Sep21

mizzle.

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Baby cheetah in Africa by National Wildlife Photo Contest entrant Greg Cortopassi.

—

it’s been mizzling for a few days straight here

not everyone is amused by being in a mizzle

but the earth loves mizzling and is smiling.

—

Mountain gorillas in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda, by National Wildlife Contest entrant Diana Rebman.

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Mizzle

Light rain; drizzle.

Origin: Dutch, 15th century

“Mizzle” is likely based on the Dutch “mieselen,” meaning “to rain gently.”

Mizzle is the lightest kind of rain, quiet and steady, keeps the grass green and the flowers bright.

—

‘some people feel the rain, others just get wet. ‘

-bob marley

 

 

 

 

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source credit: word genius /photo credits: national wildlife foundation

Sep20

still life?

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lollipops, necklace, menu, glasses, application, hat, baby doll

all in one little corner

 tiny bits of life

come and go

left behind

still waiting

still life?

—

‘… life, by definition, is never still.’

-kurt vonnegut

 

 

 

 

—

leo’s, ann arbor, mi, usa – late summer 2026

Sep19

‘the dance is a poem of which each movement is a word.’- mata hari

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 baby ballerinas wait backstage for their moment in the sun
 

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emotions are mixed

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 at last

in the spotlight

shining bright

 one tiny dancer goes rogue

decides to solo

   sure sign

she is of my clan

  love her even more for that.

(here’s to you, grandie B)

—

‘dancing is just discovery, discovery, discovery.’

~ martha graham

Sep18

‘ wonder what it’s like to be able to put your hair in a low ponytail and not look like a founding father..’ author unknown

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founding fathers working on yet another rewrite

—

relaxing into having my hair cut

on a busy, bright morning

sudden burst of excitement behind me

founding father hair!

founding father hair!

founding father hair!

a stylist and her client 

 up and laughing

looking in the mirrors

taking pictures

happy and excited

after having

her very full head of hair 

put into

many many rollers

taking them all out

 it had 

 morphed into

 roll after roll of hair

an unusual style 

i’ve seen 

somewhere before

 have to admit

her hair

reminded me of

some of our early countrymen

great way to start the day

happy nod to our forefathers

some of the original influencers.

—

‘“i have heard, indeed, that my predecessor (President Adams)

sometimes decided things against his council by dashing and trampling his wig on the floor.”

-Thomas Jefferson, 3rd US President (in a letter to William Short, 1807)

 

 

 

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image credits: google images

Sep17

magic and illusion.

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2 paintings by the same artist, painted 11 years apart.

Top: The Sun Sets Sail, 2001

Bottom: Toward the Horizon, 2012

Artist: Rob Gonsalves, acrylic on canvas

 

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 Gonsalves stated that the wonder of life depends on one’s point of view. His paintings suggest that magic is an essential truth of our environment, hidden just beneath the surface of ordinary things.

 

—

‘art is the perpetual motion of illusion. the highest purpose of art is to inspire.’

-bob dylan

Sep16

joy doesn’t have to wait.

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this is what this library did on sunday

brilliant

—

Out of School Book Fair

for Adults

Are you still chasing the feeling of your school’s annual book fair? Nostalgic for bendy pencils, scented markers, and novelty erasers? Come feel like a kid again at our Out of School Adult Book Fair!

We’ll offer free trinkets and books that bring meld nostalgia with adult interests! We’ll have games and crafts set up for a fun time together!

For adults, 18 and over

Bob Lucas Memorial Library & Literacy Center

Our library serves an ethnically-diverse community of disaster survivors, most of whom lost everything. They are well worth supporting.   –  www.altadenalibrary.org
—
‘joy doesn’t have to wait until the hard stuff is over. 
it can exist in simple, ordinary moments alongside the mess.
joy isn’t a reward for overcoming pain;
it is the practice that helps us get through it.’
-lori deschene
Sep15

‘don’t let the pigeon drive the bus.’- mo willems

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bus-ku

 

great big yellow bus 

new shoes bouncing kids drivers

 joy tears school’s coming

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‘you can find poetry in your everyday life, your memory, in what people say on the bus, in the news, or just what’s in your heart.’

-carol ann duffy

Sep14

totem.

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 walking the neighborhood

  totem stands

waiting to be discovered

 neighbor’s yard

 an artist

who often

has something 

to say

with his work

 the details here

lightning bolt at the top

 red fish

dragonfly

compass rose

238 miles to manistee

in the upper peninsula

how do they connect

what is the message

art puzzle

feels to me like

an ode to our state

michigan.

—

‘you must be absolutely honest and true in the depicting of a totem for meaning 

 is attached to every line. you must be most particular about detail and proportion.’

-emily carr

 

 

*Emily Carr (1871 –1945) was a Canadian artist who was inspired by the monumental art and villages of the First Nations and the landscapes of British Columbia. She was a vivid writer and chronicler of life in her surroundings, praised for her “complete candor” and “strong prose”. ‘Klee Wick’ her first book, published in 1941, won the Governor General’s Literary Award for non-fiction and this book and her other writings are still much in demand today.

Sep13

true north.

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stopping to ‘fuel up’ 

with my six-pack of grandies

on our road trip to the north.

—

“never go on trips with anyone you do not love.”

-ernest hemingway

—

a road food break above, posted ten years ago, 2016

chilling out at the pool, below

now all are in high school/college

to all the grandparents on grandparents’ day

it’s such a great adventure

 

Sep12

‘the world needs people who save lives.’ – frederick buechner

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after a day of remembering and honoring 

those who were

lost, helped, survived, changed forever

a calming evening walk in the park

brought soft pastel skies

trees full of life

if you look very closely

you’ll see

a survival flight helicopter

where every minute matters

on it’s way

to rescue

move someone

 pick up or deliver something

that will save a life

 when i hear one or see one 

in the sky above me

i know they literally

hold lives in their hands

 the weight of this 

 heavy

yet fragile

hope is in the air.

—

‘part of my life is saving life.’

-dith pran

 

*Dith Pran (1942-2008) was a Cambodian-American photojournalist for the New York Times. He was a refugee and survivor of the Cambodian genocide and one of the subjects of the Academy Award – winning film ‘The Killing Fields,’ in which he was portrayed by Haing S. Ngor, a fellow survivor.

*Frederick Buechner (1926-2022) was an American writer and theologian. The author of thirty-nine published books, he has been and continues to be an important source of inspiration and learning for many readers, writers, preachers, and theologians. His work encompasses multiple genres, including fiction, autobiography, essays, sermons, and other nonfiction. Buechner’s books have been translated into twenty-seven languages for publication around the world.

 

 

 

 

—

beckley park, ann arbor, michigan, usa – late summer 2026