HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

BOO!

Haiku Moment #7
"Wildflowers
beauty of the everyday
unsung."

Thought for today:
Listen. Learn. Grow.

"There are moments in our lives, there are moments in a day, when we seem to see beyond the usual. Such are the moments of our greatest happiness."
...Robert Henri, The Art Spirit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Henri
http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/by_artist.php?id=663

Haiku Moment #6
"A journey
latch-key swings back and forth
alone."

Haiku Moment #5
Autumn
tears cradled in pink petals
dancing patterns.

Flowers are so inviting to study. Look at the pink color. Raindrops are on each petal. A petal, another petal make up a flower. Quiet undeclared beauty awakens my soul. This rose waits patiently. Soon these petals will be left behind to decompose. Lost.

"...my dad instilled in me a pure appreciation for home. He reveled in the elegant, epicurean pleasures of hearth and family, and he showed me that everything I'll ever need can be found within."
The Wabi-Sabi House The Japanese Art of Imperfect Beauty, Robyn Griggs Lawrence, CLARKSON POTTER/PUBLISHERS, NY, ©2004, Dedication Page "For My Father".

I was very fortunate to have a similar father. I remember once he brought me to a restaurant in Chicago for lunch. He asked me to order a baked potato without sour cream, butter, salt and pepper. He wanted me to eat the potato and taste the potato and honor the potato that I was eating. At the time, I didn't know he was teaching me how to live in a wabi-sabi house; but he was.

"O Great Spirit, help me always...to remember the peace that may be found in silence."
...CHEROKEE PRAYER

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."

...Albert Camus

Today, I saw shadows dancing in-between tall skyscrapers, hundreds of people walking, a man cleaning brass while talking on a cell phone and the “L” going around the Loop. All these sights and sounds welcomed me back to Chicago. There isn’t a place like it!

I saw a photography exhibit of India at the Cultural Center. Revisited an architectural display. Checked out a gift shop. I keep going back to enjoy a sandwich and to listen to talented guest musicians and get comfortable with memories of bygone days at this place.

After getting my teeth cleaned, shopping till I dropped and completing a photo shoot, I headed for home. The last thing I saw was an elderly man who could hear the piped in music at Lake Street Station and played along with the violin. The sound touched my soul. Such joy he brought me this day.

A neighbor and long time friend invited me to a book review. It was delightful! Barbara Rinella was a dynamic speaker who didn't use cheat sheets but did bring props. She had a pillbox hat and sunglasses and a dark wig to imitate Jacqueline Kennedy. She brought a dress and hat to look like Eleanor Roosevelt. And so on. She would dress and walk and mentioned details or a funny thing that happened which would peak listeners interest to learn more about each White House President's wife. Margaret Truman's book entitled FIRST LADIES was one of the books Ms. Rinella used for accurate stories. Check out her website for other books she recommends and upcoming book review events www.barbararinella.com.

When it stopped raining, I went shooting with my camera. I found some mums, some roses, a waterfall and yes; I took more morning glory shots. Today, I noticed a lot of buds, some buds barely opened looked like tiny stars, and then there were these two gigantic leaves. Why only two? I seem to be studying morning glories like artists did in the past with horses and ballet dancers. Soon frost will come and I will become interested in other subject material. Life is such an adventure!

This shot was taken in our own backyard. Morning glories are growing helter-skelter on an entrance gate. It is my husband's favorite flower. He is pleased to see them climbing on the tall pine next door. It is like morning glory heaven here. This photo is of a morning glory after a heavy rainstorm. My goal is to see ordinary things differently.

Haiku Moment
"now hear fall mums."
...anonymous

I saw this advertisement painted on a board with red paint. The sign should have said, "Now here fall mums." The word hear should have been here. Whenever my husband and I would go by the Garden Center, we would laugh and say "Do you hear the mums yet?" Use your imagination and let me know if you can hear the fall mums.
I think that this mistake, is a wonderful Haiku poem. Don't you?

Haiku Moment #4
"bug on face
funnel-shaped morning glories
blue twined"

Close-up of a sunflower.

Haiku Moment #3
shards of glass
broken-down abandoned building
beacons from yesterday

Haiku Moment #2
three circle stones
rough ride in the sea
stories disappear

Haiku Moment #1
mountain climbing
don't look back at where you've been
cold glass of ice tea

Morning Glory image facing sun. Still exploring textures and shapes.

"In your travels may there be
Beauty behind you,
Beauty on both sides of you,
And beauty ahead of you."
...Navajo Indian

Blue Morning Glory shot from underneath, then cropped to show patterns and textures.

"When the writing starts, listen."
...Marianne Moore

What I learned on shooting an abandoned building:

Don't wear crocs.

Be aware what is on the ground such as broken glass, tree roots or nails.

Have someone guarding your back.

Look for shots close to home, click and later crop.

Shoot before 9:00 AM or after 4:00 PM.

This is an image of torn plastic covering a window of an abandoned building.

"When the Spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art."
...Leonardo da Vinci

"Do not stop thinking of life as an adventure. You have no security unless you can live bravely, excitingly, imaginatively."
...Eleanor Roosevelt

"The voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."
...Marcel Proust

Texture of wood, stucco, glass, brick and torn screen attracted my attention. Torn screen looks like several skyscrapers. Could not pass up this shot.

Saw these unidentified variegated plants; then I cropped image.

Now it looks like an abstract painting.

What I have learned so far:
Put copyright symbol on photo.
Choose a subject then shoot it.
Example: Eyes
Be flexible. See a different image.
Shoot it too.
Example: Cabbages and raindrops
Look at subject from a different view.
Whole image can be broken up into parts.
Example: This image is of a tractor disk.