looking into the river on a bright day in may
—
“time and reflection change the sight little by little ’till we come to understand.”
-paul cezanne
—
argo park, huron river, ann arbor, michigan, usa – 2023
May17
Tag Archives: water
Feb25
elvis has left the boat.
Heinz wants to find the man who survived nearly a month at sea with nothing but ketchup and seasonings to help him buy a new boat
Elvis Francois was working on his boat in St. Maarten in December when he accidentally started drifting out to sea. The weather had suddenly changed, and he said in a video released by the Colombian Navy, who rescued him, that he had lost his ability to navigate.
“I tried to [go] back to port, but I lost track because it took me a while to mount the sail and fix the sail,” he said. “…I call my friends, my coworkers. They tried to contact me, but they lost service. There was nothing else I could do than sit down and wait.”
He wrote out the word “help” on the back of his boat, and he was eventually rescued – after 24 days with nothing but “a bottle of ketchup…garlic powder and Maggi [soup].”
The navy said that officers took Francois to the Port of Cartagena to receive medical care and that he was “found to be in good health.” While there, they also started the necessary actions to help him return home.
“We’re setting this message adrift into the sea of the internet, because if anyone can help us find him, it’s you,” the company said. “If you or anyone you know can help us get in contact with Elvis Francois, please drop us a DM.”
In a statement to CBS News on Tuesday, a spokesperson for Heinz said that they want to “gift” Elvis a “new state-of-the-art boat.” That boat, they said, will be “equipped with full navigational technology to avoid another disaster in the future.” It’s currently an international effort, with Heinz markets “around the world” getting involved. “We’re hoping to spread the word far and wide so Heinz can finally gift the new boat to Elvis,” the company said.
—
“for whatever we lose (like a you or a me), it’s always our self we find in the sea.”
-e.e. cummings
—
source credit: liz cohen, cbs news
Dec3
the fixer.
the tiny drinking fountain in our room
had been shut off for over 2 years
as a precautionary measure due to covid.
this year
one kinder, a young 3
decided he was going to fix it
fidgeting with it every day
without any tools
looking under it and all around it
pushing the button
day after day
he never stopped trying
nothing happened
until
one day we came in
noticed it was working
(perhaps a building elf had stopped by after school)
i took our little fixer over to see it
showed him the water coming out
told him he must have finally fixed it!
hard to imagine
the look of shock and joy on his face
to see it working
after all of his hard work
and refusal to give up
the class now celebrates him as a hero
and use the fountain every day
he proudly checks on it often
his face still amazed every time.
—
“i’m good at figuring out how things work, but I don’t know how this happened.”
-nora roberts, the collector
Sep16
waterfall.
“look, i made a waterfall!”
—
“there is a hidden message in every waterfall.
it says if you are flexible, falling will not hurt you.”
-mehmet murat ildan
Aug27
on the water.
beautiful and enlightening experience
kayaking through detroit’s canals
that i never knew existed
with detroit river sports
then paddling into the detroit river
bounded on either side by the united states and canada
learning history and tales of
bootlegging, river islands, mansions, auto barons, inventors, and boatmen
finishing with a lovely relaxed dinner
canal side
at coriander kitchen and farm
fresh farm to table fare
all in the heart of the city.
—
“if there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.”
-loren eiseley
Aug17
“if you see me, cry.”
Hunger Stone :
Recent droughts in Europe once again made visible the “Hunger Stones” in some Czech and German rivers.
These stones were used to mark desperately low river levels that would forecast famines.
This one, in the Elbe river, is from 1616 and says: “If you see me, cry.”
—
“when the well is dry, we will know the worth of water.”
-benjamin franklin
—
credits: history review
Jul20
slip ‘n slide.
in this heat wave
thinking back to the time
when i decided to
slip ‘n slide with my daughters
waited my turn
zoomed up to it
head first, arms ahead
ready to slide for miles
balked at the last second
backside first, head followed
slammin’ instead of slidin’
didn’t end up cooled down and filled with joy
did end up concussed and filled with regrets.
—
“you always say, ‘i’ll quit when i start to slide,’ and then one morning you wake up and realize you’ve done slid.”
-sugar ray robinson (american professional boxing champion)
Apr24
wonderful day.
back at the lake for the first time this spring
—
“this is a wonderful day, i have never seen this one before.”
-maya angelou
—
irish hills, michigan, usa – spring 2022
Mar3
frozen.
that moment when you discover
your sandbox has turned into a frozen lake
you understand the difference between liquid and solid
and realize your toys are not going anywhere until spring.
—
“it’s a moment that I’m after, a fleeting moment, but not a frozen moment.”
-andrew wyeth
Oct4
out of sync.
the design i imagined i would be a part of
more what my part looked like
—
it was a last-minute impulse decision
my friend who was on our high school swim team
said she was going to join our new synchronized swim team
(now known as artistic swimming in the olympics)
i thought it sounded like fun
so i followed along ready to become an aqua artist
looking back
not sure at all why i made this choice
as i clearly remember my p.e. teacher
just weeks before
telling me
(after a 10-minute treading water test)
that i resembled someone who had been shipwrecked
thrashing around just trying to survive
(quite accurate really)
even so
i jumped into the water
where my vision of grace and being a mermaid
quickly blurred into reality
and one reason why you did not see me in the recent olympics.
—
“sometimes you are in sync with the times, sometimes you are in advance, sometimes you are late.”
-bernardo bertolucci
—
image credits: google images
I didn't have my glasses on.... 