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

October 27, 2014

October 27, 2014

   All photos are mine unless otherwise noted.

   To see the photographs full screen left click on any image.

    Fall has been special this year especially on wet rainy days when the light has been even,  really enhancing the trees and fallen leaves. The oak trees are the last to turn and a few days ago alone in Acadia Park I was moved by the golden glow everywhere on the twenty one mile Park Loop road. Lee and I went there the following day and the sun was shining offering a different but equally special experience. We walked a new part of the Carriage Roads that we had not seen before - from Eagle Lake to Witch Hole - past several lakes and marshes on a most beautiful day. Acadia never ceases to amaze me old walks or new. It's why we moved here and why we will not leave here.

   Here is a song to listen to as the images of Fall are viewed:

    "Returning Home: - click here:

      https://app.box.com/s/e44b032ab4c2ab7f4d03

    Here are a few scenes: (The poetry is mine.)

The doorway to Fall .....

There may be a duck under every fallen leaf -

As the Fall sparrows do, turn over the leaves,

look underneath and be surprised.

How can one say the day is gray, rainy, and dark,

When there is Light everywhere!

Diffused, yes, softened, yes,

Still, very much visible are all of God's Creations.

If every blade of grass were a pen,

And every drop of water ink,

To write the Single Word God spoke when the cosmos was created,

          Putting on paper that sole syllable of Breath's Sound

Would only be the first letter of a Book whose pages

Would reach to the stars of Orion and The Pleiades.

Today, open that Book.

To only open the cover will be enough to fill the heart with Joy

At the sight of the beginning of everything God intended to be,

And completed, in all human hearts, in each living thing.

Be astounded !

The insight to this day, the day God created,

Is to see the day Love offers us to enter into. 

Today, open that Book.

To only open the cover will be enough to fill the heart with Joy

At the sight of everything God intended to be,

And completed, in all human hearts, in each living thing.

The Tree is in everyone.

Seek and it will be found.

"Where ?"

Be silent, it is in your heart.

Listen.

See.

Know What Is,

What has always been.

One tree begins with a seed

That arrived from a Mature Parent;

One seed that found the fertile ground

With which to nourish new beginnings –

Arriving from dormancy, rising to the fullness

Of God's Intention for its time here. 

Soon the last leaf will fall,

Marking Winter's official beginning -

Look for that final end to the Season,

The next stage of life is about to enter.

This is the day the Lord has made,

let us rejoice and be glad in it.

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Some Humor:

    Peace until next post,

                    Bill Lagerstrom

October 10, 2014

October 10, 2014

   All photos are mine unless otherwise noted.

   To see images full screen click on any photo.

    Last weekend we were in NYC to see the new granddaughter who was three weeks old with the capacity to endear our hearts with a love that surprised us both. The last photos on this post are of Madeline and a few of her expressive moods. We are most grateful to Lynn Sherman, Hank Halperin and their remarkable daughter Laura who were most generous in putting us up in their house for our stay. It was a good visit with them and I am most appreciative of their gracious hospitality.

    Lynn and Hank took us to the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Park just outside Kennedy Airport where, just in time for sunset, we spent a few hours with an old friend - the Refuge. Lee and I haven't been there for nine years now, the place where we went birding every weekend before we moved here to Maine. 

   Here is a special moment from that all too brief visit.


   

A tree in the refuge after the birds migrated south.

Below:

Catbirds occupying the tree during their Summer residence here 

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      We are all invited to the Dance of Life where we are given the Gift of our child who may not have learned how to move with grace during our growing up. A second chance to find inner freedom of expression. 

   I managed a few hours in the Metropolitan Museum of Art where I revisited a favorite sculpture that always speaks of a freedom to be myself with wonderful clarity. I was not surprised to see most who passed by this delightful expression of life with indifference to its joy. I do not blame them as the Museum is overwhelming with its huge collections of art, sculpture and human history. Visual overload is something I fought for years until I learned to stop only at a few new works for at least some minutes and visit old friends for a bit longer. After two hours I have usually been filled with visual beauty to capacity. 

Here is an article on museum overload from today's N.Y. Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/12/travel/the-art-of-slowing-down-in-a-museum.html

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   Fall has arrived and once again I caught a little of the Season of that permeates a great deal of life here in this area of Maine. People celebrate the Season putting out pumpkins, dried corn stalks, Fall flowers and much more. It seems driving down the roads that almost every house has some decoration in its yard and by the entrance doors. 

   Most of the following images were taken at a small farm market a few miles from where we live.

These are the actual colors of a maple tree I saw.

No color shift or enhancement was applied.

Perhaps the low afternoon light had something to do with it

Lee has taken up photography. Some of her images are on her Facebook page.

Something of an impression of the Season that I made.

It is a great deal of fun to work on a photo in this way.

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   Okay, its Madeline time. Bridget and Rudy have managed to bring a delight into the world that was missing. Thank you both for your marriage. I am proud  of  the way you are handling life and the Gift God placed in your hands. I have no fears for the three of you for your future. Well done!

    The dog is named Rocky and his job will be to teach Madeline how to box. He loves the new addition in his house and in his way is most protective of his recent charge. Walking on the street if he could not be close to the carriage there was a struggle to close the gap. Lee is holding Madeline and Rudy is petting Rocky.

   Below: Some of the moods of Madeline. Please feel free to add your own captions.

Ah ...   sweet Madeline Medina

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A little Humor:

   

   Peace until next post,

             Bill Lagerstrom