One Truly Splendid Slice of Beauty

As I was writing my 'Ode to Beauty' (it keeps changing names) I was often thinking of including another aspect of beauty I have previously omitted. I tried to keep it 'above board' for a general audience. But without including the utmost irresistibly indelibly joyful facet yet not revealed, I'm cheating everyone of the one truly splendid slice of beauty which ought not be overlooked, lest one might have not spoken of beauty at all and not done it justice. My google email server is just swimming in emails where I've touched upon this subject again and again, in subtle and coy flirtatious manners which transcend the general and target the specific feelings which gather momentum from the true meaning of that underlying radius of beauty. The radius might just encompass 360 degrees of the whole when considered. Sum up all of the aspects one might think of when considering beauty, and one might not yet have a sum total which comes close to the feelings of beauty elicited by this heretofore unmentioned expression of beauty. The countenance and bearing of the form of beauty comes from abstract feelings felt deeply yet concrete in their effect on my behaviour when I am under its spell. And the three hundred and sixty degrees of influence this infectious affect has over me is only described in two dimensions as complete, yet one has to go into three and four dimensions to fully understand the true influence it has. A circle becomes a sphere, and the sphere in time revolves around from an initial infatuation of a youngster into a full fledged powerful emotion not unlike passion described by ardent love.

So how best to articulate this characteristic of beauty? It's hard to put down in so many words. The previous paragraph simply flowed from my mind through my fingers into words almost effortlessly. But now I must pause to organize my thoughts more succinctly to provide an artful expression. What semblance of beauty is felt so deeply, and at the same time is so difficult to describe. It has two parts. One is the feeling itself; and the harder part to proclaim is the revelation divulging the condition. It is affection. Synonyms include amore, ardor, attraction, attachment, care, closeness, concern, crush, desire, devotion, emotion, endearment, feeling, fondness, friendliness, friendship, good will, hankering, heart, inclination, itch, kindness, liking, love, passion, predilection, propensity, regard, sentiment, shine, soft spot, solicitude, tenderness, warmth, weakness, yen, and zeal.

And zeal is what I've had. Enthusiastic devotion to a cause, ideal, or goal and tireless diligence in its furtherance. Yet patience with pleasant and steady happy friendly un-expectancy. Never pushing more than a subtle word and relishing only in a knowledge of mutual simpatico smiling subtleties known or unknown, yet felt deliciously.

And the whole world of first impressions stemming from this proclamation often leads the hearer to retreat from its source. Only a friendly exuberant impression is intended, yet sometimes the opposite reaction arises. But the truly nice counterpoised response is to embrace the knowledge in no more nor less a fashion as would be the response without having gained said information. Accept it in a vacuum, as one would simply have greeted a new friend, without mistrust of intentions. Giving joyous welcome with little uncertain doubt would be beautiful.

But this is the ideal. And I have been lucky enough to have seen it: once.

And so that none feel I'm the first to ever visit this subject, refer to a beautiful poem "Ode To Beauty," by Ralph Waldo Emerson, which begins:

Who gave thee, O Beauty! The keys of this breast 

What lies revealed

A fern can be a shield
if I'm ready to yield
move my arms aside
and see what lies revealed

Metronomic candor

Metronomic candor - Beethoven Symphony No. 8

Gorgeous serendipity, landed squarely on my nose
No lack of hesitation, dare rob me of my prose
Speaking speech in volume, pitched above three rows
Luck she barely knew me, and nimble on her toes

Born with trepidation, and furrows on her brow
A subtle time and mellow rhyme, and now's when I avow
Overture preamble, pioneering lead somehow
Further salutation, hello goodbye and ciao

What rapid introspection, as during tranquil lull
Was thought and then was lost upon, and glance would soon befall
Approaching gentle movement, commence and dart away
Lunge full bore, sawing bow and sweeping sooth foray

Steeped to incredulity, behind inquiring glance
Thread simple hesitation, woven as a dance
Morphing other voices, and rhythm to enhance
Stretched around my temple, unlikely as romance

Extend seesaw return chutzpa
Winding up reverb
Unleash what's raw and look voila
Adoration cannot curb

Start again, reprise and yet, consider slower still
Metronomic candor, ascending toward yon hill
Drowning with your grandeur, grasping for a thrill
Bass and sound revolve around, strings they do instill

Impetuous dampened softness, rich with full contour
Sweet and slender tremor, ascend with bass once more
Burst horns upon my consciousness, alert to hear the score
Prepare one heart for apex, last passion to endure

Revolve

Your were well within my sensory jungle,
but no orbit could revolve my subtle influence,
without hyperbolic prelude I could bungle,
or sympathetic cogence yielding confluence.

