jan 2025

Awe Immersion...

Each new year
Invites us to indulge
In a bunch
Of resolutions
To help us be better
Human beings, perhaps…
Resolutions which we
Promptly
Make jokes about
Breaking.

I prefer to call
My efforts
Determinations…
That way there’s no
Breaking…
Only daily actions…
Some more
Remarkable
Than others…
But always
Pointing the way.

This year brings us
A fresh new
Tabula rasa..
A clean slate
To indulge our
Best ideals…
This year I offer
Some thoughts
About
Awe.

Seems there are scientists,
Like Dacher Keltner,
David Bryce Yaden, and
Marianna Graziosi,
Who have been researching
The positive effects…
Both physical and emotional…
Of experiencing awe.
They say awe is defined
As an emotion
Akin to joy, amusement,
gratitude, love, pride.
Plus
Awe is the provenance
Of so much that is human…
Music, art, religion, science
And even
Transformative
Insights
About our lives.

Awe is the feeling
Of being
In the presence
Of something vast
That transcends
Our understanding
Of our world.
Awe is about
Our relation
To the vast mysteries
Of life itself.

Science says
We all experience awe
In differing ways
Several times every week.
EVERY WEEK!
And Science also says
We can
GET MORE AWE
And find ways
To live more
Awe filled lives.

It’s about wonder
And
Curiosity
And
Being open
To new ways
Of seeing.

Perhaps,
These scientists say
While awe is
An ordinary response
To the extraordinary,
Is also
An extraordinary response
To the ordinary.

I’m determined to be
More awesome
This year.
I’ll be
Starting by reading
Keltner’s book

And exploring
The Awe Experience Scale
Developed by these
Awesome scientists.

Mostly I’ll
Just focus on
Feeling
MORE AWE
All around me.
Join me?
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course


AWE

Dec 2024

Constantly Seeking Teals...

Remember when
I told you
About my love
Of this colour?
And you know
I often use it
In my missives
To you…

Like how it
Matches my kitchen…

And
How it can
Ignite wonder…

I’ve also told you
About how
I rediscovered
All blues
When the dark veil
Of cataracts
Was lifted.

This month
I’m using this colour
To invite you
To join me
In taking some
Colour walks
To rediscover
How the daily
Wonder of colour
Ignites
Our every step.
I’m starting today’s
Colour walk
With this…
My bathmat rug…
One of my first
Encounters
Every day.
It’s my bath mat rug
I bought it when
I still had those cataracts
And I thought
It was this colour

During my cataract surgery
I chanted to be able
To see ALL my colours
Clearly again...
Imagine my surprise...
   And wonder...
   And appreciation...
When I came home
Immediately
After my surgery
To find my bathmat
Is the colour
I had been looking for
All along!
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

 

Nov 24

 

Finding Adventures in the Mundane...

As you know
I’m mostly a TTC gal
And with my back issues
I’m not going out
     So often
Or going
    So far
As I used to.

Laura, however, is reawakening
My adventurous spirit…
And giving it wheels,
If not wings.
A couple of weeks ago
She borrowed her dad’s car
(Thank you, Brian) and
We went to IKEA
     In Etobicoke,
     On the west side of Toronto.
Both Toronto IKEA locations
Used to have shuttle buses
To and from the nearest
TTC subway station,
But no more, so this is
A big deal for me…
     New small downtown IKEA
     Notwithstanding.
We shopped and
Ate lunch,
Then we drove down
To the lake and
I got to show Laura
The house I designed
And built on Lake Promenade
Overlooking Lake Ontario...
   Lo those many years ago.
Then I introduced Laura
To Tom’s.
Chocolate soft serve
That’s real ice cream.
   Some of you can relate.
I loved my
Adventures in Etobicoke.

In the meantime,
Kate had her own
IKEA adventure in NYC.
She rode an elevator
To Hoboken
And a train to Manhattan
Then caught
A free IKEA ferry
To the Red Hook store
In Brooklyn.
It was a rainy day
And hard to see
Out the ferry’s window

But she did get
A glimpse
Of the Statue of Liberty

 

And she got to watch
The fire boat playing
In the water...
That you see
In this month’s calendar.

I invite you to explore
Your own mundane
Adventures this month...
Here are a couple of suggestions.
   ...
November marks the time
To write your own story.
Why not get started on yours?
NaNaWriMo.
   ...
Have a great Mo/November
And
Be sure to remember
While you’re remembering
On the eleventh:
Vonnegut
Et al.
His birthday
and pleas
For Humanity
   ...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

Oct 2024

Equinoxes give me pause...

