Photo Journal

Walking Into Winter

This is the solstice, the still point of the sun, its cusp and midnight, the year's threshold and unlocking, where the past lets go of and becomes the future; the place of caught breath.

Margaret Atwood

Winter Sun

Beneath heavy clouds

blazing brilliant light it dropped

then fell out of sight

Saturday -a beautiful expanse of dune grass blew gently in the wind. (Saugatuck Dunes)

Sunday over ripe berries hung from a bare branch…but those looked like tiny buds below them.

Monday, a dark-eyed Junco sat still for a moment looking right at the camera

Tuesday, a neighbors Hydrangeas; blossoms dried, faded and gone to seed…delicate as paper

Wednesday in the garden, a dried up rhododendron blossom that Dr. Seuss could have drawn.

And on the beach, a pair of pigeon’s prints in the sand by Lake Michigan - as if he just stood there, looking over the water and then flew off

Today - Winter Solstice, the sun was muted by cloud cover but still came through - looking more like the moon.

Movement is good for the body. Stillness is good for the mind.

Sakyong Mipham

This is a time of year that often gets me down, so I did a lot of walking and looking for little signs of light and life. A little color, a little sun, some flowering plants with seeds and buds waiting for spring, a couple of footprints in the sand, the stars in the morning, the cold crisp air and crunchy frost-covered grass under my feet - all these things get me outside of my mind as well as my house and those are both good things. And today the days begin to grow longer again! Happy winter solstice- and Merry Christmas if you celebrate!

Thank you so much for being here! I will see you next week!

The morning sky on the shortest day. Within the darkness, there is the promise of light to come.

Illumination

All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow.

Leo Tolstoy

Catch

On the beach one morning

I am wallowing in

darkness. It is

Vast and heavy

and threatens to swallow me-

until a golden retriever

runs up and rolls in it.

I laugh,

forgetting,

then stop to watch the sun rise

with her owner

in silence.

Moons and years pass by and are gone forever, but a beautiful moment shimmers through life a ray of light.” – Franz Grillparzer

Continuum

Light falls on the edges,

Dances on water.

illuminates the moon,

and makes the city shine.

It creates dark silhouettes,

and kisses crows’ wings

It casts warm shadows over everything.

I’m reading a book called Zen Camera, by David Ulrich. One of the early practices is about observing light, so this post is inspired by that.

Thank you for being here!