For the Birds

In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence.

Robert Wilson Lynd

seagulls vying for a spot on the top of a lifeguard tower

A mockingbird between songs

Crow trying to out-sing the wind

Morning Coffee

Above me

The mourning dove sings,

the gulls cry out,

the mockingbird proudly

practices drills -

all of them

Unbothered by the disapproving

Clucks and coos of pigeons

Circling on the pavement below .

The herons mind their

Business, not making a sound

Or even acknowledging me

As an egret with a neck so thin

It can barely support his head

Picks his way silently

through the tall grass

And oh- here comes the crow;

my familiar friend

Calling on the wind

reminding me

everywhere i go

I am still home

Night heron watching the water at the marina

Great blue heron on top of the world

a tense green heron fishing

At the edge of the ocean, a crow walked beside me for awhile

A great egret gathering food from the tall grass in the park

Crow flying off a lifeguard tower

The sound of birds stops the noise in my mind.

Carly Simon

Coming from the quiet snowy retreat of my little house in Michigan to bright and noisy Miami Beach was a little bit of a shock to my system. I woke up the entire first week not knowing where I was. But after the initial adjustment, I found my routine here again and more importantly, where to go to be quiet and talk to the birds over morning coffee.

Thank you so much for being here! I will see you soon!

Seagulls watching sunrise

December Trails

If not for reverence, if not for wonder, if not for love, why have we come here?

Raffi

Through the looking glass

A symmetry of turtles

(Tyler State Park, Texas)

a long dock leads

to an imaginary lake

Giants in ballroom dresses

Loom over the park

Lake Bistineau, Louisiana

Blue hour on the bayou

a great beauty in the distance

a small one close at hand

stillness reigns

(Davis Bayou Region, Gulf Islands National Seashore)

Sitting quietly, doing nothing, Spring comes, and the grass grows, by itself.

Matsuo Basho

I hope you all had wonderful holidays! I’ll keep this short so you (and I) can get back to your year end celebrations.

Thank you so much for being here. See you again soon!

seagulls and pelicans reclaim a hurricane battered pier

Summer's Ghost

We know that in September, we will wander through the warm winds of summer’s wreckage. We will welcome summer’s ghost.

Henry Rollins

It comes

Floating,

Flying,

Fading,

Furling:

flowering.

It comes.

September: it was the most beautiful of words, he’d always felt, evoking orange-flowers, swallows, and regret.

Alexander Theroux

This September so sweet and summery, is nature’s sleight of hand - but fall is still showing signs.

I got a little off-schedule with this, preparing for my first book binding workshop, which was yesterday (Saturday, September 28).

I will be back twice in October. That may become my normal schedule- 2 Fridays a month.

Thank you so much for being here!

Harvest Super Moon