Curious Photograph

I was visiting the train station (Union Station) in Portland, Oregon. I noticed a large photo on the wall and particularly the car seemingly driving across the image with a blur suggesting motion, but no driver behind the wheel. Hmm?

Boo!

‘Tis now the very witching time of night,
When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out
Contagion to this world.’
~William Shakespeare

Lone Fir Cemetery Crypt  (Portland, Oregon)

Balance

“We come into this world head first and go out feet first; in between, it is all a matter of balance.”

“Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.”

Paul Boese 

Early Fall on the Deschutes River

“Anger was washed away in the river along with any obligation.” 

Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms

How did….

all this happen? The layers, the shapes, the contours and textures are visible. How did that renegade rock arrive at that spot to take in the view? Clinically, scientifically it can all be explained. But, the landscape of the mind is cumbersome, each layer being a significant portion of life. The erosion, the abrasion, burden of weight is obvious. So is the strength under pressure.

‘There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the earth.’ ~Rumi

Perceptions…….

Is there a rainbow or isn’t there? Perhaps a better frame of mind, right now, is that something unique is there and in its totality it is all beautiful.

A cynic’s view….

“…under all the parade of human effort and noise, today is like yesterday, and tomorrow will be like today; that existence is a wheel of recurring patterns from which no one escapes; that all anybody does in this life is live for a while and then die for good, without finding out much; and that therefore the idea is to take things easy and enjoy the passing time under the sun…”   

Herman Wouk, Don’t Stop the Carnival

The sameness, the bland acceptance would be mind numbing. Perhaps it’s the mental state to enter into, in order to endure. But, the craziness of life, of discoveries, falling in love, adventures toward the unknown, the mind alert and creative does not, cannot, abide by such cynicism. We must see ourselves as vital, alive and seeking something beyond the self imposed walls of sameness. Don’t you think……..? 

There was a time……

“A horse loves freedom, and the weariest old work horse will roll on the ground or break into a lumbering gallop when he is turned loose into the open.” Gerald Raftery

In the attic…

of my mind. Memories stored, mostly forgotten now sitting in the dust covered boxes, bins and bags of my life. Some how, along the perilous way, one is able to take the most wrenching, disturbing, offensive, hurtful acts and stuff them into containers and close the lid on them. Out of sight, out of mind. Ah, but are they? No…Out of sight, but always seeking escape beneath the lids. Unresolved, pure acid, destructive to all. ‘Welcome’ can be so deceiving up in the attic of my mind. 

Live a little, it’s getting late….

“Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite. Or waiting around for Friday night or waiting perhaps for…a pot to boil or a better break or a string of pearls or a pair of pants or a wig with curls or another chance. Everyone is just waiting.” ~Dr. Seuss