A big blue marble and orange globule held together
without reason or without rhyme,
a weaker force within a greater capacity
describes attraction under ordinary time.

But my whole world held together with a tether
immersed succinctly under firmament,
ample planets circle round my tender mind
creating stratum and arching supercillium.

Yes my zone is within reach of her stomping ground,
my compass points directly to gentle province,
dominion pulling through the level field,
my pale brown eyes adhere a course aligned

Realm rank and scope subside with footsteps fell
before my meandering path around
each rondo falls like an apple
under force of function on the ground

And now the anxious approach
do I dare
I've lost my sphere of introspection
how will I fare?

Happy New Year Bokeh

The world of picture makers celebrate with bokeh
What better medium which with to play
dancing lights radiate the suns rays
reflecting back to my eyes and lens in rainbow colours
A sip of wine a cup of brew
celebrate fine for this year new!

juxtaposed within glowing amber curves

juxtaposed within glowing amber curves
her supple forms waved before my eyes
softly flowing current of the brook
darkening shade provoking dreadful sighs

sunlight shone twice madly upon my scene
she was subtle if unseen
thus she stole my task of racing green
transfixed now I between

my chore before
would suffice no more
it now became thus necessary
to sample sudden sight galore
-------
www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5KRqc7Hud4
Pizzicato Polka

The Dart

Scrolling textures pierce my bloodshot eyes like arching darts aimed at red balloons,
my destiny lie elsewhere, someplace crisper.
Counterfeit facade arrayed along my visor, screechin' sermons like a gray buffoon;
yet she is waiting patiently -- nary a whisper

I drift on, daydreams wander,
wondrous words devastatingly aligned, persuade my mind:
she has scribed them down.
Remove this tumultuous tempest from my brim, 'till I find:
green forest, peat and bog around

Hillsides arise, inclining greater than my city ground;
out there, beyond, is peace and true prosperity;
abstract professions found, intermingled sumptuous forces newly unbound,
can be yet achieved, lest I dawdle aged superfluity

shrieking lucid orange annunciation,
time to change your softly dampered brilliance,
unloosen dexterity, sharpening a once minced temperament,
leap-frog wild decorum, rediscover simple eloquence.

The dart has pierced my wading brow,
And now I find,
my world is left behind:
art supplants artificial mind

A vale of darkness reins the lesser season,
far below the south of forest land;
Between thick trees of pine and peaks of white,
A clay brick path wanders through these somber hills

Water of the brook babbles through an olden hamlet
like a brimming broth before a lazy meal
laced with capsicum pepper mixed with cutlet
quaffed with red and white of dry appeal

Unburdened folk carrying caboodle
fish the meadow beyond cathedral way
celebrate sandpiper calling ruff and reeve,
revive the ancient wanton tumultuous ways

Sweet burning desire sings supple sound
against a sage of dissonant musical saws.
Lanes lined with new houses,
carved gables, tiered windows, overhanging roof

A nature park is where I want to be,
this ancient time is land I long to feel,
juxtaposed between my now and future free,
elixir of the woods hence I may heal.


Douglas Bauman, Dec 2008

Merry Christmas from Flash the Greyhound

Bokeh pepper smile..

Bokeh pepper smile..
Wandering along a paved thoroughfare
Finding many subjects but only few to peek my interest
This city garden brings a smile to share
I find a forsaken bell pepper
Hanging from the vine
Hello my small pepper friend, mind if I photograph your lingering pose?
No not at all, feel free to capture me
But the smile is in the bokeh
Hidden behind
The pepper becomes the glandular nose
the places where maples leaves behind shine forth
and those places where there be no leaves form the eyes and mouth
Enjoy my bokeh pepper smile

rejuvenate my heart

I leave my heart to you
My heart is all that I have left
My last possession, might as well be there
up in the air
blue sky seen through
my heart is gone
only a hole is left where it used to be
but beauty peeks through
Now all I have left is sweet nature
the void where my heart used to be
can be filled by natures essence
It is all that is left to rejoice in
to enjoy, the fragrance and light
Fill me with your nature,
rejuvenate my heart

what words can turn my doldrums into splendor
what deeds can turn apathy back to yearning
what thoughts can think me thoughts of joy
who can turn my darkness into light

