The sun rising between U-Haul

"An enormous, hazy cloud of dust from the Sahara Desert in Africa is blowing across the western Atlantic and may result in brilliant sunrises and sunsets for the Florida peninsula." So said the news, so I made sure to bring my camera for my morning walk. I could not detect any dust, but the sunrise was subtly different.


As I took this photo, I noticed that the sun seemed to be rising between the old funeral parlor (the white building on the left) and the rental truck and trailer dealer (the row of trucks). The sun rising between U-Haul and, well, you could say it any number of ways, like U-Don't-Haul-Any-More, We-Haul-U, or U-Hauled. Not to laugh at lives ending, but sometimes life finds a way to remind us with a smile.

This Sahara-tinted dawn makes me hope that, when I complete this cycle of 'dust to dust,' I can add color to someone's sunrise. Or add my particles to a desert somewhere.

of all places

at quarter to four
at a six lane crossing
two white butterflies
making love in the smoggy air
.

dedicated trees: a dream

somebody's father
solid as an oak
a retired veterinarian
drives me down
to waco to see
a grove of trees,
the confederate oaks.
one is called
the trinity oak.
a herd of reindeer
wander among them.
some are long and langorous,
lying around
like fallen trees.
we drive wildly
among the giants.
back in town
we talk about ginkos.
he says you cannot
talk about them
in any terms
but the feminine.
i tell him about
a stand of redwood
in san fancisco,
in golden gate park.

why "waco", i asked myself... a small city south of here in central texas. there are several associations. the browning library at baylor university in waco has a stained glass window of "the pied piper of hamlin". the compound of david koresh and his cult, the branch davidians, was outside waco, as is the crawford home of the current u.s. president. w.a.c.o. was the acronym for the western addition community organization which opposed the redevelopment of the western addition in san francisco in the late 60's and early 70's. the western addition was the home of jim jones' "people's temple" which led to the tragedy in guyana. i'm not sure that explains anything. it's certainly all "wacky" enough.

Night and Day

The crew on board the Columbia took this picture during its last mission, on a cloudless day: Europe and Africa when the sun is setting. Note that it's still daylight in Dublin, London, Lisbon, and Madrid, while the lights are already on in Holland, Paris, and Barcelona (the bright dots you see are the cities’ lights).



The top part of Africa is the Sahara Desert. It is huge and can be seen clearly both during day time and night time.

In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean you can see the Azores Islands; below them to the right are the Madeira Islands; a bit below are the Canary Islands; and further South, close to the farthest western point of Africa , are the Cape Verde islands.

To the left, on top, is Greenland, totally frozen.

Paper Tigers

Dogs that bark won’t bite, they say. Still I always feel a pang of anxiety rushing through me when I am passing a house, and a dog suddenly barks from behind a fence. Like today, when I went for a ride with my bike to find solace from the turmoil of the world. I went on one of my favourite tours, along the Fils River, and then up the Nassach Valley - "the valley of the happy ones”, as a sign declares at its entry. Still the dogs bark there, not happy at all about those who disturb their peace.

Today, this barking also brought back the memory of a dream I had some days ago:

It's morning. I am just back from town, with a newspaper, and sit down in the living room. I open the pages - and out come living things: A puppy with white hair. A black dog with red eyes. A thing with many arms. They were put there from the newspaper people as a gimmick. “Deflate after 24 hours;” a sticker on the front page says. Yet I hadn’t expected them to be so real. So huge.

I touch the puppy, it feels warm. I try to chase the black dog away, but it growls and stares at me, while the thing with many arms looks for a hiding place.

It was just a dream, I told myself, as I cycled on, along a brook, through a forest; a dream about paper tigers coming alive. But then, that in a way is what the media does, I thought later: tossing all those scary images in our living rooms, leaving us there with them, replacing them after 24 hours.

Morning, as it ponders the possibility of rain...

spaces

forgotten free deep sky
chalk soft white

sudden subtle side walk
light thin hazy orange

solar sensation

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this painting, i found it on the way to the bakery and just had to rescue it before even more people walked over it. but then, the footprints on it now only add to its milky way mood.