The desert tells a different story each time one ventures on it. ~Robert Edison Fulton, Jr.
We do not take a trip……
“A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike.
And all plans, safeguards, policies and coercion are fruitless.
We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.”
― John Steinbeck
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in the end…
“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”
― Ernest Hemingway
the anthem of eternity……
Behold, I have reached the peak of the mountain and my spirit has taken flight in the heavens of freedom and liberation. I have gone far, far away, O children of my mother; the hills beyond the mists are now hidden from my view, the last traces of the valleys have been flooded by the ocean of serenity, and the paths and trails have been erased by the hand of oblivion. The roar of ocean waves has faded. I no longer hear anything but the anthem of eternity, which harmonizes with the spirit.
We searchers…..
“I am one of the searchers. There are, I believe, millions of us. We are not unhappy, but neither are we really content. We continue to explore life, hoping to uncover its ultimate secret. We continue to explore ourselves, hoping to understand. We like to walk along the beach, we are drawn by the ocean, taken by its power, its unceasing motion, its mystery and unspeakable beauty. We like forests and mountains,, deserts and hidden rivers, and the lonely cities as well. Our sadness is as much a part of our lives as is our laughter. To share our sadness with one we love is perhaps as great a joy as we can know – unless it be to share our laughter.
We searchers are ambitious only for life itself, for everything beautiful it can provide. Most of all we love and want to be loved. We want to live in a relationship that will not impede our wandering, nor prevent our search, nor lock us in prison walls; that will take us for what little we have to give. We do not want to prove ourselves to another or compete for love.
For wanderers, dreamers, and lovers, for lonely men and women who dare to ask of life everything good and beautiful. It is for those who are too gentle to live among wolves.”
― James Kavanaugh, There Are Men Too Gentle to Live Among Wolves
A living thing……….
“Sunset encroached upon daylight like a powder burst from the mouth of a crimson cannon—orange and gold ribbons shot forth to wage a battle against the clouds. The western horizon was obscured by a glow like a living thing.”
― Marsha Ward, Ride to Raton
From all I may be……
There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the Universe, and feel
What I can ne’er express, yet cannot all conceal.
Lord George Gordon Byron
I am the daughter….
I am the daughter of Earth and Water,
And the nursling of the Sky;
I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores;
I change, but I cannot die….
~Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Cloud”
Swimming with Miss Daisy….
Summer has finally arrived in Kirkland….as is marked…. by Miss Daisy taking her first dip of the season…. into Lake Washington……
HEY…what’s the hold up….it’s been a long..winter…I am ready …Let’s do this!!
Miss Daisy…may be a little on the “chubby” side…but she glides through the water…like a Lab….to retrieve her favorite water toy.
Smiling all the way!!! THE END
So long as we can see…….
“We are never tired so long as we can see far enough.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
The great values of life….
Beauty, truth, friendship, love, creation – these are the great values of life. We can’t prove them, or explain them, yet they are the most stable things in our lives.
— Jesse Herman Holmes
life and happiness…
Each day is a new canvas to paint upon.
Make sure your picture is full of life and happiness,
and at the end of the day you don’t look at it
and wish you had painted something different.
— Author Unknown
There are things…..
There are things that we don’t want to happen but
have to accept, things we don’t want to
know but have to learn, and people we can’t
live without but have to let go.
~Author Unknown
The lonely Gull….
“At times when my spirit needs a break and my eye catches a lonely seagull, my inner being reaches out to find silence and peace. What a gift to receive.”
~Munda
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From tiny seeds……
A giant redwood stood
from tiny seeds it has grown tall
it will become old
~Westly Alexander Shaw, USA
Fight Club…Haiku…..
“Worker bees can leave.
Even drones can fly away.
The Queen is their slave.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
There is a stillness…….
“Within you… there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.” ~Hermann Hesse
Peace Work…….
“If in our daily life we can smile,
if we can be peaceful and happy,
not only we, but everyone will profit from it.
This is the most basic kind of peace work.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh
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- In our daily life…
-
- we can smile….
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- If we can be…peaceful and happy
-
- Not only we….but
-
- everyone will profit from it……
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- This….. is the most basic kind……of Peace Work.
Each moment of the year…….
“Each moment of the year has its own beauty . . . a picture
which was never before and shall never be seen again.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Out of the darkness………
“I read and walked for miles at night along the beach, writing bad blank verse and searching endlessly for someone wonderful who would step out of the darkness and change my life. It never crossed my mind that, that person could be me.” ~Anna Quindlen
Sunset and Emily……..
Summer laid her simple Hat
On its boundless Shelf —
Unobserved — a Ribbon slipt,
Snatch it for yourself.
or was she —
The demand of Awe?
The Mountain is out today……….
She is the welcoming sight of home….Like some mysterious lover, she hides within the thickness of dark grey clouds….for the long and dreary stretches of winter days ….. She knows, she can make your heart sing with joy……when she comes out.
Mount Rainier
Celebration
Brilliant, this day – a young virtuoso of a day.
Morning shadow cut by sharpest scissors,
deft hands. And every prodigy of green –
whether it’s ferns or lichens or needles
or impatient points of buds on spindly bushes –
greener than ever before. And the way the conifers
hold new cones to the light for the blessing,
a festive right, and sing the oceanic chant the wind
transcribes for them!
