Playing

 

☁️ ⛅️ ☁️

Today we played around with the PREVIEW program.

Him on his computer and me on mine.

I grabbed an unused (so far) recent photo and fooled around for a bit.

It was the fun kind of learning...no pressure, just playing.

This was my first try.

Handwriting on a computer!

Ha

 ☁️

I've always loved, actually needed

BIG SKY

While I'm not in Montana, their logo phrase always comes to mind

May you play

May you expand your view

May you make things yours

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2022

Inspired, But Not Pretty

 

INSPIRED?

Deb's comment on a recent post got me thinking. My commute photos are most often taken while stopped at a light, but not always! Sometimes, when the roads are relatively empty, I just point and shoot without looking...keeping eyes on the road instead.  Most of those photos are never used or seen by others, junk. Although, some were heavily altered and used in the Dreamin' in Color video.

Anyway, her comment, her use of the word "life" - also made me think. I am always thinking of how to tell these stories, what my bias' may be, what is the 'good, the bad, the ugly', what catches my eye? So, with that in mind, I realize I've gotten into the habit of close cropping photos. My camera takes photos that appear much further away than what my human eye sees, so I crop. Lately, I've also started fixing the color in some of the pics. This is something I've never done in the past, but recently the colors seem weaker than my reality. True? Maybe - Maybe not. But, I've gotten into the habit of trying to "correct" the photos. Mmm...

So this commuting post, I didn't do that. I did crop a couple so what I see in the moment, could actually be seen. This is my world as I and the camera see it.

There is a hill, by a freeway that has become a "shrine" of sorts. It now has artistically arranged 'trash' going up the hill in graduated steps. I can never quite perceive exactly what the individual items are though. Out of the photo range - above my sideview mirror and behind that parked car (photo above) is another pile of trash. Why? Is this the unwanted pieces from the art installment? Is it just regular trash for this area? This corner strip mall (what they are called here) is never in good repair, but whatever businesses are there have a lot of foot traffic. Without editing it is a bit hard to read, but the graffiti on the wall reads "HOPES". Mmm...

This corner is kitty-corner from the White Van workers in the night corner.

The other day I happened to notice a man standing on the hill, perhaps overseeing his creation?

Do you see him standing there? Okay, I'll zoom in...Yep, there he is. Okay, light has turned green...off I go.

This is the alley next to the 'only a foundation left' lot - where the White Van workers park each night and hang things on the fence there on the right. There is usually heaps of trash bags curbside at the left side of the alley. I'm glad I thought to take this daytime photo, as I wouldn't want to photograph and share photos with the White Van folks in them. The other night there were bicycles and inner tubes involved. I still can't help but think these are not gathered in a legitimate way. 

Red light again. 

Do you see it? Way at the top of one of the pine tree...a speck/flash of white. Let's look closer...

Yep, just like I'd thought...a hawk. Sometimes one has to really, really look for the beauty, for what touches the soul. Any day I see a hawk is a good day for me.

Green light means go...

Perhaps these photos explain why I love the views of my lunch trees (photo below) and look to the sky at every opportunity. Sometimes the view on the ground ain't so grand.

May you look in all directions and find bits of beauty or peace or solace wherever your eyes land.

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2022

Scattered

 Yesterday morning (which was actually last weekend!)...listening to 88.5...

Music to honor MLK

A great playlist. This one really caught my attention and brought back a fond memory.

LINK

From this PLAYLIST

👉🏾     👉🏾      👉🏾

Once again, I'll claim to be scattered, not really doing/posting much, but starting posts, and finishing them eventually.  A record of days as they are.

This is one of those, obviously.

They flit back into the environmentally sensitive native and succulent plants 

as the vibrations of my feet move towards them

big, small, tiny...fast

they are there if you are looking

You have to be looking

I'm looking and pausing, giving them space

Each night, at the same cross street, the light turns red

I stop

I watch the team of men working

older white van parked curbside

The men wear headlamps, clamp lights on the chainlink fence nearby

Each night, they are very busy moving things

The old white van stuffed full, including the rooftop

Each night, I try to discern what they have stuffed in that van

I try to see, while the light is red, what are the many items in and on the van, on the sidewalk all lined up, hanging from the chainlink fence

One night I see a ladder

Another night many extension cords, coiled up and ready for use

I wonder profusely, where these items came from and where they are going?

Who are these folks?

Do they live behind the chainlink fence on the foundation of a once there house?

Someone lives back there now

These questions will probably go unanswered forever

I'm okay with that

Questions don't always need answers, do they?

