Botanical Gardens

 After the excitement of the Rally For Sanity, I choose a quiet place to reflect and relax

to look and listen

to the dripping of dew drops from broad green leaves mingling with the joy and energy of the rally

feel the warmth and brilliance of sunlight on a burst of color not unlike Jon's final words

mobiles of balanced delicacy

and pendulous plumes poised together

comparing down

 with up

 bugles demanding attention for the silent

 whispering their secrets

exhibiting the depth of their soundless strength

collective camouflage of colors

their cool trickling  of deeper waters

 

lush and vibrant in their similarities

inviting me to stay

to view the dance

of variety

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morning Walks in Amherst

The walks begin at 7 A.M., and yes that is later than we walk back home.  But remember we are out there 3 hours earlier than you even if it sounds later.  In the picture are Erika a rescued gray hound, Sam the Luscious Lipped Lab, (he has a huge head and jowls) then Nelson, Sam's brother, and leader of the pack.  Jasper is the flank guard,

This bridge goes over one of the many Beaver Ponds, three in a row on our morning walk.

Busy Beavers at work and one of the dams.

The creek at sunrise feeding the ponds.

Abby.  She directs us and keeps us moving.  Abby teaches at one of the community colleges and developed the curriculum for the Environmental and Peace courses.  I had to take several pictures of Abby as her stunning hair reflected all of the morning light and pictures were over exposed.

One of my favorite characters, Dan Miller who is a business professor at a college in CT.  Amazingly, his nephew, Greg Miller is a professor of Chemistry at SOU.

DOGS!

In the morning as I walk to meet up with the others, I am charmed by the most spectacular sights.  The mist is meeting the warming sky as the sun rises.  The cage protects a spillway which keeps the level of the pond below flood stage.

And after an hour of dogs barking, running and jumping into the water, and after an hour of people talking, telling stories and laughing, we go our separate ways. 

October in Massachuettes

As the days grow shorter the colors of autumn burst forth.  I hike often here in the Amherst area,  usually with a friend, Margeret who is an entertaining guide.  I am often at a loss, usually I am lost, to understand how New England hikers find and then stay on the trail.

Here the Robert Frost Trail is one that even a

foreigner like myself can follow.

And I passed the test mixed within the cliffs and tall trees.

but it is here were East meets West and the challenge begins....

where is the trail???

And why do I trip and fall so often, and I whimpered after yet another back wrenching stumble, " I miss the gentle paths of the Oregon Forests."

Yet I would not trade this experience, this amazing beauty and my new friendships to stay always within the boundaries of comfort.