Posts Tagged ‘nature’
a somerville sunset
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged colors, Inspiration, nature, Photography, sky, Somerville, sunset, urban landscape on October 6, 2015| 2 Comments »
it happened again
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged abstract, beauty, colors, glass, Inspiration, nature, Photography, ripples, urban landscape, windows on October 1, 2015| 1 Comment »
I was racing about the house, rather blindly, thinking about all of things I needed to do when the light struck the window, that rippled window, and I was compelled to stop and look … and then run to get my camera.
I’ve been collecting these images for years, and while I’ve yet to produce that book of images, I have submitted several individual prints to an upcoming juried art exhibit. Stay tuned for the results.
raindrop on windowsill
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged abstract, Inspiration, nature, Photography, rain, water, windows on September 30, 2015| 1 Comment »
transformation
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged colors, Inspiration, leaves, light, nature, Photography, urban landscape on September 30, 2015| 1 Comment »
reboot – a review of owls
Posted in Books I Love, Inspiration, tagged animals, art, bird books, book review, books, illustration, Matt Sewell, nature, ornithology, owls on September 27, 2015| 1 Comment »
When I received Owls by Matt Sewell, I quickly flipped through the small hardback book, chuckling unexpectedly at some of the wide-eyed illustrations. But I was in a rush, you see, and so I tossed the book on the coffee table intending to do a thorough inspection and review later in the day. Having been introduced to Blogging for Books by a friend, I wanted to do a good job. Well, I can honestly say that it is a wonderful book to share with an inquisitive young reader. My young friend whom I have mentioned often in this blog, now eight-years old, was visiting and she found the book. I came upon her sitting quietly reading it on the couch. I watched as she sounded out Latin text and she also chuckled at the illustrations of owls each with a distinctive character. When she saw me watching her, she waved me over to sit beside her and so we read the book together. Each reading a page out loud about a different owl.
The author and illustrator is ornithologist Matt Sewell and I keep reading that he is described as the Banksy of the bird world. Now, I just barely know who Banksy is (you can read more about him here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksy ) but you don’t need to know Banksy to enjoy this book with or without a little reader by your side.
Yes, I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review. A good deal but the best part was watching the joy the book brought to a young reader who is still learning about the world. As my friend likes to say when she is happy with something, two thumbs up!
Learn more about the author here http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/152488/matt-sewell/.
in silhouette
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged abstract, Back Bay, black and white, nature, Photography, silhoutte, urban landscape, vines on September 22, 2015| 1 Comment »
walking half way home
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged abstract, beauty, colors, Inspiration, nature, Photography, urban landscape, walking on September 16, 2015| 2 Comments »
I took a friend’s advice. Instead of walking all the way home from Copley Square, I walked half way and this is what I saw.
at low tide along revere beach
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged animals, birds, colors, Inspiration, nature, Photography, Revere Beach, water on September 9, 2015| 4 Comments »
shades of brown and gold in the virginia wood
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged colors, Inspiration, landscape, light, Middlesex Fells, nature, Photography, Virginia Wood on August 31, 2015| 6 Comments »
he moves in darkness …
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged fear, fences, Mending Wall, musings, nature, Photography, poetry, politics, Robert Frost on August 31, 2015| 2 Comments »
“He moves in darkness as it seems to me,
not of woods only and the shade of trees.”
— excerpt from Robert Frost’s Mending Wall
Yesterday, I watched a former politician speaking with great authority, as his wife looked upon him adoringly, as he spouted hatred and nurtured fears in a subtle way. I had to turn off the television before I put my shoe through it. I sat for a bit trying to remember that Booker T. Washington quote, about allowing no man to belittle his soul by making him hate him.
Not long afterwards I found myself reading about current politicians and wannabe politicians, echoing the sentiments of that former politician. They spoke with great gravity about the need for bordering walls. Southern walls. Northern walls. Who knows,maybe even walls within cities. Nothing new, I suppose. Throughout human history, there have been such calls. It’s the public response to those calls that I wonder most about.
In Frost’s poem, Mending Walls, as two men rebuild the wall separating their farms, one says, “Good fences make good neighbors.” The poem’s narrator replies…
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
“Why do they make good neighbors? …
Before I built a wall I’d ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That wants it down! …”
