Friday, April 30, 2010

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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Thursday, April 29, 2010

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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Wednesday, April 28, 2010

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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Tuesday, April 27, 2010

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




*

Monday, April 26, 2010

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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Sunday, April 25, 2010

Hark

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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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Saturday, April 24, 2010

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...


*

Friday, April 23, 2010

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...



*

Thursday, April 22, 2010

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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Wednesday, April 21, 2010

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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