Emmett's World

/

It’s Labor Day weekend. I have the privilege of a night at the Anderson Camp on Willsboro Point on Lake Champlain. I watch the skies, because that’s what I do these days - beautiful skies - each day seems different - each day invites interpretation. I see a glimpse of Emmett’s World, as I lightly swing on the hammock, eying him paddle his kayak back and forth in front of the property. I wonder what is going through his mind. What he feels. I know he loves to paddle. It’s his world at the moment. Also, my world - looking at the big picture. Being almost seventy years his elder I am sure we see the same differently - all one with nature. I wonder. I see. I feel. I am grateful.

Emmett’s world

new awakening

The Yellow Line

/

ALL the back roads in Vermont are double yellow lined, meaning of course, no passing, too dangerous, can’t see oncoming traffic. This is good - beautiful scenery - slow down and enjoy nature’s beauty, especially as the foliage turns colors. Fall in Vermont has to be one of the most beautiful experiences.

The roads are narrow, bikers slow. If you followed the rules we could not pass bikers. We all should get electric bikes, I guess. This won’t happen, but a good idea. Life is moving too fast. Gotta get someplace now. Gotta pass regardless of the rules. We make our own rules when the ones we have don’t work. Oh, I can pass. I can see far enough, or move fast enough that I won’t have ongoing traffic problem.

I tense when I think about passing a biker on our backroads. I think, am I making the biker nervous by taking so much time to pass? Am I pissing off the car behind who is in a rush - no one wants to drive the speed limit - especially in 25 mile an hour zones.

Oh, it’s ok Mike. It seems to all work out. Go with the flow.

The yellow line


Painting with Light

/

I love using the camera to paint with Light. I do a capture and play with the elements to create what I feel is attractive. I sometimes surprise myself with delight in what I create from what I see. I don’t fully appreciate natures beauty until I look closely, process and play around in interpretation. I wish I could paint from scratch the beauty I see so often in nature. I respect those that do it well. I feel I am cheating with all the photographic tools now available, but I am getting more comfortable to just do what turns me on. I hope others enjoy too - it’s nice to get positive feed back, but if I enjoy the result, that’s all I need to keep doing the passion. Nature mixes the elements so well. I am happy to create what I see as beauty. I sure see a lot of it now that I am looking skyward. This simple image of tree and sky brings joy to me.

Tree and sky

Foggy Pathway

/

Nearly forty years ago, daughter Bridget gave me a CHRISTmas present - a saying that would lead to seventy or so Mantra revisions. I recite daily the saying “Love the present and the energy will reach beyond all boundaries”, with all my revisions - now about one hundred words (too many for this short blog). I knew then, as I better know now, that “LOVE is the answer”, for everything. The title affirmation has evolved from ‘Love the present’ to ‘Love the moment’, to ‘Love in the moment’, to ‘Live LOVE’, to ‘I am One with LOVE’.

I am discovering, I have, as all humans do, a powerful INNER WISDOM that when accessed reduces fear and accesses the LOVE that is in all of us. What a wonderful feeling. That is not to say, my path is clear. It is foggy at best, but continually becoming more clear. I love it!

Foggy Pathway

Light to Highlight

/

I looked at yesterdays blog and I am compelled to write the following. A little adjustment in exposure, here and there, can make a big difference in how I feel about an image. With a slight adjustment in exposure on both lights and darks, I improved my feel and appeal for Up n Air.

Also, my link to MESipe.com, where you can view a few other images I took ‘running’ to the shore after being inspired by Kelly O’Neal’s work, ekovisions.com, didn’t work. Take a look now, if you are so inclined. MESipe.com Look to the tab ‘recent work’.

Up n air edit

Inspired by Minimalism

/

I am walking Burlington Pine street annual Art Hop with thousands of others, looking to be inspired. I am. I meet Kelly O’Neal, ekovisions.com, with an eye-catching display of her minimalist photo landscapes. Her images grab me, and hold me. Kelly’s tag line, ‘Through Motion, I Create Stillness’, is apropos. I love it. I love Kelly’s approach even more after I view her website. I can’t imitate Kelly. I don’t want to imitate Kelly. I move to my own way of minimalism.

Inspired by Kelly, I am moved to walk to the shore of Lake Champlain from Pine street to capture a land and sky minimal like image. The sky is too complex for me - there is so much I want to capture in what I see - what I feel. I can’t do it. After I shoot a dozen or so images, I capture one that may qualify. I call it ‘Up n Air’. I post four images from the journey that catch my attention this motivating evening. See MESipe.com. Look under the tab ‘recent work’.

