last night’s walk in the park
—
“it is the life of the crystal, the architect of the flake, the fire of the frost, the soul of the sunbeam.
this crisp winter air is full of it.”
-john burroughs
—
argo park, ann arbor, michigan, usa – february 2021
grand circus park, detroit, michigan, usa – 1920s
—
walking in the beautiful snowfall yesterday, it was clear some things never change, even after 100 years
—
“snow was falling, so much like stars filling the dark trees
that one could easily imagine its reason for being was nothing more than prettiness.”
-mary oliver
—
photo credit: historic detroit
there is one spectacle grander than the sea,
that is the sky;
there is one spectacle grander than the sky,
that is the interior of the soul.
-victor hugo
—
Arcadia Dunes, C.S. Mott Nature Preserve, on the shores of Lake Michigan, hiking Old Baldy Trail – October 2020
—
—
furstenberg park, ann arbor, michigan, usa – june 2020
what a beautiful welcome
the magnolia trees gave me
their path of petals
leading me back
into my quiet town
—
“you are welcome as the flowers in may.”
-charles macklin
finding shelter today by the river
—
“maybe we need to shelter ourselves so we see the beautiful.”
-joanna coles
beautiful walk in the rain today
discovering
a newly made waterfall
spring flowers in the mud
brilliant green moss
growing on the trees
in the quiet woods.
—
“the rain is falling all around,
it falls on field and tree,
Ii rains on the umbrellas here,
and on the ships at sea.”
-robert louis stevenson, a child’s garden of verses
“a snow day literally and figuratively falls from the sky,
unbidden,
and seems like a thing of wonder.”
-susan orlean
—
flowers found in an unexpected place – detroit, michigan, usa
Beneath The Sweater And The Skin
How many years of beauty do I have left?
she asks me.
How many more do you want?
Here. Here is 34. Here is 50.
When you are 80 years old
and your beauty rises in ways
your cells cannot even imagine now
and your wild bones grow luminous and ripe,
having carried the weight
of a passionate life.
When your hair is aflame
with winter
and you have decades of
learning and leaving and loving
sewn into
the corners of your eyes
and your children come home
to find their own history
in your face.
When you know what it feels like to fail
ferociously
and have gained the
capacity
to rise and rise and rise again.
When you can make your tea
on a quiet and ridiculously lonely afternoon
and still have a song in your heart
Queen owl wings beating
beneath the cotton of your sweater.
Because your beauty began there
beneath the sweater and the skin,
remember?
This is when I will take you
into my arms and coo
YOU BRAVE AND GLORIOUS THING
you’ve come so far..
I see you.
Your beauty is breathtaking.
—
Credits: Author: Jeannette Encinias, Studio Yuki Photography, Thank you Russ Thomas
