October 25, 2913

October 25, 2013

   All Photos can be viewed full screen by clicking on any picture.

    Before I say anything in this weeks post I would like to offer a link to another blog that has been a joy for me to read every week. As you may know I spent most of my life in and around New York City fully caught up in the vastness of what a great urban environment can offer. Clifford Browder, who is a well published writer offers wonderful weekly insights as to how life in NYC was, and is currently. His writing is excellent, thoughtful and beautifully crafted - well worth a look and a read. Reading his blog for me is a reminder of some of the conversations we have had over the years about everything that came up and how important it is to stop and listen to those who are open fully to what life has put in front of them. 

   Worth a look - click here: http://cbrowder.blogspot.com/

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   On a gloomy day in Acadia last weekend the woman below reminded me of my own wait for the ending of Fall and the coming of Winter. I felt a nostalgia that gray days between seasonal changes tends to bring, a small saddness for the ending of warm weather while looking into the horizon for what is coming. 

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   Labyrinth - a walking meditation in the form of a circular maze on the ground that leads one in a continuous path to the center and back our again. It offers a spiritual walk that takes us out of perceptions of order and knowable direction into the unknown, where we learn over time to be comfortable in a space that may have always felt scary, perhaps to be avoided as well.

   Below are four images of a single crooked tree that I offer as a visual labyrinth to be viewed slowly to see what they may offer as you go from one to another. I welcome any insights that you may have in this brief "walk." 

- Start here, return here by coming back through the images -

   

Winter

Spring

Summer

Fall

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      Here is the famous labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral that has been walked since the 13th century. Click on it and 'walk' it with your mouse or finger in full screen. One always takes one's time in a labyrinth, a slow walking meditation.

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Enter here

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Every leaf has Light within its form

which, when it is allowed to escape

into the open eyes of a beholder,

brings forth a hither-to-unseen beauty.

Sun on the Autumn trees with rain clouds nearing.

(This is the road Lee and I live on.)

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Until next week, Peace, Bill Lagerstrom

Some Humor:

October 18, 2013

October 18, 2913

   To view photos in full screen mode click on any image.

   Acadia National Park here in Maine was closed for the last two weeks due to the government shutdown. The park service tried valiently to keep everyone from entering and enjoying our heritage which is promised to belong to the people forever. They failed miserably. What transpired was a small revolution where visitors walked around barracades, lined the roads parking as close as possible to any and all access points. I too broke the law and spent two truly wonderful days in the park with not only great Fall scenery but with an air of freedom and joy in everyone I met along my paths. It was a celebration of sorts where claiming "My park" was the gentle rallying cry everywhere. 

     I generally receive a real sense of exhaling tension whenever I in a place where the trappings of modern soceity are not permitted to enter, where there are no houses, utility poles, advertising or any traffic in which the drive is to get somewhere. Acadia is one of those places where a pause can be taken and the creations of God can be enjoyed carefully and as fully as possible. We are fortunate here in Maine to have a lot of access to spaces where one can practice being at one with nature and to continue to learn to observe so many things that are usually passed by in the rush of daily comings and goings.

                      To see a World in a Grain of Sand

                      And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,

                      Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

                      And Eternity in an hour.

                                                              William Blake

    The first three photos this week were taken in Acadia last weekend with the first a view of what some thought of the closing. 

    

     Breaking the law as walkers on the Ocean Drive in Acadia National park walkers take back what cannot be taken away, their park. This is not a protest, just people out for a walk on a beautiful Fall day with gentle overtones of a healthy rebellion. The park rangers left to guard the closure simply disappeared and let all walkers and have a good day in the entire park.

   An Autumn Fall scene at a rather remote lake in Acadia adorned with all the finery trees save for the gala celebrating the end of one season and the beginning of Winter on the way.

    The following link is a wonderful short narrative of the beauty that surrounds us everywhere and is seen by eyes and senses that stop for a few moments to observe what is in the present moment. (I have posted this before but it is worth another listen.)

   I would like to suggest that you click on the photo above and in full screen  listen to the following.  

   Ckick here: https://app.box.com/s/a7262dad1064ab730005

                                                   

Just as leaves explode each Spring,

Autumn brings the same exuberant reach toward the sun

as the colors held in secret all Summer

find their release in God's Gift to memory -

remembered in all the cold days ahead.

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Memories of Campobello Island

two images of flowers seen there this past Summer 

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Nature will reveal Herself 

no matter what barriers humans put up.

There is a gap in everything,

revealing what is on the other side. 

- Geometry -

(Portland Maine Airport while waiting for Lee who was in NYC.)

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Some humor:

   Peace and serenity until next week,

                                     Bill Lagerstrom

October 11, 2013

October 11, 2013

   All photos can be viewed full screen by clicking on the picture.

    Apologies for not posting for a few weeks as I have been occupied with the photo images and a few trips with Lee. We went to Campobello and stayed in a really nice motel which is one of two on the island called the "Whale Watch." We could have stayed at the tent cabin of this blogs fame, but nights went down to the low 40's and these aging bones (as well as Lee's) said "No." The island was wonderful as always and most tourists did not appear on this particular Fall weekend. Tourists are not ever a problem 0f over crowding even in the peak of the season. Another afternoon on a converted fishing boat spent in the Fundy Bay with Captain Mackie on a perfect day was wonderful. A few whales along with eagles, kittiwakes, ringbilled gulls, dolphins galore, and magnificent scenery made the day one to talk about for quite awhile. 

   Last Sunday we went to Acadia National Park and crossed several barriers set out because of the government shutdown. I was surprised as we walked up the access road to Jordan Pond from Seal Harbor to see more people walking than I have ever come across in the many trips of the last eight years to Acadia. Almost everyone said essentially the same thing, "This is our park and they are not going to take it away from us." We said hello to everyone on the hour and a half of our walk and our small protest against the stupidity of the shutdown. 

   Here are a few photos of Acadia this last Sunday:

Lee, who drags me to the most beautiful places

Still picniking after all these years. Friends still.

When the last leaf falls we will be left with Winter's beginning's.

A rainy dusk last week here in Hampden.

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Some humor:

This is a real sign at the public boat landing in Elsworth Maine.

 Peace,  Bill Lagerstrom