December 21, 2014

December 21, 2014

   All photos are mine unless otherwise noted.

   To see images full screen click on any photo.

   I want to open with a Christmas card from Denny Dodge. a friend here in Maine. It is a  video sequence with Winter, birds and animals as the stars of a most beautiful tribute to the season. 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/fdSVp9GFeS4  

    Thank you Denny for the link.

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      This Christmas day I will be in the Palliative Care Unit at the Bangor hospital which is a part of service I do on the major holidays whenever it is feasible. I volunteer there to spend time with patients and their loved ones and families, offering whatever I can to be useful in their times of distress and worry.   Palliative Care focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms, pain, and stress of a serious illness—whatever the diagnosis. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and their families and or partners. It is work I have been doing here in Maine for the past nine years and it is a necessary part of my week all year round to spend a day there.

   This week the first two images are in effect cards for the holiday season from Acadia National Park here in Maine. They are made from changes I made to photos I took recently.

          Happy Holidays from our friends the trees, all lit up for the season.              

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Thirty-six inches of snow so far this Winter.

When the internal storms of life blow,

it is good advice to slow down,

evaluate the road conditions of the day at hand

and keep putting one foot in front of the other. 

So, every month another fifty pound bag of sunflower chips

arrives on its journey to the stomachs of the feeder birds

just outside the patio door.

Squirrels come with alarming frequency to feed -

a never ending pilgrimage to our back yard. 

No one is turned away.

Ever.

Such also is the way of God' love for us -

The best of teachings.

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In the almost fifty thousand acres of Acadia Park

a lone phone waits to relay messages -

Perhaps a cry for the end of snow,

or perhaps a call of gratitude for the season.

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Two photos of Eagle Lake.

Winter in Acadia.

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Another day ends, frozen for a few more months 

before the thaw arriving every year releases 

the snow and ice holding onto the land. 

Each sunset is a promise that this will happen,

God's generosity to us all -

events that happen only on God's time frame.

Patience is the lesson here. 

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Some humor: 

   Calvin, of Calvin and Hobbs, is busy outdoors making the snow figures we may have dreamed of creating in our own childhood. Like all radical artists he is under- appreciated for his work.  

Peace until next posting,

           Bill Lagerstrom

December 6, 2014

December 6, 2014

    All images are mine unless otherwise noted.

    To see photos full screen click on any image.

    Krista Tippett is an interviewer of remarkable people on many topics attached to spirituality and belief. She has been on PBS since 2001 and on her website every show in the last thirteen years is available for listening, or download to hear at a future time. I enthusiastically recommend taking a look and hearing whatever interests you - this is a wonderful offering of ideas both good, and sometimes controversial. 

    Here is the link: http://onbeing.org/programs/latest

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   Winter has finally settled in, which is to say I have finally accepted that it is Winter. We have had almost thirty inches of snow and an ice storm to boot here in Down East Maine. Everyone who forecasts the weather including the NOAA have said that we are in for a mild Winter - all except the Farmers Almanac who said this will be a tough season - one of the most severe. Who can say that they are right as after looking on the internet I did not find any accurate proof or disproof, only a bunch of naysayers who said not to trust their predictions without offering anything other than their opinion. In the end it will be what it will be but I do like the idea of the almanac as something that influenced the planting of Spring crops for a few centuries, and may be reliable overall. 

    This week's offerings are of Winter as seen this past week along with a few meanderings into the mystical side of the Season. Everything is somehow a metaphor which applies to probably all images ever produced. This is just a thought as I sense there is more truth in the statement than anything else. 

Fall ended last week in Acadia.

It just said enough, and offered a goodbye -

The wind picked up and the temperature dropped,

as I took one last photo of the Season.

When ice covers everything here and snow falls and falls,

this will help memory until I can go outdoors again

without layers, without a warm hat .

Fall just up and quit!

Can you imagine? 

Next came the snow,

perhaps to cover up the sins of the world.

