Ripples & Reflections

  "A water surface of glass
    Mirrors the surround
    Stirred by a web foot"     ~ Haiku   eakf 

Reflections            Woodlands photo                   Billy '05

Time spent at a water's edge has to be one of the great pleasures. Seaside, lake or river matters not, as it is the water itself that calls us ~ like mythical sirens ~ to it's beauties & mysteries.
Water provides refreshment, recreation, relaxation (think of waterfalls or crashing wave music here), meditation, and inspiration in our leisure time.
And then there are those COLORS ! Kind of mystical because we all know that as a substance, water is clear (colorless) and yet ~ some kind of magic happens ~ some mix of elements from under it's surface and around it's shores with the addition of Solar power from above ~ and we have the awesome spectrums of jewel tone blues to greens of the Caribbean to the icy Arctic's laser bright whites, silvered grays and deep indigos.
Back to the surface, and viewing it as a canvas for contemplation, we are drawn to the beautiful water patterns made by reflections & movement. Who of us hasn't tried our hand at skipping a stone across a pond just to see the ripples & rings we create? Or watched in fascination how wildlife in & on the water interact with it's surface? Picture the Pelican soaring in V-formation over the ocean and then diving to shatter the crest of a wave or the majestic swan gliding gracefully across the lake, leaving wonderful pattern in it's wake.
So many opportunities for "Reflections" of the contemplative kind are also offered to us at a waters edge. A chance for careful consideration of things around us by gazing straight at a thought,  listening carefully, and noticing the edges & the ripples of ideas and concepts.

                    "Four ducks on a pond
                     A grass-bank beyond
                     A blue sky of spring
                  White clouds on the wing ~
          What a little thing to remember for years.."     ~ William Allingham 

Where is YOUR "Pond"? What kind of "Ripples" do you create?
Take time to sit and wonder.........

The Art of Nature

"Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears" 

Fall sunset - 2005                      The Woodland's , Texas / NJF

                   - Fiddler on the roof


In each of it's moods and through out it's daily & nightly hours, the 'heavens' provide an amazing source of beauty & inspiration ! 
For me, catching a sunrise or sunset (often heading to or home from work) is the big prize of being a skywatcher. No two ever alike ~ each with it's own unique palette & set of scenes.
I will never tire of looking up, day or night, to see what sky show is playing. I also delight in the knowledge that I keep good company with MANY others who have been moved to create by skywatching. ( Think Van Gogh; da Vinci & Michelangelo for a start ) 
As I end week two of this new year ~ I continue to ... Explore ~ Discover ~ Imagine &  Express ... care to join me? 
What are your creative goals & inspirations ? Not sure ?  Just Look Up & Enjoy !! 

A Season's Dawn ...

True to the wonders of Mother Nature , here we are at 6 weeks since groundhog day ! This past weekend we have started to "save daylight" and this coming weekend we celebrate the Vernal equinox ~
that twice a year short period of time when the sun is exactly vertical to earth above a point on the equator.
Four times a year we have a solar herald to a season with 2 solstices and 2 equinoxes.
If the winter solstice signals the birth of the sun, then the spring equinox exclaims the birth of the earth. A resurrection of nature from the deep sleep of winter, where all around life breaks new ground with bulbs, shoots & buds bursting forth. 
Yesterday I spotted my first dragonfly ~ my totem ~and last week I had to shoo a few honey bees away from my classroom door. ( My classroom is in a portable )  Last week, also, a group of my 8Th graders and I did some sketchbooking of signs of spring in the grotto area of our school campus, such a joy!  
So I encourage you to join me and stop, look, and listen to the dawning of spring ~ a time of rebirths in us and around us, and mindfulness of the present.  Seek and celebrate!