Lens Artists Challenge #236: East Meets West or North Meets South

East Meets West or North Meets South are the two choices Amy offers us this week for the Lens-Artists Challenge. I say “Game on!”

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. In this first set of photos they meet, even though the sunrise is in Arizona, the sunset in France. Sunrise is my time of day, the filling of my heart to meet whatever might come. Sunset allows for thinking back on the day, planning for the next, slowing down for the upcoming night. Sunrise is an inhale; sunset an exhale…sunrise a drawing in; sunset a letting go.

Okonomiyaki is one of the most delicious ways East can meet West, the capital letter East and West! When our younger daughter studied Japanese, we were introduced to this easy to eat but-hard-to-spell-or-pronounce dish which I was thrilled to find in Chicago at Little Goat Diner. I went with a co-worker from the place I was working as well as the owner. We tried each other’s choices and it was 3 of 3 voting for my okonomiyake, which was absolutely fantastic. From the menu:

Okonomiyaki (Pronounced Yum)* Osaka street food with pork belly, scallions, poached egg, kewpie mayo, crunchy tempura & bonito flakes, sweet soy

Okonomiyaki is a Japanese savory pancake containing a variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning “how you like” or “what you like” or “favorite,” and yaki meaning “grill.”  ~ The Spruce Eats

North and south in my life are full of contrasts. My heart’s home lives in the mountains of Wyoming. I’ve described it as if my life were a puzzle missing just one piece. It looks just fine and presents a beautiful picture but when that one little piece is found and popped into place, it’s whole. I can live and live well without going to our Wyoming cabin, but it’s the little missing piece that fulfills me.

“We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us.”
― John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra

Yet our Arizona home, so different, is also filled with beauty, ready to embrace us, albeit with rather prickly arms. To feel at home in such opposite places is truly a blessing

“The extreme clarity of the desert light is equaled by the extreme individuation of desert life forms. Love flowers best in openness and freedom.” ~Edward Abbey

And of course there’s the contrast everyone thinks of when thinking of north and south: cold and heat. “Aren’t you glad to be away from winter?” people say to which I reply, “I actually miss winter.” Snowbirds (of the human sort) fly north in the summer to escape the heat, then return to the south when winter arrives. The seasons in each place are opposite: summer in the south is like winter in the north, the season that people try to avoid. Although I can’t say I’m a fan of 115 degree Fahrenheit temperatures and I do miss the winter, the contrast makes me appreciate each more. What’s not to like about that?

Although all sorts of metaphors could be drawn from these meetings and contrasts, the thought I would like you to take away is that differences are often what make life (and people) interesting. Don’t just stay in your same place, your comfort zone. Find beauty and joy in other, contrasting places and your life will be much richer.

WQW #12: spring with e. e. cummings

This is my favorite poem about spring and even though the Arizona world is rarely mud-luscious or puddle-wonderful, it still evokes spring for me. And I’m going attempt to find e. e. cummings quotes or poems to go with all my photos for Marsha’s WQW challenge for this week.

in just spring

 
in Just-
spring          when the world is mud-
luscious the little
lame balloonman
whistles          far          and wee
and eddieandbill come
running from marbles and
piracies and it's
spring
when the world is puddle-wonderful
the queer
old balloonman whistles
far          and             wee
and bettyandisbel come dancing
from hop-scotch and jump-rope and
it's
spring
and
         the
                  goat-footed
balloonMan          whistles
far
and
wee

Well, I don’t know if this balloonMan is goat-footed (or whether the balloonPerson is either), but it is a balloon even though not the sort e. e. had in mind.

(all the merry little birds are
flying in the floating in the
very spirits singing in 
are winging in the blossoming)  e.e.cummings

(One of the things that drives me mad about WP is trying to get poems to format properly and the only way I know to do it puts them on the grey background. Sorry about that.)

This bird may not be flying right now, but I’m sure it’s quite merry despite the fact that its mother obviously never mentioned that standing on your food while eating it (or at any other time) is not really the thing. But spirits are singing and there’s definitely blossoming going on. 🙂

“Then it was spring; and in spring anything may happen. Absolutely anything.” ~ E. E. Cummings

Spring makes the wall finally warm enough to tempt these two to make their spring debut.

