A Pile of Rocks

Next to love, balance is the most important thing.

John Wooden

I named my rock piles…

The Light Spirit

with a big-hearted base.

The Little Universe

Light and dark

sun and moon

sand, stone and feather.

The Bird Bath

a little white bird

found a place to land

and a bath

to cool in

The Running Man…

it’s precarious,

running.

one foot touching down,

one mid-air,

one arm forward,

one back.

Gravity and momentum

briefly

in balance

propelling you

forward

through space.

Everything changes, even stone.

Claude Monet

Balancing rocks, and finding rock balances, or cairns, of others is one of the pleasures of living near a rocky beach. Last month, while visiting Mackinac Island, I found a book called The Rock Balancer’s Guide by Travis Ruskus. It’s a meditative approach to rock balancing. I’m just learning. Some of the stones I find here, on Lake Michigan, called lightning stones (or Septarian), often appear to have images of familiar things etched into their surfaces. I love finding them and using them in a stack. It makes each rock pile like an ephemeral message from me to the universe. And great fun. You should try it!

There are a couple of updates to my schedule I wanted to share. Firstly, I'll be scaling back my blogging to once a month during the summer to dedicate time to updating my website galleries, creating prints for my physical gallery, and fulfilling commitments to others.

Secondly, for anyone near Saugatuck, Michigan, I'm organizing a one-day bookbinding workshop in late September 2024. More details to come.

I will see you again on July 19, and on the third Friday of every month through the end of October. Thank you so much for being here.

Deer’s Leap

Sunrise

Morning is when I am awake and there is a dawn in me.

Henry David Thoreau

gorgonian branches reaching for sunlight

the sun rises dripping from the ocean

a stranded man-o-war dressed in blue and gold

humans interact with the elements in beautiful and curious ways (man standing on a stack of beach loungers, flying a drone)

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread.

John Muir

Rising before dawn

I hear morning calling me-

with a seagull’s voice.

One thing I really love about being in Miami is going down to the ocean to watch the sun rise every day. This week the sky has been spectacular. I hesitate to share sunrise photos sometimes, because someone once told me sunrise/sunset photos are cliches. So - here’s to celebrating a beautiful cliche. Hope you can get out to see one in person wherever you are.

Thank you so much for being here. See you next week!

A great egret spreads his wings in the park. I wonder if he knows how beautiful he is. Time to fly.

Seagulls at Sunrise - a pictorial haiku

The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it.

Richard Bach

Two lonely seagulls

landing at sunrise, stand, gazing-

and find - each other.

In the end there is no desire so deep as the simple desire for companionship.

Graham Greene

I saw one seagull standing alone first and took out my camera, liking the way the sun was illuminating his feathers. Then another one approached and began grooming itself. They both lifted their heads, turned in the same direction, and walked off together. It was an unexpectedly sweet moment, only caught because my camera was in continuous shooting mode. I use that a lot when I’m trying to capture animals, because unexpected things do happen, and I would hate to miss it just because I’m not fast enough to take the next few shots manually. Even if you aren’t taking a picture, it can be fun to watch individual animals for more than just a moment. Sometimes they do surprising things.

I have decided to continue blogging regularly - some may be a little shorter, but I really enjoy connecting with you this way, so I’m sticking with it. Thank you so much for being here. I will see you next week!