1042. bigness of small things

 

it’s the little things

like some flowers in a vase

that really are big 🦊❤️

I was sitting in the waiting room waiting for my PT appointment. I stared at a very small vase containing little yellow flowers sitting peacefully on the ledge of the receptionist’s window for patients to look at. That small gesture of putting it there struck me as a very big deal. 🦊❤️

1041. our encounter

 

cross the green expanse

the little dotted bug walked

until it saw me… 🦊❤️

Yesterday I experienced a very moving encounter with a dotted bug that looked like a Ladybug. It was walking slowly across the green expanse of a large Catalpa tree leaf. All of a sudden I was aware that the little creature was aware of me. It stopped, looked at me (I assume) and then turned and ran at breakneck speed away from me. For that split second I had a keen awareness of our encounter as a “real” and meaningful interaction between two living things… me and the bug. I almost uttered the words, “Stop! I won’t hurt you!” The experience is still with me today. 🦊❤️

1040. more gnomes

gnomes, gnomes and more gnomes

hollows of towering trees

guarding high towers 🦊❤️

Seems that everywhere I go there are gnomes. I’ll accept their good luck and protection wherever and whenever they show up! 🦊❤️🍀

 

1039. stop looking for gnomes

i know they exist

so i start looking for them

those moments are lost 🦊❤️

More and more Gnomes are popping up along the trail. Because they are curious and magical finds I sometimes find myself looking “for” them rather than looking “at” all of the magic that is around me on the trails. Life can be like that. We spend so much time looking for what we “want” that we miss experiencing all that we “have”. 🦊❤️

 

1038. at a loss for words

 

oh linden tree

i don’t know how to describe

your wordless fragrance 🦊❤️

I live right smack beside Morris Arboretum. There is a huge Linden tree I walk past everyday. The recent rain and humidity has resurrected its fragrance to a level of indescribability that exceeds my already existing lack of words to describe its fragrance. 🦊❤️

1037. we’re never alone

 

this drizzly dawn morn

alone? i hear my shoes squeak

a cat hears them too 🦊❤️

The solitude of a rainy morning at dawn is wonderful. It is also wonderful to know that the lone cat in the window has taken notice of me as I squeak by on the rainy street. 🦊❤️

1036. alternate universe

swirling out in space

in a universe of ferns

galaxies of lace 🦊❤️

 I love what my mind creates most of the time… 🦊❤️

1035. deepness

like the titanic

the depth of the sea holds tight

all who were on board 🦊❤️

Sitting at Yulan’s the other night I was reading a book of haiku that was stationed near her morning reading chair. A haiku about the ocean’s depth caught my mind and I read it over and over again. There was a realness to it that conjured up feeling of mystery, adventure and also terror. I heard today the submersible Titan and all aboard were lost to the deep sea.  That  haiku is appropriate for today’s sad news. RIP all.   🦊❤️

 

1034. fueling fossils

 

in the tarry sea

a fallen leaf takes a plunge

soon frozen in time  🦊❤️

Asphalt is made coal and other petroleum products. Imagine that… fossil fuels creating fossils. I think about a planet with no roads or parking lots. Just musing… 🦊❤️

1033. gift that keeps on giving

born so long ago

with so many years to go

down… but still giving  🦊❤️

 This fallen Cucumber Magnolia tree was 98 years old in 1979. I have been watching its decomposing trunk giving itself back to where it came from for a few years now. Many more decades of returning itself to its roots will proceed. These are sacred sites to be honored. 🦊❤️

1032. gnomes

a magical morn

bright sun and a pleasant breeze

and good luck to boot! 🦊❤️

I love it that some interesting person takes the time to tuck away Gnomes in little nooks and crannies along the trails. Yesterday I spotted two of the little beings who bring good luck and protection.  Thank you interesting person. 🦊❤️

 

1031. daddy long legs

strolling down the street

suddenly we were transformed

to walk in leaps and bounds 🦊❤️

Sometimes being silly is the the most serious thing that you can do! We do that a lot!  Seriously… 🦊❤️

 

1030. guardians of the meadow

jack’s with henry now

both spending time on their bench

watching us walk by 🦊❤️

I have met many fine people on the trails. Jack Taylor was one of those people. He and his pooch Archie loved the meadow.  He shared many years of  enjoying the meadow with his friend Dave Rosso and his pooch Ellie.  Jack recently made it to the big meadow in the sky. I’m sure that he will be sitting on the bench that remembers his earlier dog Henry and will make his presence known to us as we pass by.  RIP Jack. 🦊❤️

 

1029. a sunny story

 

icarus used wings

modern dreamers use machines

the sun remains safe 🦊❤️

I love it when things line up in front of my eyes that immediately conjure up a story in my mind. I call these occasions “juicy juxtapositions”.  🦊❤️ 

1028. just plain funny

lucy and desi

oh the joy of just laughing

just simply laughing  🦊❤️

We’ve been going to weekly vintage movies at our local not for profit theater.  What a joy it was to laugh and laugh and snort and laugh as we watched the classic “The Long Long Trailer” starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. 
No underlying messages or socially relevant lessons to absorb. It was just plain funny!!!! Ahhhh so refreshing. 🦊❤️

1027. remembering peewee’s magic screen

six blank canvases

just hanging around waiting

what would jambi paint? 🦊❤️

I want to paint a much larger landscape painting than I’ve attempted previously. So I hung the blank canvases  on the wall and I stare at them like they are PeeWee Herman’s Magic Screen hoping that they will broadcast what I should paint on them. 🦊❤️