And still the mad magnificent herald Spring assembles beauty from forgetfulness with the wild trump of April:witchery of sound and odour drives the wingless thing man forth in the bright air. ~e. e. cummings

It also drove this winged bee into an ecstasy of headfirst pollen-gathering. Our girls used to sometimes say something caused an ecstasy spasm and that’s exactly what I saw here as he flitted from flower to flower. In fact, spring gives me an ecstasy spas. (Note: going headfirst into food probably qualifies as not being quite the thing either.)

when faces called flowers float out of the ground
and breathing is wishing and wishing is having—
but keeping is downward and doubting and never
—it’s april(yes, april;my darling)it’s spring! 
 ~e.e.cummings from "when faces called flowers"

These trumpet cacti don’t flower often and the flowers begin to wilt by the end of the first day but oh, the glory while they bloom!! We were blessed with three rounds of flowers our first year here. A sighting makes me grab my camera and rush outside immediately. Hurrah for spring!!

WQW #11: St. Patrick’s Day Green

Although green is my favorite color, I didn’t wear it today and I’m happy to report I didn’t get pinched, although I wouldn’t expect to in Aldi or Trader Joe’s. 🙂 We moved here from the Chicago area and today (yesterday as you read this) the river will be run green. We stayed far away from downtown on St. Patrick’s Day as being around huge crowds is bad enough but when alcohol is involved, no thanks. However, Guinness was my entry-level dark beer so I have a fond spot in my heart for it. We did have corned beef and potatoes for dinner sans cabbage because I don’t care for boiled cabbage. Salad and good bread filled in nicely and tomorrow will be even better when the leftover corned beef and potatoes become corned beef hash. So good and I think even better than the separate ingredients the first day.

But green isn’t just for St. Patrick’s, it’s the color of spring, which is often how I think of it having lived in the Midwest for almost my entire life. When my parents used to come from Arizona to visit us in Ohio, they always commented on all the trees and how green everything was. I always felt that was a bit like the relatives who saw you infrequently starting by declaring, “My, how you’ve grown!” What had they expected?

“I just need green. I need to wake up and see grass and squirrels. I don’t want to see skyscrapers.” – Andre Leon Talley

The green I miss is the spring green, the here’s-what-you’ve-been-waiting-for green, a green that at its most beautiful serves as a background to spring’s wildflowers…

…or blossoms higher in the spring air.

“Nature in her green, tranquil woods heals and soothes all afflictions.” – John Muir

In South Dakota near the Badlands, sometimes green is what draws your eyes.

“Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps the singing bird will come.” – Lois Lowry

In the desert, green is harder to find and better protected but much appreciated when seen.

“Every green natural place we save saves a fragment of our sanity and gives us a little more hope that we have a future.” – Wallace Stegner

And sometimes, well, it’s all about the green.

“leaves glow under
a haze of sunlight,
and hang
still on a windless
day”
― Bremer Acosta, Cosmos in a Tree

WQW #11: St. Patrick’s Day Green

Become part of the silence

It’s been a beautiful month of blacks and greys, but how can we already be in the last month of the year? I’m excited to be putting up Christmas decorations and as we have a smallish artificial tree that is decorated mostly with bird ornaments and other nature items, it seems appropriate to end this month’s theme with a bird photo.

“In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence.”
― Robert Lynd

“Birds chirping around you is a beautiful realisation that life is incredibly good. Let this sound be a gentle break in your routine.”
― Hiral Nagda

Life in Colour: black/grey

Revolutionary orange

The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution. ~Paul Cezanne

What did the carrot say to the wheat? Lettuce rest, I’m feeling beet. ~Shel Silverstein

Life in Colour: orange

PastSquares: kinda (kinda quirky)

Lens-Artists Challenge #171 – Weird and Wonderful

There’s nothing like a good weird photo and Ann-Christine has asked us to delve into the weird and wonderful this week. Let’s start by an adult version of Through the Looking Glass. This is Through the Wine Glass.

“Weirdism is definitely the cornerstone of many an artist’s career.”
― E.A. Bucchianeri, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly

Although this isn’t quite in focus, it’s one of my weirder experiences and photos, created when I threw out an old head for an electric toothbrush and the magnet in the bottom stuck to the side of my metal wastebasket. What a weirdly hilarious moment!

