Category Archives: travel

Rising

by

I am obsessed with the magic of clouds rising from nothing.

But what is that nothing?

Imagine what you might see, feel, hear underneath that dark, 100 foot tall forest canopy as a cloud just begins to emerge from around you?

IMG_0056 (1)

This mixed evergreen and deciduous forest has a canopy that is more than a ten story building, 30 meters (100feet) tall. On the forest floor, it is dark. And the floor is not level. Beneath the canopy is  a steeply varied topography–very exciting–filled with surprising variety of flora and fauna–if you are quiet and patient.

 

Seasoning—is it right?

by

Spring, summer, fall and winter…all have their individual tastes and arrive each year with their own uniquenesses.

In the northern hemisphere, now in 2018, we are making the transition between fall and winter. All of you have your own memories and interpretations of these seasonings. I doubt there is a right or wrong.

But the other day, the mountains around my home revealed a certain kind of smorgasbord seasoning, grace to elevation changes. What? What do I mean to say?

On one day, I experienced a very unique variety of seasonings. Full blown winter and full blown fall, completely independent of each other, within less than an hour of each other, again grace to their elevational difference. And, the best for last, something very special above them all.

It is all about the landscape. I hope you can enjoy these images.

IMG_8270

Fall landscape

IMG_8124

Winter landscape

IMG_8409

Heavenly landscape

To Farm or Not

by

I was born and grew up in the urban and suburban Midwest USA—Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland—had to drive for miles to see farms, the places where we could buy fresh corn on the cob and watermelon from small makeshift roadside stands. These were grown on huge extensive plains. A consumer, I was a consumer.

I had no idea what farmers had to do over a 12 month or more cycle so that they would have ‘produce’ to sell to me from their roadside stand.

Decades later, I am still a consumer; but I live in a community that has been for generations small scale farmers. Each and every farm house has apple trees and walnut trees growing close by. Even the generations who have moved into the dense village have planted small fruit and nut trees. Why?

This first image reflects a spiritual understanding that nature is unpredictable and a reverence for a greater power is essential for farmers. So many things can go wrong with weather, climate and the geophysical that a season, a year may come anytime to take away the food necessary for farmer life. Imagine no grocery store with well stocked shelves, imagine no 7-11/24-7-365 convenience. Imagine if you had no access to food. Farmers make plans that their families never have to suffer such a hardship.

This means long hours everyday, year round. Just grab a short bit of relaxation from time to time. Hard life. I can see it all around me these days. Yet, I, as a consumer with a second-hand sympathy for farmers, sometimes feel envious of how much determination, commitment and practical knowledge they bring with them day-in, day-out to solve problems beset on them by nature and changing government regulations.

So this year, I have enjoyed observing the ripening process of fruits and nuts—apples and walnuts.

IMG_5860

The Alphorn is a conduit providing mystic connections between music, people and the landscape.

IMG_1353

Walnut trees on every farm.

IMG_1286

The apple of my eye on every farm.

IMG_1361

Walnuts in green—the husks in first stages of ripening.

IMG_1366

Signs that ripening is progressing—the husk prepares to break open.

IMG_1365

The walnut reveal.

Apple and walnut torte or apple and walnut kuchen…your choice.:)

Book or cover?

by

When I was growing up, I heard many times, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’–in different circumstances but often about people. Sociological training at home. Skin color, clothes, part of town…

These days, I am the stranger, in a strange town. I live on a hillside, looking down on the town center. The largest, tallest building is the public school. And in this image you can see it bedecked with planter boxes overflowing with red and pink geraniums in flower.

It is obviously the most important building in town and most beautifully adorned and maintained. If I judge the people of this town by the care they have shown for the public school, have I made a mistake?

IMG_1228 (1)

Public school as town center for the last century