1315. easter eve night

 

was easter eve night

coffee brewing, chips and pop

soon the son will rise 🦊❤️

We drove aimlessly last evening. We had dinner at our fave Vietnamese place, picked up donuts and delivered them to a friend who was walking his dog in a field. We drove and drove and drove. It was a random night. We passed a little deli that was still open and I remembered it was Easter Eve night. I thought about how everything changes but how at the same time it remains the same.  Happy Easter. 🦊❤️

1314. poundcake

like a ton of bricks

lbs. and lbs. of poundcake loaves

sure to add some lbs. 🦊❤️

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Benjamin Franklin 🦊❤️

 

1313. during the night

 

in the overnight

you appeared on the bare branch

today… it is new 🦊❤️

Just like the night brings on refreshing sleep if we are lucky, it also brings on new life for us to notice in the daytime. Things happen so quickly in springtime.  🦊❤️

1312. comings and goings

 

spring colors emerge

winter colors left behind

soon bees and summer 🦊❤️

I look at the picture above and try to come up with a little blurb to finish off this post, but I cannot. I will just let it be. 🦊❤️

1311. investment in your future

 

in the golden field

three young men hiking near dusk

their time is well spent 🦊❤️

It is very refreshing to meet young people on the trails. There are so many “other” things that they could be doing, but being in the midst of nature is what they chose to be doing. Like a wise monetary investment, it is time well spent that will pay dividends now and in the future.  🦊❤️

1310. colors of easter

 

pots sport pink tulips

magnolias don white blossoms

purple drapes the cross 🦊❤️

It’s Easter week. How I used to love my childhood Easter baskets and hiding my kid’s and grandkid’s baskets.  White chocolate bunnies and crosses were my favorites.  I always liked hollow versus solid chocolate goodies. 🦊❤️

1309. a stellar day

 

your work “night bloomers”

an honorable mention

it’s the cat’s meow 🦊❤️

Yesterday was the closing reception for the Philadelphia Sketch Club’s “The Art of The Flower 2024” show. It was a joyful day because Yulan received an Honorable Mention for her origami work, “Night Bloomers”. As if that wasn’t awesome enough, she sold it and her other piece, “Flowers and Leaves… After Sadhya”, that was in the show. Yulan’s excitement and gratitude were in “full bloom”! 🦊❤️

1308. sturdy

 

wind blowing like mad

but one thing is for certain

these trees will still stand 🦊❤️

It was very rainy and then very windy after the rains ended. We took a walk as soon as the rain ended and wind started.  We saw this amazing tree that looked as if it would withstand any wind and rain. I have always considered Yulan being that way too. Very sturdy, like a tree.  🦊❤️  . 

1307. famous furry friends

 

paw prints in cement

grauman’s chinese theater 

for four legged friends 🦊❤️

Our furry friends leave their marks on our hearts and sometimes in cement!!! 🦊❤️

1306. solitary performance

 

you burst on the stage

while others wait in the wings

the opening scene🦊❤️

It was a windy and frosty morning. I spotted a beautiful singular bloom on a tree. I don’t have much to say except that its solitary performance captured my imagination. A real one actor play.   🦊❤️

1305. right before our eyes

 

that big trunk explodes

shooting limbs out and up high 

then branches… then twigs 🦊❤️

Sometimes I just look at what is in front of my eyes and I marvel at what I see.  Even in the simplest of terms… it is beyond comprehension.  🦊❤️

1304. good luck

a sign of good luck

horseshoe hung above a door 

wonder what this means? 🦊❤️

 Yesterday while on a walk with a friend we came upon a truly strange sight.  There was a horseshoe suspended in the air by a vine.  We were really lucky to spot this strange omen….🦊❤️

1303. …in the wind

 

i capture your bend

but your grace and your freedom

are beyond my lens 🦊❤️

Watching golden grasses bowing in unison as the wind comes and goes is a meditation to behold. I wished my camera could fully capture the moment in all of its dimensions.  🦊❤️

1302. signs of coming and going

 

artists come and go

creating a group project

a finger painted door 🦊❤️ 

I love signs of “coming and going” wherever I encounter them. A well worn set of steps. A rutted walking path through the woods. Animal footprints in snow and mud.  Yesterday we were at a local art center for an event.  There I saw an old wooden restroom door adorned by the colorful fingerprints of the artists who visited its facilities. It is a real group project.  🦊❤️

1301. nature’s stew

 

some winter brownings

a peppering of tender greens

this year’s stew simmers 🦊❤️

As I trekked along I observed winter’s leftovers being blended with fresh new spring ingredients as this year’s full bodied stew of was being prepped in Mother Natures kitchen. I wondered what new twists in the recipe would be cooked up? I’m sure it will be the tastiest yet!!!! 🦊❤️

1300. warming up

 

limbs reaching out wide

touch by two beams of sunlight

warming up for leaves 🦊❤️

The Cucumber Magnolia seems to “leaf up” later than most of the trees.  I like that because, in my opinion, the Cucumber Magnolia tree is most beautiful when its trunk, limbs and branches are fully visible.  Its trunk has character like no other tree. Its limbs and branches explode outward like a sparkler on the Fourth of July.  I never tire of just looking at this, my favorite tree.  🦊❤️

1299. life on earth!