A showing of the tranquility of white woods and fields.

as God tries constantly to delight us -

A wonder-filled Gift.

Late for lunch

Looking under the ice beauty is still to be found,

just beneath the surface life continues to be bold -

keeping its loveliness safe until the thaw,

even if Winter becomes another ice age.

This is the inward look, finding ourselves to be alive,

in spite of what the manufactured crisis oriented world 

throws at us with the endless barrage of news and ads -

seeming to say, "Now that you feel bad, go buy something."

Beauty was planted in everyone by a Loving God 

who remembers us, and wants us to be happy.

It is us who throw away the Gifts

and embrace the negative.

The trumpets of God's Light announce the Good News of another day.

Let us rejoice and be glad in it no matter the weather.

Even in the dimmest of days, 

a little color can be found.

This does require searching outdoors,

away from the electronic screens 

that want to rule our life.  

   The following photos taken on the grayest day I have seen in awhile still have a bit of color somewhere, a ray of hope, even in air speaking of depression and the loneliness of Winter. Look closely.

                                                                  Grey the Day

Gray the day, all the year is cold,

Across the empty land the swallows' cry

Marks the south flown spring. Naught is bowled

Save winter, in the sky.

O sorry earth, when this bleak bitter sleep

Stirs and turns and time once more is green,

In empty path and lane and grass will creep

With none to tread it clean.

April and May and June, and all the dearth

Of heart to green it for, to hurt and wake;

What good is budding, gray November earth?

No need to break your sleep for greening's sake.

The hushed plaint of wind in stricken trees

Shivers the grass in path and lane

And Grief and Time are tideless  golden seas.

                                                                      William Faulkner

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Some humor:

      

     Peace until next week,

                      Bill Lagerstrom 

November 29, 2014

November 29, 2014

    All photos are mine unless otherwise noted.

   To see images full screen click on any photo.

      Cliff Browder who does a wonderful blog about goings on in New York City, past and present, has for the past two weeks been writing on small shops in the Village, and stores around a few environs in Manhattan. Because of his blogs I revisited my trip early last November to New York, and decided to show a few images I took after visiting cliff and my brother where they live just off Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village. They were taken at night and I was surprised at the overall darkness of the street and the lack of people on the sidewalks at 8 o'clock that night. Not the busyness I remember when I lived in the Village.

   The first eight photos are of shops on Bleecker Street, the next two were taken on Eighth Avenue just around the corner and are of one of the many small food stores found everywhere in New York, and a diner a few feet away. 

    There is a sort of loneliness in the photos for me, which is not the New York that I remember when I lived there. An absence now of nine years and living in Maine for that time has changed my perspective, how I view the streets of Manhattan. I remember bright lights and much neon as I was for a long time very much a part of that city. 

   A few of these photos were on this blog last year which is why they may seem familiar.

   So, please read the well written blog by Cliff Browder, well worth the time spent. He is an exceptional and gifted writer and author. 

                                     http://cbrowder.blogspot.com/

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   A lot of my years in NYC revolved around Jazz, both live and recorded. The music will evoke memories for probably the rest of my life - not necessarily about New York but about the vibrancy of life and the joy of living. It is a music that is at once deeply improvisational and requires listening on a deeper level to musicians who allow what comes from their heart and soul to surface through their instruments. Real present moment stuff, and perhaps a spirituality in its own right. God creates in many ways and this music form always has been about creating what is longing to reveal itself. 

   Here is a selection from an album circa 1958 called 'Moanin' by Art Blakey, the great drummer, and his group - The Jazz Messengers - who changed the face of Jazz many times over. The tune is "Along Came Betty."

  Click here:  https://app.box.com/s/664pqzxu91fimvrd318i

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Reflections,

Pick a mirror, view and remember

what is because of what was.

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A few images without comment.

"Girl In Red"

A favorite photo.

(Left click to enlarge.)

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Two shots taken on Eighth Avenue south of 14th. St. 

