Things that slip slide...

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Things that slip slide

slither and stretch...

When I met my friend

at the Park gates

at precisely 5 minutes past 4...

We both leave our respective homes at 4pm

I walk up the Boardwalk

and she walks down her street

on the edge of the park

and we meet at the gates...

Anyway...

when I met my friend

she asked if I wanted

to come back up to her garden

to visit her snake

She had told me he lived in a tree

for a few days,

went off for a day or two foraging

then returned to sleep it off

curled in a branch

of the tree beside her deck

While I pulled the foliage back

my friend attacked the tree

with her secateurs -

what we will do 

for a photo for you...

The snake didn't appreciate

our horticultural endeavours

and stretched out

to check

what was happening

to his previously quiet abode

Most of his body remains coiled

around the branch

at the bottom left corner

and his top third had elongated

up and over a limb

to dangle back towards us...

He is a small python, 

what we call a carpet snake

It was a slithery 

sort of walk today

as on the track

in the fading light -

we had spent too long

with the snake

and were running low 

on daylight

we encountered

a very slithery slow skink

We stopped a jogger

who came up behind us

in case she should run over him,

that would make for 

a very squishy sensation

He was in no hurry 

to clear the track

He slipped and slid

and slithered

slowly

into the bush

and we skedaddled on

into the sunset

looking for koalas...

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The Eye of Horus

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The Eye of Horus

The eye of Horus
is an ancient Egyptian symbol
of protection


The Egyptian word
for this symbol is wedjat
pronounced ud jat

The eye of Horus
is pictured as a falcon
and it represents spiritual abilities
as it is the eye
that perceives the light




Horus' right eye was white
and signified the sun
His left eye was black
to represent the moon

Horus, also known as Ra,
lost his left eye
in a battle with Seth
his evil brother
The broken eye was reassembled
by Thoth
and that his why
we see the moon in parts

The Egyptians used the eye
as a funerary amulet
for protection against evil
and rebirth
in the underworld



The amulets were made of Lapis Lazuli
or from a stone called mak



The all seeing Eye of Horus
was also worn as jewellery
for protection





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Show By Example

Show by example

Lead by behaviour

Inspire by content

Teach without words

Be useful without action

Based in the beauty

serenity

and

now

Excerpt from the Tao

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Big Seas

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Big seas

and bright lights

Way out here

at the end of the National Park

before it meets Sunshine Beach

and the great swathe of Pacific Ocean

that runs all the way south of here

to my capital city of Brisbane

there is a secluded bay called

Alexandra Bay

popular with those

who like to wear

their birthday suits 

well it was a bit rough 

for that today

facing into the gusting
south easterly winds

but back here

in the shelter of Laguna Bay

things are very different

the surfers

enjoy the swells

of the late afternoon

and my walk

slows to a crawl

and then a stop

as I soak up

the splendour

before climbing 

up the boardwalk 

to home...

Oh Happy Days

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Sun on the Gums

Sun on the Gums

 

My walks these days

in the late afternoon

are glowing

with the dropping sun

and high up

in the eucalyptus leaves

instead of a koala

I spy the waxing moon

On the other side of town

my son

has a family

of inquisitive neighbours

they stand and observe

his movements

this beautiful brown fellow

poses motionless

like a statue

Thank you for sharing

the wildlife shots

son # 1

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Hark

*

As the years go by, give me but peace

freedom from ten thousand matters

I ask myself and always answer

What can be better than coming home?

A wind from the pine trees blows my sash

and my lute is bright with the mountain moon

You ask me about good and evil fortune

Hark, on the lake, there's a fisherman singing.

Poem: Wang Wei  698-759



Illustrations: Wassily Kandinsky

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Sepia Saturday - Worn Out

Sepia Saturday

Worn Out

My poor Dad's body

is old and worn out

He has previously suffered strokes

and last night had a heart attack

Here he is 

a boy of sixteen or so

ready to leap into life

and here

with his sister

having fun,

with their lives ahead of them...

This morning

I am told

he was sitting up and

talking when he felt like it...

Did I mention he is stubborn

and won't give in easily...

Visit Sepia Saturday

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Koala Update

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The Koala Count
Continued...

 The good news is

that I have seen three sightings

of koalas 

over the last few days

Look way up here

in the top of this gum tree

But the not so good news

is that I can't distinguish between them

so am unable to ascertain

whether we have three new koalas

to add to our tally

or of it is the same koala

I have seen three times

As I see him in the same vicinity

between Boiling Pot and Tea Tree Bay

I am inclined to think the latter

But he is a sleepy sweetie

and was referred to as Pinky,
by one of the park wardens 

that I bumped into 

under a eucalyptus tree,

because of his fluffy
pinky-brown derriere

so we shall call him that

shhhhh

we are disturbing him...

And that takes our tally to five

which is half the estimated total count

of koalas in the National Park

But I am hopeful...

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Cicadas

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Stillness

Piercing the rocks

the sound of cicadas

Basho Matsuo

The clear toned cicadas

have exhausted their voices

on the hillside

when again

the evening bell startles

To the sound

of water tumbling

beneath rocks

in the pine shade

cicada voices
coolly respond

Princess Shikishi

C12th High Priestess

of Kamo Shrine

Kyoto

Images from my times in Kyoto, Japan

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Tom Kristensen ~ Ukiyo-e

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Seagulls



Tom Kristensen 1962-
is an Australian

Conjurong Beach



a landscape designer by profession,
who is also a Sosaku Hanga artist

Currawongs


an avid collector
of Japanese art prints
and inspired
by the prints of Paul Binnie
he decided to teach himself
wood block printing

Dunes and Fence



and learned most of what he knows
from the internet!

Grass and Banksia



Like other Sosaku Hanga artists
he carves and prints his own work

Moonlight



Kristensen's images
are based on digital photography
which he has computer manipulated

Pigface



Whist his images may begin
in the age of technology
he uses traditional Japanese tools,
mulberry washi and mineral pigments

Post and Rail



most of these prints
are from a series titled:
Thirty six views of Green Island

Rock Platform

Although Kristensen has had
no formal training in art
and held no exhibitions

Flotsam



his work is greatly admired
and sought after
by lovers of Ukiyo-e




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