Black Cats, Super Novas, and Flux

The Road before me
tree-lined, meadow-flanked
and upheld by blue mountains
that shift and fade
to blue sky.

My Mind before me
expansive as sky
clouds roll by
I watch
Truth beheld intermingling,

twinkling like pinpoints
of starlight exposed.
Sky goes dark
then one can see 
what could not be seen in daylight.

It alludes, best seen
when not looking directly
simply being
shows it all,
gives it all.

Like the mountain I sit, though moving.

The Universe casts her spell 
upon me
Knows Herself through me
holds opposites at one time.

The convoluted truth touches our skin
but briefly 
and is gone.
Transfigured.
A black cat in the night
eyes twinkling.

Gail Force: The Irrefutable Invitation

The call
The caw
It issued forth
          from the Crow's mouth
          but it was prayer
               on my lips.
It pierced the morning
          separating night from day.
I clung to its echoes
     the way a bird clings
     to a ferocious wind
          no choice
     as it cleaves its space from the air. 
          Slicing the indivisible
               the way a moment
               slices future from past
     yet changes in each instant
     always different, always the same.

I knew the day'd be bright
     whether or not the sun shone
for I'd spent my ~time~
     in the blackness of that night. 

 

Self Portrait

Slug Slime in Moss on Shed Window

~~~

A Breathing Meditation

Get into a comfortable position, spine straight, but not rigid.  Can be sitting or laying (if you won't fall asleep).  Can be in a chair or on the floor.  Bring your thoughts to your breath, and keep bringing your attention back to your breath when it wanders.  No judgment on the wandering, just notice and bring back.
 

In Breath:
Born Anew,
Out Breath:
and We Die,
In Breath:
Born Anew,
Out Breath:
and We Die,
In Breath:
Born Anew,
Out Breath:
and We Die,...
(continue this for as long as you will, 5 minutes, 30... until you rest in the ever-present NOW,
and the fleeting nature of our existence becomes all you are - nothing -
along with the knowing that YOU ARE EVERYTHING).
In Breath:
Born Anew,
Out Breath:
and We Die,
In Breath:
Born Anew,
Out Breath:
and We Die,
In Breath:
Born Anew,
Out Breath:
and We Die,In Breath:
Born Anew,
Out Breath:
and We Die,
In Breath:
Born Anew,
Out Breath:
and We Die,...
And the Birth and Death that is This Lifetime
Is but a Breath of a Greater Lifetime. 
A Lifetime where We Are the Mountain.

 

The Pollinator's Lust - A Photo Journal

Ah, the joys of gardening for a living.  These are a few of the flowers I got intimate with in the past week.  :)

Iris

Major nectar and pollen source for the Honey Bee right now:  Holly. 
The trees at work were humming, and the smell, one of my favorites!  Divine.

Peony

Columbine, Aquilegia

Sweetshrub, Calycanthus floridus

Azalea

Rue Anemone, Thalictrum thalictroides

Columbine, Aquilegia

Mock Orange, Philadelphus virginalis

Philadelphus virginalis

Columbine, Aquilegia

Forget-me-not, Myosotis

Pollen Butt

Spring Splendor - A Photo Journal of Beltane's Delight

Helleborus

Wild and feral edibles picked for an omelette, clockwise spiral to center starting from white flower:  Garlic Mustard,  Dandelion, Plantain, Arugula, Sarsaparilla, Violets, Cleavers, Japanese Knotweed, Mustard flowers, Monarda, Trout Lily, Quince flower, Purple Dead Nettle, Clover.

 

True Superfoods - local and fresh!

  

Corvid with a new batch of bees in orientation flight.

 Coming in for a landing:

Pollen-laden

The bees have been loving this Arugula that over-winterd in a cold frame and burst into bloom some weeks ago.  In the background is L'Atelier, the art studio, and where Mathieu makes guitars, overseen by two of my hives:  Stella and Ariadne.  To the right is a Fig in a pot that gets brought in over winter, and a Grape on trellis.  THIS has my Heart.  <3

 

The Mason bees have been very active; I love watching them, so docile and yet judicious.

At work:  Mathieu and I with the fragrant native Woodland Phlox at a landscape client's.

And Luck of Luck!  Found some tasty dinner when I wasn't even purposefully hunting!  My friend Abby and I were just taking a jaunt in the woods...and lo and behold.

Then we lay in the grass in the sun for a different type of nourishment.

 Make a wish!

 

 

 Yesterday's and Today's on the forest floor

 Can you say Dazzle?

Artist Trading Cards - Collage

Some of my latest collages:  baseball card sized.