Heart of the World
As long as I live, I'll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing. I'll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm, and the avalanche. I'll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can.
John Muir
Cardinal at Fall Creek Falls
You called with a tiny voice
rising cheerfully through the woods,
your little red-winged body blazing bright
against a backdrop of misty blue and green,
the clear notes of your song
ringing above the thunderous drumbeat
of water falling on stone
in the canyon floor below.
You were a wonder as great
as the magnificent cascade at your back -
calmly balanced there on the edge
of a cliff
singing that familiar tune.
I will always remember you
lingering there a moment
As the mist from the great waterfall
kissed my face - and I smiled.
Then your wings took you away.
Fall Creek Falls State Park, Tennessee.
The falls in this park are mostly below you in a deep gorge.
A magical place where the rainbows are below you
I stopped at this park, Fall Creek Falls, in Tennessee for a couple of nights on my way home to Michigan. It rained hard both nights I was there - but during the day, there was just enough respite from the rain to get in some long hikes. I loved other places I visited on the way, but this park was really something special. It is well cared for and loved by everyone who works and volunteers there, and I had such a good experience being there. I hope I get a chance to go back.
I hope you had a good winter and spring! I hope you get outside wherever you live and find something that takes your breath away or at least makes you smile every single day. Just a few minutes of respite from whatever worries you. I’ll try to do the same, and I’ll see you here again soon.
“Every day I walk out into the world / to be dazzled, then to be reflective.”
Of Monsters and Ghosts
A world in which there are monsters, and ghosts, and things that want to steal your heart is a world in which there are angels, and dreams and a world in which there is hope.
Neil Gaiman
09/30/22 - Crouching
Be hole, be dust, be dream, be wind
Be night, be dark, be wish, be mind,
Now slip, now slide, now move unseen,
Above, beneath, betwixt, between.
Neil Gaiman, from the Graveyard Book
Happy (almost) Halloween! I decided to do things a little differently this week - No poem from me; because I found this beautiful little verse by Neil Gaiman from the Graveyard Book (which is a fantastic book to read and/or listen to, by the way) which was just the right mood: a little fanciful, a little dark. Hope you enjoy it and the pictures.
10/14/2022 - Gravestone on the Front Lawn
08/31/22 Sparkling
10/13/2022 - Faded Flower
It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.
J. R. R. Tolkien
10/13/2022 - Dragon Skull
10/11/2022 - A silent walker on the sand
10/23/2022 - The Lady of The Tree - Arms outstretched
10/27/2022 Another Tree Creature - ensnared by a vine
10/21/2022 - Waning crescent moon
October 21, 2022. I love all its phases, but I particularly love to see a bright crescent moon; because if you look closely, along the edges, where the darkness meets the light, craters are more visible than when the moon is full.
At Greenwood Cemetery
Greenwood Cemetery, Dallas TX January 13, 2017
“Things blossom in their time. They bud and bloom, blossom and fade. Everything in its time.”
I quoted from The Graveyard Book, because the first time I walked through Greenwood Cemetery that's what I was listening to, on Audible. The cemetery is old and solemn, but so peaceful to walk through. Its a little quiet oasis in the middle of a modern city that is constantly loud with construction and cars.