Discovering Beauty in Everyday Life

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I wander through the apple shadows, stepping into the secret garden Fall chrysanthemums are stiff with color Grasses are drying their stalks for winter Is that an orangy goldfish there or a patched up dappled catfish? Either way, I let it sink amid the leaves and lilies. I close my eyes and feel a quiet melting in my frozen solar plexus I may have dozed, I'm never sure A puddle full of splashing sparrows wakes me up. There's something familiar about that tweet! “Ounce?” "Ounce!" “You’re wet and cold! you’ll catch a chill!" Come here!“ I don’t know what made me scold that way It’s just I miss Ounce so and didn’t even know it. Embarrassed by my burst, I try to slink away, when I feel a small wet weight upon my shoulder -- “Ouch! You bit me!" Before I can move a retaliatory inch Ounce settles down for a soggy shoulder nap, and There isn’t anything else to do Except to take a leafy walk in the golden speckled afternoon.

It was one of those delicious days when the sun lit up the soul. I was skipping along on my favorite path, when I chanced upon a something in the road before me. So of course I stopped to make sure it wasn’t an endangered species. Well! One poke  told me I should be wary. I heard a sharp squeaky growl and felt a nip on my toe. I knew then it had to be an omen; you do not get stopped with a nip on the road for no reason at all. Growl wobbled over to the edge of the path, and of course I had to follow. We were at a clearing in the underbrush guarded by a low pile of nature-hewn rocks. I reached down to carry Growl, who gave me a parting nip on the finger and disappeared in a tiny whoosh. Nevertheless, I picked my way over the rocky pile and fell into a divided world. I wanted to go right with all my might, where the colors were tipped and burnished with life, yet there I was inexorably heading towards the left-most shadow lands. Deeper and deeper I journeyed, and ther...

Fractals! They’re those never-ending patterns that “display self-similarity…in all scales”. In mathematics, a self-similar object is exactly or approximately similar to a part of itself.* Is there no rest for the self-centered? Do you want to know how to be a fractal? Just do the same stupid thing over and over! And this rainbow we are talking about. There is the very same self-similar rainbow in each tiny droplet and packet of drops and fountain of drops! And there you have the essence of it; the soul of it if you will. The rainbow, in fact,  is immortal. Do you remember how to discover a rainbow? First locate body of water (a dew drop will do). Position yourself between the drop and the sun, and sooner or later there it will be. Of course it’s been there all along. A soul waiting for the right circumstances. Fractal Fountain in the Italian Garden of the Conservancy; Central Park *Somewhere on the web…

Mourning Dove rests at evening in the Secret Garden sparrow pool Mourning Dove in Secret Garden

Once upon a time, long before now, When the grass was as green as a lollypop~ Off we went down the sidewalk edge, looking for a piece of eternity. It was a popsicle day, With trees saturated in summer~ Sidewalks so hot you needed shoes, You could fry an egg if you wanted, they said. We were warned of course, about crossing the street, We were threatened, coerced and cautioned~ Of course we crossed it anyway, As we scattered away that diamond day.

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”