My journey has never been a destination
My pleasures past have been the trip
I need a goal or some sheer light
to light up my life
rejuvenate my joy

tiny mushroom

tiny mushroom within a mossy wall
is he short or is he tall
defying gravity and all
the leaves come down, but you won't fall

grant me 3 wishes

Is this an ominous face full of foreboding, or a gentle friendly face like Shrek? I was walking down the trail at McConnell's Mill. There were many people also there, it was a glorious day and all the tourists were out. But then, all of a sudden, they all seemed to disappear. The noise of the rapids, water splashing hither and thither, suddenly ceased. The birds and other sounds were no more. The face began to speak: "I was wondering when you would see me. In fact, I've been waiting here for over 100 years for anyone to observe my slumber. As luck would have it, I am quite patient. So now you are the first, to see my visage and now you are the lucky one. I will grant you three wishes."
I took those three wishes and kept them, but have not yet used them.

Revered again

As is my wont, I'm writing poetry to psych myself up for a Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra concert this weekend. These are my words, just written to the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff : Symphony No. 2

Revered again

Often when I'm up against a wall,
and the very simple words I scrawl,
easily reveal my thoughts to you,
as words I hope that do enthrall

Exposing whence my sleeping heart did fall,
back out onto center stage again,
and the wonder of our dream as when,
I could really have that kind of gall

Whosoever
dares to tell
that kind of truth
in this very soft and cloistered world,
can be cheered
but not revered
until they're mired
in dire understandings least unfurled

Abstract wisdom of the past is clear,
mixed with current subtle sounds I hear,
probing rhythm of my thoughts appear,
I'm trusting you my dear

Reveal our truth
together
inspire trust as freedom
unaffected nature as simplicity

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrKdPDiBZTI

I believe Pittsburgh is projecting wall art on the buildings this weekend:

billowing morning web

billowing morning spider web well above my head
lucky to have found you my dear or your web I'd have to shed

The race

javadoug was in the race of his life. Sure, he could compete with mere mortals, on bicycles, but he chose instead to race the jet airplane. He gained an early head start, but his lead might diminish when those afterburners kicked in. So he knuckled under, gave it all his heart and soul, and poured his strength in one direction, with the aim of beating mr. jet airplane...

a grand day

a grand day
proclaim parfait
come what may
my words to say
tried to sway
but would allay
your fears away
defray
my cloistered decay
though I turn grey
my heart is gay
sometimes risqué
so please don't slay
my power play

curl up with my petals

Sep 5, 2008

my texture was alluring, you could not resist
my color so enduring, a dream yet I exist
light streams in infinite directions
wavelengths combine
perduance yielding varied flavors
enunciating distinct sensations yet to savor
again curl up with me
affinity divine

joy

Mar 1, 2008 9:13 AM

Her pace quickened as she hastened towards the window. A quick glance told the weather, as well as need be, for the sun shone bright in her heart on this particular dawn. What had previously been veiled anticipation now awoke this day with wild excitement; her plans formed and shifted all week and now the day had come. The big event was in store, and she could hardly wait. Yes, a flurry of thoughts took hold and bare feet trod down the stairs, barely able to control herself. She found her parents already eating breakfast in the kitchen. Then came the look, the famous wide-eyed enthusiastic smile her father couldn't resist, buckling under its influence was unavoidable. He saw the look as she entered the room, that same sweet smile which always convinced him. Her joy rubbed off on everyone who encountered this enthusiasm. This morning was no different.

Doug Bauman, March 2008

The Sage

A sage once told me:
When you feel you are alone, you do not really know how many people are behind you and support you.
When you feel despair, fear not, the despair is only inside you.
When your faith is stretched to the limit, it is time to grow;
encompass a wider range, depth of meaning can be enhanced.
Take a pause, relax, start anew.
That sage was me, my inner voice.
Don't feel home sick, enjoy the company you are with,
be that nature, people, whatever..
Relax, contemplate, slow down.
When you are down, then there is no place else but up,
things will look up.
Take heart

Rossini Overture to L'Italiana in Algeri

www.youtube.com/watch?v=94asd5_o_Sg

little camp fires on a tulip tree

Little camp fires on a tree
posed right out there just for me
Beyond my reach but near my sight
A perilous reach yet dare I might

A lovely little tulip poplar
where I stay above my room
To capture its beauty I dare to try
but they are perched beyond my zoom

