Discovering Beauty in Everyday Life

Away from its birth nest for the very first time, With translucent tail held high in the balance position,  Young Squivino carefully walks along a branch, Awake in the world For the very first time.

I’ve had my share of trinkets Cluttering up my days. Memories are tugging at me, tying me down, Or did I settle in?    My days are scattering like matches, Burning up the moments. Summer shrivels up like a prune, Sucking sap back into the root of things. A turtle digs down below frost line, Preparing for its winter nap.     A shark swims by and leaves no trace, yet something turns up missing.  

Let the sap of summer nourish me, like a small bough, with a leaf stuck for life to its limb. Let the autumn wind care for my soul. So what if winter crawls over my roots!

Thank you for your service.... Callery Pear Tree Leaves, November 24 2016 /br /br

Off to school with sharpened promises. Seeking a simple space reserved for me. Oh how I wished and waited, loved and prayed. May I have a pleasant dream, a morning full of breezes? Now and then a glance my way, shooting light through a hidden shard. How I wanted to pursue you-- Where was that spark inside my soul, Whispering through the painted leaves-- “I love you” “You can count on me”

Late in the dead afternoon I crawled Up the boulder bunched against a foothill. I don’t remember why, not now. I remember the achy feeling though, And the shallow, predictable demise of it all, After those compass-free days, What buried treasure touched the fire, What silky agent pierced the boundary line? The narrow roadway, white and chalked, Hemming the highland summer meadow, Could I forget those stars, however misaligned? Would I delete that edgeless, radiant, holographic night; Could I forget you, and would I live a single day?

The last winter leaves are letting go and falling softly away.  Take a happy look at these that remain to brighten the final days before spring explodes upon us.

One night among the stars I saw you coming, But Asteroid arrived and pulled you from me. Of course I cannot follow, I have an orbit of my own.

It’s close to spring; I see it in my window box. The early morning sun creeps north, thawing at the columbine roots. We do not give life up easily. Some say Eros was the son of Iris by the West Wind. A wanton child he was, torching hearts at random with his burning golden arrows.  Some say it was the gold that did it. I came across a small pool residing in a sidewalk  (Temporarily, of course) A few fall leaves still shelter there, Wet and warm with burnished gold.

I had a day with so many disparate activities to do, one after the other.  None of them involved going to a park or even a mudpuddle.  I did take a taxi and a bus and a train and a purposeful walk.  Somehow, it's just not the same.  D id I accomplish something?  What an unusual question.  I know who accomplished something, and it's  whoever made it over this fence, that's who!

Those crafty leaves are falling willy-nilly, and very few have actually been caught.  We have found it necessary, therefore, to  recruite a team of professionals

There’s something about a mud-puddle. They fascinate me, since they appear to be immortal. People pile on the dirt and sod, the gravel and the asphalt. Laying in wait, however, is the soul of a puddle. Who could resist a swim in a puddle? Not a sparrow, not a puppy, not a leaf.

There is nothing in this world more exhilarating. It looks easy, say they! It looks dull! It will be boring, and there will be no PBS special! Oh, but these sooth-sayers haven’t tried it lately. Your mission for today: To chase a leaf. 1. Locate a place of falling leaves, preferably with an occasional breeze. 2. Begin the chase. Your goal is to chase, not to catch! Those dainty leaves are wiley.

There are times when I cannot maneuver anymore and can’t think what to do. It comes and goes, thank goodness. I have an old friend. Time goes by without a word, then bang! There we are, back in the youth of memory. So what I do is pause. Fall is a time for the beauty of transition.  It flares and sparks and smolders away-- quietly, slowly, leaf by leaf.

Ok, do this for me.  Go outside (if possible) and pick or find a nice green leaf.  A blade of grass or a weed or a green twig will do, if need be.  Ask first, as plants are sensitive. Crumple and crunch up the leaf, or surrogate.  Now smell deeply of the aroma of green.  There is no way else to describe it.

I found another leaf, and I refer to my Tree Field Guide for the Metropolitan Area . This probably isn’t a tricky leaf for an experienced leaf-ologist, but I have my guide and I look carefully. chapter:  Leaves alternately arranged, simple, lobed: Group 13. I find a similarly shaped leaf. “Alternate, oval or oblong 2 1/2 to 5 inch leaves [check], with 11 or more shallow to deep triangular or oblong lobes [check, 14 lobes, Check, triangular]. Central main vein [check] with secondary veins extending to lobe tips [check!]; lustrous, dark green above, downy below. Lustrous, Downey, Oh yes. Check! I have a tiny remnant of a Turkey Oak. Here's a picture. It's of an amber one, since today it is fall.