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Remembering New York,

vibrant and alive -

an exciting place to live in while young enough

to enjoy the rush of life unfolding 

in a myriad of different ways.

Today I am grateful for Maine and the chance

to put life in perspective,

and the opportunity to find a creative outlet

in an environment that suits me well

at this stage of life.

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Some humor:

    Here in this area of Maine we have had 28-30 inches of show in the last two weeks. Some people are trying to find where the bears are hibernating. 

   Peace,    Bill Lagerstrom

November 15, 2014

November 15, 2014

   All photographs are mine unless otherwise noted.

   To see images full screen click on any photo.

   I'm back from my eight day retreat at the Campion Renewal Center, a Jesuit house in Weston Mass. The retreat was in silence which offers time away from distractions and the agendas of others that bombard us non-stop on a daily basis. My only concession to the gods of electronics was my phone and a portable CD player. The phone doubled as a clock and the CD player gave me Joss Ackland reading C.S. Lewis' book The Screwtape Letters. I would listen to this great actor read instructions on how to use a toaster if that were all I could find. I highly recommend the book, a remarkable example of great writing by a master of the craft. 

   Here are the first two tracks of The Screwtape Letters from the CD's:

   Introduction:  https://app.box.com/s/95httq0k4nizhjzkne2w

   The first letter: https://app.box.com/s/5o2q1ulgkfh6r5tjt33h

     The images below are captioned with a few of the insights I received during the retreat. I found myself paying great attention to my surroundings and entering into a place what I will call "contemplative photography" which asked me to slow down and click the shutter with care. This is an experience of the present moment enjoyed first and captured second. I don't think the images reflect this in the way that I saw what I was looking at with a slowed down viewing of the scene. The important thing for me was continuing to "see" with both the eyes of the head and the heart first, then if applicable with technique to capture something of what is in front of me. Mostly technique is an automatic as a lot has been learned over the years making the camera a tool to be used and not the purpose behind "getting the picture." It is easy to get swallowed up in the equipment and miss the events that are presented for our enjoyment. 
    
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The day before leaving for retreat we had a foot of snow here in Maine. 

- The scene outside where we live -

In contrast Weston Mass. was still in fall foliage.

First admire the stained glass windows in a church,

wonderful creations by master artisans;

then leaving, go into the woods 

to see the "windows" offered by God's creative hands. 

Campion Retreat House

   

    The main chapel on the left and one of three wings on the right which has the rooms for retreatants. The other two wings house the Jesuit community and the infirmary for the aging Jesuit population who require full time care. A very big house.

All the prayers we practice are apprenticeship.

The big prayer is our life ...

The effective, useful prayer is how we live our life.

( A statue of Mary at the Cross )

"A grain of wheat must die to grow - "

Dead to the world but living in God,
or
Living in the world and dead to God.
The choice is ours.

Those who have gone before, giants all ...

Jesuits who lived their lives in the service to others, 

nameless in death, as it is best -

memory of their work is everywhere.

We are not servants of God,

We are friends of God.

Those who say that we are worms, sinners in God's eyes,

try to make us servants to their ideology  -

burdening us with their  scripts.

Love speaks with clarity and lightness.

"A drop of water on a sponge."

Rarely more.

Take all the stumbling blocks life throws in our path,

lock them up, bind them to themselves,

the company of demons belong in the company of their peers. 

Deep in our hearts 

The Light of Heaven is shinning

Upon a soundless sea

Without a shore.

There are stairs leading to the heart's door ...

Descend, go within, find life's Source,

the Journey of a lifetime well taken.

Birds in flight practice reaching for the heavens,

where God implores them to try harder as they are almost there. 

 practice now so when we arrive at the 'Golden Gates,'

we will already know how to fly with the angels.

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Bar Tailed Godwits, shorebirds of remarkable endurance,

none-the-less are risk takers of the highest order;

finished with nesting in Western Alaska they take off,

seven thousand miles across the Pacific Ocean to New Zealand,

seeking food and a warmer climate,

they make the trip in one jump.

