Going Home again

Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.

Terry Pratchett

an unexplained ruin in Joshua Tree

my last desert hike

I stumbled on a ruin

crumbling into dust

and realized I was ready to go home

home again - water everywhere

home where water flows freely

pussy willow blossoming

where spring blossoms riot - bursting through their skins

Allium breaking through

Narcissus looking down

where narcissus is already in full bloom

Ferns unfurling

where the forest floor fills with ferns

single-minded squirrel

where squirrels sneak up to steal suet

living in the land of tulips

where the silky tulips glisten

swimming silently by

and silent mallards swim

lily of the valley

where lily of the valley is wet with dew

solitary tree on the edge of the dunes, overlooking the channel

and a single tree keeps vigil over the grassy dune.

Where we love is home - home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

I loved the magic of Joshua Tree, but I am so happy to be back home. I am grateful that you are here with me.

Celebrating a Year with Wally - A Toy Walrus

The most simple things can bring the most happiness.

Izabella Scorupco

January 13, 2023 - Wally on his own Tiny Planet- Ferndale, Michigan

January 13, 2023

This past week, while I was back in Michigan, I decided to play around with my camera, and my toy Walrus, Wally. I found him almost exactly a year ago at a rest area in Florida while on a road trip. I’ve been taking him everywhere since then. He’s very photogenic. There’s something oddly soulful in his expression. I hope the pictures make you smile; I had fun taking them.

January 14, 2023 - Wally finds an ice cave - Fennville, Michigan

January 14, 2023. The lake does magical things in winter - like this little ice cave which I imagine was created when water filled with sand flowed over the rock and somehow froze in a hollow shell. Later, when it got warmer, some icicles formed. It was almost as if it was custom made for Wally.

January 15, 2023 - Resting on the frozen driftwood

January 15, 2023. Posed Wally on a dark piece of driftwood covered in ice at the edge of Lake Michigan. This cold weather is just right for a Walrus. He’s in his element.

January 15, 2023 - Looking out from a soft moss bed - Pier Cove, Michigan

January 15, 2023. Took Wally on my long run to the Pier Cove Trail. I let him take a break in the soft moss by the edge of the trail mid-run. It turned out to be a beautiful sunny winter day.

January 15, 2023 - Wally gazing wistfully over the lake at sunset.

January 15, 2023. The perfect end to a beautiful sunny January day. Tired and happy, I took Wally down to watch the sunset.

January 16, 2023 - Wally reflecting on the shore of Lake Michigan.

January 17, 2023. Wally and me. Look at those eyes.

Here’s one from last year - not long after I found him. Wally stopping to smell the roses on Miami Beach. I’m thinking about doing an entire book of his adventures. Just for fun.

The true object of all human life is play. Earth is a task garden; heaven is a playground.

Gilbert K. Chesterton

Mind the Rain

Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.

Langston Hughes

10/26/22 - Rain clinging to a limb, reflecting the trees.

The tree in autumn

I feel

cold water

sliding

over my bare skin,

clinging briefly

to my outstretched limbs,

then falling -

soaking the earth

beneath me.

Nourishing

my roots.

I drink

deeply,

drunkenly,

falling asleep.

10/26/22 - Bare trees held by a raindrop.

All winter long

I rest,

naked and cold -

dreaming

of beautiful green garments

i will wear

in spring.

10/26/22 Clinging

The evergreen clings to the raindrops in its needles.

10/17/22 - Rain falling in the stream

Rain is grace; rain is the sky descending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life.

John Updike

10/26/22 - Acorn Cap

If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.

Loren Eiseley

I stopped for the sky this morning. It was raining but the sun was shining in the east and the light was golden. Parked my car on the shoulder. to look and get a picture. The wet pavement reflected the whole sky - doubling the magic.

When I turned back to get in my truck - to the west - this is what I saw: