faithful guardian
day and night - weather be damned
you sit at your post 🦊❤️
I swear that the cast iron dog featured in today’s post has the spirit of a real dog in its metallurgy. Every time I passed by I felt an aliveness to it presence. 🦊❤️
A sense of haiku
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1739. time of our life
we sat in silence
our work was done - we rested
wrapped in gratitude 🦊❤️
After 10 grueling days at Infinitus 2025, we spent two days in a beautiful air b&b near the race venue to rest and relax and spend “quiet” time together. We talked a lot about gratitude and how fortunate we are in between the silence. All that happened or didn’t happen at the race was dwarfed by the togetherness we shared for two days. 🦊❤️
1738. queen of origami
sitting on her throne
adorned by her latest works
“origami queen” 🦊❤️
The sun did not shine for even a moment on this rainy day, except for the smile on Yulan’s face as she sat in the midst of her latest origami creations that she had framed. 🦊❤️
1737. the ultimate destination
a trav’ler i’m not
when i do i always say…
“there’s no place like home” 🦊❤️
I’ll make this short and sweet, “There’s no place like home.” 🦊❤️
1736. life is a puddle
a lucky child learns
that life is a big puddle
meant to splash in 🦊❤️
My big take away from Infinitus 2025 came to me as I watched two beautiful children playing for ten days in pretty miserable conditions. The take away is that life is a big old puddle that offers us the choice of jumping around and splashing in it or to complain about it and do everything we can to avoid getting wet. Congratulations Jordan and Ben for letting your children jump in that puddle and get plenty wet. 🦊❤️
1735. make believe
trekking poles churning
the finish line within sight
what dreams are made of… 🦊❤️
As her mom was completing the last marathon of her gold medal victory in the Infinitus Deca Marathon event (a marathon a day for ten consecutive days) her daughter is busy winning her own gold medal having fun! 🦊❤️
1734. go find some inspiration
through rain, mud and cold
they walked two days and two nights
inspiration reigns 🦊❤️
At Infinitus the 100 mile trail event has a cutoff time of exactly 48 hours. Mud, rain and cold reigned at this year’s event. Dipak and Satya hiked the entire event rather than running. They suffered pretty significantly during the last overnight 18 mile stretch of the 100 miles. They finished, dead last, mud soaked and cold an hour before the cutoff time of 8:00 AM. Only a handful of people were still at the finish. It was the most inspirational moment of the 10 day Infinitus experience. Inspiration is out there to - go find it. 🦊❤️
1733. that’s all folks
all the running’s done
some crossed the line… some did not
that’s the way it goes 🦊❤️
We just spent ten days at the Infinitus 2025 where victory and defeat played out in the most dramatic ways on muddy and flooded mountain trails of Ripton Vermont. Another year of inspiration and insanity in the books. That’s all folks. 🦊❤️
1732. walter - portable sunshine
in the pouring rain
walter moves from here to there
bringing his sunshine 🦊❤️
Another raw day in the neighborhood. To make it “ok”, Walter the dog moves from one rain drenched person to another to deliver a ray of sunshine… 🦊❤️
1731. warm smiles
rain, cold, wind and snow
not a place to warm ones’s bones
gotta keep smiling 🦊❤️
We we spending time in a setting where the weather is unseasonably cold and it has been raining daily and now snowing in some locations and there is no heat in any of the facilities. It makes smiles all the warmer to get and give. 🦊❤️
1730. reflection on progress
perc joe to k-cups
poles and wires now satellites
phones that make us “smart” 🦊❤️
As I wandered around I saw my reflection in the grimy window of a barn. Upon second look, in the photo I saw not a grimy selfie, but a curious window illustrating “progress” of various types. 🦊❤️
1729. waiting for a sign
sleek tongues of flame dance
embers erupt and crackle
i wait for a sign 🦊❤️
When I watch flames dancing, it seems so mysterious that I expect to have a moment of enlightenment at any second. 🦊❤️
1728. deep cleaning
clothes and souls get stained
that’s why there are laundromats
and confessionals 🦊❤️
I am away for a few days and have been using a local laundromat to wash very muddy clothing. It is very meditative watching the water churn and go from brown to clear. Gets me thinking…🦊❤️ ( This post is actually Monday’s as the internet was not available yesterday.)
1727. fork in the road
a fork in the road
i ask, “which way should i go?”
it said, “ ask the spoon!” 🦊❤️
Just a little humor… 🦊❤️
1726. just early morning
owls exchanging hoots
the moon shining like the sun
outside my window 🦊❤️
Nothing to say. Just a nice morning photo to share. 🦊❤️
1725. always present…
as morning rolls in
the moon becomes a sliver
behind the rain clouds 🦊❤️
It is fascinating to know that behind the transient clouds of weather (and life), the moon, stars, sun and planets are still in place and doing just fine… 🦊❤️
1724. tea time
as the sun goes down
we sit sipping cups of tea
letting time zoom by 🦊❤️
1723. magic village
a magic village
nestled near a crooked road
rain… and it was gone 🦊❤️
I could not help but stop and allow myself to meander through the little chalk drawing village that the children had created outside of a local childcare center. I was tempted to walk along the crooked road they had constructed to take a closer look. Soon the rains came… and it was gone. 🦊❤️
1722. “play ball!”