So offered now a beauty blossom
up close to view comes far away
a captured version of what I'd see
if I could fly like birds in May

A hummingbird sees this lovely tulip
and I could too if I could glide
Birds and bees would bend their knees
if they could see my aerial ride

Please grab your camera and make the show
forget your troubles and let me know
if you would smell my fragrant flower
enjoy the close-up and let us grow

Dedicated to tygerlyly
a helpful friend, and what a dilly!

freewill

fall in to my tendrils deep and still
feathers softly bristle like a quill
falling uphill

lessons never learned can not instill
real distinction for another skill
but you've got freewill

elusive ray of light

I do it for light, light, light

I discovered a magical ray of pure sunlight,
I followed it up and I followed it right,
it dodged, and it bounded and looped
all around, I'm trying to find if I may if I might,

It was tiny and bright and it lept over head
but I followed it quick, and it wiggled instead
it was canny and clever and quickly receded,
but I followed it through and aimed just ahead

The light landed up on a green maple tree
and the seeds were illumed to be orange, can't you see
it was steady and stable and lingered awhile
and the seeds didn't move, nor extinguish my guile

The result you can see is a striking redound
of a blade in the air, just the way it was found,
and I captured it fine, and now that its mine
I'm happy to show it to you any time

Enjoy

(written to the music of this song:)
youtube.com/watch?v=O8CyJVTCFYs

I recently made some audio recordings of:
Wood Thrush:
javadoug.googlepages.com/MVI_0861.AVI.MP3

Hooded Warbler (wheatie-wheatie-wheatie-oooh)
javadoug.googlepages.com/MVI_0898.AVI.MP3
javadoug.googlepages.com/MVI_0900.AVI.MP3

Hooded Warbler (alternate call, not heard as often)
javadoug.googlepages.com/MVI_0902.AVI.MP3

The Ugly American

1982 - that's me climbing the statue. What's funny is I didn't even remember this!
I met some friends after a Pittsburgh Symphony Concert a few weeks ago, and my friend's wife said she remembers this photo, with me sticking my tongue out posing behind this statue. :-)
So he scanned these old slides for me.

From my friend Simon Lowenfeld, who took these photos:
"these statues used to line one of the avenues of the Forum Romanum in Rome; the Forum was the center of Rome and therefore the center of the Roman Empire; the statues were no longer there when I was in Italy 2 yrs ago, undoubtedly removed to save them from tourists climbing all over them…"

He calls this: "The Ugly American"
A reference to a phrase apparently only known to Europeans, about some sort of yankee think or other, I'm not sure exactly ;-) (He's originally from Romania)

Here is another picture from that trip, this one taken in Austria:
www.flickr.com/photos/javadoug/305729943/

And for more of my exploits on that trip, this time in Romania, read half way down this essay I wrote a few years ago:
javadoug.googlepages.com/beauty.html

mysterious stranger

This mysterious stranger was a very tiny insect visiting my small bachelor button flower. I've been reading about quantum physics and time particles again recently
In the article, a physicist remarks: "“The quantum world has become more tangible, and the nature of reality even more mysterious”

I used to watch a TV show called: "Connections" It would leap from one item to another, throughout history using these sometimes weak links called connections. Almost like gossip, which starts with a fact at one end of a chain, and ends up all the way at the other end of a chain completely different, yet with the show, it somehow wrapped it all up into a sort of quasi circle, with a plausible scenario for their completed elliptical turn, and if you suspended your disbelief, and without skepticism, it was an entertaining concoction of historical events.

My connection is this, I begin with the tiny insect, to which I state he is very very small, and I've got this camera which is able to record his or her beauty in fabulous macro style. But I observe his tiny presence and extrapolate smaller, to particles unseen and infinitesimal. The article appears, thanks to first a visit by Panta Rhei, a contact who just got back from a vacation to the North Sea, so you see I'm leaping here, I'm placing these links together in semblances of connections. She has a contact named Perceval's Land (or he has changed his flickr name now). So in his photostream, I see this picture of the chains and gears of a bicycle, and of course I can't resist, being a bike lover myself, and I see a reference to an article about a possible way to actually observe these particles and or waves without disturbing them, perhaps by fixing what you have disturbed, and a reference to a fellow named Katz; so the article was sent to Panta, so of course I have to google that and I find the article, it is the quantum theory again, about not being able to observe without also disturbing. Sort of like photography, I am able to observe and photograph this tiny insect, but have I disturbed the scene? Have I sent it into an alternate universe? If I had not disturbed this, it might have happened differently. In the schrödinger's cat thought experiment, the cat is in a box, in a state where he is either alive or dead, but at the same time (that departure elides me a bit), and when you open the box (observation) you find the cat is either alive or dead, but cannot be both at the same time, by observing you have disturbed. I once before observed, In any walk with nature, one disturbs far more than he knows.

