Tuesday, October 25, 2011

No More



No More

Don’t want to hang ’round these ghosts no more
as they moan and wander and pace this ol’ floor.
Don’t want to hang ’round the spirits of past, as
they linger and promise things that don’t last.

They slink through the hollow,
they hang at the door
their faces so sullen
that they lie on the floor.
They push wine and pastries
but deliver spoilt food and mush-
they coax me to stay
sitting alone on my tush
not lifting a pen
nor writing a stroke
and behind my back
they chide me, “Slow-poke.”
“L-a-z-y,” they say…
“She won’t make the cut.”
“Let’s hang ‘round until
she’s stuck deep in this rut.”
They mutter and clamor and they raise such a stink,
telling me “Consider our feelings...”
that I must “Stay put,” or “They’re leaving!”

Won’t listen to their chastisements—no, not even one
as they dangle carrots that vanish-that leave me undone.  
You could have been “This…” or “You’re over the hill.”
“Look over there--” “Now, try if you will…”
“You won’t make the day,” “You haven’t come far,”
“You’ve frittered your chances and fallen short of the bar.” 

Their obvious content at my own demise
should cause me to act out with an upheaval…
to shake them right off like the weevils they are!

These spirits that plague me are never content
’cept to harp on my obvious faults and my failings
leaving me on the ropes and the railings.
They weigh me down with concern for my plight,
yet they secretly cheer when I’m drifting…
poking holes in my sails all the time when
my spirit is lifting.  





© Karen Powell


Country!





We took a trip via Highway 88W
while passing through Creston,
N.C. where we pulled off to venture
into this local artist's country studio and shop!
The colorful 'Quilt' signs and various paintings
she had displayed on the gray barn exterior
made for these great shots (in the early morning light.)
The inside consisted of her studio (Anne Jones)
and an antique/odds and ends shop. We were glad
to enjoy the ambiance, stretch our legs, and get
in some shopping. I do love 'exploring' the myriad of
country shops, artist's niches and stores along all of

our rides in North Carolina, Virginia and in Tennessee.
You never know quite what you will find...
I believe that we live about 13 miles (or so)
from the Tennessee border
(and quite close to
Virginia, as well.)
Enjoy the color here
(click to enlarge for all the
pretty colors to pop...!)

Monday, October 24, 2011

White Duck


I liked this photo of a white duck upon muddy water
(although it did not come out as clear as I had hoped
thus the posterization...as a last ditch effort to save
the subject matter and the form of the pic;
which I did like.) Ducks are hard hard to
capture as they flit back and forth so. Just when you
think you have them in a frame...they move out.
And if you try and think ahead to frame them,
they never go just where you think they are
going to go! (Taken on a muddy river in
Damascus, Virginia by the Old Mill Inn this
past Saturday.) This is a great place to go if you like
a casual bike ride. They shuttle you up into the mountains
via van and have a GREAT bike trail for miles of
sailing down through the mountains. It is a very
popular thing to do in Damascus judging by the
scads of people riding down the trail. As an aside....for any
of my
readers...if you did hear that it snowed in the
mountains in North Carolina well; that was
surely not the case here! It is supposed to
reach 62 degrees here all week
(and we are at 4000 feet.)
:-)
Happy, blessed Monday folks!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

My Front Lawn Puzzle

My Front Lawn Puzzle


Rustle, crumple, scuttle, and crunch-

my leaves are piled up high in a bunch.

The wind it tosses, sends heaps and it whirls

the withered leaves around my feet, they curl.

The leaves they dance, drift, shrink, and spill,

the rattling rake corrals them all-still;

pushed this away and pulled, way off on the side,

I did drive them down deep in an effort to hide--

but mountain wind and upward air

have let them loose and I’m unaware

of the conspiracy

of my lawn-ward leaves

to pile themselves high,

right up to my sleeves.

I hear myself heave out a sigh,

as I spy them there-now, about nine to ten feet high.

What once was swept is now, not clean.

These rustling leaves are spiteful-mean.

Yet, I love the fall and how it toils and it plays

with piles of leaves for weeks and for days.

Their crazy colors so delight my soul

that I long to knit them all up in a bow

and fashion a chain to ’round and then down go,

alternating with color of a most fiery glow.

Red--autumn’s most ostentatious color,

anointing us with her ‘pop’ and ‘zing,’

she can sure sing of a rockin’ autumn—she’s won the prize.

Folks, she’s cut all others right down to their size.

And the overhead gala, a leafy canopy of fun—

it makes all my senses just get up and run.

Sugary yellow, orange, green and brown-

all glittering jewels

in Boone’s forest crown.

They are lazy,

crazy, psychedelic leaves

all piling up and even tugging

my sleeve, yet somehow

strewn , splattered and now spread--

a heaping mosaic that plays with my head.

My front lawn puzzle of painted leaf-gem,

I will rework and then work you again.




Sunday, October 16, 2011

Hillside Mosaic





I have enjoyed fall here.
The colors (weekend last, especially)
have been vibrant and exploding!
Check out the bottom two photos enlarged.
Seeing an entire mountainside covered in
such a mosaic of color was downright overwhelming.
It was like being Alice in a storybook.
Driving the many winding roads through the mottled
sunlight under a canopy of color I will not
(easily) forget! Oh what a truly
marvelous fall it was, here.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

My Yard


it's no joke.


Fall Color...




taken from the Blue Ridge Parkway, yesterday.
We have rain today and it is too overcast and
cloudy to photograph the gorgeous fall
colors we are currently experiencing.
(click to enlarge...)
:-)

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Our Favorites...


A child's belly laugh and the giggles that ensue afterward...
An owl hooting to another

and the answer back...
The first rays of the sunrise
on a hazy morn
in the mountains...

A blank canvas...

A single pecan sandy...
A plant's tender shoot upward
and the lime green of it...
The curl of a good smile...
And the floating of many leaves on water
embraced by the reflection of colored thinning trees...

What are your
favorites?

Lois Nancy

This artwork is my mother's. It touches my heart.    (So gentle.)   A thoughtful depiction of something sweet, tiny, and cute.   'Wa...