The Leaves
The Berries
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Emerald Hearts at Christmas
Friday, December 12, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Monday, September 1, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Tenth Birthday
Smitten
The triangular face of my kitten,
Wide-set eyes and snub nose, has me smitten.
She has beauty so mild
That, like mother to child,
I am bonded--the parent bug's bitten!
And it's lasted ten years, for I found
That just having this foundling around
Brought me endless delight--
So the bonding's still tight,
Since she captured my heart at one bound.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Three Passes
Aransas Pass
Aransas Pass* leads to a bay
On the Texas Gulf Coast. Every day,
In a salt-water file,
Ships will pass Mustang Isle
To the south; to the north, San José.
*Aransas Pass, a ship channel which leads from the Gulf of Mexico to Aransas Bay and provides access for all ocean-going ships to the port of Corpus Christi, lies between San José Island and Mustang Island, just offshore from the town of Aransas Pass, Texas. A free ferry connects this small town to the town of Port Aransas at the northern end of Mustang Island. Port Aransas advertises itself to tourists interested in salt-water fishing with the slogan, “Port Aransas, where they bite every day.”
=========================================
Apache Pass, Texas
A pass is a way to get through:
At *Apache Pass, Texas, the view
Is historic—a stream's
Gravel crossing that gleams
With the dreams the old Spaniards once knew.
*In the years 1746–1749, three Spanish missions and a presidio were built near Apache Pass, a gravel bar crossing on the San Gabriel River, near the present small city of Georgetown, Texas. In 2004, the nearby farm road FM 908 was identified as part of the Upper El Camino Real, which is a National Historical Trail from Mexico to Louisiana.
=========================================
Apache Pass, Ft. Bowie, Arizona
Named *Apache by Spaniards, this way
(Called a pass) through the mountains still may
Enchant travelers who go
Where its spring-waters flow,
At the crossroads of history, today.
*Apache Pass is located within Ft. Bowie, Arizona, where elevations range between 4,550 and 5,250 feet. The Spaniards had established missions there, in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, because of the water available from a year-round spring. They named the place for the Apache people, within whose home in the Chiricahua Mountains it lay. In 1862 the Apache fought their only major battle against the U.S. Army at Apache Pass, being forced to withdraw in the face of the army's mountain howitzer. Ft. Bowie was built to protect this route for settlers moving west, and it is now a park, designated as a National Historic Site.
=========================================
Ft. Bowie
When I went to Ft. Bowie, I saw
Living history that left me in awe:
A perennial spring
Where Apache would sing
Or make love or make war down the draw.
Aransas Pass* leads to a bay
On the Texas Gulf Coast. Every day,
In a salt-water file,
Ships will pass Mustang Isle
To the south; to the north, San José.
*Aransas Pass, a ship channel which leads from the Gulf of Mexico to Aransas Bay and provides access for all ocean-going ships to the port of Corpus Christi, lies between San José Island and Mustang Island, just offshore from the town of Aransas Pass, Texas. A free ferry connects this small town to the town of Port Aransas at the northern end of Mustang Island. Port Aransas advertises itself to tourists interested in salt-water fishing with the slogan, “Port Aransas, where they bite every day.”
=========================================
Apache Pass, Texas
A pass is a way to get through:
At *Apache Pass, Texas, the view
Is historic—a stream's
Gravel crossing that gleams
With the dreams the old Spaniards once knew.
*In the years 1746–1749, three Spanish missions and a presidio were built near Apache Pass, a gravel bar crossing on the San Gabriel River, near the present small city of Georgetown, Texas. In 2004, the nearby farm road FM 908 was identified as part of the Upper El Camino Real, which is a National Historical Trail from Mexico to Louisiana.
=========================================
Apache Pass, Ft. Bowie, Arizona
Named *Apache by Spaniards, this way
(Called a pass) through the mountains still may
Enchant travelers who go
Where its spring-waters flow,
At the crossroads of history, today.