I could make this program a bit longer, with chains upon links of connections, but I'm off for work, and you see I don't want to be that late, even though I'm already a bit. Many more of these connections are possible! Let's take trips through flickr with many connections. My final connection is this: I just happened to be reading a book by Mark Twain, called the Mysterious Stranger, you can only guess who that is. Well I also read another book by C.S.Lewis called "The Great Divorce" about the divorce between Heaven and Hell. Well in that book, heaven is in the sky and grand and glorious, hell is in the tiny cracks of the ground and is infinitesimal. Therefore, you can begin to see further connections, that hell is the tiny particles of quantum physics, and our great big world is heaven, and well, perhaps by disturbing the tiny particles, we are disturbing hell, we don't want to wake up Satan!

Perdurance

A star appeared one night, midsummer
An apparition of dread yet soon to befall
the stranger who would be firm friend
short term knowing can deceive
Consent to avoid folly too soon
hold back tears of joy for a subtle time
and while thy realm is blurred
sharpen thy tooth on dreams of perdurance,
the long continuance of yon tender relationship
fraught with broken slumber
Determination rewards with eventual pure bonds
of long lasting friendship
sleep tight, thy midsummer dream
sleep well, do daydream,
do care,
hold fast,
friend

ageless

Two beauties who have not faded with age
nor will I relent to the onset of time
as if written in image or verse upon a page
hold stature with composure, trippingly within rhyme

Pachelbel's Canon in D Major
youtube.com/watch?v=hOA-2hl1Vbc
I like this version, it has the harpsichord and the viola pizzicato included.
I listened to about 6 versions before I chose this one.
more info:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachelbel's_Canon

Translucent wing

Translucent wing

Take me on the wind translucent wing
reluctant journey neigh
vibes attenuate sigh
colliding acoustics oft do let me sing

Impassionate vivid green flavoured dew drops
perched impossibly, adorn the theatre of my mind
Arouse curiosity beyond the gentle refrain
one's fervent passions never cease to sustain

Ein Heldenleben

youtube.com/watch?v=iXnhrbILUmc
youtube.com/watch?v=-ngdhUPuoMY

If anyone wonders, might I say, I just really enjoy classical music, and this is my way of sharing, perhaps in the hope that others may become enamored with this beautiful music someday too. I know when I was introduced decades ago, it built upon me slowly. Sure, I listened to classical music from my youth, in bugs bunny and tom and jerry cartoons, we all did, and then it progressed, all through movies and various places, you can't miss it. But the true love of classical music comes from the appreciation of each piece, each composition, and all the components, the individual instruments, you pick them out, hear them, individually, and collectively, and make the connection, you enjoy the point and counterpoint, the drama, the showmanship, the splendor, and you wrap it all together and what do you get, a marvelous art form that is a new appreciation, with neverending possibilities for hearing more and more, and then you wonder why you are not doing this yourself, but at the very least you can share it with others, so enjoy :)

Fire pink

Native wild flower to Western Pennsylvania

Fire pink my native child
wispy waving pure and wild
vivid colour deep and free
yield your wealth for all to see

www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0QQeYrEk-Y

you'll never know

more of the Speed Poetry,
typing as fast as I can, in less than about 5 minutes,
while listening to music, you should try...
youtube.com/watch?v=Gx_XfNWkf_s

You'll Never Know by Doug Bauman

rolling on anticipation cloud
softly floating through the shadowy regions
reaching well beyond my grasp
clasping fingers 'round dewdrops that collapse

meld back, yonder being, unmixing thought and truth
dimensions unfold untold phantoms of veracity
veraciousness to behold through brimming visor
visages of yonder brimming aspect without meaning
juxtaposed beyond my hold

another exercise in futility
with infinite meaning to me, yet none told
cold fertile joyousness running up my spine
divine my content yet fulfilled

yet revealed, you'll never know

I grant I'll never be revealed
I shan't unnerving be aneilled
Whence discovery come unveiled
Thence composure is unsealed

my heart is yet too very tame
to jump quite quick to any game
keeping simple, running ample
as always never be the same

here she is, my vision of despair
softly fading goldness of her hair
anticipating choices of great flair
hold tight, yonder sight, be fair