"Nice." you say,

but did you know they can't swim?

A lesson for us all.

Once turning away from the world's shores,

the process of flight and right direction cannot be stopped -

there is no turning back, no return ticket,

following the Spirit to Home is the traveling.

Spiritual food is the necessity for this trip without a net,

which is by its nature is not the last distance to travel -

it is only the next stage of our life.

The Godwits do this round trip for thirty or more years,

Another lesson for us all. 

Arrival at the final destination,

is the final destination for this time here.

A path is a door leading to the many rooms of the heart.

When the bridge is there waiting for our footsteps,

take it, cross over and continue walking. 

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A little humor:

   Peace until we meet again,

                       Bill Lagerstrom

November 3, 2014

November 3, 2014

    All photos are mine unless otherwise noted.

    To see images full screen click on any photo.

    I will be on an eight day retreat in Weston Massachusetts next week so I am putting out another post before I go into silence. 

    I have been pondering creativity quite a lot lately as so much of what I see in people who are involved in painting, writing, photography, is that work rather than enjoyment seems to be the criteria for their endeavors. 

    The sale of creativity can be found in so many of the lures put out by some who make a living promising the world if you buy their book, online course, etc., etc., etc.

    "You will paint like an artist!"
    "Make money from your writing! Learn how here!"
    "Take pictures like a professional!"

    I am sure that a lot of the advice given is valuable, my objection is the hype and false promises as a sales technique utilized seemingly everywhere just to sell something. It is one thing, a very basic thing, which is to learn and develop expertise in what we do to express our creative nature, but if the goal is perfection or someone else's viewpoint that we should aspire to, enjoyment of the craft we are drawn to goes by the wayside. 

   All this to say that I enjoy what I do with my photography. I have learned a great deal about the technical side of digital imaging and will continue to do so, but each new technique I explore needs to have some use for what I am trying to express or I tuck it away for possible a future image where it may work with what I am looking for then. 

    Enough words for now. The images below were taken a few days ago here in the Bangor area of Maine. I offer them as only my exploration into creativity which I believe comes from my interior self - perhaps an expression of something of God's creative nature as it is trying to express what God loves to do most, create. God uses whatever material is available and we are some of the colors on Her/His palette. How to let that process free is learn something of technique and to work with the tools we have at our hands. Alexander Calder who delighted the world with his mobiles took only a ball of wire and snips to the campuses he was invited to speak at. With these two tools he made caricatures of those who came to hear him and surprised all with what could be created with just a few "brushes." 

(From the Net)

    We break the "rules" after we learn and practice techniques that offer the freedom to step outside other peoples boxes - their viewpoint is not our view of what we try to put together. Still, I believe their tools are always worth exploring until we put together our own toolbox. 

   Here is a short talk by Mark Nepo about connecting to our inner self. A highly recommended listen:  Right click here:

                  https://app.box.com/s/thvquqbnbk60x13jev6d

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Lee looked behind, yelled, "Holy cow!"  and we saw this.

Taken at the marsh, Bangor City Park.

Someone said that clouds rising get their lift from prayers ascending

from trees expressing gratitude for the life they have been given.

 "Autumn's Roses"

The last reminder of flowers this year,

and the promise of new blooms next year.

Nature's Mobile

Walking along the marsh I spotted a yellow pine sprout -

Did God do this just to delight me? 

Yes, and anyone else who saw it. 

Everything that dies provides nourishment for what grows

from the ongoing Gift of life freely given.

A great fall - Did you hear it?

The last leaf of Autumn fell last night,

I heard its decent in my dreams

as I thanked it for the beauty it gave this year.

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       The following two images reflect for me something of the sadness and loneliness I had in my youth in Jersey City when Winter was closing in. I don't have that today, only a memory. Taken this week in Bangor in the same spot where Autumn's Roses was shot.

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Some humor as the next Holiday is arriving:

Peace until next post,

                Bill Lagerstrom