Wordsworth.

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Whatisbeautifulremains

“Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life’s Star,	60
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come	65
From God, who is our home…”

It is the most blatant bloggy laziness to quote from Wordsworth. But there it is. I did make the picture, though.

You can (and yeah, you should) read the entire thing here. Amen.

Trees Looking Up and Down

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Whatisbeautifulremains

Occasionally it becomes obvious to me that I have no idea where I am. Are my intentions as honest as I tell myself, or are they yet another layer distracting me from something I don’t want to say or know about myself?

It seems I like the obstacles. White puffs drifting between the tree tops entice my heart upward more than empty blue sky. Murky water reports the twists of light and dark with tantalizing clarity. Uncertain which way to look, I see what I think is there and then, fearing failure, look elsewhere.

Eventually I get tired of wondering what it means, how I’ve said and done things. I open the porch door. The breeze gets a hold of the curtains, puffing them inward, and outward. The house is breathing. Birds and traffic call and respond. With the door open, sunlight is reaching all the way to the floor, and spreading inward across the golden wood. The light is very, very beautiful.

Song for Things Lying Around My “Studio”

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Whatisbeautifulremains

It’s not that easy being clean
having to spend the day tidying up all my things
when i think it could be nicer
drinking coffee or reading or thrifting
or something much less responsible like that

but clean is what i had to do
so i would be able to sleep in my room
and not have to step over laundry on the way
to the window to take a picture
of the things that you see…

so i cleaned, and now its over, and
you still can’t really tell i did it, but i guess
it’ll have to do until i can’t
take it anymore.

Arrival

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Whatisbeautifulremains

Everyone starts with the same things:
One Papa, One Mama
Someplace to rest.
Not everyone arrives
with two hearts
beating not as One but

Always Together.

I love you Pammy! Happy Birthday!

The Golden Door

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Whatisbeautifulremains

“I lift my lamp
Beside the Golden Door.”
Emma Lazarus

The Thai Pavillion at Olbrich Gardens isn’t subtle. In the Grey of Spring Delayed, its roofline swoops towards the uncooperative sky in golden flashes between skeletal trees, as if the sun has descended into the clearing just beyond the Wetland Garden. Despite its whimsy (how incongruous are gold leafed shingles alongside the unassuming, stoic ranch homes of the Upper Midwest?), the unwalled pavilion invites ponderous, attentive steps. Even toddlers sense you are supposed to BEHAVE around this gem.

To get to the Thai Pavillion, you will cross the muddy wreck of Starkweather Creek. You will quickly discover that the planks of the bridge reverberate with every step. Stomp, stomp, stomp is the best way across, sending out reassuring echos of your presence into the world, and incidentally through any traveller who shares the bridge with you.

Here is the view of Starkweather Creek’s outlet to Lake Monona, from the bridge to the Thai Pavillion. Sometimes the gateway is the mirror.

Fool You April!

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Whatisbeautifulremains

Snowy earth, you can’t hide the garden forever. I can make flowers and butterflies, too. All I need is a little light and an open heart and just the right magic words, and here you go….I declare it “SPRING!”

Our Lady of Floribunda

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Whatisbeautifulremains

Yesterday was the last day of February. Tomorrow is the first day of 29 Butterflies in 29 days. Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Floribunda. It isn’t on the calendar, because it is a magical timezone that falls between here and there. She loves comments!

Treasure Map

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Whatisbeautifulremains

The parts all go together somehow, but you can’t always see it. Or, sometimes things fit together better when you do something with them you shouldn’t. The tension is as basic as the song that Bob used to sing on Sesame Street – “One of these things just doesn’t belong.” Often I seem to be the thing that doesn’t belong. Maybe that is why I see things from this point of view. It’s actually better if everything doesn’t quite fit. That is how life really works. Plus, if the clues are too subtle and well hidden, no one will find the treasure, and what is the point of that?