Wednesday, August 31, 2011

reflection (anything but ordinary morning series)












The next thing to grab my attention was the reflection of the sunrise on the side of my husband’s truck. It immediately struck me as “anything but ordinary”. And as I share it with you today I’m reminded that I too reflect something each and every day. Unlike the truck, I choose what it is I reflect. May this be a day I choose wisely. J




Tuesday, August 30, 2011

right before my eyes (an anything but ordinary morning series)
















One of the first things I noticed after photographing the sunrise (see yesterday’s blog) was my nephew’s car in the driveway. It was covered with dew and as I Iooked at it closely I was reminded that there are thousands of wonders around us at any given moment of any given day.  I hope you see extraordinary wonders in ordinary things today. J











Monday, August 29, 2011

sunrise (Anything but Ordinary August Morning series)
















Looking to the east as I stepped out the door for my morning walk, I saw this sunrise beginning to unfold. Back for the camera I went. It was the start of another “anything but ordinary” day. Oh how I thank God for nature. She is truly one of my dearest friends. This week I will be posting some other shots I took after this one. I am hoping you will see in the ordinary subject matter….something quite extraordinary.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

onion (city market, kansas city series)























Aren’t onions marvelous!? You peel back their papery protective layer and find something hard to put into words. They are sweet (but not too sweet), crisp (but not too crisp), and juicy (but not too juicy). And best of all they enhance the flavor of whatever it is you pair them with. (Think Patty Melt, pizza, hamburger….oh my.) They aren’t the showiest vegetable at the market but they may be the most versatile.  Perhaps my morning prayer today should be: “Lord, make me as the onion. Peel back my layers and use me to bring out the best in others.” Amen.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

citrus
















sweet
sour
succulent
citrus

I love this image for the amazing contrast in colors and for the fragrances it brings to mind. I think the following quote suits it well:


I wish that life would not be cheap, but sacred,
I wish the days to be as centuries, loaded, fragrant.
                                     ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Friday, August 26, 2011

graces given (city market, kansas city series)
















A string of pearls
Helping hands
Flowers of orange and turquoise
Ribbons of white
Two sweet young maidens with their hair
Pulled back………

………”Everything placed in our path can help us…certain films, like certain lovely people, glorious works of art or music, and special instances of prayer…seem a grace expressly given for our edification.” ~Marsha Sinetar

Thursday, August 25, 2011

astounding or thoughts gleaned from tomatoes on a bed of cherries (city market, kansas city series)
















Don’t these lovely tomatoes in their turquoise cartons catch your eye? (Especially arranged on the cherry table cloth?) Aren’t the varieties and colors of juicy lush fruit found in the world astounding! And isn’t  the way that fruit provides not only nutritious food for the body, but also aesthetic food for the eye and ultimately the soul, astounding too! And the simplicity of this scene, why, isn’t it just astounding……and, and, and,  J


Wednesday, August 24, 2011

viewing innocence (city market, kansas city series)























it's more than the bonnet
or the dress
it's the expression
on her wholesome face

*I like to think the woman in the background was "viewing innocence" at the same time i was.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

complementaries (city market, kansas city series)























I was drawn to this image because of the complementary colors. Whoever was in charge of setting up this table did a wonderful job. And besides the colors, can't you imagine the complemetary flavors of the peaches and blackberries with a spoonful of milk and granola?

"All colors are the friends of their neighbors and the lovers of their opposites."  ~Mark Chagall

If this combination of fruits intrigues you, perhaps you would enjoy the following recipe. I found it on allrecipes.com and it had very nice reviews. I will be trying it soon.

PEACH and BERRY SALAD

Ingredients
3 fresh peaches
2 1/2 pints blackberries
1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

Directions
1.Bring medium pot of water to boil. Add peaches and blanch for 30 seconds. Drain and transfer to medium bowl. Cover with cold water and cool. Drain, peel and slice.
2.In a medium bowl, combine peaches, blackberries, strawberries, honey and cardamom. Toss together and refrigerate.

Monday, August 22, 2011

at rest amidst the hubub (city market series, kansas city)
















Something about this woman’s body posture tells me she is “at rest” amidst the noisy crowd. Isn’t it good to be “at rest”. J

         
      Sometimes the most
   important thing in a whole
     day is the rest we take
   between two deep breaths
    or the turning inwards in
           prayer for five
           short minutes.

           Etty Hillesum




Sunday, August 21, 2011

sunflower (city market, kansas city)























So, yesterday we took our youngest son to the airport and said our goodbyes before he went through security at gate sixty four. He called last night, having arrived safely in Boston. His new adventure is graduate school at Boston University. At the end of his 21/2 years of training he’ll be an occupational therapist. With his tender heart and understated humor, I think he has found a good fit.


