I wandered lonely as a cloud
William Wordsworth (1802)
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
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A Cloudless Sky
What is it about
mws
a cloudless sky that
holds my attention?
Maybe it’s the blue
that melts from dark
to baby blue.
Maybe it’s the mystery
surrounding me,
holding me present.
Maybe it’s the sacredness
of nature unfolding
its beauty before me. -
It’s Happening Now
The greatest of human discoveries in the future will be the discovery of human intimacy with all those other modes of being that live with us on this planet, inspire our art and literature, reveal that numinous world whence all things come into being, and with which we exchange the very substance of life.
Thomas BerryA host of thoughts can run through my head while standing before this pre-dawn scene as I worked at capturing the image. This image is a panorama of 7 images using Lightroom Classic. I wanted the whole cloud bank in the image and my 16mm lens wasn’t wide enough so I decided to try a panorama. It works on this blog but not for printing purposes. When I came home and saw this panoramic image on my monitor my thoughts shifted from the craft of the image to the scene itself. It’s easy to look at this open field, even to the distant horizon, and see it as something separate from me. I’m here, it’s there. But that’s just not true. There is a multitude of ecosystems comprising this image and the world. Maybe that’s what makes this scene so appealing and beautiful to me. Because as Berry suggests there are other modes of being: birds of all sorts, insects, animals, the plants and of course, humans. For me the future of discovery Berry is talking about is happening now.
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Thanks Mom…
Perfect does not mean perfect actions in a perfect world, but appropriate actions in an imperfect one.
R.H. BlythTwo years ago today my mother died in her sleep after a couple weeks in hospice. So, of course I’m thinking about her today, as are my sisters and dad. There are moments of sadness but there are those good memories mixed in. I must say I am grateful for the foundation she laid for the person I have become, although I’m far from being perfect. Hopefully I live with appropriate actions and words, seeds she planted. Thanks mom!! I miss you!!
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In harmony with the Tao…
In harmony with the Tao,
Lao Tzu
the sky is clear and spacious,
the earth is solid and full,
all creatures flourish together,
content with the way they are,
endlessly repeating themselves,
endlessly renewed.
when man interferes with the Tao
the sky becomes filthy,
the earth becomes depleted,
the equilibrium crumbles,
creatures become extinct.And to think the Old Sage Laozi or Lao Tzu (Old Master) wrote this around 400 B.C. This translation is from Tao Te Ching: A New English Version by Stephen Mitchell. I believe this to be a juba skipper who was hanging around my ponds, so I
shotphotographed it. But, I don’t believe I interfered with the Tao. -
the gift of silence, … and solitude
When I am liberated by silence,
Thomas Merton
when I am no longer involved in the
measurement of life,
but in the living of it,
I can discover a form of prayer in which
there is effectively, no distraction.
My whole life becomes a prayer.
My whole silence is full of prayer.
The world of silence in which I am immersed
contributes to my prayer.
Let me seek, then, the gift of silence, … and solitude,
where everything I touch is turned into prayer:
where the sky is my prayer,
the birds are my prayer,
the wind in the trees is my prayer,
for God is all in all.Someone introduced me to the above prayer/poem by Thomas Merton this past Saturday. This prayer resonates with me because both silence and prayer have become a major part of my adult life. I am never the same after standing in the silence and solitude before a predawn sky over Dixon Reservoir. I’ve come to believe it is in the silence and solitude I’m more apt to hear the prayers within me that do transform me. And in that transformation I’ve come to ponder the question, What would our world be like if more people listened in the silence and solitude of prayer? Plus, silence and solitude are great teachers at listening. I’d venture to say the world needs more listeners than talkers.
I began writing this post on Sunday afternoon and will schedule its posting for 7:00 am today, which is when they start my surgery. I’ll let you know how that all turns out later.
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Wearing socks tonight…
Red sky at night, sailors’ delight.
Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.The red sky as I left my condo this morning reminds me of the above ancient rhyme often repeated by mariners. Clouds have moved in, temperatures are dropping and snow expected to start about 9:00 pm. May see 3-8 inches and probably wearing socks tonight to bed.