Wednesday, August 31, 2011

come to niagara with me

right next to the horseshoe falls
maid of the mist from above
the rainbow bridge~ canada on left, u.s. on right
on the maid of the mist
one of many rainbows
look how close to the horseshoe falls!
you will get soaked
u.s. on left, canada on right
the american falls


if you have never been to niagara falls,
if you have never been transformed by this majesty of nature,
if you've never been soaked in the mist,

this is for you.

Friday, August 26, 2011

forks and the next magazine



I'm obsessed with tarnishing forks, yet none of the many, too many, fork still-lifes I've photographed made the cut. I'm finishing the last details of my autumn Soul In Bloom magazine and the forks have no where to be inside the pages. The pages are about illness and healing and worth and death. And life. There is rich color, as autumn is wont to display, and words to ease and soothe the soul.

I have experience with illness, personal and next of kin. As I finish this edition, my Aunt is in her last stages of ovarian cancer. I spent a recent day with her in anguish and grace. I learned 10 years of wisdom in 10 and a half hours. She helped me choose a barn photograph to include. It will appear on the back cover. This edition is dedicated to her and my Uncle. It is unlikely my Aunt will see it.

The autumn edition is my most personal. It is filled with the essence of the women in my life who have journeyed through difficult times, my Aunt and Mother included. Just now, I realize it is a magazine meant for women in need, and the men and women who support them. It is my hope this edition will find its way into the hands of those who need to know they are not alone.



The autumn edition of The Soul In Bloom magazine
will be available by mid-September.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

The Sleeping Porch



I went back to the porch
and the bed and the lake.

Somewhere in the ink of the night
it thundered and rained.

Cocooned in blankets,
paradise came.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

sail away, part 2






lover of heights, lover of birds,
for me, there was nothing better than this.

sail away, part 1



a dream lifts off.


towed up to the clouds


set loose


the sail plane pilot. 


free bird.


coming down, smiling wide.


in the latest rough patch
of my mother's journey with cancer,
i asked her to make a list.

we had made it to germany earlier in the year.
what else did she want to do, 
where else did she want to go,
who did she want to see?

"i want to go for a sail plane ride," she said.

so we went.

and we flew.

dreams came true.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

52 Photos Project~ August 10th


Because they were just a little bit creepy,
those disembodied heads on tin foil
at Lieselotte's Puppenstubchen.

The reflection was a wonderful bonus.

May, 2011~ Husum, Germany

Reflection
For Bella's weekly prompt

Monday, August 08, 2011

rise to the light


the last moments before she splits herself in two
and rises to the light on transparent green wings.

let it be known~ transformation cometh.

Sunday, August 07, 2011

there were birds


As the years pass by,
life gets harder and easier to bear.
What was known while youth still had its bloom~
known with absolute conviction~
is found, now, to be vastly untrue.

Or maybe true~
but only from an angle not willingly seen
when slick confidence ruled the day.

There were birds in the shine
and vigor of earlier times.
They were closely observed,
fascinated over,
and bore messages from lesser gods.

Those messages were clear.
Until they were not.
The birds became pale against leaf and sky
until they all but vanished from view.
When life got harder.

Now, it is harder, yet easier.
The birds are back.

Clusters of sparrows,
arrows of swallows.
Cardinals and robins
out-doing each other in song.
Crows, speaking in tongues.
A green heron in flight,
woodpeckers drumming and diving.

All are seen from the less-sure angle,
the one that takes time and patience to glean.
Their habits are recalled,
their feathers known.
Yet, the only message heard
in the hard and the easy is
live life from the earth and the sky.

Thursday, August 04, 2011

making hay





it's been a month of fascination with hay.
from the tractors to the wagons,
to the fields and the barns,
i haven't been able to turn away.

 and i haven't known why.

surely there's a message in the adage
"make hay while the sun shines".

the sun has shone, hot and dry, 
and the hay season has lingered,
long and bountiful. 

then today, i understand.

the next bad news about my mother's 
journey with cancer came in the
middle of hay season.

the bad news caused us to
make a list of wishes and
  plan how to make them come true~

while our season of fields
and bountiful dreams
still shine in the lingering sun.