The other day the postal letter carrier came walking up to my house wearing a long black mask. It covered his nose, mouth and most of his neck. "You look like the Lone Ranger," I exclaimed, joking.
"I'm wearing it for my protection," he said, solemnly. Feeling put in my place, I replied, "I understand". And so the Lone Ranger rides again, only not quite the same way as he did in when I was kid. No silver steed. No Tonto at his side. And the mask was over his lower face, not his eyes. No white hat either. Just riding, walking, normal daily activities. And it is becoming more and more that everyone is donning masks of some kind. It's just what we need to do in the Time of Coronavirus. As he got into his van to drive away, I heard him say to someone on speaker phone, "This last guy just called me the Lone Ranger." He laughed. At least he got the joke. NOTE: We are now being advised to wear a mask whenever we are in public. They say it is more for the protection of others than for our own. It keeps us from touching our faces and from spreading the virus through droplets in sneezes or even just breathing. I imagine it does offer us some protection too. These are the times we are living through, my friends, living through being the key hope and prayer.
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3/31/2020 1 Comment Meanwhile Life Goes On....In these dystopian times of the pandemic that has come upon us as humans, I have been struggling with what I could, what I should, what I would be doing. I have taken seriously the "safe at home/stay at home" admonition from our more sane leaders, especially the science pro's who know about these things. So I am at home, safe in a sort of state of suspended animation.
I try to write and nothing comes. I try to capture images and nothing seems to catch me eye. And then I came across this image I caught at UCR's Botanical Gardens a year ago. A bee doing what a bee does. A flower blooming as a flower will. And I realize nature knows what to do. We just need to listen. And so I remain to myself in this strange form of isolation, yet connected in ways to others in ways I could never have imagined. The quiet of the streets is deafening. The "closed until further notice" signs alarming. But like this bee and flower, life goes on...no matter how we humans try to ruin it. And that is somehow comforting in these strange times we all have been enduring. Amen, namaste and peace be with you. Stay safe. 2/21/2020 1 Comment Provocation of the MoonI've been house/dog-sitting in Santa Barbara this week. I do this peridically because it gives me time to think and muse...ponder life's big questions. You know, the meaning of life, what am I doing with my life, will I ever find love. I guess watching this new Netflix show, Modern Love set me on this line of thinking. But like this photo that was not taken this trip, this is an old, but haunting question.
So perhaps it is time to get back to me, to doing those things this picture seems to be beckoning me to do. 11/25/2019 0 Comments Heart of GlassIt's that time of year when I begin get sentimental as I look toward Christmas. This is a little glass heart used to be painted with silver. Over the years, the silver has worn away, but the glass remains, as do the memories. It has been on every tree I have ever had since I was a baby. My grandmother told me it was on her tree before that. That makes it at least seventy years old. I don't pack it away any more. It hangs on a hook stand in a curio cabinet in my bedroom with other Christmas memories.
11/24/2019 1 Comment Things of Beauty PassedAs many of you know, I help at estate sales now and then. I came across this picture I took for a sale a few years ago. It started me thinking: there was a time when items like those pictured here were highly coveted. Now they are lucky to find a home in a museum. Some, like thid hand-painted pitcher and tureen, make a lovely still-life showing the grace and art of a way of life gone by. Lovely to look at, delightful to hold, but they won't buy it, it's much to old.
10/18/2019 1 Comment The Mysticism of Falling WaterI caught this image of a small waterfall at Descanso Gardens in La Canada-Flintridge a while back. There is something mesmerizing about falling water in nature.
10/17/2019 0 Comments Before SunsetOn More Mesa, Goleta, CA.
I love this picture in its faded sort of day way. Along the mesa it is always nice to walk as you wait for the sun to go down. I like the bicyclist in the distance. There's just something peaceful about this scene. 10/14/2019 0 Comments A Worker's WorthI remember when I saw this sign in a construction zone along a highway in Michigan. I never reconciled in my mind how I felt about the message. Yes, there should be a penalty for injuring or killing a worker, but the penalty seems a bit off. I don't know, maybe I'm just reading too much into it, but how on earth would this be fair punishment, or should I say adequate? The bottom line: SLOW DOWN.
10/13/2019 1 Comment From the LavaLava beach and tide pools in Hawaiian Paradise Park where I visited recently. Isn't nature is amazing? This little tree is growing on the new lava beach, cold, hard rock. The life force is eternally seeking growth, it seems. Something of which I could benefit by being more mindfully aware.
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