*Apache Pass is located within Ft. Bowie, Arizona, where elevations range between 4,550 and 5,250 feet. The Spaniards had established missions there, in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, because of the water available from a year-round spring. They named the place for the Apache people, within whose home in the Chiricahua Mountains it lay. In 1862 the Apache fought their only major battle against the U.S. Army at Apache Pass, being forced to withdraw in the face of the army's mountain howitzer. Ft. Bowie was built to protect this route for settlers moving west, and it is now a park, designated as a National Historic Site.
=========================================
Ft. Bowie
When I went to Ft. Bowie, I saw
Living history that left me in awe:
A perennial spring
Where Apache would sing
Or make love or make war down the draw.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
An Intriguing Old Word: Cloke
Here's the tale of my cloking young cat--
How she clawed me and brought on a spat--
But the photo below
Is her housemate, although,
He, too, clokes at the drop of a hat.
First she cloked* me, left-pawed, for she thought
There was reason: Her yowl had not brought
Any catnip. Therefore,
By the open fridge door,
First she clawed--then she nipped—then we fought.
I am sure she'd not meant to provoke me--
With her head she could pleasingly stroke me.
Still, her quick feline mind
Told her not to be kind
But go straight for attention and cloke me.
Yet she soon sought forgiveness, so then
As she purred, I forgave her. And when
I had served her the cream
And the catnip, her dream
Had come true. So, she'll cloke me again.
Pet cats, like their presumed owners, learn by doing.
*One meaning of cloke, according to the Oxford English Dictionary is "to claw, scratch or clutch." The OED provides the following illustrative sentence, from about the year 1883: "The cat cloked me."
How she clawed me and brought on a spat--
But the photo below
Is her housemate, although,
He, too, clokes at the drop of a hat.
First she cloked* me, left-pawed, for she thought
There was reason: Her yowl had not brought
Any catnip. Therefore,
By the open fridge door,
First she clawed--then she nipped—then we fought.
I am sure she'd not meant to provoke me--
With her head she could pleasingly stroke me.
Still, her quick feline mind
Told her not to be kind
But go straight for attention and cloke me.
Yet she soon sought forgiveness, so then
As she purred, I forgave her. And when
I had served her the cream
And the catnip, her dream
Had come true. So, she'll cloke me again.
Pet cats, like their presumed owners, learn by doing.
*One meaning of cloke, according to the Oxford English Dictionary is "to claw, scratch or clutch." The OED provides the following illustrative sentence, from about the year 1883: "The cat cloked me."
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
March Remembrance
I've encountered beguilement so crass
That the sun-scattered coins on the grass
Made me think it was warm,
And the dandelions' charm
Lured me out to cold winter, alas!
Most enticingly tempting me out,
With the message, "Spring's here—make no doubt,"
Sunny coins beckoned smilingly,
Winking beguilingly--
Gold that March winds couldn't rout.
Now it's April! A harvest of seeds
Ranged in gossamer spheres meets my needs,
As the breeze starts replanting
The lion's teeth in slanting
Bright silvery circles of weeds.
That the sun-scattered coins on the grass
Made me think it was warm,
And the dandelions' charm
Lured me out to cold winter, alas!
Most enticingly tempting me out,
With the message, "Spring's here—make no doubt,"
Sunny coins beckoned smilingly,
Winking beguilingly--
Gold that March winds couldn't rout.
Now it's April! A harvest of seeds
Ranged in gossamer spheres meets my needs,
As the breeze starts replanting
The lion's teeth in slanting
Bright silvery circles of weeds.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Hosta with Snow
The large hosta plant by my back door shines pleasingly year-round with large green-and-yellow variegated leaves. These gathered their second snowflakes of the season just past dawn, but a brisk northwest wind has evaporated the little white heaps under the morning's weak sunlight. I made the photo below on February 13, 2008.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
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