Month: August 2019

08/31/19 … haikus, hammock, insects, a stroll

I took a walk this morning up and down the Peace Hill, but without Cia. She decided to stay home and help her gardens get ready for more flowerings, and for the sleep brought on by the coming cold. It was a lonesome and dark walk, inside the shadowy forest, but it was, as always, a rousing one as well. I took along my phone and listened to this week’s Christian Science meditation as I climbed and descended the hill, and it was enlightening in so many ways. I held the phone in my hand and swung it ever so slightly and listened to the inspiring words of the meditation as the trees’ shadows passed across me.

I took several pictures, and a few hours later, the haiku poet got to work ….

  • lights and leaves and sticks
    old pavement staying where it should
    this world is lovely
  • green leaves beside sticks
    trees looking at each other
    nothing is lonesome

Our front yard chalkboard poem for today . . .

And a poem from long ago and freshly revised today …

just what the doctor ordered

it was just what the doctor ordered
some clouds carrying quietness above her house
some silence holding her in its trustworthy hands
the doctor was the day itself and she had simply asked it
what she should do for sadness and the day showed her the sky outside
and helped her hear the music of her festive heart
and the helpful words of leaves speaking in breezes
the day was the best doctor she knew and she loved its beautiful office
which surrounded her with its lovely helpfulness as she slowly
strolled along with and then gradually away from sadness.

and two haiku poems from today …

the hammock swinging
a small boy laughing next door
the universe flows

insects in the air
thoughts dallying inside me
perfect harmony

We took a quiet, late-afternoon stroll in the nearby riverside cemetery, a lovely place of peace. Here’s one view …

Our chalkboard poems for a few days …

Old Brothers, Old Friends …

For the last few days, I have enjoyed the presence of two of my four brothers, Al and Joe, and it has been a reunion of the kindest, deepest, and most joyous kind. We talked and laughed in a light-hearted – and sometimes very serious – way. We poked fun, found dozens of memories to share, and generally showed each other the full picture of ourselves. These were days of blessings for all of us, for sure.

Al and I on a walk near the Mystic River
  • the old bros!

We had a wonderful reunion of much of the family at Jamie’s house on Sunday …

Today, on a very warm and muggy morning, we took another lovely bike ride on the rail trail in Kingston. The shadows of the big trees were as soothing as always, and the fairly level ride, with a few long but gradual rises, gave us a chance to get just as strenuous (or easy) a workout as we wished. We stopped at our favorite cafe halfway through the ride, as always, and enjoyed croissants and coffee and warmed-up milk before heading back up the trail.

  • loaded and ready
  • a view into the wetlands
  • my sweetheart cyclist
  • the hammy-cia team
  • a very sweet stop

We took an early, misty walk along the Mystic River this morning, about 3 1/2 miles. The river was beautiful in its mistiness — the sort of mysterious, silken look that misty mornings seem to do so well. I huffed and puffed and shared some thoughts with Cia and she with me, but mostly we were silent as we strode for more than an hour through the muggy mist.

  • a devoted photographer
  • birds doing morning meditation