October 13, 2017

October 13, 2017

     All images are mine unless otherwise noted.

     Al images come from photographs taken in the last two weeks.

   To see photos full screen click on any image.

    Autumn decided to arrive in full glory this last week and showed itself with brilliant color which I am told is due to the lack of water in this semi drought we have here in Maine. On Monday, Columbus day, it was raining pretty hard and the 'last weekend' people were heading home in a miles long string of cars going West on route 1A to "beat the traffic" as I was going East to Acadia. It was good to be going in the right direction. Thankfully, all those heading toward their busy lives were treated to a spectacular show of Fall color all the way to Bangor and hopefully beyond. God painted the trees beautifully everywhere I looked.

   The first two photos are how Autumn is seen and enjoyed by everyone, stunning and wondrous. Perhaps the three images following are how trees and leaves see each other in this Season. 

    The next set of images were taken at the Colby College Museum of Art here in Maine. They are an interpretation of a new work recently hung. 

Everything is connected,

perhaps by the "Net of Indra."

Every tree, every leaf, is part of a web

stretching the world round.

The leaves are sharing their joy 

as they change into their Autumn dress.

The leaves are as full of wonder as are we

who look with new eyes at God's handiwork each October. 

(See this site for an explanation of Indra's Net -

http://the-wanderling.com/indras_net.html )

Each leaf in Autumn is perhaps 

a muted explosion of color

never seen before, 

always different to amaze 

our eyes and our emotions.

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   The following images were taken of a small work by Anish Kapoor, a sculptor who usually creates very large installations. They are an interpretation of an artist's work that I occasionally create photographically. The piece represented here is unnamed by the artist.

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   A few odds and ends -

   Lee called me out at dusk the other night to see the sky presented in a way we had never experienced before. This photo is as shot and with no enhancement in software. 

   

   Every Tuesday morning I meet with a group of friends to discuss spiritual matters in what was the stable on a two hundred year old farm belonging to a semi-retired Episcopal Priest who was also born and raised there. When weather does not permit we move indoors. This photo was taken from the seat I enjoy occupying while there. The cat below the cartoon lives on the farm and occasionally allows a brief petting as the mood to be touched arrives. 

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Some humor:

"That's does not amuse me."

Peace, Bill Lagerstrom

8-16-2017

August 16, 2017

This week all images are mine.

To see photos full screen click on any image.

    This post is a melange of photos I took in the past few weeks and is without any unifying theme. 


       It is written, "Wherever you go you can see the face of God."

Say to heck with the news cycles

then we can live happily in tiny houses

in a town called Freedom, Maine.

Not all clouds are political if we look at Nature first.

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The woods are deep and lovely

as is the Dharma, the teachings of Nature

leading to equanimity and inner peace. 

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   Lee and I were walking through the Jewish cemetery in Bangor and came across this tombstone lying on the ground offering a bed for an angel to rest. 

   The figure on close inspection appears to be old so I believe it was put there in 1913 and lies undisturbed all these years.  

A rare political statement on this blog.

How do we get out of our compartmentalized self?

I found the door that opens to .............

What do you see?

The barest hint of the day arriving

was visible through the morning mists

as night was prepared to be put to bed 

for another turning of the earth.

Community.

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Some humor,

How a cat sees composition prior to drawing an image

   Peace,  Bill Lagerstrom

July 8, 2017

July 8, 2017

All images are mine unless otherwise noted. All poetry and text are mine unless noted.

All abstracts and painterly images are derived from photographs.

To see full screen click on any photo.

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   The first nine images in this post cover a loose thread, the road to abstraction and back. I have been blessed to realize in my journey through the process of creating photographs that my interests lie in many varied directions without landing in one particular style or genre. Whatever is in front of these eyes is food for interpretation by the senses of the heart and worthy of attention, becoming for me the ongoing process of allowing creativity free reign. 

    It has been said that creativity involves risk taking without fear of criticism or a lack of self-worth holding us back. In the process of releasing our creative nature there is no risk not worth chancing as movement toward growing to wholeness becomes second nature. 

   Let me know what you think.

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Traveling inward storms are encountered

Tossing the senses here, there and everywhere.

"Turn back to a safer harbor,

where the status quo of life will keep you happy!"

Spoke one voice that I will ignore.

 Another voice speaks the great truth,

"Follow your passion and forge ahead

on the road to inner freedom where you will meet yourself -

where you will begin to know your Self for the first of many times."

Falling into an open heart able to receive the Gift,

Becomes a rising to a new surface

As breakthroughs and insights are experienced, and accepted

Emeralds shining in all the heart's rooms

As the trance of being in worldly prisons is lifted

Revealing bright new skies ..... enlightenment.....Clarity.

Internal vision has its own interpretation 

of the things in front of us,

The journey to our True Self 

Can be quiet and peaceful

even as we find ourself in a strange country.

The works of artists can be presented with a clarity

that moves us to frame what they have created.

Not to hold them in place for all time,

but to allow the borders of gold to focus our attention -

Frames are an invitation to enter anew

into realms of beauty while teaching us the routes 

that take us away from a life lived 

almost entirely outside of our self.

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- Expectations -

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Some Humor:

Peace,   

        Bill Lagerstrom

June 24, 2017

June 24, 2017

   All photos are mine unless otherwise noted. All images started their life in the camera and grew from there.

   To see images full frame click on any photo.

All comments are mine unless noted.

    The first five images were taken last week in Acadia National Park, the rest were shot on Prince Edward Island in the Canadian Maritimes. It is an island attached by an 8 mile long bridge, the longest span across ice covered waters in the world. We were there a few weeks ago on a ten day trip - ice in the bay under the bridge comes in November.
   

I was snow

I melted in Your rays

The earth drank me

Now mist and pure spirit

I climb back to the Sun.

                                                                            Rumi

What beauty is hidden in the grass

Whose presence in the world is only glanced at ....

But in the Eternal Presence

The orchard is seen in all it's glory by those who look

Through God's eyes,

I have heard it all my life,

A voice calling a name I recognized as my own.

Sometimes it comes as a soft-bellied whisper.

Sometimes it holds an edge of urgency.

But always it says: Wake up, my love. You are walking asleep.

There's no safety in that.

                                                               Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Look deeply dear friend,

Tell me what you see so I may become

Part of you,  and as we

Become part of the mystery that surrounds us.

Christmas in June 

Strung with the lights of the Season.

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Images from Prince Edward Island -

"Catch me if you can!"

(The Jack Russell Terrier of the horse world.)

The Ocean is a metaphor for God.

To get to Love's Home

Follow the path to the luminescent bridge

Walk across, find a boat and row out to a spot

Where you can fall into the One who is  eternally calling your name.

There is a story here .....

Married for 42 years she died in 2006,

Ten years later her husband passed through the veil.

Waiting on the other side for her lifelong love, she took his hand

and together they walked into the Light.

   We spent several hours with a Falconer who let Lee and myself handle one of the birds indoors and then took us outdoors where the Harris Hawk below flew to both of us as we each held a snack for its enjoyment. A most special afternoon!

A truly remarkable moment.

Through the fields of dandelions there is a path

Which I will ask you to walk on this sunlight day ....

My hope is that you will tell me where it took you.

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More Cow Humor: 

    (Taken in P.E.I. after the hawk adventure.)

Until the next post, peace,

      Bill Lagerstrom