A day that shines in the cold
like a first-prize brass band swinging along
the street
of a coal-dusty village, wholly at odds
with the claims of reasonable gloom.
~ Denise Levertov ~
As the mist leaves no scar…….
As the mist leaves no scar
On the dark green hill,
So my body leaves no scar
On you, nor ever will.
When wind and hawk encounter,
What remains to keep?
So you and I encounter,
Then turn, then fall to sleep.
As many nights endure
Without a moon or star,
So will we endure
When one is gone and far.
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The Hills are ALIVE….
June, 2011….The Olympic National Park was alive with Lupine and wild flowers….this year…there is snow
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For the Joy of being alive…..We Dance!
“And those that were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music” ~Nietzsche
I took this photograph last fall, on a clear and crisp Autumn day in downtown Seattle….This wonderfully colorful man…. seemed to me at the time, a reflection of all the PURE JOY, I was feeling, as I wandered through Pikes Market and busy streets of this beautiful city………….
Sunsets, Shadows and Tiny Boats…………
These are a few various shots, taken over the past couple of years…in late summer, early fall evenings…here in the GREAT Pacific Northwest….
Light House and Ocean Liners
Close up or at a distance….an ever changing view.
The Fall light is ever changing…casting shadows….with new cloud formations….how great is that!
Lighthouses can have a spiritual dimension….
This is perhaps my favorite shot…..but then……
Carnival Cruise…wonder if they are enjoying their day..as
much as I am enjoying mine…..
The Ocean Liner sorta diminishes the size of the Light House complex…
Bothell Landing
These photographs were taken in late summer last year. The city of Bothell did a very nice job on the park renovation.
The foot bridge leading from Bothell Landing Park, across the Sammamish River to the Bert Gilman Trail….SWEET!!
The Sammamish River….is so peaceful…not very wide
but very scenic…
the Bert Gilman Trail follows the river from Redmond through Bothell…an enormous abundance of
bird life and natural habitats.
“Up Island” the trip to Ucluelet BC
The view from our rental in Ucluelet….not bad to wake up to every morning..eh?
Having left beautiful Victoria, BC…we headed “Up Island” through Chemainus ( the town of murals) friendly people, great pottery and FUDGE!!
The drive took us though Parksville with its magnificent public beaches and across to Port Alberni ( a very french speaking town) with the “tall trees” in nearby Cathedral Grove at MacMillian Park….
We headed to the Pacific Rim on the West Coast of Vancouver Island with its majestic mix of rugged wilderness and old growth rain forests to the towns of Ucluelet and Tofino. Be prepared for some steep and very winding roads, thankfully, well maintained!
Leaving Ucluelet Harbor on a whale watching tour….YES…we saw whales…but of course…my camera was in the cabin…grrrrr…even so, it was still a magical day!!!
Arrrrrrrkkkkk ARRRRKKKKK say the “Fat Rascals” of the harbor…
One of the many fishing vessels in Ucluelet Harbor….no doubt…responsible for all the fresh seafood…yum!
I am KING of this rock….and all these adoring girls are MINE…Just so you know!!
What a nice finish to a simply wonderful day….On to Tofino!
the San Juan Islands, WA…a weekend on Lopez
Wild flowers and driftwood…two of my favorite things.
This was a great spot for agate hunting….the beaches on Lopez for the most part have rugged and rocky and some places very steep terrains. Like some of the other San Juan Islands, Lopez is more suited for campers, hikers, and bikers and less of a ” shopping tourist island”.
Known to all and loved by most on the island….Roy, my good friend’s father, was one of those “special people” I’ve had the privilege to know. An inspiration really, living his dream on the island, restoring antique automobiles and doing what he loved. After his stroke he had to leave his beloved Lopez Island…his many friends from the island ferried across the sound for long visits and from all parts of the country … flooded him with phone calls, cards and gifts. A life well lived…rest in peace Roy…you are deeply missed!
and the ferry heads to Friday Harbor……
Crater Lake National Park
The temperature was 95 degrees as we entered the park….it was awesome to change from shorts, to jeans and a jacket as we climbed higher.
While I am not a religious person…..this was a very spiritual experience……
T
The cloud formations were so dramatic…..as well they should be I suppose…
I think this must be the bluest water I’ve ever seen……
No words can add to this……..
This must be the “sun side” of Wizard Island
Knarly branches how long have you stood here in this spot…what stories could you tell???
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Twilight…….
“The darkness of death….is like the evening twilight; it makes all objects appear more lovely to the dying.” ~Jean Paul
Moments
there are moments which take us to another place…..somewhere between Heaven and Earth occasionally we capture them in photographs
Over the spot of it’s going…….
“A large drop of sun lingered on the horizon and then dripped over and was gone, and the sky was brilliant…… over the spot where it had gone, and a torn cloud, like a bloody rag, hung over the spot of its going. And dusk crept over the sky from the eastern horizon, and darkness crept over the land from the east.”
John Steinbeck
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a special burn……….
“Loneliness adds beauty to life. It puts a special burn on sunsets and makes night air smell better.”~Henry Rollins