She sits, preferring the blanket mountain

The tent is gone, the umbrella is also gone, but she remains

Sitting atop her throne, smoking a cigarette - face to the morning sun 

I see her each morning there,

but at night, she disappears into the dark charcoal heap of blankets

Likely unseen by the many commuters traveling by

Last Friday morning, as I move down the road, I notice someone new

Standing next to her is a white-haired man

They are each holding a disposable coffee cup

talking in the morning sun

*This reminds me of Grace & Jude's recent neighborly encounters and makes me happy for her human connection on this day

Rain came, again

It was enough to see it falling, which sounds odd I know

It was loud enough to hear, which while again sounds odd, but is common around here

We often can barely see or hear the rain, even with a sliding door and a metal roofed carport 

Next the wind came, many different days of Wind

Big Wind

And the clouds, with their own stories. We called it a jellyfish cloud

Last Friday, driving home, I was on the 2 lane road, which wraps around the mountain

Right at the most narrow part, uphill tight against the hill

I'm in stopped traffic, heading North

Southbound lane is empty

It is empty except for the single man walking along the side of the road

He is wearing dark clothing and a dark (black?) backpack, thinning hair and a dark beard

He is not easy to see in a road absent of lights

But, I see him.

He is walking firmly, abruptly, angrily(?)

He waves one arm and punches the air above him

I go very still, looking straight ahead, while keeping him in my peripheral vision 

He continues South a few more steps

I run through reasons he could be in this place, presenting as he is

Maybe his car broke down and is mad, although I see no car on the roadside

Maybe he got fired and that was the last straw for him

Maybe...?

But, something feels wrong. This is not a walking road, at all

His demeanor shouts a different story

My mind starts racing

It's dark, bumper to bumper traffic

two lane road - around a mountain

No Way Out

no way out

Why is he Here?

What's in the backpack?

Why does he seem so angry?

We move an inch or two

Think, think

Okay, my door is locked, so that's good

I lock it anyway

I remain looking forward

I'm silent, but the repeated chant is loud in my head

Don't come over to me

Don't come over to me

Don't come over to me

we move another inch or two

He begins to cross the road, heading to a car a couple of cars behind me

His arms are waving and his beard surrounded mouth is opened in a yell

We move again

I call 911

Thick is morning fog 

obscuring much of my view

The world turns yellow

May you have both dull and brilliant in your world

May you notice the mysteries

May you embrace the goodness and survive the fear

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2022

Love Is Always The Answer

 

❤️❤️

A mere blip in time, here together

sharing a love that will last an eternity

we could feel that

A mere hour after Mo's post

came into my inbox,

I ate lunch with this crow

❤️❤️

One has not landed here, like this, on my lunch hour...

but Old Man Crow has been much on my mind...

❤️❤️

May we all circle 'round to hold Mo in our love as she moves through this time.

May we hold onto one another as well.

May Rod rest well, rest oh so very well.

xo

Screenshot by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2022

Honoring, Sharing My Beautiful Friend

 

Photo Credit: Serena, screenshot from her blog, ©2022

You may know her, remember her from this circle.

She has been here as long as I can recall.

On and off, she tells her own stories, on her own various blogs

Over the years

She told stories of making and teaching with cloth.

She shared amazing photographs...and insights.

She shared her heartfelt writing.

She shared herself.

 ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ 

I was so happy to see her recent post in my inbox, as I knew she would offer up something good, something important...and she did. She has been a nurse through this time of covid Her words, feelings matter. 

She matters, to me, her family, and the world at large.

I am honored to consider her my friend.

Sending you Big Love Serena.

❤️ 🤲🏼 ❤️

To read her life, in her own words, hop on over to her place at:

writteninbetweens

Screenshot by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2022

Reminded

I am reminded of many large rocks I've known by Grace's recent post.

These are not them.

My old photos are not in a photo book or a computer...or easy to lay my hands on. But, in my mind I am seeing very large rocks, surrounded by the green of Spring. Rocks you can climb onto or walk over...rocks that are boulders and live by running water.  I am imagining a large rock, with me perched on top, on Highway 154, near Santa Barbara and open meadow spaces with flat, low boulders near Three Rivers, CA. I've thought of this place a lot recently, since the last Fires there, when the famous General Sherman tree was wrapped in fire retardant foil to save it.

It survived.

Here we are visiting in the early 2000's.

We stayed at the Lazy J Ranch Motel - you can see photos of the green, the sheep and the river, but I'm not seeing the rocks I recall. Things change. It was such a cheery little place.

We met friends for pizza dinner and drove around the town, to get a sense of things. We saw the largest pig (or hog?) I'd ever seen! We saw the sweetest little Post Office. 

I've joked ever since that I could work at that Post Office! My style and speed.

Anyway, I've been having these thoughts since the fires, since Grace posted green and mentions large boulders and Dee had a tree with a story. These photos have been in this new computer for a while now, so I guess this was the time to share them.