Every year
When Druids gather
To adjust Stone Henge
To align with the arrival
And departure of DST
I pause to ponder
The actual astonishing
Idea of equinoxes…
Tho they are not themselves
Honoured by our clocks.
Pausing to ponder now
Is really a part of noticing
Nature vs our
Human-made observances.

In Springtime we rejoice
And celebrate the lengthening days
And see things like
Crocuses and daffodils
As they give way
To dandelions and their
Far-floating puffs of fluff.

Then we swelter
And complain,
Of course.

But that all transforms
Yet again
As the Autumnal equinox
Brings us shorter days again
But also
Gives us dahlias...
Like these from Kelley.
She tells me dahlias
Are Autumn’s peonies!
She takes lots of pix
Of all the glorious flowers
She says she buys herself
Because they just
Make her so happy.

Kelley’s many flowers also
Make me so happy…
And I offer these to you
For your own happiness
And
To share the joy
Of our new season.

Rejoice now.
We can wait til after
The snow flies
To complain again…
And remember
The promises
Of the equinoxes.
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

 

Sept 2024

School Days. School Days...

Today is the next-to-last day
Of the Ex (CNE)
And the Air Show
Roars nearby each day now.
I can see it from
My balcony…
Tho the formations
Aren’t really formations
From here.
The end of the Ex
Marks the beginning
Of each fresh new school year.
That always triggers
Memories of my own first day
In San Antonio.
I later attended schools
In Lubbock, Fort Worth,
Bartonville, and Arlington
Before returning to San Antonio
For high school
At Thomas Jefferson HS
And college at the tiny perfect
Trinity University.

I loved my art classes at Trinity
But in nice weather
I sometimes cut class
To hang out at the zoo.
Seems there was no penalty
As long as I presented the day’s sketches
To my drawing prof.

Today’s calendar resulted
From just such a day circa 1963.
I was sketching this pelican
When her keeper approached
And looked over my shoulder.
He told me the bird’s name was
Molly.
Yes… Molly.
Then
Molly suddenly
Started squawking
And stomping about
In high dudgeon.
Seems she was irate
With her keeper for
Talking with me
Instead of feeding her!
Here are some of that day’s sketches.

Just one bird
In several views.
I called the resulting
Linocut “Molly’s Moods.”
You’ll see a print featured
On the entrance wall
Of my senior one-man show.

I have recently unearthed
The actual lino
And have found myself
Tempted to try printing again.
I haven’t done it yet,
But newspaper feels
Just so tempting.
What do you think?
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

Aug 2024

A Holiday for Batman...

Batman was born in Berkeley
Some 14 years ago
And he adopted Kate
Just a few weeks later.



He enjoyed his 2nd-floor home
In leafy Berkeley
For three years, when
They moved to 3rd-floor brownstone
In urban Brooklyn…
Then onward to a cliff-top
New Jersey 20th floor aerie…
Overlooking another cityscape
And west to the hills.

He’s explored a few nearby parks
Riding in his carrier
Wearing a little harness
When he felt like
Venturing onto the actual
Earth and her grasses.

He has joined Kate and David
For this summer’s extended
Holiday near that Berkley beginning…
This time in a 1st-floor apartment
That seems to have been designed
As a photo setting just for him.
There are lots of leafy trees
And chatty passers-by…
And there’s even a fancy peacock,
Named Fancy,
That wanders around and swoops up trees!



Sooooo much for Batman to see.

Isn’t that what we all want
On our own holidays?
   A change of scenery…
   Some adventure…
   And
   A brand new
   Point of view
   On Life’s ever-expanding
   Possibilities…
And it never hurts to have
A remarkable photo setting.
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course

 

July 24

 

My Canada Day Habit...

According to my files
I’ve been sending you
Canada Day wishes
For almost a quarter century.
Of course a major part
Of my habit
Is remembering Don Watt.
And my personal memories
Of both the man and his work…
Every, every year.

Kate’s in the habit
Of running at least a mile
Every day.
She admits
She might walk
If she has some health prob...
But she still does
Every, every day.

And on those forays
Both near her home
And further afield,
She is prone to
Taking pix.
She found
These hydrangeas
Close to home
Just a few days ago.
Looky how they love
Don’s flag.
...
In the link
At the top of the right column
I’ve included a higher res version
Of this Canada Day calendar
For your desktop today…
Along with another version
Sans flag
For the rest of the month,
Should you prefer.
...
Happy Canada Day!
...
If this isn't nice, what is?
              ~ Kurt Vonnegut, of course