“Stuff that would be weird in the bright light of day just wasn’t so much once you passed a certain hour.”
― Sarah Dessen, Along for the Ride

Nature can give us some interestingly weird “things.”

“I’d rather be a little weird than all boring.”
― Rebecca McKinsey

There’s just something about this photo that I like, whether in the original, almost abstract form on the left or when slightly saturated on the right. It’s as if these two pieces of wood are imitating each other in the river.

And then there are the things I just see while out walking. 🙂

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #169: The Ordinary

The Lens-Artist challenge this week celebrates the ordinary . But what is ordinary? I think this quote typifies my attitude to what is or isn’t ordinary. But at the end, you’ll find one that fits my aim for my photography.

“Extraordinary magic is woven through ordinary life. Look around!”
― Amy Leigh Mercree

Look down. Even death can be beautiful.

Look forward.

Looks closer.

Look in unexpected places.

Look through a vase.

“Almost nothing need be said when you have eyes.”
― Tarjei Vesaas, The Boat in the Evening

Lens-Artists #155 – (White) On the Water

This week’s Lens-Artists Challenge by John at Journeys with Johnbo coincides with the last weekend for “white” as the theme for Life In Colour (yes, I know Jude doesn’t know how to spell “color” but you’ll have to excuse her–she’s British.) So here are three examples not only of white but also of white reflections on water, all the more for your time. I wish you all a wonderful weekend. I’ll be watching stage 8 of this year’s wild and crazy Tour de France (but not until the replay, as it starts at about 4 am here.)

“Water is the driving force in nature.”
― Leonardo da Vinci

We’ll start with tiptoeing on water while creating a reflection…

“Praised be my Lord, for our sister water.” St. Francis of Assisi

…floating on the water while reflecting, and finally…

And just because:

“It seems rummy that water should be so much wetter when you go into it with your clothes on than when you’re just bathing, but take it from me that it is.”
― P.G. Wodehouse, The Inimitable Jeeves

…synchronized swimming (and diving and eating) while reflecting on water.

And never forget this classic poem and a second version:

A Wonderful Bird Is The Pelican

By Dixon Lanier Merritt

A wonderful bird is the pelican,
His bill will hold more than his belican,
He can take in his beak
Enough food for a week
But I’m damned if I see how the helican!

Another version:

A funny old bird is a pelican.
His beak can hold more than his belican.
Food for a week
He can hold in his beak,
But I don’t know how the helican.

Source: https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/a-wonderful-bird-is-the-pelican-by-dixon-lanier-merritt

Thursday doors…tiny doors 2

As promised, here’s another set of the tiny doors displayed in the yard of a house in Redondo Beach, California. There was a regular little village all along the yard next to the sidewalk.

“Be an opener of doors”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Bonus! Two doors in one shot.

“Don’t be fooled by the appearance of the doors! You can meet extraordinary beauties behind a shabby door and a wonderful door can be opened to a dump!”
~Mehmet Murat ildan

“Are all these books doors?’
‘A book is always a door.”
― Melissa Albert, The Night Country

for Thursday Doors 6.17.21

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #148 – Spots and Dots

Ann-Christine has set us the task today of find spots and dots, and shares three examples from the amazing work of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, whose ‘Infinity Mirror Room’ Installation we saw at the WNDR Museum in Chicago. As we only had a minute in the room, you can understand my slightly demented look as I strove to both enjoy and photograph what was around me. You know how cool it is when you get several mirrors just right to appear to go on forever? Multiply that by a factor of a million and you might be able to imagine this.

My life is a dot lost among thousands of other dots.
— Yayoi Kusama

But let your eyes rest, look at some other examples and enjoy some random dot quotes.

Bird spots and dots and not of the droppings sort…

Purpose is the thread that connects the dots to everything you do that leads you to an extraordinary life.
— Oprah Winfrey

Prickly desert spots and dots…

Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well worn path. ~Steve Jobs

Frozen spots and dots…

Grandchildren are the dots that connect the lines from generation to generation. ~Lois Wyse

And at the other temperature extreme, some almost-boiling spots and dots.

I don’t think Seurat would have been aware of the dots – he would have been aware of what he was trying to do. The dots were an instrument.
— Frank Auerbach

Happy mid-May! I hope wherever you are that you’ve gotten at least one vaccination shot and are able to spend time with friends and family in person.