Additionally, the rocks & tree lead to thoughts of the road in...

the road in

These photos with these old carved tree stumps are on the road into Three Rivers.

I wonder what stories these trees have to tell?

🌲 🌲 🌲 🌲 🌲 🐑 🐖🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🌳 🐦🐦🌲 🌲 🌲 🌲 🌲

On another note,

I treated myself to a new deck of cards for my lunch breaks. The old spit cards were so brittle that they became unusable. I'd like to play that hand-held Solitaire as I relax on my lunch break. I've had this deck in my Amazon cart for years. haha Finally, a treat for me. 😊

It arrived today and the deck included a promotional info card, so I went to their website.

I was so excited to see so many wonderful books, especially the children's books and the fact that you can check for books by your state! I looked at CA & MA. Then I did a search for "cards" and lookie, lookie what I found...all sorts of other playing cards...trees, flowers, mammals...even mushrooms for Grace and those of you who love them! There are 'animal tracks' - night skies - dinosaurs - fish! 5 delicious pages of delightful cards. I would order so many of these!

Anyway, J. and I already sat and looked through the whole deck, him thumbing through and announcing the names. Many we did not know. Two I Googled...

They were the ferruginous hawk, which we have possibly seen

and the green jay. Isn't that Green Jay beautiful? They both have such interesting calls. The hawk sounds like someone is getting murdered (or maybe that is too much PBS shows talking! 😉).

This was a fun little adventure into memories and learning things anew!

🧘🏼‍♀️

May you have things to look forward to, no matter how small 

May your days provide a little sweetness

May you find ways to embrace that

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2022

What to Show?

The Lunch Car

💭     💬      💭

 Like others (Liz)...

I have had posts in my head. Short stories formed and never typed. Beautiful prose constructed.

More thoughts than the telling.

No cloth. No fiber. No stitching. No weaving.

Just day-to-day life.

Work, commute, eat, sleep...

and carving out (undistracted) time to be with J. or do a little me time.

Do you see it?

The tiny rainbow

Even when there is a lot of 'crap' - there is beauty, you just have to look

(I think I keep saying this!)

All last week I was in the parking lot for lunches.

New views. New ponderings. New discoveries. New lines to see!

It took until Friday for me to notice a nest in the Lunch Tree, and probably only because I saw a bird in that tree. A blackbird, so I thought. Then it flew off and nope, crow. That's when I noticed the nest.

Do you see the crow above? Rather camouflaged, I think.

I spent a lot of my lunches watching the leaves fall. Try as I might, I could not align the click of the camera with the falling leaves. I was so focused on those golden, fluttering leaves that...again, finally on Friday I noticed there were still a few green ones hanging on.

There were shadow lines and contrasting lines, the gray of cement against the brilliant green of moss. There were the silhouettes of power polls and power lines in the morning sun and evening light.

And again today, there was the appreciated, needed pink line, shouting NEGATIVE - for however much we trust that truth.

Yesterday evening there was a fire in a strip mall fairly close to home. Thankfully it was put out quickly! Whatever burnt put out a very strong odor. Building materials perhaps? Wild.

Last night the news held a crazy car chase with speeds over 150 MPH, right on the streets where I drive each day. It was rather surreal.

Today it is beautiful and warm, but very, very windy and I'm staying out of that wind! 

💭     💬      💭

May your days be filled with the extraordinary ordinary 

May you be safe, May you be well

May you be content

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2022

Livin' Life

 

Little one a year ago, big one super cool - many years back

TODAY'S PONDERING:

What does 'line' mean to you?

Line-storming a'la Jude...

Line in art making - straight, wiggly, circular, vertical, horizontal, thick, thin...

Line of sight

Don't cross the line...of your parents making, of society's making...

Sing: One toke over the line...

LINK for video above

Another, older live version

Original version

Lawerence Welk Show

➖➖➖➖➖

A red line in the sand

timeline

Get in line

That one in itself could branch off into so many lines of thinking!

lines to vote, to get into a theater or concert, to get a covid vaccine or test

lines for all of the school children (way too many thoughts on that one!)

First in line, last in line

End of the line

A road's white or yellow line, keeping one in line

an invisible line

(Do you see it?!)

 Police lines, Food lines, Bank lines

"The Dot and The Line"

lines

lines

lines

⦚

Today THIS was the line that mattered!

One pink line = Negative for Covid & cleared for work

(This was an after Holidays test, no sense of illness at all.)

᷏͛͛

May all of your lines be as long or short as you'd wish them to be

May all of your lines be of the best possible color

May your life line and love lines be full and rich and treasured.

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2022