December 21, 2015

December 21, 2015

All photos are mine unless otherwise noted.

To see images full size click on any photo.


   The season has me far too full of busyness to have offered a post sooner than today. Even though I am not particularly involved with Christmas is seems that time has its demands. 

   The images on this post were taken in the town of Freedom here in Maine, and the Colby College Museum, which in my opinion is the best art museum in the State. I am going to let the photos speak for themselves with little comment, as I am lacking in "wind" today and I am not moved to speak a lot. Enjoy.

From a friends barn - two images.

"The new tool."

The new/old car.

"Rest Stop"

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The following photos were taken at the Museum in Colby College.

Age is an illusion,

what is inside and alive,

is how we can see the world

until the last breath.

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This post's abstract image.

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Some humor:

When in New York City ...... visit.

   Peace until next post,

                                  Bill Lagerstrom

December 3, 2015

December 3, 2015

All images are mine unless otherwise noted.

To see photos full screen click on any photo.

   I start this post with a little bit of humor brought to us by our granddaughter on her visit a few weeks ago. 

"Hi Mabel! I don't like to talk with food on my mouth

but give me the latest dirt ......"

"She didn't!  I love going shopping with that girl!

That poor salesman might have to go into therapy."

"Okay Mabel, I'm going back to my veggies now.

No I'm not a vegan! I just like peas. Bye."

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     I'm finding that I am going in a new direction with my photography which may be an outcome of my mindfulness practice. I don't know if it is visible but I sense a clarity of intent which is a recent insight. There is more abstraction - or perhaps a connection to mystery which appears in some images as I am processing them. In any case I feel some new direction, generally, is appearing in my vision. 

Two images from our backyard

The flight of the chickadee as never seen before.

The Spirit calls a newly opened heart to flight,

"Come..... We have been waiting for you."

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There is always one who faces a direction

not seen by others as they look only toward the known.

The one who seeks to see with the eyes of the heart

will look in that compass point no matter the conflict

with the mandates of society at large. 

There is always a brave sheep in every flock -

that is the one to follow to find our undiscovered reality. 

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Stop.

Take three breaths. 

Be, here, and now.

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   Four abstracts this post, without comment:

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Some humor:

Peace until next post,

     Bill Lagerstrom

Novenber 11, 2015

November 11, 2015

All Photos are mine unless otherwise noted.

To see photos full screen click on any image.

   On Saturday Lee and I walked the Jessup Path in Acadia and I marveled at the power of grass to die from cold nights this time of year and grow anew on a warm day as if  Spring had arrived again. Grass is the most abundant product of Mother Earth, it grows everywhere and feeds not only all sorts of animals but we humans as well with mature grasses such as wheat and rice. 

   The tall grass all along the path struck me as being beautiful and wondrous as it shimmered and waved in the wind. If I had a house with a lawn I would easily have no second thoughts about replacing the short mowed variety with sea grass. Then I would be reminded of the ocean's waves rippling as the wind moved through the tall growth. 

    The first seven photos are of the tall grass seen on our walk.

    

When the wind picks up speed,

Observe the tall grass, and learn.

To go with the flow is to go with the Wind of the Spirit,

Arriving with gentle breeze, or hurricane force.

The unseen beauty of grass is revealed

to those who look closely with reverence.

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Vines on a fence seen on entering the Jessup Path.

Winter holds everything until Spring arrives again.

- Winter's tree -

A small piece of an unknown painting.

I believe it was in a museum somewhere here in Maine.

On the Jessup Path the last leaves of Fall survive for a time. 

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   Abstract for this post that suggests ..............  

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Some humor:

(All marriages have a few problems.)

   Peace until next post,

                      Bill Lagerstrom

November 4, 2015

November 4, 2015

   All photos are mine unless otherwise noted.

   To see images full screen click on any photo.


       This post has images taken in the past two days with the exception of the abstract, the last photo. The first two were taken in front of the house we live in and the rest were taken yesterday morning as I traveled to Freedom, a small town thirty minutes from home. I thought Fall had run its course, but as with all things of wonder and grace I was wrong to assume so. Such is the way of the Creator - Nature's Spirit, to surprise me unexpectedly . 

   I have looked at the leaves in the following two images from the second floor window where I write in the morning since Spring's arrival. Yesterday they came into their own revealing a beauty that was hidden all along. So it is with us, one day we decide to show our True Self to each other and the fortress we built to protect ourselves from the world is no longer defended. 

I am complexity

I am simplicity

I am balance,

said
Earth

See  my Beauty

In the morning's soft rain

the mystery of the cloud's gift of Living Water

allowed the perfect leaves of Spring and Summer

a last chance to arrange their beauty

before falling from branch to ground –

They have etched in memory the colors of this Season

in the hearts of those who choose to see.

Beauty was hidden in an ordinary leaf

until the Season of cold arrived,

then, people started to say the same things,

How beautiful the Earth had become …..

A few even stopped to pick up a single leaf

that offered itself to a closer look

as its mystery was made visible.

The Invisible not known for so long

was now visible.

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On the road to Freedom, Maine

Cows resting from a hard morning of .....

- A field of cows dreaming -

As gulls align themselves against the wind,

it seems that cows have learned from their feathered friends. 

An image of  Fall somewhat dreary and getting cold.

Sunset is now around five PM and will approach 4:15 soon.

(Something to do with farming. That's all I know.)

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Abstract for this week:

(The bird sitting on the branch is a crow.)

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Some humor:

Until next post,  

          Bill Lagerstrom                     

October 22, 2015

October 22, 2015

 All photos are mine unless otherwise noted.

  To see images full screen click on any photo.

   Back to Freedom Maine on Tuesday of this week where on my way home I took the images on this post. I am afraid that Autumn is ebbing, the trees are getting somewhat bare, and the ground is covered everywhere with fallen leaves. For this post I will no longer offer images of Fall for the entire post - photos 2 and 3 are my swan song for this year, and Mother Nature's end of Season song as well.

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   Here is a delightful story told by the great actress Olympia Dukakis titled the 'Wise Old Woman." It is about Feet Water, something that can be dangerous to all of us. The story is for children but I know that it was also offered for adults as well.

  Click here: https://app.box.com/s/748a4xpl8utkdn82hyyzrualwxgizsx3

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In the dog house again - the Top Cat

The Cross home in Freedom.

The last of Fall's beauty revealed

Look carefully as trees will be bare again

So allow memory to savor these days

Given by our Creator for the enjoyment of all.

The last cow still standing.

(Left side of photo.)

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   The next five images were taken at a siding where old and deteriorating railroad cars were parked. Someone though has a sense of humor as seen in next photo. 

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   This is the only halloween picture I will show. I stopped next to this house in Freedom which looks as if ghosts could live in this home.

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This posts abstract image..................

Make decoys, he told me,

set them on the blue;

then observe the wild ducks

flying down to you.

Wild ducks do not charm me

save for beauty's sake.

But decoys of Spirit -

these I strain to make.

                                          Jessica Powers

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Some humor:

Until next post, Peace,

                        Bill Lagerstrom