Paul & Don

Lander blood brothers

Big time cancer warriors

Joy reunited

Wyoming farewell

Thank you, Paul Petzoldt,

Visionary mountain man.

NOLS 50 years strong.

Wyoming rendezvous

Lander just ahead

The Winds call, the tribe gathers

Breathe deeply, Inhale.

What Pablo thought

Picasso brain flex
Value in fresh endeavors

All are beginners

Pablo Picasso said that every child is born an artist, the problem is how to remain one once we grow up. Something very primary clicked in me when I grasped my Crayola Oil Pastels on a September 2015 Sunday afternoon. I was at a drawing class at the Iowa Arboretum with Carla, a gentle, competent teacher. Although I sometimes say that I can hardly think without a pen in my hand, I haven’t considered drawing in years. My last art class was probably in junior high. But some part of me remembered enough to not be afraid.

Calling Emily

The rocks called to me,
“Check me out.”
“Pick me up.”
“Take me home.”

I waded awash in cool polishing water
Slipperiness undermining balance in one breath
Counterpoint with solid comfort each tread.

Ledges Canyon a long shallow version
Of Harimau Cave
Half a world away.

Where Emily and I dipped
And glistened and exclaimed over rocks.
Selecting one, tossing another,
Unspoken criteria for the keepers.
We paused to admire the other’s prizes without coveting.
Then dove again for beauty.

We were younger then
By a long shot.
So were the rocks
Albeit only by a planetary blink.

I brought my smooth canyon treasures home
To keep them wet, in my gaze.
Silent souvenirs of solidarity
Outlasting time and geography.

Back to School

Thank you, Mitra Farmand, for your inspiring cartoon from Funny Times, August 2015.

  Back to School

My whole county is bristling, bustling, busy with the business of back to school.

Tomorrow. But this time, not me.
Nope, I quit to spend more time with my dog.

Shall we cruise the canyon?
Paddle the pond?
Investigate arising aromas?
Observe hummingbirds?

All get the wag.

Shall I bless old lesson plan books

enroute to the recycle bin?
Calculate how many readers broke the code,
their gushing radiance enfolding me?
Thank God for enabling me to work
with energy and love?

“If you must,” grins Tobey, “but let’s go!”

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"In an age of distraction nothing could feel more luxurious than paying attention.
And in an age of constant movement nothing is more urgent than sitting still!"

by Pico Iyer, The Art of Stillness