there's always work to do to learn what's true..

post #526                                      The Hurtle Ahead of Us

 Everyone needs to acknowledge that Joe Biden clearly won the 2020 election,                             especially the people who work in government, who are supposed to work for all persons in our nation.

  

The time has come for all of us to face the consequences of how much Donald Trump relies on lies. 

  He lies everyday.  Often.  Regularly.  He must be desperate for attention.  It's sad seeing someone so damaged.

   

There's that video footage of Trump telling the crowd to be strong, and to fight.  It's plain to see that he's using the worked up crowd to cover his inability to accept that       he could have lost a "race" even though the other guy got millions more votes.                                                          

 Yet now so many choose to ignore the implications and the power of his lies.  People were killed. Denying it happened damages the soul. All people are wounded when so many of us choose not to value the facts.

                As I have said often on this blog, truth has ever been a guiding lantern in my life.  SO  I say all this simply because truth is important to me.  We don't have to agree about everything with each other, but we can value truth enough to seek it out. Honor it. Check it out. Use the brain and the heart together. It is not necessarily convenient, but it can be an anchor.   

            I realize that even my photography reflects my focus on the truth. Of course there's art involved, but I prefer seeing what I actually saw and sharing what reflects the reality before me.  Here are several photos from different years that reflect that inclination of mine to go for unexpected real happenings in front of me:

with Pat on Martha's Vineyard's Lucy Vincent Beach

ice from above and below

Sandy's, every Christmas

a good night's work in the shed

You are my SON shine....

beautiful in boots

Forrest and Allen

SF Art Museum wall, with Liz

It will be spring again. Only ten weeks until the Redbud Show.

I was fascinated by how the Golden Gate Bridge looked while in progress.

Violet Joy

Grayson Lake: our one world held together

Thanks for looking at these photos. There's beauty in the truth.

Let's be brave.  Much more brings us together than keeps us apart.  

 

the role of snow and truth seeking

post #525 

    Today, by sharing the beauty of snow, I honor the change of administrations in America. 

     So much that's difficult and dangerous could have happened this past week.  Instead, what traditionally happens -- on January 20th the fourth year after a previous inauguration in the USA -- took place.  The President and Vice President with the most votes, in fact the most ever in any such election, have become our duly elected 46th President and V.P..

      This election was held during a tragic and challenging pandemic. Even so, this year ours was one of the best conducted elections ever.  So many hard working and dedicated people across the land made that happen. Only a man who can't bear to lose, for his own personal inner reasons, could be so distraught as to lie over and over and over to his fellow citizens about the truth of the election's outcome.  Losing happens.

       I see the snow of this season as an image that speaks to me of a covering over of what is past, what willl quietly be feeding new growth, like underground roots.  This provides what's needed in order for there to be new growth in the spring. It actually mirrors what happens in our lives and with our committment to democracy.  This year there may not be vast amounts of snow in Kentucky, where most of my photos are made, but I think the idea of a rite of passage still exists.  I hope these snow photos do convey something about how nature faces the need for renewal. It’s work, but that’s what’s required for the huge rebuiliding task ahead of us.  

 

a visiting Coopers hawk , 2015

goldfinches, in their winter mode, 2015

2015

 

cardinal, the bird of Kentucky, 2015

2015

2015

 

 

 

Even the guest has to work for her keep --- THANK YOU red bird MELVA! (2015)

 

 

        The last two photos are by Rebecca, in February a year ago!

 

    May winter's job work its wonders and do the same for the humans -- who don't always give nature credit for what we can learn by paying attention to it.  

    Stay safe, seek truth, and let's practice being kinder to one another.

beginning of Biden as President, middle of winter, end of Trump's term, each loaded with unknowns

post #525

        Today is the middle of this three day weekend, but it also the start of a week that has a major begining midweek, preceeded by a major ending!  If the shut-down life we are leading doesn't mess with my sense of time, all that is happening these days -- combined with what is not able to happen --  certainly does throw me.  I'm left a bit disoriented sometimes about what day it is and what is happening when. I'm pretty sure that tonight is a blog post night....

