January 7, 2013

January 7, 2013

   I am not sure how many make it to the humor section at the bottom of each post so I am putting it on top this week as this is probably the funniest cartoon I have ever seen. The strange humor of George Booth of the New Yorker -

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(All photos and pictures adapted from photos are mine unless noted. You can bring the pictures up in full screen by double clicking on any image. Click on a border to return.)

   Winter in Acadia, Maine's National park where we have gone probably two hundred times in the last eight years. The day was overcast and most would say it was downright gloomy but to my eyes it was as usual, a wonderful day. Most of the park is closed for the Winter but for us and other "locals" access is never a problem as at least twenty percent of Acadia is available if one knows where to go. The Ocean Drive is always open for a short stretch which is where the first two photos were taken. The rest of them required walking around the car barriers and going on the parks barren auto roads or any of the carriage roads. The thirty miles of carriage roads are always off limits to cars and Lee and I walk them often all year round.

"And don't think the garden loses its ecstasy in winter. 

It's quiet, but the roots are down there riotous. "

Rumi

A lone seagull stands Winter vigil on a broad rock

Admiring the handiwork of the Author of the Season -

The wonder of snow etching the shoreline

In ways to make any artist jealous.

I came across a strange sight, 

a woman trying to hold an animal on her head.

It fought valiantly but lost the battle.

When coming to a fork in life's road,

A decision is required ....

Take it or not is the question.

Walk number 150 or so on the Jessup Path,

a two mile loop that has given many pleasures

over the years that keep on adding up -

filling memory's notebooks to overflowing.

A scene I never saw on any of avenues of New York City.

 Desolate?  

Not as lonely and forbidding as New York City Streets

unfriendly, and unkind in the same "dead" of Winter.

 The trees of all the Seasons

have become my friends

full of many stories and advice 

at any time of year.

All I had to learn was to stop, and listen. 

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Until next week, Peace,  Bill Lagerstrom

December 31, 2012

December 31, 2012

(All photos and pictures adapted from photos are mine unless noted. You can bring the pictures up in full screen by double clicking on any image. Click on a border to return.)

   The Humor cartoons for a few weeks will explore life before God created Eve. 

   Feedback on this weeks photos would be appreciated as they are all about people and communication.    My Email-  lazarusmin@tds.net

Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.

 There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the earth. 

(Rumi)

   On the Sunday before Christmas Lee and I went to the Portland Museum here in Maine and as usual these days I took a few photos which are below. It is a small and lovely museum that was hosting a show on the work of Winslow Homer, Maine's famous artist who lived on the southern coast for many years. The exhibition had 38 of his seascapes along with several sketches which have become popular to hang by many museums hosting shows of major pieces from recognized artists. I studied Winslow Homer many years ago to get a sense of his self-taught composition which was useful for my own creative outlet of pre-digital photography. Many scenes were familiar and others remain in memory nicely tucked away. 

    Since Maine has only 1.3 million people it is good to know that there are a number of good small museums around the State including one in Bangor that is sponsored by the State University in Orono. The University also has a museum and gallery in the Collins Center at the main campus in Orono. We  go there to see occasional operas live from the Met in the Center's auditorium which also hosts the Bangor Symphony Orchestra. 

   The day was delightful and the drive of two and one half hours made more than pleasant listening to Tara Brach between conversations with Lee. Tara is the head teacher at the Insight Meditation Center in Washington D.C. and her website is listed in the sidebar of this blog. Worth a look.

   Here are the photos labeled by my thoughts on the images -

The Widow

"One looks, looks long, and the world comes in."

                                                         Joseph Campbell

    Communication between people has always been a Problem. The couple in the painting cannot see each other, and the man with the cell phone has the same issue. Only the crows appear to be visible to one another.

Aftermath Of A Spat

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Some humor - Life before God created Eve:

   Peace until next week,

               Bill Lagerstrom

December 24, 2012

December 24,2012

(All photos and pictures adapted from photos are mine unless noted. You can bring the pictures up in full screen by double clicking on any image. Click on a border to return.)
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   Before I begin take a look at this short video from CBS which is a piece of good news for a change - really good news! Please be patient during the commercial as this is the new ad technique on the net to hold us captive.  Click here:  

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/23/earlyshow/main1339324.shtml 

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    Tomorrow is Christmas, the birth of a human being who grew into a man and by example has shown us how to live with grace and dignity while at the same time offering all we become to any who come our way. 

    I believe that God incarnated God's Self into the human form of Jesus, and we too are also recipients of that same Gift, God's Living Self in our human form. 

   Our new births each Christmas season are honored in the celebrations of the birth date of someone well worth following. 

   I also believe that God's Presence is in the Buddha, Mohammad, Confucius, as well as the founders of all the major religions, Hinduism, Judaism, etc. God is everywhere a spiritual way of life is practiced. 

   Here is a song that perhaps could be an inclusive seasonal offering - it is called "Ancient Love."

                  Click here:  https://www.box.com/s/el2zd844aaz1arbocxq2

   Happy Holidays in the celebration and honoring of your incarnated humanity.

                                                   Peace, Joy and Serenity to everyone,

                                                                        Bill Lagerstrom

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    Walking outside of where we live this morning I was greeted by a beautiful snowfall. Perfect for the season. Here are two photos that were taken just as the morning sun was coming over a stand of trees behind me. The light caught only the top of the trees in the pictures. Did I ever mention that I love where we live? This is my front lawn - so to speak.
   

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Lee's tree in front of my oak tree.

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   Lighting houses and lawns at Christmas is a major hobby here in Hampden, Maine. Here are two extremes of creativity, one sublime, the other looks like a wish to be in Florida - palm trees in latitude 44.74 ? Almost every house on some roads were lit as Lee and myself drove around a few nights ago and enjoyed the efforts of our neighbors. 

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Some humor:

Peace,  Bill Lagerstrom