 

is there life out there

on orbs so very distant?

more than ‘nuff  right here 🦊❤️

Yesterday as I walked to the trailhead to be alone with the trees I noticed a sprout of a tree growing from a crack in a wall. The stuccoed surface had an arid, inhospitable look to it like what might exist on some far off planet.  Life teems on earth despite all that nature (including mankind) does to stymy its flourishing. We look hard for life elsewhere when there is so much life here yet to be formally and casually discovered by scientists and everyday people. 🦊❤️

1298. beauty treatment

 

combing through branches

always trimming those split ends

“don’t take too much off” 🦊❤️

I stood and watched a tree man tethered and treading timidly as he chainsawed away dead and dying branches.  Being afraid of heights myself, the scene caused butterflies to rise in my stomach.  Such hard and dangerous work to keep the tree looking and feeling good.  I wondered how the tree must be feeling about the “barber’s” trim job. 🦊❤️

1297. community garden fun

 

stakes high for spring frosts

stakes go in for peas and beans

steak and potatoes 🦊❤️

The local community is starting to buzz with activity.  I had fun with wordplay as I looked at the little plots taking shape.  🦊❤️

1296. modern marvels

 

gut health in a box

overnight delivery

4 to 8 a.m. 🦊❤️

As a kid I would order trinkets and toys from the ads in Marvel Comic Books and Bazooka Joe Bubble gum wrappers. It was painful waiting weeks for the delivery of items like “x-ray eyeglasses” , pen knives and hand buzzers. Things are now much improved… I can assure my continued gut health with an overnight delivery by Amazon using my smartphone. 🦊❤️ 

1295. observations and reflections

 

traffic whizzes by

his purple robe dances so

the road to easter 🦊❤️

It is interesting to watch the church across the street from the coffee shop change their church holiday and political statement displays throughout the year.   🦊❤️  

1294. haircut memories

long ago haircuts

barber lights up a camel

“paul harvey… good day!!” 🦊❤️

When I saw the little boy sitting in the old school barber shop building I immediately flashed back to days when I was a small boy getting my hair cut. The feeling of the straight razor trimming the hair on my neck, the smell of the barber’s cigarette as he took a drag now and then as he worked on my hair. Most of all I remember Paul Harvey’s deep voice as he broadcast his daily message on the radio at the barbershop.  🦊❤️

1293. inside story

 

the lost pink balloon

soaks up the sun’s warming rays

so cozy inside 🦊❤️

Sometimes I just like to ponder what it is like inside of places I will never enter into. (eg squirrel holes in trees, old abandoned houses, jam packed trains in Tokyo (lol), etc.)  This lost pink balloon soaking up the afternoon sun on a chilly day was an interesting interior to ponder.  🦊❤️

1292. sunspot

 

although you’re long gone

the sun still shines on in you

beautiful sunspot 🦊❤️

I was intrigued by what appeared to be the image of the sun seemingly burned into the cross section of a stump of a fallen tree. It is very beautiful.  🦊❤️

1291. making a stir

 

a singular duck

paddling upstream through the trees

making quite the stir 🦊❤️

I love my stone bridge overhead vantage spot of the Wissahickon Creek. It always offers me a new perspective on ordinary things. 🦊❤️

1290. things yellow

 

bright yellow ball

near the lesser celandine

like a private sun 🦊❤️

Every time the Wissahickon Creek floods, there is an abundance of balls of all types that come to rest in the adjacent areas. It’s really uncanny.  Today a bright yellow one had docked near the emerging  Lesser Celandine plants that will soon blanket the entire area and turn the landscape into a sea of little yellow flowers.  🦊❤️

1289. homage to wasted blooms

 

us blooming away

just minding our own business

plucked up… cast away 🦊❤️

I felt a certain sadness for this handful of tender spring wildflowers that were picked then dropped along the way.  I figured that being featured in my post today would give them their 15 minutes of fame… I hope so. 🦊❤️  

1288. rise and shine

 

winter’s sleep over

a barracks of garlic wakes

a stretch and a yawn 🦊❤️

We had a beautiful day today, after a rainy Saturday. All of a sudden the sleeping onions and garlic were awake and stretching their green shoots this morning in the community garden.  It is fun to watch them grow day by day. 🦊❤️ 

1287. rainy day respite

 

such a rainy day

sharpness dilutes to a blur

a dreamy softness 🦊❤️

I have to come to really enjoy rainy days. They are a natural tranquilizer that seems to slow everything down. The rainy day give permission to do less and in a more mindful way.   🦊❤️

1286. a special kind of zen

amid the stillness

tommy purrrring his mantra

his zen fills the space 🦊❤️

Today a friend sent me this photograph of Tommy in the midst of a group of meditators in the nature center.  When I saw it I was immediately struck with the reality of what a special cat Tommy is and how many people’s lives he has touched. 🦊❤️

 

1285. forest of art

 

well oiled machine

hanging a forest of art

quick as a wildfire 🦊❤️

My good friend Rob helped me transport my paintings to the exhibit site and worked with me to hang the art in no time flat.  Rob is a retired veterinary surgeon. When I told him that I rehearse in my mind things like hanging my art for a show days before hanging it, he told me that when he had a complex surgery scheduled he would be up the whole night before visualizing the procedure in his mind. Now I know why we are a good art hanging team. Except hanging art is not a life/death situation!! Lol. Thanks for the help and support Rob!!  🦊❤️