Up n Air

Plane Site

/

As I walk the path of Black Walnut trees, I reflect: Plenty of growth this year, trees and me. Clouds are wonderful this season - have I not noticed before? My project of skyward photography is a surprising delight. I see a plane in the distance. I enjoy the planes overhead, especially the roaring f-35’s when they are low and in pairs - deafening loud. Lagging sound requires a search for the formidable crafts - impressive form. I sometimes ask myself, WTF? Why in this supposed advanced state of being we need so much military defense? Why war? I think back to the sixty’s saying, “make love, not war”. I am into the idea of LOVE now more than I have ever been. Maybe it is age. Maybe it is wisdom. My sister Bernadette is a good example of loving all that cross her path. I see her great capacity to love while visiting her in the nursing home. WOW.

Plane site

F-16

Magenta

/

Fifteen - twenty years ago, I used to apply a magenta filter every time I used my 4x5 wooden film camera. I wore rose color glasses for years (inside and out). I miss the tint. It is reflective of my slant on seeing the world. I am reminded of the beauty of a little magenta tint with a recent meet. I processed the image below, that I call Magenta as a result. I love it.

Perspective is important to attitude. Years ago people lived for less than 40 years, now people live over 80 years. At one time, 90% of the world’s population was in poverty, now it is less than 10%. Famine was an issue, now it is not. There was a time when a quarter of the kids didn’t make it past 5 - yes, progress - life is better than what you hear. What a wonderful world. “ I see skis of blue, and clouds of white. The bright blessed days, dogs say good night. … I see friends shaking hands, saying how do you do, they’re really saying I love you…. I think to myself, what a wonderful world”

magenta

Morning Glory

/

It’s the first day of my new year. I am up early for an airport run, so I visit my favorite Adirondack range to see if I can capture a sky treat to top the range. The other day it was fog and rain - no mountains to see. Today it was a clear view of the mountains. You never know what delights from above. I am treated to beauty skyward to accent the wonderful peaks. And afterwards, I enjoyed a solo breakfast, again, at outdoor seating, at the Inn at Shelburne Farms. One of Marianne Williamson’s tapes on A Course in Miracles enhanced my reflections with a lesson on LOVE - a real joyful morning.

Morning glory

Green Bay

/

Rain rain go away, come back some other day. It’s different for me this summer from any previous summer I can remember - so much rain. I’ve enjoyed it though. I am walking in the rain. I am wearing my ‘Wellies’ more than ever. The grass is long with wild flowers, because it is too wet to mow, so let it grow.

I went to Shelburne Farms the other sunrise (or at least sunrise time) to shoot across the water at my favorite Adirondack range, thinking I may get a nice sky to top the wonderful mountain range, but no, just fog and rain I could see. I should have known not to expect anything certain. Life doesn't work that way. There is beauty in so much nature offers. Just enjoy what is Mike. I also enjoyed a wonderful outside breakfast, lakeside, at the Inn at Shelburne Farms.

The grass is green this August - most often it is brown. It is nice to see the green bay at the Inn at Shelburne Farms. Life doesn't get much better.

Green Bay

zonal geraniums

Up Close

/

What don’t I see, in nature? And, what don’t I see in myself? Getting up close and paying attention is revealing. Asking, listening, looking for what is, is a fruitful adventure. Like the Brown Knapweed below - I usually mow the weed down. Instead, I made paths to walk the fields - front middle back. I photograph the ordinary, up close, and see the extraordinary - the color, the droplets, the detail, the cartoonish figure smiling to the sky, the bug. I too am Nature. What’s to be revealed when I look up close, inside, to my Inner Wisdom. I look for LOVE…. I find LOVE - It is good.

Brown knapweed up close

Road to Bountiful

/

Actually, the image below is a road to Richmond, Vermont. I imagine though, beyond my horizon - a trip to Bountiful. The morning light over the aesthetic bridge sets the mood for reflection - reflection on what’s important to me given a theoretical five years. The time frame adds a sense of urgency; not to add stress, but to know that maybe I best not let the grass, under my feet, grow too long before honoring my priorities.

I hear keeping your plans to yourself is good advice. My belief is preparing to tell my world is thought provoking, and adds the element of - now my world knows - I better act, or be marked, just a dreamer. I also know, if you want to make God laugh, tell him/her your plans.

Juxtaposition the idea of a plan for five years with my mantra, Live LOVE now, and you may wonder, what’s the deal with Mike? Is he troubled with single hood after fifty-four years married to Patty? Actually, it’s a new world for me now, and I love it. I am getting clarity - it’s a little like my former associates at AIS Planning say with their new tag line - “Plan your tomorrow, so you can enjoy your today” I am thinking about traveling down a pretty short road. I am making my five year view, a rolling five years, though. Who knows how many healthy five year periods this aging body will roll along.

Here are my salient reflections about the next five years: deepen family and friend connections, listen to my Inner Wisdom while deepening my spirituality, communicate my understanding of live LOVE now, have soul mate(s), explore and photograph natural wonders, travel often to be with family and friends, reflect skyward and produce book including reflections to accompany images, play more - worry less.

Road to Bountiful