 

1026. tune in, turn on, drop out

i took two soup spoons

and looked deep within my eyes

so soup-a-delic 🦊❤️

 We attend a regular monthly discussion group with friends. We consider ourselves “elders” as we are “older”. Duh! After our time to talk and share was done, we had our customary “bring what you want to the table” dinner. The table was buzzing with chit chat about many subjects ranging from operations to remove excess eyelid skin, olden day milk delivery, fancy trailer parks and the use of psychedelic mushrooms in therapy. I decided to  demonstrate my patented “soup spoon” self reflection technique. 🦊❤️

1025. pick a door… any door

gardens of plenty

behind three colorful doors

red, yellow, purple 🦊❤️

Our local community garden is in full bloom. So are its doors. Red, yellow and purple ones.   🦊❤️

 

1024. impermanence

 

once bright and cheery

a child’s chalk musings fading

rain is on its way 🦊❤️

As I get older the thought of impermanence seems to occupy my mind a bit more. I could not help but stop in my tracks when I saw a child’s fading chalk sidewalk drawing  in my path. I carefully stepped to the side so as not to hasten its disappearance. I thought about a chalk drawing I made under our porch as a child. I wondered if it was still there. 🦊❤️

1023. my eyes see…

what is it this year?

catalpa blossoms abound

or… are my eyes new? 🦊❤️

•••

everywhere i look

catalpa blossoms blooming

my eyes feel like new 🦊❤️

I can’t stop posting about Catalpa trees. For some reason I have never noticed so many of them in bloom as I have this year.  And… I have never noticed the beautiful markings on their  delicate blossoms. Nor have I ever fully appreciated the enchanting fragrance of their blossoms. Is there something going on with Catalpa Trees?  Or is there something going on with me? 🦊❤️

 

1022. wayward stream

down the dawn drenched street

a wayward stream makes its way

to where i’m waiting 🦊❤️

It was a perfectly dry morning, yet I saw a stream of water steadily moving down the empty street toward me. The rising sun shimmered on its surface. I stopped and watched it get closer and closer. I felt a moment of wonder and peacefulness as it met me… and then just roll on by.  Such small and amazing things are happening all of the time. 🦊❤️

 

1021. magic potions…

a night of too much

absolved by the penance of

a liquid hail mary 🦊❤️

I had to laugh when I saw these “remedies” for too much drinking the night before! 🦊❤️

 

1020. a day at the office

 

today’s world of work

coffee shop and free wifi

shoes are optional 🦊❤️

I went to my favorite coffee joint much later  in the morning than I usually do the other day.  Instead of my nice tranquil “ease into the day” place, it resembled an open office space filled with people “working from home”, all on their computers and with work papers spread across all of the available counter space and booths. As I sat and pondered the situation I could not help but think… “what is wrong with this picture”? I had to chuckle at the pair of dirty bare feet squirming under a stool as their owner plunked away filling in a spread sheet of company information on the public wifi available at the coffee shop. 🦊❤️

1019. sensual symphony

from deep down within

fragrant, colorful music

flows into my mind 🦊❤️

When I looked at the Catalpa Tree blossoms I was floored by the exquisite markings of deep yellow and violet that seemed to be flowing outward from deep within their delicate bodies. The markings struck me as gentle music being played accompanied by a sweet fragrance.  A symphony enjoyed by my eyes and nose. 🦊❤️

 

1018. in the middle of things

bold greens hovering

timid, gentle greens laying low

white blooms in between 🦊❤️

More and more I am discovering that what is right smack dab in front of my eyes is a haiku waiting to be counted out on my fingers… 5-7-5. 🦊❤️

 

1017. blossoms on a creek

on fluid green leaves

white catalpa blossoms drift

toward the sky downstream 🦊❤️

There is nothing more peaceful than watching the interplay of water and all that surrounds it. It is like a magic canvas. 🦊❤️

 

1016. another dawn

the tinder’s been sparked

now setting the woods ablaze 

another sunrise 🦊❤️

 The glow of the sunrise now has to creep its way through the lush cover of leaves in the woods. It reminds me of the way that glowing tinder grows and sets a campfire ablaze. Quite unlike the bold daily appearance of the fiery giant when the trees are bare. The endless variety of experiences in nature is awesome… if we allow our minds to be entertained. 🦊❤️

 

1015. first friday

an old beatle’s song

fills the ears of a young lad

mem’ries fill my mind 🦊❤️

We are lucky to live in an area that has  a few towns with “Mainstreets” that are vital and active. Last evening we strolled through the “First Friday” celebration of our favorite town of Ambler. We saw a little boy enjoying a local musician playing an old Beatle’s song. I tried to remember where I was in life when the song was popular. 🦊❤️  

 

1014. crash landing

a toy crash landed

a curious sight to see

made me stop and think 🦊❤️

When I saw a little toy sea plane that had crash landed on the side of the road, it really caught my attention. It reminded me of a toy I might have as a kid. It also made me think about how physically and emotionally tired I felt after our 10 day race adventure in Vermont.  May Day! May Day! Crash Landing! Lol 🦊❤️ 

 

1013. like a saw blade

the mountain’s outline

like the teeth of a saw blade

sharp and dangerous 🦊❤️

I had lots of time to look at the mountains that the runners were climbing and descending for 10 days. As the days unfolded, their green beauty took on a sinister look in my mind as I watched the runners slowly being worn down by their unrelenting rawness.  That is what makes this type of trail running so challenging. 🦊❤️