Four things you can't recover:

The stone..........after the throw. The word........after it's said.

The occasion........after it's missed. The time...........after it's gone.

I smile because I don't know what the hell is going on.

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye".
Antoine de Saint-Exupery, from 'The Little Prince'

This wildflower grows only a few inches tall. Its such a perfect little flower, that most people never see. Its actually a member of the iris family.

Let's be friends. Leave me a message. Tell me if you like/hate my photos...or my music...
Leave me suggestions for stuff to listen to......

Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake.
Henry David Thoreau

Don't grumble that roses have thorns...
be thankful that thorns have roses!

"I am a Democrat". "I am a socialist."." I am a Republican". " I am an artist". "I am a thinker. " I am a Jock". "I am sensitive and tough, macho but vulnerable....good, clean, pure". Who are we without these labels? When you really let go of all the pros and cons, who are you then? Drop all your likes and dislikes, notions of career and position, then who is left "God, I don't know...I am nobody. I am nothing".
That is how we feel but it isn't true. When we really let go, we become everything. At that point we are identified with all things: the flower, the oak tree, the morning star.
Dennis Genpo Merzel, 'The Eye Never Sleeps".a

I don't hike so much to cover ground or get away from it all as to look at things. This proves to be surprisingly idiosyncratic. i would have thought flat out eyes forward walking could be accomplished anywhere, yet I must be mistaken, for I drive hiking companions berserk with my endless stooping and poking and turning over stones, For this reason too I go alone.....
From A Sense of the Morning by David Hopes

Attached to the eaves of the roof is this coconut shaped object. Every day I see hornets come and go. So dangerous, so unwelcome, and still...a work of art.
Its a womb, its a woman...beckoning...come inside, come inside of me...deep into the mystery of my circular darkness...but only if .....you dare.
How in the world did they make this home?
What should I do about it?
Once my son knocked half of it off and sprayed the inhabitants.
Within a week, they rebuilt and were back.
So I guess we will have to coexist for the time being and keep our distance

This tree grows in someones front yard. It was so impressive I had to take its picture.
How old is this tree?
How does it know to spread its branches in a beautiful symmetry?
Could a human being make anything more beautiful?
Does lift your spirits like it does mine?

http://www.real-wishes.com/

Crater Lake is part of the ill fated Tocks Island Dam Project on the Delaware NJ. In the 50's the Fed Govt decided to dam the Delaware river providing water and power to many. It was very controversial. 206 families were evicted from their homes and farms in a bitter and unpleasant series of disputes.
The Feds decided eventually not to dam the Delaware, but kept the property it confiscated as a recreational area for everyone.
Crater lake is beautiful. Looks like a scooped out crater in the rock where you can swim and hike. My 'honey' took me here last summer 2007 on his bike.
But still it carries bad memories especially for the people who had to sacrifice their homes.
We have by our government blunders, saved the land from perhaps thousands of condos, and industrial development for many to enjoy forever, but a few had to suffer and leave their homes.
Is it right? What do you think?

This is the oldest house in my town. Its called the Tichenor House after the family who built it. Story goes a Tichenor son left home at 16 to serve his country in the Revolutionary War. The home was a thriving farm once. The last family who lived there grew old and left the 'treasure' to the county in the 50's or 60's. Sadly, no one took care of the home, and it has slowly begun to return to the earth. Large holes in the roof are covered with tarp that blows off. No one...there is no one, who will save the Tichenor House. People turn their backs and say its such a shame. But that is life. Someday soon it will be gone.

This is the ocean at Newport. First time in my life I have been there 10/2007. Nice to keep discovering new places. Thanks to Mary and Jimmy for suggesting we take a trip there for the weekend.