world of ants. Sometimes it is very valuable to look at the small things around us because that is where the big story is told. 🦊❤️

 

984. fun with fungi

there on that dead tree

look like sea anemones

or maybe… heart valves  🦊❤️

While hiking with my friend Rob through the Elephant’s Graveyard (stand of dying European Beech trees) we spotted a cluster of strange looking fungi. I took a photo and texted it to my Dong Stick teacher Paul who is also a forager.  He identified it as Dryads Saddle.  It is edible. He suggested we collect some to try because other foragers will harvest it all.  We passed on the suggestion and settled on some photos and  made observations on what they looked like.  🦊❤️

 

983. after the rains

the rains came and went

all the turtle perches gone

the smell of creek mud  🦊❤️

The past weekend brought lots and lots of rain. The Wissahickon Creek was flooded big time. The rushing waters cleared out all of the big and small tree trunks and branches that were marooned in the creek from previous flooding. The turtle sun bathing perches and Blue Heron roosts are gone. Future floods will bring more logs and branches. Yesterday the familiar smell of creek mud from my childhood days filled the air.  I stopped and smelled it fully. 🦊❤️

 

982. it grabbed me and i grabbed back

“spiritual ascent”

grabbed me and lifted me up

now it will be mine 🦊❤️

We were at an open house of a number local artist’s studios yesterday. Gloria Popek our friends has her studio in the building. When we walked around and  looked at her work, I could feel the energy that inhabits the studio. Then all of a sudden one of her pieces caught my attention and said, “I belong to you. Take me home.” And I did. The title of the work is “Skylight/ Spiritual Ascent”. 🦊❤️ (PS. Notice she is wearing a pair of Yulan’s origami earrings)