for the birds...

these creamy angels ...

In my garden...

I Meant To Do My Work Today

by Richard LeGallienne

I meant to do my work today,

But a brown bird sang in the apple tree,

And a butterfly flitted across the field,

And all the leaves were calling me.

And the wind went sighing over the land,

Tossing the grasses to and fro,

And a rainbow held out its shining hand,

So what could I do but laugh and go?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2HUBtRBVjA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvObNhKWUyA&feature=related

[ As always, click on photos to enlarge... click twice to make larger! ]

I went to the mountains...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WANLIEWxYIM

an aspect of eternity

"Beauty is a precious trace that eternity causes to appear to us

and that it takes away from us...[a] manifestation of

eternity...."

-Eugene Ionesco

happy bastille day to me....

[part of a texted conversation between my husband and i....]

me - btw, happy bastille day...which means twelve years cancer free... i am going to try to be more grateful... which sadly i am not good at...

him - i have no trouble being grateful that you are alive and well and still the love of my life....

me - ok ... but you are making me cry... and you are mine....

him - do not cry... smile and be happy that we are together.... it is the best thing of all good things...

me - yes dear... xxxx

... another day at the beach....

...as always, click on photo to see larger and click again for larger still....

and the point is...

I live to hail that season by gifted one foretold,

when men shall live by reason,

and not alone by gold.

-george linnaeus banks

my keyboard isn't allowing capitalization or punctuation for the time being...but the time to write is now. i will correct this later....

....yesterday was hot and humid and just sitting at this desk and keyboard was utterly uncomfortable when i began hearing the weather warnings for pouring rain. i texted my husband --- who lately lives in the basement as a means to beat the heat --- that if it indeed began to rain, i would be going out into it post haste. this is the luxury of summer. when in my adult life had i deliberately gone into a downpour.... answer- never. When it started, i hit the door. At first it was piddly... but soon it was gloriously drenching. i decided the backyard would be a better idea for this and made my way around the house and just enjoyed the cool. eventually it began to dissipate and i headed back indoors and into the shower. lathered up my hair and as i was rinsing, i looked out the window at the tempest. branches were bending in every direction and the rain i thought was beginning to trickle was actually harder than before when suddenly it looked like pebbles were bouncing off the roof . could it be hail. i stepped out of the shower and back into my wet clothes and went outside again

amazing hail . i didnt have my camera ready so i picked up a piece and put it in the freezer. but even after that task the hail was still going strong so i grabbed my camera and reinstalled the memory card and took the shot above, returned the camera to safety and spent more time in the gloriously cool rain.

As if summer needed proving....

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately...

and see if I could learn what it had to teach,

and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

- Henry David Thoreau

... I wonder if I need a similar manifesto? I went to the beach. One solid week after school ended. A week made so by unfinished work and stupidity. (I lifted a metric ton of books--- little by little and then, in a particularly dumb move, all at once.) So, I was late getting there. And I was somewhat surprisingly ambivalent. (" Riddle me this, Batman....") Well, I am thinking it is any number of things. The crazy notion that the grief was waiting there for me, when in truth it is here everyday. Add an equally insane idea that I do not want to grow attached to this summer morning habit of mine and have it be even more difficult to go back to work in the Fall. Maybe it was the hurricane and the way it kicked me on my last real visit of the summer?

There's just no telling. Save this: more joy in the gardening than the beach combing so far. That I will have to admit. Women are a changable lot. At any moment or morn everything may tilt. But in the meantime, there's a garden to tend to. And better planning to be done regarding the beach going; there are some conflicts in schedule to be worked out, a better plan regarding keeping the car key and camera dry, better route, better shoes, better wear. And the end of this sentence to be pondered and then chiseled: "I go to the beach to _____________."

Yes, I would like to know what words fill that space.

...as always, click on photos for a larger view...click twice for an even larger view....

orchid-ingly

...as always, click on photos for a larger view...click twice for even larger view....