I never knew the lovely texture of your form
till that silhouette of sunlight gladly beamed
right by bending supple form, toward my eyes
seeing sight untold now hold just as it seemed

quivering motion upheaved upon my soul
building joyous passages
the kind that overwhelm
gushing emotion beyond the pale seam
of my splendor

you'll never know

Wake Robin

Wake-Robin, hear my gentle refrain..
hearken, wake up your bountiful, beauty
darken, when shade pours over your visage
brighten, whiten, sounding subdued then renewed
rolling, doling, hearing, nearing, clearing, searing
heighten, brighten, frighten,
slowing, growing, glowing, flowing
impromptu, spritely dancing from petal to petal
tinkling over lightly textured silky spider web threads
reverberating through the multi-wavelength visual spectrum
repeating, revealing, unveiling, retelling, mellow tantrum
done, but not yet over, rondo repetition ready yet to begin
textured, layered, folded, then refolded, wrapped together
like composition of musical drama, toccata and fugue
Unnerving, tension, feeling unsaid felt sentiment
together, through unknown connections through medium untold
Behold, truly fragrant ripple through glistening waves
embrace, gravity holding together ample molecules
running, sunning, funning, punning, woning, cunning, donning
umbrella radiance throughout, beyond the membrane of space
untold dimensions over under between us, beyond us, together
don't ever end.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBc_xHI7ea8
A fun exercise in creative writing:
Listen to the beautiful Schubert Impromptu,
Think about the image,
then write the words, as quickly as you can, it's fun!
Try your own...

sunburst

Tiny fairies danced over the tops of the small maples
Star burst ran along my range singing sight and sound
Only eyes could see the lingering magic quite profound
Subtle shades of colour enraptured, wringing round and round

Conservation Connection at the Zoo

Life's path

While listening to Rachmaninoff Concerto N. 2 - II. Adagio sostenuto
youtube.com/watch?v=llveGVApdz4
youtube.com/watch?v=aseYsowHj4E

I composed the following words, quickly as they are, no rework:

remember me when I was younger somewhat spree

I always knew you'd remember me
taken to heart real dearly dear
for thee,
don't hesitate, no regrets for something
more beautiful than anything real

listen once more

I always felt a kind revere one can see
reverberating rather all around me

building like the water down a stream
to a pond that sits and wonders at its
new found potential built up from
trickles.. trickles, streams rivers

rolling washing flowing
flowing like the rivers in my heart
glorious tempests of passions rise
a shimmering sheath of reflecting light

tumbling bouncing building boiling
fall, fall dance, right up
and down and over the edge.....


Hesitant, waiting, anxious, tempted,
back and forth undecided,
relaxing, letting go,
winding down, finding time to go,
over the edge, slow waters still
and now flowing, sparkling waterfall

Down ye go, now smooth and silky
to the bottom of the falls
my love is waiting there
can wait and yet be ready

No need to hurry when there is
patience to find the sublime
time to meet and

Find one find two together
as one, combined now
all right when we
see each other in
our existence
and we can go down
life's path
as a pair can
never ever be
alone
alone
no one
done
yet
now
we
do
seeeee
our..
time

Lilliputians -- British Soldiers

This magical little world reminds me of the Lilliputians of Gulliver's Travels

I was walking in Harrison Hills Park last weekend, attempting to locate a less than common bird, a Northern Shrike. I didn't find the bird, but I found this old snag of a tree long since laying horizontally at the top of a hill, and all covered with these Lilliputian-esqe fungi growth. It was amazing! My attempt to photograph was difficult, the only one I liked was this Depth of Field style...
Cladonia cristatella

According to my friend Dick: "They're British Soldiers. Also called Matchstick lichen. They are very sensitive to air pollution and disappeared from the Pittsburgh area back in the 1960's and in Murrysville as well. With catalytic converters on the cars after 1973 they started returning. Still haven't reached their former abundance."

Never Comes the Day...

Westmoreland Conservancy Calendar

This is the front page of a calendar that myself and other members of the Westmoreland Conservancy developed about one year ago for 2008.

This year the Westmoreland Conservancy is organizing
"Conservation Connection at the Zoo" to be held at the Pittsburgh Zoo on Saturday, May 3rd, 2008. Our purpose is three-fold: to promote land preservation, expand membership and to encourage like-minded organizations to meet and mingle at a dinner at a great Pittsburgh venue like the zoo. We would like to invite everyone to attend. If you are interested, please contact us. Thanks!

