Small Stone: January 29, 2013

“A fertile bedlam prevails”

a quote from a review of an exhibit

of surrealist drawings in NYC.

Kind of nice to think about

what there is to gain in the uproar.

A goal for this week will be to find

a fertile moment in topsy-turvydom.

(that is a real word) 

The photo isn’t from today, sadly. But, from a fine outing to the San Francisco Zoo recently. Seemed to represent topsy-turvy.

 

Small Stone: January 28, 2013

Today: I saw a lovely child exploring her world out the bus window. It made me think of the excitement of discovery. I saw a gorgeous young couple. It made me aware of youthful vitality. I saw a fast-striding businessman and I connected with the thrill of success. I saw a white-haired woman carefully choosing oranges and thought of how age allows us to be selective.

Sweet child. Sexy youth. Successful exec. Serenity in aging.

Do any of those have anything to do with the individual at that particular moment? What was their actual experience? Even close to my immediate perception?

As I reflect on the day, I am aware that all of those observations were tinged with a judgment on my part, not wholly in the moment and formed somewhere in my past.

The photo is a first leaf daring to break out of winter against a south-facing wall around the corner.

Small Stone: January 27, 2013

Somewhere in life, I learned

how to make a civil smile.

Yesterday, I exchanged

friendly, reserved, very polite smiles

with a pleasant woman

as we passed on my street.

Then, down the block a child hit me

with an unlearned smile.

The photo is of my great-grand nephew, Luke, on 

another wonderful occasion. His bright, fresh smile─

spontaneous in most children.

Small Stone: January 26, 2013

Tonight is Wolf Moon.

A search on the web tells me

to emulate my ancestors and take refuge

in my home…stay close to the fire on this dark

winter night as the winds and the wolves

howl outside.

OK!

Small Stone: January 25, 2013

Mid-winter: a time of recollection

or even collection, perhaps.

Evaluate, keep or discard.

Not Spring cleaning…

more a letting go.

Once joyful affections,

memories, beliefs

dusty with lack of care,

just fall away.

Winter, by the calendar,

is one-third over. The days

are warm here, some say

a false-Spring. It seems real.

 The photo is just a mood shot...seemed about right for today.

Small Stone: January 24, 2013

A question for the prickly pear.

What protects?

Little impedimenta,

limiting life, achieving

neither security,

nor freedom

from petty fear.

It is a time 

to remove

the spines,

one by one.

Small Stone: January 23, 2013

Looking out, or light coming in.

I am unsure. Even the light seems

at odd angles.

Little things alter my focus,

skewing much larger values,

questioning some long-held beliefs.

Aging and letting go? Perhaps.

With some sadness:

relevance and meaning

may well be the issue.

Window in the chapel at the Mission San Francisco Solano in Sonoma, CA--the very last mission built at the end of El Camino Real.