a beautiful morning spent paddling in the detroit canals and on the river
not long after
we began this perfect day
it looked as though we’d been traversing the atlantic for weeks
having weathered the storms, sea, sharks, pirates, and the slightly bigger boats
catching rainwater in our hoods
eating our last pack of dry ramen
thanks, for the adventure, friends
best day ever!
‘i’m afraid i’m an incorrigible life-lover, life-wonderer, and adventurer.’
-edith wharton
walking downtown each day
passing by this house/garden
that seems to come into being
overnight
yet
vine
by
vine
and
stem
by
stem
with
sweat
and
time
and
sun
and
rain
and
soil
and
wind
and
toil
and
finally
a lot of
pure love
then one day
i look way up
see shining giants
as big as the house
as bright as the sun
stand proudly in front
this friendly gentleman
has found his home in his garden
has found his joy in this bright beauty
has found delight in sharing it all with the world.
“the flower that follows the sun does so even in cloudy days.”
– robert leighton
i’ve recently seen not one, but two, outstanding cobbler shops
one in portugal
a combo cobbler shop and bar
and this one in my town
bursting with creativity
a good cobbler is a treasure
both an artist and a craftsman.
—
“i think most of us are raised with preconceived notions of the choices we’re supposed to make. we waste so much time making decisions based on someone else’s idea of our happiness – what will make you a good citizen or a good wife or daughter or actress. nobody says, ‘just be happy – go be a cobbler or go live with goats.’”
-sandra bullock
on labor day.
—
“take rest. a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.”
— ovid
—
art credit: whispers of the countryside, david dockery, watercolor
Almost Evening by Japanese artist, Kaoru Yamada
—
while the early morning hours are my favorite time of day
the change to evening holds its own special magic
as the day folds into itself once again.
—
‘the evening had turned sweet and blue.’
-alice hoffman
a bit confusing, like these leaves seem to be,
showing the colors of two seasons
—
listening to npr
they talked about starbuck’s
starting the pumpkin spice train
a month earlier this year
pumpkin spice everything = fall/autumn
i don’t remember the calendar saying
that fall begins in august
the seasons/holidays/calendar
shift with the world of marketing
not with the weather (90F) recently
or dates
but by creating their own
‘extended seasons and festivities’
people get excited early
start the buying frenzy
happy summerween
i’m holding out for my favorite real season – fall.
—
‘the seasons change their manners, as the year had found some months asleep and leapt them over.’
-william shakespeare
here is a partial transcript of the npr conversation:
KIM: Summerween is that time of the year when major retailers start to promote all things sweater weather, even though shorts and flip-flops are still in season. George John is a marketing professor at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. He says it’s been a trend for a while now.
JOHN: This is the trend of moving up Christmas and Thanksgiving and Halloween, the three big sort of seasons that run into each other, earlier and earlier and earlier.
KIM: But this year, fall- and Halloween-related goods seem to be popping up sooner than ever. Take Home Depot, for instance. The retailer launched an online Halloween campaign in April. In June, Lowe’s, Party City and Michaels all released spooky seasonal items online, earlier than in previous years. Most recently, on Thursday, Starbucks began serving its iconic pumpkin spice latte on August 22, the coffee chain’s earliest rollout yet. Most of the big businesses say that these early rollouts are in response to excitement from consumers.
JOHN: if they just stretch every darn holiday out to being a season, it just loses its meaning, and it loses its intensity. A risk they are willing to take.
—
Source credits: Juliana Kim, NPR News, George John, University of Minnesota
(not me, but similar to me yesterday, surrendering to life)
—
my plan was to do a lot of nothing
but the universe wasn’t having it
with a surprise leak in my house
and a
‘microwave food explosion incident’
it wasn’t meant to be
but
onward
today is another day
so far, so good
as most of the world is not yet awake.
—
“there’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want.”
*bill waterson
*William Boyd Watterson II is an American cartoonist who authored the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. The strip was syndicated from 1985 to 1995. Watterson concluded Calvin and Hobbes with a short statement to newspaper editors and his readers that he felt he had achieved all he could in the medium.
—
image credit: cbs news
tchau to the views
tchau to the cork trees
tchau to the interesting people
tchau to the special treats
bienvenue to montreal, canada
where my very kind pilot
comforted a young boy
tired after his long travels
waiting to board our busy flight
bon voyage to montreal, heading home to the states soon.
hello to this happy crew in the baggage claim in detroit!
now it feels like home.
—
‘home is where all of your attempts to escape, cease.’
-naguib mshgouz
moving around portugal
from the train station
by boats of all kinds
by bicycle
with friends
softly like our hotel cat
adorned with beautiful ribbons
with colors in the gardens, so full of life.
—
“the joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences,
and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon,
for each day to have a new and different sun.”
-chris mccandless
oranges man
physics professor turned artist
hard to decide which…
port tasting in the cellars
seamstress
washing the sidewalk before the store opens
not sure exactly, but interesting
antonio, patio cafe guy, funny, full of info, and gets stuff done
uni students earning their tuition
bird man
slow boat on the river.
—
“live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.”
-ralph waldo emerson
I didn't have my glasses on.... 