The hiker adjusts his backpack
Resumes his climb
Sounds of a waterfall
The hiker sits under a tree
Closes his eyes and naps
A deer passes by
mother sings
baby sleeps
angels play
If a flower is a genius
how will it grow?
differently
The kayakers paddle in the river
Boats: red, green, yellow
Sun shapes different angles
note: I walked to the river today. The egret returned. As I tried to move near the egret sensed my coming and flew away.
A pilgrimage of the heart,
an errand of the spirit
I will take a morning walk
and knock on my friend’s door,
lean on a tree, feel the root’s vibrations.
I will fold my hands and listen to stories:
People walking, their pockets heavy with stones,
birds singing sad songs and hiding their wings from the sun
riverbeds with broken porcelains,
multi-syllabic prayers uttered in silence at Angelus.
A child and a lady smile and wave
when I pass by on my way home
on the sidewalk with wild flowers
blooming next to the iron fence.
I have been walking to the river again since 4 days ago. I did not walk today.
The fisherman looks at the flowing river.
The fish can evaluate three lines.
What is the art of fishing?
The catch or the waiting?
Walking to the river
I met many women walkers today
in twos, in threes
walking a dog,
walking a stroller
walking with a walker
I heard conversations
words I could not understand
I passed by an adult retirement home
glanced at people playing bocce
The sun was higher now
almost home
In crossing a street
my shoe stubbed the edge,
Like a lightning, I hydroplaned
on a concrete walkway,
For a moment I could not believe
it happened
large bruises on my knees,
palms of my hand
my stick laying in front of me,
my eyeglasses, intact
my bones, none were broken
A car stopped,
a lady driver got out, offered
to help me. I thanked her
I stood up on my own.
I arrived home to attend
to my wounds.
I was full of gratitude.
An extraordinary day
The books I am currently reading: Middlemarch by George Eliot and The Artist’s Journey by Marcia Shaver.
Hummingbirds suddenly
seem to be everywhere
Chasing each other
or hovering over the lavender
The morning fog rises gently
You are standing in the midst, smiling.
I look at you and start talking
to myself.
You ask why ?
My way of clearing my mind
sometimes it gets crowded with thoughts.
Don’t you get frightened
when it gets empty?
Maybe that happens
when someone you love leaves,
walks away.
The hummingbirds leave one by one
and my friend
I am alone again.
The fog returns
I feel cold
I linger awhile
before I return home.
note: Books I’m reading: War and Peace. I was persuated by an article about Yiyun Li reading War and Peace once a year. And reading it along with others-Tolstoy Together.
Also reading Inseparable by Simone de Beauvoir.
Hide in a shelter of trees in the woods and listen to avian conversations, sweet songs and chatter
Serenades in chants of love songs, birds flirting, time phrases
Simultaneous displays of affection
When evening comes, lie down on the meadow to ease you muscle aches and back discomfort
Watch the stars appear ten by ten until you can’t count them anymore
Your brain nudges the hammock of neural synapses connecting lifelines of attention and comfort
The fragrance of grass, beauty of flower garlands open your senses to a new chemistry
The body is intelligent in an unknown way and know what to subtract and add in wholesome well being before you yourself knows what’s happening.
Open space embrace with soothing air and mountain views like a sanctuary as if nature is speaking to you. And understand emotionally what the birds are singing. The secret is not what you imagine but what you feel.
You know you will need tremendous courage to follow your own rules.
Some songs and calls are fading
The birds are facing extinction
Encroachment in their habitats or human neglect
The birds chant offers a sense of place and time and peace
We are losing the outdoors richness when our winged friends leave or die.
Don’t abandon the birds, they are helpless pretty creatures and friends
If you don’t answer your questions you have to find one who can. Don’t presume you are the first one to ask.
Though I will miss my lunch
I am not hungry to eat yet
I am exuberantly eager to walk to the river
I don’t want to confess I want to see her again
A woman who walks with a yellow parasol
I do not feel embarrassed I do not speak her language
I feel sad for not learning the language when I was young.
Today is a different day
Everyone wishes “a somewhere to be”
The day when the lockdown begins
The day that nobody wants.
I want focus my attention to the pathway
Lined by sycamore, birch, maple and other trees I can not name
I am still astonished by soft touches of leaves falling on my head
And hearing crackling sound of leaves that I walk on
A day of circumstances
One blue heron and 4 egrets gathered on the riverbank
All looking at the river
Two sea otters playing diverts also my attention
Their heads bobbing up and under the water surface
I change my attention to the birds
They also sense my new interest
I experience the birds play of teasing
Two egrets fly away chasing each other.
Then comes a paddle boarder in the river
He bends down pulling back his paddle
Propelling himself down the river
Stands up, bends and paddles on the left
Propels himself forward again
Downstream he will turn around before he is swallowed by the sea
Paddles back to where he starts his day
Robust and happy for his accomplishment
The day may not be of bewilderment
But it is a day of sun but without rain
I’m happy to take photographs and write a poem
About how we live in a worried world
A reality we can change with our untapped power.
note: The book I just finished reading: Dirt by William Buford. Entertaining, funny, French way of cooking. Wonderful.
It’s Friday and a very warm day. At the moment it’s 100 F degrees. I went to our county library to pick up a book this morning when it was only 85 degrees.
Afterwards I went to the promenade along the riverfront. On my return walk I passed through the hotel corridor leading to the 2 restaurants in the hotel complex.
I took a few photos of fresh and dried hydrangeas and few other things.
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