When he left Kansas the first time to do his undergraduate studies at Middlebury College in Vermont, I knew it would only be the beginning of many such adventures. I was right. But, little did I know then that I would be privileged to have him living at home again between said adventures. After finishing a two year stint in the Peace Corps he returned home to work and save money for this latest endeavor of graduate school. What a joy it has been to have him home after a six year absence.

But, life must go on and yesterday the time arrived for him to move ahead, once again. After dropping him off at the airport, we went to the City Market with our eldest son and our lovely daughter-in-law. We had a marvelous time among the colors, sounds, and smells of the market. This week I’ll be featuring some of the things that caught my eye there. I start with the sunflower as it makes me think of Ben…..a Kansas original, transplanted to Boston.

You are probably familiar with the following quote. I’ve come across it several times, but it is a good one and I think fits this post well:

“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” ~Dr. Seuss



Friday, August 19, 2011

haybales at evening
















come softly
evening

spread your subtle shadow
slowly

Thursday, August 18, 2011

grasshopper
















they say
you can leap twenty times the l e n g t h
of your body

that you have five eyes
two of which have a thousand lenses each
that means
you can see in all d i
                                    rec
tions

you have no ears but
can you
spit!


as a farmer’s daughter
i was just picking you up to say hi
so why

treat me like
an enemy?

those days of fields, meadows and
pasture grass
will be with me forever

and you
always a

part



Wednesday, August 17, 2011

first signs
















Autumn is coming!

This morning
i saw signs of her
nestled far into the woods

the air was cool
upon my face

the neighbor's corn field
ploughed
under

soon
yes, she is coming
soon

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

salsa























we made it
together
the two of us

he picked the tomatoes
cut them up

i cooked them down
and added spices

we tasted
added sugar
filled the jars

and sealed the lids

they are our
“together tomatoes”
and the spoils of them are

sweet

Monday, August 15, 2011

at the concert

















These four standing together at the blues concert, caught my eye. I felt a kinship with them as I could tell by their somber, yet appreciative expressions that they too, were relating to the message of the singer and her song. Blues music is soul music. And who of us cannot relate to pain. Good blues music, however, takes us beyond the pain to a place of acceptance and humility; much like the powerful words of the serenity prayer:


God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

soaring
















"When you get to the end of all the light you know and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: either you will be given something solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly."              — Edward Teller

*Stepping into the unknown can be scary, but doesn't flying look like fun?!

Friday, August 12, 2011

beyond the barrier (fences series)

one crisp day
i took a walk

and tell you
i must

of such wonders waiting
beyond the barrier   
















Thursday, August 11, 2011

mending wall (fences series)























This photo reminds me of a poem entitled Mending Wall by Robert Frost. It follows for your reading pleasure:


Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
'Stay where you are until our backs are turned!'
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of outdoor game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors.'
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
'Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it
Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.' I could say 'Elves' to him,
But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather
He said it for himself. I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me,
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father's saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, 'Good fences make good neighbors.'

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

picket fence (fences series)























i'm happy today
that someone thought
of picket fences

painted white

with slats reflecting light
and contentment



Tuesday, August 9, 2011

baptism
















as water drips
from the guttering
the parched cracked earth
is being baptized

sprinkled by heaven's
life giving flow

and i too,
beholding it all,
am made clean
again

Monday, August 8, 2011

end of drought
















i close my eyes
and hear the
rain

pounding

pounding

rain

Friday, August 5, 2011

august rain
















the heat wave
has snapped

at last
i am

alive
again

*This image was taken from my deck yesterday morning during a much needed and longed for summer rain. (The rust object in the background is my rain gauge which has been empty all summer, till yesterday, that is!) I am interrupting my “fences” series to share a couple of images and poems that came from that blessed rain. Then I’ll be back to a few more “fences”.  This weekend I am out of town so will not be posting. Thanks for checking in.


Thursday, August 4, 2011

fooled (fence series)
















Gatsby really believed that stuff about the grass being greener........poor fellow.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

fence art (fences series)
















such sculptures
i did see that day

while ambling
in reverie

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

at the home place (fences series)
















There is something I love about fences. I’m sure it goes back to my childhood. This series will feature a few of my favorite fence shots. This one is from the farm I grew up on. I like the way it is illumined by the light and the way it meanders out of sight. It has still has shape and form but it is free; not pulled taut like most of the other fences there. It is beautiful like so many things that are old and worn. It gives me hope. J