Flowers and winter light for Martin Luther King Day 2020

"... On February 22, Mrs. King and I journeyed down to a city in India called Trivandrum. Then we went from Trivandrum down to a point known as Cape Comorin. This is where the mass of India ends and the vast rolling waters of the ocean have their beginning. It is one of the most beautiful parts of all the world. Three great bodies of water meet together in all of their majestic splendor: the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, and the Indian Ocean.

I remember how we went out there and looked at the big old rocks, a sight that was truly incredible, out into the waters, out into the ocean. Seated on a huge rock that slightly protruded into the ocean, we were enthralled by the vastness of the ocean and its terrifying immensities. We looked at the waves of those great bodies of water as they unfolded in almost rhythmic suspension. As the waves crashed against the base of the rock on which we were seated, an oceanic music brought sweetness to the ear. To the west we saw the magnificent sun, a red cosmic ball of fire, appear to sink into the very ocean itself. Just as it was almost lost from sight, Coretta touched me and said, "Look, Martin, isn't that beautiful!" I looked around and saw the moon, another ball of scintillating beauty. As the sun appeared to be sinking into the ocean, the moon appeared to be rising from the ocean. When the sun finally passed completely beyond sight, darkness engulfed the earth, but in the east the radiant light of the rising moon shone supreme ..."

*

For those who expressed interest in David Riley's blog last February, a friend of his left a comment today letting us know that The Endless Further, which was not accessible after David's death, is now available,

A peaceful moment on a snowy day last week, with Oboe sleeping in her fleece bed:

Forever / Leonard said so

"... there are children in the morning / They are leaning out for love and they will lean that way forever ..." 

(Leonard Cohen)

This morning when I got up at 4 a.m., thinking of the children of the world near and far, I saw that the Abutilon bud I had been watching this past week had opened during the night. 

Late August light and life and a black and white and grey photo

A dear friend asked if she could take a photo of me, along with taking individual photos of other good friends who had gotten together early last Saturday morning.  I said that I always felt awkward when a camera was pointed at me, but that I was trying to get over that.  She suggested that I turn to the left.  Because this is one of the few photos ever taken of me that I like, I suspect that she photoshopped it.  

May

A birthday in May



Bob Dylan Always Had the Right Words to Say Corrina Corrina, Lay down your weary tune When you gonna wake up, Step it up & go Talkin WWIII blues, No time to think Everything is broken, Disease of conceit but Chimes of freedom, Meet me in the morning I shall be released, Cause the times they are a changin As I went out one morning, Tangled up in blue Sign on the window, Blowin in the wind Quit your low down ways, Death is not the end I'll remember you, When the ship comes in Chorus With God on our side, A hard rains a-gonna fall Thunder on the mountain, Like a rolling stone The levee's gonna break, Gotta travel on The gates of eden, Shelter from the storm chorus All along the watchtower, Masters of war Day of the locusts, When the deal goes down Not dark yet, Changing of the guards Paths of victory, Where teardrops fall Bob Dylans blues, Bob Dylans dream I'll keep it with mine, when I paint my masterpiece

(Collage of Bob Dylan song titles by Adelle The Great)

Gifts in Early August: Widow's Tears / Abutilon / Streptocarpus

Grief surprised me today, leaking from some old failing seam deep underground.  (Click to read what Lori wrote)

On August 17, I will have been self-employed for a year as a medical transcription editor, something I thought I was not capable of doing. The self-employed part, that is. The painting above, "Typists," is by Jacob Lawrence from his series on workers.  I would not have been able to make a living working on a typewriter as women did in the past, including my own mother.  I am not a skilled typist.  As a high school student, I received a D in typing, although I did well in all my other classes.  Computers have allowed me to make mistakes all day long and still manage to earn a living.  Life is full of surprises.  As I work to support myself, these beautiful flowers bloom at my side.  I'm a late bloomer, and I believe in the Love that moves the sun and other stars.

Inside Looking Out / Outside Looking In / Early Morning Reflection

It was still fairly dark outside. I was in my kitchen and noticed something moving to my right. It was my reflection in the window.

Frosty Morning and Flowering Maple (Abutilon) / The Last Day Of 2015

At 5:45 this morning when I went out on my porch, the temperature had dropped to almost 20 degrees, and the sky was clear.  High and to the south, I could see the moon and Jupiter.  The Big Dipper was overhead.  Venus was just above the hills.  

"January Stars":