Jelisava

Listen . . .

Listening / Mountain House / August 2008

“The sounds of the earth are like music, the old song goes, and the sounds of music are also like the sounds of the earth, which is of course where music comes from. Listen to the voices outside the window, the rumble of the furnace, the creak of your chair, the water running in the kitchen sink. Learn to listen to the music of your own lengths of time, your own silences.”

~ Frederick Buechner, from Whistling in the Dark, A Doubter's Dictionary

Thunder through

Man in white / New Jersey / April 2009

I want the man in white and
his colorful compatriots to thunder through and
attack Anita's cancer so she can be rid of
feeding bags and nausea and anxiety and despair
so that my friend can be restored
strong and efficient, loving and lovely

The poetry of hands, 30

We go out walkin' 'round the lake / Mountain House / August 2007

“This small lake was of most value as a neighbor in the intervals of a gentle rain-storm in August, when, both air and water being perfectly still, but the sky overcast, mid-afternoon had all the serenity of evening, and the wood thrush sang around, and was heard from shore to shore. A lake like this is never smoother than at such a time; and the clear portion of the air above it being, shallow and darkened by clouds, the water, full of light and reflections, becomes a lower heaven itself so much the more important.”

~ Thoreau, an excerpt from Walden (Where I Lived and What I Lived for)

I'm nodding in agreement

Bluestone in the garden / New Jersey / May 2009

“A woman who can't forgive should never have more than a nodding acquaintance with a man.”

~ E. W. Howe

Layer the spices until the pot is full

The Family Recipe Book's Famous Steamed Crabs / Maryland / August 2009

Is there anything better on a hot August afternoon than a bushel of spicy steamed crabs?

What gives the shells their bright red/orange color?
Blue crabs have pigments, including Alpha-crustacyanin and Astaxanthin, in their shells. The pigments interact to form a blue-green color. When cooked, the Alpha-crustacyanin breaks down, leaving only the Astaxanthin, which gives the shells their "hot" color. (Blue Crab FAQs)

The everyday practice

Late summer afternoon / Beach Haven, NJ / August 2009

“The everyday practice is simply to develop a complete
acceptance and openness
to all situations and emotions.

And to all people — experiencing everything totally without reservations
and blockages, so that one never
withdraws or centralizes onto oneself.”

~ an excerpt from the Maha Atia text

Better, but still not good: 2/9ths

Golden Lady / Boston, MA / July 2007

"It is distinctively American to continually refine our Union, moving us closer to our ideals. Our Union is not yet perfected, but with this confirmation we will be making progress. Years from now, we will remember this time, when we crossed paths with the quintessentially American journey of Sonia Sotomayor, and when our nation took another step forward..."

~ Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D., Vt.) on the confirmation of another woman, Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court; only the third woman in the history of our country vs. 200+ years times 9 of old white men

The idea of movement

Katica and Mitza / Sv. Vid, Croatia / May 2005

“The idea of movement was more important than actually going somewhere.”

~ Persis M. Karim writing in her story Paris Rendez-vous

The spirit tree

The spirit tree stretching up to the sky (here are the leaves in all their glory) / New Jersey / August 2009

The mighty Japanese Red Maple tree had gotten too tall. It dwarfed the house. It dropped sap on the roof. The ants used it as a causeway to the porch. So mighty Paulo and his trusty helper cut and heaved and pulled and prayed and took all those huge branches down, leaving the trunk with only truncated branch stubs. The mighty red maple was left with just a few delicate leaves. Would the tree be able to overcome such a severe pruning? One day, several weeks later I noticed tiny clumps of bright red leaves all over trunk. The clumps grew bigger and spread up and down the tree. It was bursting out in beautiful blooms in places that had never bloomed before -- it not only survived, but it was thriving and growing. Now it is an ever-changing sculpture that grows more beautiful every day.

The poetry of hands, 29

Detail from Minerva by Rembrandt (oil on canvas, 1635) at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art / August 2009

Minerva is known as the Roman goddess of wisdom. I wonder has she read everything in that big book where her left hand rests? Or is that the book of wisdom she has written? She is also known as the goddess of the useful and ornamental arts and craft such as spinning, weaving, and needle-work.