MISCELLANEOUS PHOTOS AND VERSE Updated 1/27/2009

ALGAE AND ICE

Algae And Ice
Formed by Late
Winter Sunshine,
Frozen in Late
Winter Nightshine,
Algae Bubbles Trapped
In Thin Surface Ice,
Thin Surface Ice
Etched as Fine Glass,
Catch the Early Morning,
Late Winter Sun,
Not Yet Warming,
But Greening Towards Spring.

IF ONLY I HAD THE TIME

If only, if only, if only I had the time,
I’d carve pure thought into solid rock,
I’d whisper eternal truths upon the wind,
I’d plant absolute beauty in rich soil,
I’d…. but wait, it’s already there
To see, to hear, to know.
I need only the time given to me,
To see, to hear, to know.
......................................RDS

Voiceless conversations swirl
Around the restless plasma,
Boundless energy bounding
Throughout an endless universe.

A bundled data pulse,
Organized by a curious life,
Spreading at light speed,
Impacts upon infinity,
Changing, ever so slightly,
All.
...............................RDS

The Quickness of a Fleeting Thought,
Always Disappearing Before It Ought,
Leaves a Faint But Discernible Trail,
A Trail to Travel Should Chance Avail.
For on Another Day, Another Season,
The Thought May Reappear, No Reason.

The Quickness of a Fleeting Thought
Always Disappearing Before It Ought.
A Fleeting Thought Prepares the Field,
Sows Idea’s Seeds to Grow and Yield
Fruit Born to Ripen in Due Time,
To provide a Harvest That Is Sublime.

A positive thought or feeling can lie in ambush for an indefinite period until unleashed, out of nowhere, by events beyond one’s control.


The main pond at Sapsucker Woods
Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The richness of chlorophyll-green is nowhere more apparent than at a pond’s edge at the height of summer. Waterlilies flood the surface, shrubs reach out to gather in the light, tree roots draw moisture and nutrients to nourish their leafy canopy. Fallen tree trunks become turtle ramps.



Catch the autumn in a single leaf
For the forest may overwhelm you,
Catch the glance of a single eye
For the crowd will surely bore you.





Taughannock Falls from overlook








The last waterfalls of Taughannock Creek before entering Cayuga Lake








Character is built from facing life’s vicissitudes over time and circumstance. That character is etched upon all providing uniqueness to each. Falling water reinforces that concept in a visual and physical way. Each discontinuity in a creek bed, its vicissitudes over time and circumstance, gives a unique flavor to each waterfall. The effect causes an emotional response, a sense of absolute or objective beauty because the time frame vastly exceeds a human life span.
Large befores and afters imply eternal truths.




Sunset in Chili


An audience of teasel witness an autumn sunset seemingly engulfing the distant hedgerow in flames, truly a fiery sunset. All should cherish front row seats to any grand finale.







REFLECTIONS
SAPSUCKER WOODS

Looking down onto the mosaic of light and shadow,
water and plants, drifting easily between heaven and earth,
a reflective moment humbles the thoughtful.










Reflections at Lime Hollow Nature Center

How long the bones last, giving mute testimony to defiant life. Once nurtured by that which killed, the branches now bow towards their watery grave. Ghostly remnants of teeming life, bowing in death towards the liquid of life. Now flowing and swaying only in reflection, once they were flowing and swaying with breezy life. Ageless seem the blanched bones, so fresh the green-life reflections of the distant shore. These sun-dried bones, a grim reminder, may they last a long, long time.
The sun-dried bones act as tombstones made from the once living. So many tombstones mark so many a watery cemetery, whether a flooded meadow or a flooded woodland.
The sadness of the passing of one lifestyle into that of another leaves a melancholy sense that oppresses more in older years than those of youth.
Can the glory of the past be more real than the promise of the future? Change although inevitable is not always better, sometimes the price exceeds the value.


Each generation must pay the price; each generation must assess the value.




Tossed upon the shore, the refuse of the sea takes a new meaning for those earthly creatures roaming the sand. Alien and ancient appear the sea debris, only hinting at the vast unknown contained beneath the waves. Endless seems the sand, timeless seems the sea and so temporal seems the interloper. A foot print marks his passage, a wave erases it, and the sea remains. Beaches and waves, eternal and monotonous, forming stretches of forever that last far too long to escape the curse of boredom. Temperate living allows time for reflective thought. Harsh wind, harsh sunshine, harsh surroundings, uninterrupted and endless, oppresses. Being insignificant in one’s surroundings yields insignificance in one’s thought
Adrift in thought, the sea is restless.