best seats in the house
the right field line at the wall
baseball in the hood 🦊❤️
It is wonderful to live in a neighborhood that has lots of kids and athletic fields peppered throughout the house lined streets. An early evening walk will allow you the opportunity to watch basketball, baseball, golf, skateboarders, etc in action - all free of charge! 🦊❤️
1721. running on empty
i’ve nothing to say
nothing to reflect upon
empty as the sky 🦊❤️
Every so often the pool of inspiration that I rely upon dries up. When that happens all I can do is simply admit it to myself and be OK with it. 🦊❤️
1720. lightning bolt of gratitude
i’m struck in a flash
how lucky i am to have
these two in my life 🦊❤️
I find that the most satisfying and overwhelming feelings of gratitude are not the result of “counting your blessings”. Rather, they appear unexpectedly in a split second, like a bolt of lightening, while I am simply quiet and looking at what is in front of my eyes. 🦊❤️
1719. fluid
dreary chilly day
puddles of water ripple
raindrops make bubbles 🦊❤️
Yesterday was a soggy and chilly day. The puddles on the street were a good subject for a haiku for today’s post. 🦊❤️
1718. mourning dove story - part 3
then one day they left
one day… then two… then three days
so the story ends… 🦊❤️
After days of dedicated care for their two eggs, the Mourning Dove parents left and never returned. I am sure there must be some good and valid reason for their departure, leaving the two eggs on their own. It is only right to honor the two little eggs for their journey this far into the world. Not all stories have a happy ending, but then again maybe they do…🦊❤️
1717. mourning dove story - part 2
they took turns sitting
but momma carried the load
i named her sweetie 🦊❤️
Except for brief intermissions, usually whenever the pair changed responsibilities for sitting on the eggs, they eggs were tended to. “Sweetie” seemed comfortable with my occasional visits to the balcony to grab something, Her mate remained skittish. We accepted the fact that when the eggs hatched we would cease all visits to the balcony until the birds fledged. 🦊❤️
1716. mourning dove story - part 1
two mourning dove eggs
laid in an unlikely place
day after easter 🦊❤️
Two Mourning Doves had been haunting my balcony for weeks. I didn’t think too much about it until we returned from an Easter weekend at Cape May. The day after our return, there were two beautiful white eggs in a sparse nest on top of the tool cabinet on my balcony. We were surprised, fascinated but most of all concerned about what to do next. We looked into the matter and decided to go with the flow. 🦊❤️
1715. “hunkered down”
when i see his face
in the doorway of his hutch
a sigh of relief… 🦊❤️
My latest “Wissahickon Wonder” painting that is titled “Hunkered Down”. It is a 20”x20” acrylic on stretched canvas. It is of Tommy in his humble hutch abode. This is the eighth “Tommy Painting” in the series. Hope you enjoy looking at it. 🦊❤️
1714. being invisible
standing very still
while hiding behind a tree
“i’m invisible” 🦊❤️
Yulan captured a wonderfully mysterious photograph of Tommy on one of her solo hikes. It illustrates Tommy’s growing caution being outdoors as his hearing is just about gone and he is not as nimble and stealthy as he used to be. His vigilance and wariness are pretty high too. He can often be seen seeming to want to be invisible. Time moves on and changes in how the challenges of life are met. Tommy carries on as he can. 🦊❤️
1713. a job well done
its time is ending
lesser celandine waves bye
its job is complete 🦊❤️
Today, the invasive plant named Lesser Celandine is again the subject of my haiku and reflection. For some strange reason the plant’s ever expanding proliferation, its lightning fast seasonal appearance and equally quick melting back into the ground fascinate me. I can only assume that there is some important purpose that the plant serves in the overall scheme of things. I don’t know what that purpose is, but it seems to be very persistent, reliable and efficient in getting its job done annually. Bravo! 🦊❤️
1712. distractions
nature’s an expert
at creating distractions
that cause us to look 🦊❤️
As I stood talking casually with some friends, I found myself drifting out of the conversation because I was distracted by patches of lichens seemingly splattered on a nearby tree. It wasn’t long before our conversation shifted to the lichens on the tree. Lately I am finding that nature’s distractions are a healthy alternative to so many conversations that I find myself in these days. 🦊❤️
1711. little prayers
lots of little prayers
written on little papers
tucked in little cracks 🦊❤️
Every so often I like to visit the “Our Lady of Czestochowa” shrine located in Chalfont Pa. The shrine is usually bustling with pilgrims from every corner of the world. My favorite nook at the shrine is a small “cave” filled with candles, flowers, various religious items and statues of Mary and most notably hundreds of prayer requests written on small scraps of paper that are tucked into the cracks between the rocks. It is a great place to reflect on the universal truth that everyone has their struggles in life that they seek help with and also the power of prayer. 🦊❤️
1710. early birds and worms
empty theater
except for us early birds
claiming the best “worms” 🦊❤️
We are prone to being compulsively early when it comes to “gettin’ to where we’re goin”. That is especially true whenever we go someplace that requires sitting, like a movie, theater or restaurant. Just like the early birds that get the worms… we get the best seats (usually). 🦊❤️
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