Discovering Beauty in Everyday Life

Feel your toes grip the wet sand Inhale the Ocean listen! The gulls are playing. Mission for the Day 1. In today's travels, isolate a small silhouette .  (it should be a ways away, or we can be grabbed by the   nearest 'Q' . ) 2. Pause awhile, and let a blessed, unused memory flood your senses.   3. Breathe deeply. 4. Smile.

Is there a pathway to that unknown destination? Traveling, traveling, turning a corner here and there, Labyrinths and crossroads, matrices and a web of life; Is that a trace of the Master Weaver Spinning out our destinies?

Mamma and Children in the Harlem Meer, July 2013

Desire rubs itself into your palms like rusty gravel, into your face like those wrenching wringing drying clothes hanging by the grace of god.  But then, See the image of that flower root, sucking sunlight into the earth. Hear the image of a torn root mending, hidden there under the sidewalk rain. I have a garden with a marigold, a yellow pansy in the window box, a tree living a shepherdless life.

Canada Goose Grooming at the Reservoir Resting near the North Reservoir, Central Park

  I know the way to smudge the situation, the way to gloss over the circumstances, to ink in the shadow lands, to covet the rainbow in the tail end of things. Watch for the dusty splatters left by rain, the shriveled blossoms hanging on, after death has pinched them out of the picture. Grab that scenic trail along the rainbow edges Taste the moment when the thin wire cuts through the lines. I hear you focused in the wind, your frequencies are stubbing out the distances. Stretch out the small, the almost never was, Flatten out the instant hieroglyphic, Sort through the serifs and the forky trampled things-- I know the truth, I hear it in the wireless wind.

Grackle watching spring unfold in Central Park Central Park Near the Boathouse If you can not see this chirbit, listen to it here http://chirb.it/ErGMNN Mission for today: Take care to notice one bird; sparrows are usually available. See how it moves from flight to landing to flight. Watch it do something sparrow-ish. It's always a good idea to take a note. Inhale...Exhale... Check this out on Chirbit

Robin, Robin Redbreast, where art thou? "I’m sitting in a tree but I don’t know how; I ended up here on this limb somehow." You flew around and landed there as simple as can be. "You’re very funny so they say, but why me instead of thee?" You silly bird I’ll tell you why, It’s difficult for me to fly, But you have feathers and wings and things! "I do? Oh my Gosh! Are these things wings?" Central Park Magnolia Tree Getting Ready for Spring Addendum from Vera A. of Denver Standing tall upon the crest, greeting Spring - Robin redbreast. Looking regal, fat and firm Scanning for a nice March worm. Gingerly testing out his skill. Can I still do the robin trill? What a voice! You're right on track. We're so glad to see you back.

Warning!  Warning!   Joggers, Walkers, Dogs and Small Living Things:  Beware!     The awful rumor is true:   Monster Pigeon is back!     Although Monster and Mate have not been directly spotted, the long white trail on the lower left rock is clear and convincing evidence that Monster is alive, well, and perching in Marcus Garvey Park!   Marcus Garvey Park from Fifth on the Park, 6B   Remember the terrible summer of 2010, when Monster and Mate constructed their giant nest atop the Metropolitan Musesum of Art (of all places)?   In case you forgot, here is the report, pulled from the blogging archives: Tuesday, July 6, 2010 -- Is Anybody Out There? All counter measures have failed so far to halt the inexorable encroacing nest construction of Monster Pigeon (and Mate).  Proactive measures, smoke, warnings, and mirrors have failed to halt the illegal settlement.  As you can see, the situation is very grave. Nobody knows for certain how many tourists have been

Shimmering in the wind, the dry reeds rattle Rattle, swish Time clatters away with a thud. Drowning in yellow leaves, fall sneaks in through the cracks Torn by the wind.   Harlem Meer after the Storm

Find me. I am lost within a fleeting instant I wasn’t going in, I swear I wasn’t Not until I found you just a foot away swimming with laughter Find me. I am lost without a compass no roots holding me along the bottom no way to find the hanging strap I am lost without a mossy crevice Look for me again along the empty places I wasn’t going in, I swear I wasn’t I didn’t mean to get so far and never find a rudder or a raft   I didn’t mean to go so far without my safety line I wasn’t going in, but now I swear I would

I’ll say it again and I’ve said it before, Distance is something you cannot ignore. Too far from the shot, it will look like a dot on a blurry Seurat. Is it a Bird? How absurd! What a bore.

Above the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Shhhhhh......Danger!!! VERY, very,  Very, Very, very, v e r y, very , v e r y  THIN ICE... Water Fowl in the Harlem Meer

It was late that dreary afternoon when I finally got home. I walked into my  sheltered entrance and something caught my eye!  It was a dark, bluish, ballish sort of thing. As I crept closer to see what it possibly could be, it began to move!  I jumped back, and when it had settled down, it revealed a beak and what looked like tail feathers!  But what was it doing in my entrance way?  There are many warmer doorways--just ask a homeless person.  Then it dawned on me; the answer was clear.  My entrance way was color coordinated. Pigeon Disturbed in a Doorway

Pale by comparison to the male, I have heard said, but how is it possible to compare beauty with beauty? Female Mallard Dines in the Harlem Meer More information: Algae @ the Meer

Meet Sea, our newest water friend.   We were walking along the East River preparing to cast bread into the waters to begin a new chapter in life, and out of nowhere came Sea!  Sea loves to play Air Catch Player 1 prepares to cast a slice over the rail. We have found that casting away the turmoils of life is so much more beneficial if it also nourishes the creatures of the Sky as well as the Earth.    Player 2 casts a piece of homemade bread into the waiting wings of Sea.

Both Robino and Squiva are blotchy for some reason. Maybe the humidity?  The Heat?   Robino (being very high strung and anxious) agreed to this photo regardless, but Squiva!  Squiva came right up to me for a change, but the coat is not doing well.  It is healing, but of course Squiva couldn't bear to appear without everything in total array.  We expect it  to be all better in a month or so.

Denver Sparrow caught in the act of creating beauty DIA Tarmac