        First on tonight's blog I need to try a second video that I said I'd add last week. Nine seconds.  If I remember correctly, a teenage neighbor was running his ATV backwards on our driveway, and I was photographing by turning backwards from the front seat. Such a treat!!

 

                     And what follows is more about our winter snows, which, after all, cover each of us 

                                                     no matter our politics.

 

 

 

busy birds

 

Christmas morning X 2  (I didn't go anywhere that day!)

yesterday morning

living room Christmas lights, or rather December lights, by T.

winter "lights," in a favorite photo of mine from years ago, called frost fence

                                                                        

            I love to work with these photos, since it requires concentration and doesn't cater well to life interrupted.  I revisit each place where I made the photo, a journey only I can really savor. For the blog, I try to pull some of the images together as if they were feeding off each other.  Story. Life is all about story, public ones and private ones. They are for telling each other.

            I had a comment from me from someone I know who recently wrote me a wonderful note. This is how it works: She puts a comment on my blog, and then it comes to me first to clear it for publishing.  However, her email address doesn't come with it.  In this case, I know the person but I don't have her email address so I couldn't ask her if she wanted me to publish the whole thing.  Usually it's not that complicated, but I thought I'd communicate with her and at the same time explain this aspect of comment leaving...  Thanks -- Ann

What can I say

post #524

        Such a week, besides COVID, besides the cold weather, besides the sane and saving election in Georgia, and besides the miseries in all parts of the world.  However, currently, we are not hearing all that much about anything except the intense attention to the terrible, harsh reality of the break-in Wednesday at the USA Capitol building.  There are deaths.  There's law breaking with abandon.  There's super-charged racism. A maelstom is in progress, monitored around the world. We will survive, but it will require an enormous amount of work and clearheadedness. 

        SO, I think I will share some photos from trips to other countries, as a reminder that there are places across the globe that look up to us and our democracy. There are other lives affected by our choices instead of just yours or mine. In adddition, we share the same earthly climate, the same pollution, the same pandemic, and the same love and hopes for our children.

 

ENGLAND -- the Cotswolds

waiting for the morning milk delivery

 

very early Sunday morning newspapers delivered but not yet on the shelves of Chipping Camden's small community Coop grocery store

 

 

FRANCE -- Paris

an early start at the Louvre

NOTRE DAME

see Steve's comment about these books....

FRANCE - St. Malo

 

French student group

my good friends Mariko and Christian

COSTA RICO

I hope everywhere good health is possible, and that we are up to the task of working hard to keep our democracy in good working order.  We will always need to keep on learning.

    

It may be a new year, but some old habits continue....

 post #523

        Yikes, it's normal that it's currently hard to tell the days apart, but Thursday holidays really throw me off even more. I even have known what I wanted to try doing today. It's just that I haven't done it yet. 

        I hope everyone stayed healthy and as happy as possibile during Christmas and New Year's Day.  I happened to have gotten snowed in for Christmas Day!  Can't blame that on the virus. However, we can blame every thing else on it.  Well, we unfortunately can't attribute it for the President's inability to acknowledge that he lost the election fair and square.  It sure is sad to see someone shooting himself in the foot day after day. Our thanks again to all the people across the country who worked so hard to make this election one of the steadiest and well done ones ever accomplished, and during a pandemic on top of every thing else!

        Well, I have a few photos to share, but I also want to try a video! A Walk in the Snowy Woods along the Creek.  My daughter, Rebecca, did the photography for it, Christmas day. I will leave the video here to try to get itself together by morning, when I can try it again.

         Here are some other photos in case the video bombs.  This first photo shows what a friend was sent in the mail..  on New Year's Eve.  I love it.

Another Rebecca photo -- We NEVER have taken a photo from this end of their pond, so it's exciting to see this.

the fried egg look on my semi frozen pond, from my second floor deck, on Christmas day

  May the week to come not be a disaster in any way.  May people come to their senses. And congratulations to Biden and Harris for their definitive win, ahead by almost 8 million votes.