Tuesday, April 24, 2018

after reading A Gentleman in Moscow

















there was a time

when a count
was a count

a princess
a princess

and black bread
was savored
with honey
that held a hint of lilac

there was a time
when friendship
was likened

to afternoon tea


"For his part, the Count had opted for the life of the purposefully unrushed.  Not only was he disinclined to race toward some appointed hour--disdaining even to wear a watch--he took the greatest satisfaction when assuring a friend that a worldly matter could wait in favor of a leisurely lunch or stroll along the embankment.  After all, did not wine improve with age?  Was it not the passage of years that gave a piece of furniture its delightful patina?  When all was said and done, the endeavors that most modern men saw as urgent (such as appointments with bankers and the catching of trains), probably could have waited, while those they deemed frivolous (such as cups of tea and friendly chats) had deserved their immediate attention."  
                             Andrew Towles, A Gentleman in Moscow


Friday, April 13, 2018

in the presence of pastel






































it doesn't take much

just a tinge of turquoise
alongside
calming coral

to soothe the soul
of an anxious
man

"Of all God's gifts to the sighted man, color is the holiest, the most divine, the most solemn."
                                                           John Ruskin

"When gifts are given to me through my camera, i accept them graciously."  -Minor White

I am amazed by the variety of gifts that surround us every day. All we need to do is receive and believe.

These images were taken in the Barrio district of Tucson. Thanks for taking me there Kelly!!





Tuesday, April 3, 2018

saguaro


I see you standing there
your silhouettes
like sentinels keeping watch

as people
on concrete highways
rush to and fro

over the hills
through the valley
into the night

"Whose idea was it that we should all work faster, work better, race from place to place with our brains stewing on tweets, blogs, and sound bites, on must-see movies, must-do experiences, must-have gadgets....
....At times, I was so caught up in the tempo and pattern, the predictable tap, tap, tap of each day, that there was no time to notice the neighbors had moved out, the wind was sneaking in from the north, the sun was shifting on its axis...I wondered when I had become a person who noticed so little."
                                                                    -Dee Williams