the garden

September 17th

the light that pours through the windows now
is possibly
nearly
as wonderful as it can be
dressing each object in
a gentle radiance
like these sunflowers and shells on the mantel

but much better
i'm afraid
than this image translates

September 7th

as the skies grew darker with the approaching storm
i was walking past an upstairs window
that looks out over the arch leading to the garden
and a flash of bright-pink-white caught my eye:
a clutch of three, just-opened roses sat perched
on the very topmost branch.
i would not have seen them if i had been
standing in the garden, they were reaching so high
and far above the arch.

i was tempted to take a step ladder outside
and cut them before the storm
but i decided that i didn't want to bring them indoors
because they would have become
simply
three of the last roses
in a bud vase
in the house.

i chose to leave them be
there where they could be seen only
from a bird's eye view
and trust that they could
in their freshness
weather the storm.

gratefully, Ernesto petered out by the time he arrived
and the three have enjoyed a lovely reign.

the photograph from a previous year

June 23rd

June 4th

Happy Birthday, Jonathan!!! You big cutie :^)

This peony's for you

May 31st

Unfortunately, the digital version of this is not its best rendition, but for me still
carries the sense of place with it.

i used to spend hours walking around my hometown
treasuring the art of the place
the harmony, balance, comfort
of colonial architecture and
each person's/family's/gardener's
touches.

now i must drive
but i still prowl
for the comfort still envelopes
as i gaze/study/glance.

it's as if a soothing breath
eminates from this joint
collaboration
from the timelessness of tradition
in this thing called community.

i have friends who
when we spend long weekends together
visiting new villages/towns/neighborhoods
enjoy conjuring up
stories of the lives that inhabit each.
or even wish to engage in conversation
with the neighbor/stranger.

i relish/am nurtured  when
lingering in the company of
their creations.

May 7th

an old apple tree
still flowers
and the goats and cows
will eat the windfalls in a few months time

April 2nd

i made this daffodil portrait
many years ago
when i spent hour upon hour
in the darkroom making prints.
i like very much what i printed then
and just today
discovered how to pull this
from the pixel version of the negative.
it's a much darker print than
the original on paper coated with silver
but in many ways
for me, at least
this says lots more about the lucious light
caught on film.
i still prefer what silver molecules capture in b/w
than sensors do
even when scanning the negative into
the digital darkroom!

March 16th later the same day

stars underfoot

a cropped and altered version, using Photoshop filters, of this

i had planned to work in the garden today
but "stuff" got in the way of my heart's desire.

i should write the people who created PhotoShop
and tell them how grateful i am that when
all else fails
i can click some keys
drag a curser
and forget the now
and get lost again
in finding me

March 16th

found myself in the woods...

("v" for vicki...the name given at birth
click to enlarge...it looks a tad better, bigger)

March 8, 2006

these are from another garden
because we had so little snow
in January, (they are usually buried
until late February)
i've enjoyed them in
my garden for close to 6 weeks

you can see a sketch from my garden
at  January 25th's entry