Northern Mockingbird and berries

I go to Phipps to wander around inside the glass rooms in warmth to photograph flowers, and outside I see this Northern Mockingbird sitting in a bunch of berries with the wind blowing his feathers.

Punxsutawney Phil

That goofy goober groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil
heard man-made warming fable from humans on the Hill (Capital)
Sprung up from Gobbler's Knob
their story he would rob
Grievous global forecast do oft make this Phil ill

Phil:
As I look around me,
a bright future 'tis all I see,
deep shadow well before thee.
Rising temps will never be.

Phil's official forecast as read 2/2/08 at sunrise at Gobbler's Knob

Dawn's Crows

A gaggle of crows,
gathering in the dawn's early mist
Endeavor to blow,
making beeline for their jubilant tryst.

Neither humble nor modest,
their early morning carousal about to begin;
Not drunken but noisy,
do babble and bluster much to my chagrin.

Their cackle and riot
form cluster to muster parade to their daily feast.
Whooping and boasting
revelry unhinged as seemed to an earthly bound beast.

To my wondering amusement
the affair in the heavenly trees seems to me
To vauntingly burst forth
to a gurgling tear and divert into swaggering glee

The light breaks forth smoothly
the waining of squawking whooping crows
Ever disbanding so swiftly
my amusement now done, yet where do they go?

Luftpost

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lao_Zi

Wozu lebst du, wenn du nicht Lieben kannst (Laotse).
Why you live if you cannot love (Laozi).

Pflicht - ohne Liebe macht verdriesslich.
Duty - without love makes annoyed.

Verantwortung - ohne Liebe macht rücksichtslos.
Responsibility - without love makes ruthless.

Gerechtigkeit - ohne Liebe macht hart.
Justice - without love makes bitter.

Wahrheit - ohne Liebe macht kritiksüchtig.
Truth - without love makes critical.

Erziehung - ohne Liebe macht widerspruchsvoll.
Upbringing - without love makes contradictory.

Klugheit - ohne Liebe macht gerissen.
Wisdom - without love makes torn.

Freundlichkeit - ohne Liebe macht heuchlerisch.
Kindness - without love makes hypocritical.

Ordnung - ohne Liebe macht kleinlich.
Order - without love makes paltry.

Sachkenntnis - ohne Liebe macht rechthaberisch.
Expertise - without love makes bossy.

Macht - ohne Liebe macht gewalttätig.
Power - without love makes violent.

Ehre - ohne Liebe macht hochmütig.
Honor - without love makes haughty.

Besitz - ohne Liebe macht geizig.
Possession - without love makes stingy.

Glaube - ohne Liebe macht fanatisch.
Belief - without love makes fanatical.

ice fern curl

Curling fern I couldn't resist
bracketed images arm at rest
Light and color here enhanced
rhythm together as they danced

Only a Tree

Only a tree
yet the source of all life
Sometimes a tree
sees love and sees strife
Only a tree
is needful of me
Forever my life
is grateful for thee
A source of all life
our beautiful trees
so strong and so supple
their branches and leaves
sway in the breeze
and fall to the ground
with nary a sound
yet splendor profound
Only a tree
forever a sight
in each and every season
to bring me delight
in summer so green
in autumn a colorful sight
in winter sturdy and divine
reaching to heaven
a ladder which to climb
O heavenly tree
bring me a spring
filled with sweet scents
and buds of light green
renew your dear life
my dreams I've foreseen
Only a tree
the boon of wildlife
by javadoug
(Thanks for the inspiration Gudi :)
(I saw the photo of a tree posted in her photostream, and wrote the poem)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB76jxBq_gQ

youth and the thinker

One man the thinker, observing everything he perceives
quiet, gentle, perplexed yet never impatient.

What is the thinker contemplating --
perhaps meaningful philosophical questions of life,
or cognitive interpretations of sensory perception,
with transcendental mediations of pure thought.
Is it coy expressions of ardent love
or else simply observations of all that is around
stored for future contemplation..

The youth seem curious, new experiences all around;
white as pure as the driven snow surrounds their
senses like seeing for the first time.
If the thinker could interpret, observe in
the wild eyed innocent manner, without preconceived notions
or hard wired interpretations which leap to fill in missing gaps...

That is the equation, can he do it?

