walking a path between the corn in saginaw forest
on a beautiful morning
we even found our way out
—
‘a light wind swept over the corn, and all nature laughed in the sunshine.’
-anne bronte
—
saginaw forest, ann arbor, michigan, usa
summer 2026
fresh herbs
cut to order
five dollars
a bunch
bumper crop
farmer wins
kitchen wins
—
‘For those dependent on their gardens for fresh food,
it was often a case of feast or famine..
One settler wrote: ‘Strawberries were now so plentiful that… I made 287 lbs of jam…’
*Bee Dawson, Author, ‘A History of Gardening in New Zealand.’
*Bee Dawson is a social historian from New Zealand who enjoys researching and writing books on the history of people, places and gardens. The wide range of topics she has written about includes women painters, the air force, New Zealand gardens, freight transportation, Hobsonville air base, the Child Cancer Foundation, and Puketiti Station. Her writing captures the unpredictable reality of early colonial gardens, where fluctuating seasonal cycles meant settlers either faced severe scarcity or overwhelming, sudden bounties.
FOR THOSE WHO ZAG
Here’s to the ones who still write things down.
The analog ones.
The handwritten ones.
The slow ones.
The kind ones.
The ones who believe a short walk can fix more than an app.
The ones who know dogs need little pats on the head and sunsets deserve an audience.
They’re not fond of shortcuts and they’re suspicious of templates.
They have respect for empty spaces
and complicated feelings about noise.
You can quote them. You can disagree with them. Scroll past them.
But the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they notice.
They notice birds.
And clouds.
And tired teachers.
And lonely cashiers.
And the person who just simply needs a minute.
They’re the ones who wave in traffic.
Who let people merge.
Who listen to kids like they’re great philosophers.
These are the ones who believe in smiling with their whole face
and handwritten thank you notes
and personalized cakes
and remembering there’s other real humans out there living
real human lives who deserve to be looked directly in the eyes
and told how much they matter.
You see, while some people are busy optimizing life, there are others busy living it.
They see things differently.
They see gentleness as strength.
Kindness as courage.
Attention as rebellion.
Many might be trying to disrupt the world, but these folks are trying to repair it.
While the world keeps refreshing, they’ll keep remembering.
Some may call them outdated,
but time will reveal them as wise
and essential.
Because the people who are gentle enough
to think they can change the world …
are usually the ones who do.
—
Brad Montague, The Enthusiast
—
image credit: leafy trees
summer solstice
longest day
shortest night
tomorrow
begins
its slow reversal
enjoy every minute
of today
—
“humans are vulnerable and rely on the kindnesses of the earth and the sun; we exist together in a sacred field of meaning.”
-joy harjo
*Joy Harjo, (1951) is an internationally renowned poet, musician, playwright, and author. She is a citizen of the Muscogee Nation and made history as the first Native American to serve as the United States Poet Laureate, holding the prestigious position for three terms from 2019 to 2022.
—
lake superior, marquette, michigan, usa
glad that no one was counting on me
to be the only photographer at the graduation party
here are two of my shots documenting the fun occasion
i’d classify them as ‘artsy’
‘i came to photography by accident. ‘
– eve arnold
Barack Obama Presidential Center opens to the public on Juneteenth
Chicago, Illinois,USA
Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States. It marks the day in 1865 when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to ensure all enslaved people were freed, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, finally enforcing the freedom of 250,000 freed enslaved Black Texans.
“Our Nation is stronger because of the generations of struggles for equal rights and social justice, and our culture is richer because of the contributions of African Americans throughout our history. This is why Juneteenth, while rooted in the history of a people, can be celebrated by all Americans.” – Barack Obama – 2010
On the tower of the new Obama Presidential Center the message reads:
“You are America. Unconstrained by habit and convention. Unencumbered by what is, ready to seize what ought to be. For everywhere in this country, there are first steps to be taken, there is new ground to cover, there are more bridges to be crossed. America is not the project of any one person. The single most powerful word in our democracy is the word ‘We.’ ‘We the People.’ ‘We Shall Overcome.’ ‘Yes We Can.’ That word is owned by no one. It belongs to everyone. Oh, what a glorious task we are given to continually try to improve this great nation of ours.”- Barack Obama
—
source credits: brittanica, history.com, the Obama Foundation, IPM, Chicago Tribune
cary walking his siamese cat in beverly hills, ca. – 1955
—
happy birthday to cary grant
one of my favorite actors
born archibald leach in 1904
—
an amusing story from his neighbor, talent agent shep gordon, who was cary’s next door neighbor in beverly hills:
One day Shep’s cat, (not the cat above), to which he had given the name The Sensitive One, disappeared and he put “missing” posters on lampposts.
