Discovering Beauty in Everyday Life

 Dust grey streets wander, lurching over the hunched-up dreams. A stage of my own, with parts and strings and adoration! Me, It’s Me! Select Me!      It will be enough I swear it will! Around the corner from the bulb-lit marques Brick walls stand up, triple storied, stenciled with memories, Wiping away the dreams. Off they roll, scrabbling muddy bits and pieces in their wake.  Come with me into the other places Down inside the heart of the matter Betting with a different set of compositions Bone real and iced with yellow Watered with sacred shadows Threaded with translucent possibilities Dusty finger prints playing with pieces of divinity Soaked in the grace of letting be Our tunes braided in a single melody, Only the piper hears the differences.

  Well, Maybe not...

Startled Worn away in the winter Still hanging onto last year’s evidence while new growth pushes out   Is there another chance? well,  I do have my ways.

Ellsworth Kelly. (American, born 1923). Apples . Paris, 1949. Charcoal pencil on paper Idea! Go out and try some blind contour drawing. Just take a few minutes and draw something on your table or desk: here's how: take a piece of blank paper and a pencil (ok, a pen will do) put behind your back (or out of sight of your eyes). without taking the pencil off the paper, draw the object you choose. Don't be fussy! Just get the basic outline and add a few details--No picking up your pencil!  No looking! Benefit: You will discover the great quality of line that Ellsworth Kelly uses!!

Yes, it is impossible to quite capture the magic and majestic paintings of Georgia O'Keeffe, but what love in every stroke. And look at the composition, with the antlers just barely in reach of the frame. Awsome! Georgia O'Keeffe, American, 1887-1988 From the Faraway, Nearby, 1937 Oil on Canvas

Like a fly we are caught by the merest chance In the cunning webs of circumstance. There isn't time for a second look, To see the puzzled pictures in the riddle book, To sniff out the hand that baited the hook. What if there is a snagy thread Pulled loose by a windblown seed? Don’t wait for a message, just go ahead, Just pull, it’s a seed not a weed! Forget all the angles and “wait a secs “, Forget regressing your y over x! It isn’t mathematics that’s calling for you It’s life, it’s exciting, let's try something new! Just pull it! --  Help! I'm flying away!  Hang on, don't let go! It's just for today. v

What is more beautiful than an unemployed canon? Montjuic, Barcelona - Summer2012 Barcelona Commercial Harbor from MontJuic.  Summer 2012

Here's the ceiling of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, created by the architect Antoni Gaudí i Cornet (25 June 1852–10 June 1926).  Construction of La Sagrada Familia began in 1882.  Gaudi spent 40 years working on the Cathedral  Still under construction, it is scheduled to be completed in 2041 http://www.aviewoncities.com/barcelona/sagradafamilia.htm .  Ceiling, Sagrada Familia (Gaudi) Below we see the incredible transparency sculpted in light and created by  Gaudi. This is the right wall of windows of the Sagrada Familia seen at an angle as we enter.  Side wall of windows, Sagrada Familia (Gaudi) This photo is an identical window straight-on, but on other side of the cathedral: flat, usual, almost ordinary. Side Wall of Windows straight on, Sagrada Familia (Gaudi) A small Barcelona cafe in late afternoon A Barcelona Cafe in Late Afternoon

I’m eating a narañja here in beautiful España, Life is calm, life is Glorious! España is notorious  for Flamenco dancing,  and afternoon romancing,  some sweet career advancing,  with resume enhancing. I have a new persona here in sunny Barcelona! Everything’s obtainable, explainable, Sustainable!   Sagrata Familia Cathedral, Barcelona

Finally, Stalagmite meets stalactite but is it worth those endless boring drips? What now? There is no turning back drip, drip, drip. That day the bird flew out the window. I walked along the mica path, and there it was! Just sitting on a limb not knowing yet it was lost. Are these the holy incidents that coalesce the days into a life, with apple leaves and juniper? I saw time come to a boil the other day. They said it wouldn’t, but it did.

Mission for the day: Sneak up on a nearby fountain on a sunlit morning. 1. Position yourself between the sun and the fountain (sun behind, fountain in front). 2. Move right, left, forward and back until you catch sight of the rainbow. 3. Stop a nearby person and lead them to it. 4. Don’t tell them how you did it. The fountain can be tall or short, large or small. The rainbow lives nearer to the ground in the late morning or early afternoon, and higher up in the fountain if the sun is low. If fountains are not available, you can locate a sprinkler. It’s a miracle! It's magic! It’s physics!

It’s intuitively obvious and easy to use! Are you nuts? It’s designed to abuse and confuse! Where the Hell are my photos? I shouted aloud! Don’t worry, you’re syncing them, up in the cloud. It could take a while to get everything done, So relax and remember, “Technology’s fun.”