Look up: Sycamore trees in winter

Look up: Sycamore trees in winter
Sycamore tree on Hunter Drive, Murrysville.
How many people get depressed or sad in winter because of the weather and conditions outside? What are you missing. You are missing the beauty that still exists out there, but is harder to grasp. It may be cold, colourless and drab, but there is beauty there, nevertheless, and alwaysthemore. Just look at the Sycamore trees, if you have them near you. All of the rest of the trees I would still characterize as beautiful, even in winter, but the Sycamore trees out shine them all. You just can't deny it. They have lost their giant leaves, which aren't necessarily the nicest of leaves, so in summer if you were a sycamore tree you might feel inferior. But in winter it is now your time to shine. The other trees are sort of a dull drab gray or brown, but the sycamores have a beautiful white bark, especially as you ascend the trunk to the upper places. Just look up. Perhaps if you walk all day just looking at your feet, which if you are walking in the woods might be good advice, so that you don't trip over a root or fallen branch, but you must resist that urge and look up at some of that beauty just above you. Whoever endowed you with two sharp eyes to perceive perhaps left out maybe one more to look skyward. But seriously the times I find myself looking up, especially at nature, are the most joyous. The white bark of the sycamore is a great sight to see in winter, so go see it. I've tried to photograph it, and that looks nice, but without the effect of walking around or even driving by one of these great trees, you don't get the full effect. In Pittsburgh old sycamores line many of the roads, but the younger ones in the parks and woods outshine these and deserve a look. One of these days I'll find a way to ascend one of these great beauties to try to get a close up photo of the white bark, just to see how that would turn out.

I wrote this a few years ago, and now that I have my new camera with the 12x zoom, I no longer feel the need to climb the tree to get a good shot :)

alive and bright

alive and bright, tunneling toward the sun
concentric downy autumn seeds
capture the sun's rays

Writhing

Writhing, squirming slender colour out
acute distortion wrenching arm about
bending flavour eliptic radial shout
contortled sinews showing little doubt

infectious tendrils twisted out of sight
convoluted intermingled strings of night
flexing indirect sperpents into light
meander forth to spew your crooked height

curving damaged figures till the show
abundant texture over frequent flow
unwrapping beauty discourse under tow
unveiling fervent outline soon to grow

patterns fashion figure from their bode
sparking clever structure form and mode
sharply jutting skeleton connecting node
gently blowing grasses now bestowed

Magic Fountains of Thistle

Oh magic fountains of thistle
unleash your source of charm
conjure forth magnetic allure
your powers do oft disarm

With abracadabra and alacazam
magically invoke your benevolent craft
pour bewitching extraordinary zeal
and uncanny imagery soon to be quaffed

Spectral light and ambient tones
revolve around mysterious prophecy
with gushing charismatic fascination
our eyes perceive thee grandly



Taken at the field where we play Ultimate Frisbee.

I was really thrilled to receive this particularly nice comment. That this image is "especially thrilling -- Something so common and unwanted looking so magical!"

"Sind sie aus Deutschland?"

Ich bin vom USA, aber drei oder vier Generationen vor meinen Vorfahren sind von Deutschland und anderen europäischen Nationen ausgewandert.

Mehr wichtig, versuche ich, gesprächige deutsche Sprache zu lernen. Es ist meine Suche, ist es meine Reise, die Sprache von meinen Vorfahren zu lernen. Und die schöne Sprache, die solche Genies angespornt hat, als Beethoven, Mozart, Einstein, und die Liste weitergeht.

More importantly, I am trying to learn conversational German language.
It is my quest, it is my journey, to learn the language of my forefathers.
And the beautiful language that spurred such geniuses as Beethoven, Mozart, Einstein, and the list goes on.


Abba - take a chance on me

I'm rich

I feel rich, or enriched, with this bounty of chestnuts!

Every year we collect chestnuts from trees at Northmoreland park. My daughter just loves to do this with me. We each get a bag, and try to fill them up. It's a fun contest to see who can gain the most. And of course there is sometimes a little cheating, one of us will steal a few nuts from the other's bag. Money can't buy this kind of fun :)
I truly am blessed and enriched :-))

These are chestnuts from Chinese Chestnut trees, which are smaller than American Chestnut trees in height and breadth. The American Chestnut tree has suffered a huge decline because of a blight brought in 100 years ago with the introduction of the later. Hardly any really big American species are left, although there still are quite a few small saplings that can try to resist the blight.

The American Chestnut Foundation, Working To Restore The King of The Forest
http://www.acf.org