“I got a phone call from Cary Grant’s housekeeper telling me they’d found the cat,” he says.
“But after that they didn’t return my calls for a couple of weeks so finally I thought I’d go to the house. I rang the doorbell and when the door opened on a fur carpet with these two silver bowls were Cary Grant and my cat.
“I could see the cat looking at me going, ‘Don’t blow this for me please.’ So we ended up with joint custody but I only took the cat back once after that. Cary Grant later gave this amazing interview to Parade magazine where he said the cat saved his life. It brought him back to wanting to live. He was about 70 at the time and I never saw him again after that.”
—
‘it is the law of life that if you are kind to someone you feel happy
if you are cruel you are unhappy
and if you hurt someone you will be hurt back.’
-cary grant
—
photo credit: sanford roth, getty images 1955
when we were young
bazooka gum
was the most popular
bubble gum
hard as a rock
we loved how sugary it was
the little comics inside
reading our fortunes
we had all summer
to play games
think up things to do
one day
my sister, my friend and i
had a contest to see who
could get the most pieces of gum in their mouth
bazooka was really really hard to chew
it took a lot of work
to chew it and chew it and chew it
to make it soft
to make a bubble
our friend won the contest
ten pieces in her mouth
while chewing it
she won nothing but the glory
we all had
very, very sore teeth
very sore jaws
but what a contest
so worth it!
—
Bazooka bubble gum was first marketed shortly after World War II in the U.S. by the Topps Company of Brooklyn, New York. The gum was packaged in a red, white, and blue color scheme and originally sold for one penny. Beginning in 1953, Topps changed the packaging to include small comic strips with the gum, featuring the character “Bazooka Joe”. There are over 1,535 different “Bazooka Joe” comic-strip wrappers to collect. Also on the comic strip is an offer for a Premium and a fortune.
“Bazooka Joe gum: It’s like chewing a mountain that someone shot a freeze ray into.” — Reddit / 30 Rock
“I think my jaws still ache from chewing all that bubble gum when I was a kid.” — Facebook
how was i to know
when i walked in
a little cafe
new to me
great food
that when i started
talking to my friend
about to leave
cleaned up our table
distracted
more chatting
saw the open slot
threw my trash in
realized
not trash slot
part of decor
not trash slot
no way to get it out
not trash slot
part of a built-in fake wall
told my friend
two construction workers
sitting near us
busted out laughing
promised not to tell
good thing it was all paper
i’m sure someone else
must have done this before
maybe many
saw our construction guys
outside
laughing again
as they drove off
in their truck
—
“there are endless possibilities for new mistakes no one has ever seen before.”
― james irwin, author
Choy Moo Kheong (b.1950 Singapore)
Blue Whispering Day, 2022.
Acrylic on canvas
—
Choy Moo Kheong (b.1950) is a self-taught artist from Singapore who is inspired by the romanticism of nature. At the age of 28, he taught himself how to paint. Combining his talent, creativity and determination, he succeeded despite the odds. He held on to his dreams and was rewarded when his works begun to be accepted and exhibited.
Since then, his work has been exhibited in France, Switzerland, Brunei, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. Besides attracting international and local private collectors, his work has also been collected by many private organizations such as the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the Canadian High Commissioner, Glaxo Holdings in London, the New York Institute of Finance in Singapore, the Sultan of Brunei, JP Morgan Singapore and the Gulf International Bank.
I didn't have my glasses on.... 