Discovering Beauty in Everyday Life

Thanksgiving Day at Jane's

Through little fault of it's own, El Innocente, an otherwise law-abiding tree, is seriously illegally parked.  El Innocente is not only within a few feet of a Fire Hydrant, but it is also in a clearly marked No Parking Zone.  Thank Goodness our Bystander arrived in time! Several parking tickets had already been attached by the Authorities in the Department, but El Innocente was unable to pay them.  As our hero arrived on the scene, an Official was already attaching the Tow!  We all know what the Department does with Towed Trees --  well, I don't even want to talk about it. Thankfully, Bystander was allowed to pay the outstanding tickets and to establish the El Innocente Ticket Paying Trust in Perpetuum Fidite. We are all  exceedingly grateful. Tree parked illegally on Park Avenue and 94h Street

With gratitude for Grace, Beauty, Kindness, and Love

For months now, Ounce has been trying his best to live in the city. The new light poles with their crossbars here in New York proved too seductive for even our Ounce! Building a nice nest inside a street pipe was irresistible: new, highrise, amenities -- but the noise! Horns, Traffic, and the Pigeons! It was just too much. Well, Ounce is finally back in the park, but it's winter. You know how Ounce is with water...it's impossible to stay away for long. The other day we walked a little too close to Ounce's favorite sculpture swimming bowl. How disappointing, and after an entire summer of city life. Of course it's winter, and although the elements provide a little water sometimes, even gossamer metal is cold this time of year.

Rusty with life I flee the stainless streets, escaping to the border places, neon blinks through half a sign. Dark wood angles jut and flounder on their way to make up a house. Galvanized garbage can broken on the sidewalk, lid almost covering the mess inside. Loose wires hang over broken grass, holding on in the front-yard dust. Green planks cross-hatch behind the steps, covering the belly of the porch. Inside the floor is still swept clean; There's a curtain instead of a door. Hangman stalks the inside house, waiting for a turn of events. Across the Harlem Meer

I was traveling along in my mind the other day, searching for a random thought about a certain something, when I came across an outcrop. Not in my mind, no, but an actual outcrop from a hill. Sitting on the outcrop, believe it or not, was a small practically transparent Pherosa. It may seem odd, since there are so few Pherosas around, but when you see an unusual something sitting on an outcrop that is practically transparent, well. That is exactly what will come to mind. “Can I help you?” It said, and come to think of it I did need a little help with a lot of things. For one, I was concerned about what to do with the rest of my life, and so I asked its name. “Pherosina", said the Pherosa. "Rosey for short.”  “Do you ever wonder what life is all about?” I asked. “Not since I gave up wondering about death”, said Rosey. I had a leaf last year, a leaf on a tiny stem, born that spring, it was a wrinkled little thing (said Rosey). It spread itself and found its lobes

Well I did want to talk about love, But there’s so little that I wish to know about it. Crinkling like tinfoil in bright sun, Folding over, captured in the new moon air, Creeping over the window sills, Climbing through the pumpkin patches. Sinking into the inner rooms, leaving copies of itself along the way Peaches covered in thick fresh cream Brown sugar cane and dark molasses, A grassy path in a secret wood Reflections on Second Avenue