Yard In Bloom
Thistles
“All my life I have tried to pluck a thistle and plant a flower wherever the flower would grow in thought and mind.” -Abraham Lincoln
Crocuses in my yard
“To a Crocus” (1827) by Bernard Barton
Welcome, wild harbinger of spring!
To this small nook of earth;
Feeling and fancy fondly cling
Round thoughts which owe their birth
To thee, and to the humble spot
Where chance has fixed thy lowly lot.
Monday/ Quail
Atchison County, KS, 2009.
I haven’t been out in the country with my camera for more than a few weeks now, and I’m feeling it… I’ve got lots to work on — this week I’ll be finishing up and dropping off my donation to the Lawrence Arts Center for their annual benefit auction. I’m also working on some more wintery images for possible greeting cards for Artists To Watch. And then, all the other work I need to get done, especially in preparation for my summer of art fairs. I’ve signed on to the Zeleny Art Fair — a new one-day event taking place in Parkville, MO, on the last Saturday of April.
I’ve also been trying to get myself in gear to run the Westport St. Patrick’s Day 4-miler with my cousin next Saturday in Kansas City.. I’m not competing, and I generally prefer to run alone as a sort of meditational thing — clear thoughts, feeling each step on the ground, paying close attention to the environment around me, yadda yadda, but it’s a nice feeling of accomplishment to finish a race and it’s pretty fun as well. Til next time.
Thoughts from the Roadside
Rural Atchison, KS, roadside weeds & wildflowers, October, 2009.
Just Thinking
by Kansas poet William Stafford
Got up on a cool morning. Leaned out a window.
No cloud, no wind. Air that flowers held
for awhile. Some dove somewhere.
Been on probation most of my life. And
the rest of my life been condemned. So these moments
count for a lot–peace, you know.
Let the bucket of memory down into the well,
bring it up. Cool, cool minutes. No one
stirring, no plans. Just being there.
This is what the whole thing is about.
Path
Atchison County, KS, 2011.
“Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence.” -Henry David Thoreau
This Boot Wasn’t Made For Walkin
Atchison County, KS, 2011
River Moons
Moon over Kansas, July, 2009
River Moons by Carl Sandburg
THE DOUBLE moon, one on the high back drop of the west, one on the curve of the river face,
The sky moon of fire and the river moon of water, I am taking these home in a basket, hung on an elbow, such a teeny weeny elbow, in my head.
I saw them last night, a cradle moon, two horns of a moon, such an early hopeful moon, such a child’s moon for all young hearts to make a picture of.
The river—I remember this like a picture—the river was the upper twist of a written question mark.
I know now it takes many many years to write a river, a twist of water asking a question.
And white stars moved when the moon moved, and one red star kept burning, and the Big Dipper was almost overhead.
Sugar City
I’m not sure a “city” could be any sweeter… Sugar City, CO, 2009, pop. 279.
Distance
“Time is the longest distance between two places.” -Tennessee Williams
Hwy 96, Eastern Colorado.