Jelisava

Be like the trees

Amico Island / Nov. 2011

This was the day of wanting to take time to sit and absorb the beauty of the world. To focus on the moment. To let all the demands take a back seat. To be like the trees and wade into the water and reflect.

hoot-da-ta-doot-hoot-hoot

Here I return the call / Ideal nesting places for owls / Park on the Rancocas Creek / Nov. 2011

Late at night I sit at my computer thinking and typing while outside an owl calls out. hoot-da-ta-doot-hoot-hoot. hoot-da-ta-doot-hoot-hoot. The sound comforts me. Some cultures believe that the owl is a harbinger of something bad happening. I prefer to think like the ancient Greeks who associated owls with wisdom. hoot-da-ta-doot-hoot-hoot. hoot-da-ta-doot-hoot-hoot. The Incas venerated the owl for its beautiful eyes. hoot-da-ta-doot-hoot-hoot. hoot-da-ta-doot-hoot-hoot. The owl is a symbol for the island of Krk in Croatia where my ancestors lived. hoot-da-ta-doot-hoot-hoot. hoot-da-ta-doot-hoot-hoot. Some say if you hear the cry of the owl that you must return the call. hoot-da-ta-doot-hoot-hoot. hoot-da-ta-doot-hoot-hoot. Some say owls are old people and should be respected. hoot-da-ta-doot-hoot-hoot. hoot-da-ta-doot-hoot-hoot.

Adorned with swiss chard

I've planted vegetables, including this colorful swiss chard, and hopefully, staved off meanness and laziness / May 2011

“A good vegetable garden should adorn every farm, and the absence of one denotes meanness or laziness.”

~ Tweets of Old, AR, 1887

It fell most advantageously

Pap and Jim fell the tall tree / Nov. 2010

“The first and most important consideration, when we have concluded to fell a tree, is, to decide which way it will fall most advantageously.”

~ The Young Farmer's Manual: Detailing the Manipulations of the Farm in a Plain and Intelligible Manner by Sereno Edwards Todd, 1860

This was the day that restored confidence in the mind of the man
who was doubting his abilities.

A bouncy, undulating pattern

Goldfinch in top, right corner; according to allaboutbirds.org they fly in a "bouncy, undulating pattern" / August 2010

This was just another summer day when the goldfinches visited my swath of black-eyed susans, swooping down to balance themselves on the seed-heads and pick at the seeds.

Solstice eve

Chairs resting while the sun sets / Beach Haven, NJ / June 2010

This was the Solstice eve when the dogs paced and the girls pirouetted and the wind blew and the sun shone and the waves crashed and the gulls hovered and the beach shimmered and the people laughed and the guitars hummed and we each sang our own special song.

Fattoria Fresca

Made with - Jersey Fresh - As Fresh As Fresh Gets - World Famous Vine Ripe - Crushed Tomatoes - with BASIL - Fattoria Fresca - Made with World Famous Jersey Fresh Tomatoes / packed fresh with no Citric Acid, no Concentrate, no Water, no Sugar in Williamstown, New Jersey / June 2010

the magic red fruit
cultivated by Aztecs
they say "tomati"

Up-rushing winds

And are we also embellished by our continual warring contact with the elements of life? (I think so, I hope so) / New Jersey / Feb. 2010

“Far above the clouds,
in the vast silences of space,
in thinnest air,
supported solely by up-rushing winds,
the little snow crystals form and multiply,
embellished and enlarged by their continual warring contact with the elements,
until at last they descend earthward.”

~ Water wonders every child should know: little studies of dew, frost, snow ... by Jean May Thompson, 1907

The tender breeze of storms

Paulo visits the river where the frigid wind has whipped the water onto the banks, creating icy sculptures / Delaware River and Tacony Bridge from the Jersey side / Dec. 2009

Once
   they set the sails of their
       imagination
the seas
   looked surprised
       as they stared into the tender breeze of storms

~ Gods Small Beings (08) by Iranian poet Robab Moheb

It replicates in endless haloes

I don't ever remember the summer Black-eyed Susans still blooming in December; they must like the often-warm and frequently-wet weather we've had this fall / New Jersey / Dec. 2009

“I sing praise to the play of the spirit, it replicates in endless haloes, tears loose from tangles, then in soft tissue waits for a new manifestation.”

~ an excerpt from Lesser Psalms by Edvard Kocbek