Attention and Creativity

October 6, 2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

Art is an act of intentional attention. The poet invites the senses, observes the flow and twist of words, injects emotion, insight. The painter studies colours, the nuance of shadows, looks for focus and textures, creates a tone. The musician listens, attends to harmonies, gathers rhythms and composes. The photographer selects details, alters the lens, […]

Flower of the Day: Lilac with bug

October 6, 2018.Reading time less than 1 minute.

The softness of lilac seems out of place amongst the rusts and yellows of autumn, and yet this patch of flowers decided to make a statement. While my camera lens appreciates the beauty of flowers, I am ignorant of their names. If you can educate me, I would be grateful. (For Cee’s Flower of the […]

CFFC: Things People Grow

October 5, 2018.Reading time 1 minute.

Here in southwest Ontario, we grow corn. By August we’ve also a grown an appetite for the taste of peaches and cream corn, buttered and salted, right off the cob. My mother comes from farming roots, but these days all she grows is older. We are all farmers, in a sense – planting our seeds, […]

Cee’s Flower of the Day: Sunflower

October 5, 2018.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Cee has invited me to join in even though I don’t know the name of many flowers. I do love to photograph them though, and this sunflower really spoke to me on my walk a couple of days ago. Sadly, as I passed it by this evening, the petals are all gone and the stalk […]

“Apprenticed to Venus”: a Review

October 4, 2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

Subtitled My Secret Life with Anaïs Nin, Apprenticed to Venus is the part memoir, part novel of Tristine Rainier, who mentored under the famous diarist. Although I have been inspired by Nin’s words, I have known very little about her, so I was eager to read this book. Rainier, on an errand from her artist aunt, encounters […]

Exploring Stonetown

October 3, 2018.Reading time 5 minutes.

Sunday, being the last day of September, spurred my longing to get outside. The clouds hung low, threatening to drop their contents at any moment, but I didn’t care. We’ve been in our new town for two months now, and have had little time for exploring. A river flows through the village, and there are […]

Lens-Artists: Look Up

October 2, 2018.Reading time 1 minute.

I am currently obsessed with the ever-changing landscape that is the sky. Looking up has become a habit. The featured image was taken from the car while traveling – so not the best, but still the cloud images look alive. Taken from the front porch, this late afternoon, September sky is perfection: During a recent […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #17: Attention

October 1, 2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

The quality of our lives is determined by the focus of our attention. – Cheri Huber As a child, I had a recurring dream: I’m crouched under a large, wooden chair, and Mickey Mouse is headed my way with a kettle of boiling water, intending to scald me, and no matter how much I scream, […]

Photo a Week: From the Back

September 30, 2018.Reading time 1 minute.

As the weather turns here, and our aging bodies start to complain, we find ourselves dreaming of warmer climates. Arizona is the state that calls to me. I decided to revisit my pictures from last year for this challenge. Horseback riders follow the river’s edge in search of the wild horses. Coon’s Bluff, where these […]

Exit Strategy

September 28, 2018.Reading time 1 minute.

One more train. Then she’d be away. Far enough to lose all communication. Far enough that he could not find her. “Can I help you Ma’am?” a porter reached for her luggage. Passengers crowded in behind. “Just a moment, thanks.” Pulling her suitcase aside, she fidgeted with her purse, pretending to be searching for a […]

Present Distance

I’ve lived the fog of distance –life’s highway a series of hillsdestination without promise Have learned that acceptance gains perspective,that climates change, and hope sustains,and that in the stillness dreams renew. Now I travel quieter paths, appreciatespace, have surrendered to a slower pace –certain that this too will change. (image my own)

Floral Balm

Of Trauma Born

Goodbyes tarnishfaith, like ashesscattered My heart grows dismissal,craves a balm of connectionseeks quiet harbour Remind me what it feels like to be safebreath nurturing life,love a rhythmic flow In meditationI reach for peaceimagine salvation But this wayward chaosunrestrainedcements me in doubt Tainted intentionsI lift up to the Universea tempest without hope My soul incubates malicea […]