Haiku Wednesday ...Fortitude...

By John William Waterhouse 1916    "I am half sick of shadows..".Lady of Shalott

by klr


Bereft in darkness

upon her awakening

Cast-off heart at feet

Little connected

unthinkably discarded

Shriveled blossoms fell

From somewhere divine

she summoned all fortitude

Not to revile him

But tried to forget

his charm and velvet kisses

Sweetness of the wine

With purpose she leaped,
 grabbed and scaled a stinging rope

into deep water


The bells of freedom 
pealed not for her rightful place
But for her demise


Haiku Wednesday

The Visit...and a Bird of Paradise...

A weekend visit in warm San Diego 
by klr








Lofty swaying palms
bathed by morning's golden sun

Smiles came easily

Prevailing friendships

breathed white sails o'er endless blue

 Rolling tides of time 

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Scavenger Hunt Sunday ..2-19-12...

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Today we were supposed to take photos using these word prompts:  Love, Duplicated, Trendy, Paper and Plastic:

I combined Love and Paper...

I was lucky when I found this old Valentine in a scrapbook of my great Aunt Bessie.  It is made with painted paper that has a starchy quality and is well preserved, is addressed to her in Butte, Montana in Jan. of 1908, postage, 2cents. On the back is a colored pencil drawing of an elegant lady which it titled A Girl From Butte.

It goes on with quotes: "Tell me pretty maiden, is there any more at home like you?" "Are yez commin out tonight?"  "Miss Montana", "Hang on to yourself", signed "Duff".  All her photos suggest she was a lively lady.

Duplicated...

Went to my granddaughter's volleyball tournament today when I took this photo with an unsteady hand...

I combined Trendy and Plastic...

Lego is back as a popular passtime for kids of all ages, to the point of making robots and programming them.  The light was poor for this one.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Spring in Gig Harbor...

* Entered at the Scenic Sunday blog 


We had 4 days of spring the first week in February!  It was warmer and sunny.  Having a doctor appointment in Gig Harbor (he has two offices) I gloried in the mood of a nice day and drive, taking my camera.  Here you will see a few SOOC (straight out of the camera) photos of this little town rich with NW history where people enjoy the island life.  It has grown so much in recent years and now there is a new large hospital to serve those who live there.  Hence also,  the second Narrows Bridge (toll) was finished last year right next to the existing bridge to making it easier during heavy traffic times, for commuting persons and weekend trips in and out of town for those who drive beyond toward the peninsula.  I could go into the real story of Galloping Gerty, the old bridge that bowed and danced in the high winds years ago, collapsing into the bay.  But I simply want to show you how beautiful  it was that day:

View from east side of Gig Harbor looking east toward Tacoma and Seattle.  Ferries on the waterways between the islands and the cities keep the area connected...I saw only the one sailboat out on the water.


A nice trio of small crafts on the wooden dock

                                                                                                               


This Community Church which rests a block from the 
water was built in the 1860's.
                                                                                    


The main Harbor Boulevard is a curvy two lane road with restaurants, galleries, specialty shops and a wonderful Bird Feed Store that sells anything related to birds.

I liked the look of this heap of buoys covered with nets.    The next photos below it are similar settings along the marina in the small harbor. People can walk the path alongside the landings.  I often wonder how many people actually live on their boats.

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Haiku Wednesday ...Love...

The topic this week for Sensational Haiku Wednesday is fittingly the word 'Love'.  I had just watched the 1955 movie Summertime with Katherine Hepburn and Rossano Brazzi..

Touching clear blue skies

Olive trees pattern the hill

An old stone chapel


Two hearts with claret

melodies chained together

A nucleus forms

Whispers of coupling 

Lighting a torch of madness

Exciting the earth  
  
Essence of true love

Adventure of a lifetime

or a fool's Eden

by klr

Ice cream in the park with Ned...

Back in the 1950's, when we visited my grandparents in Portland, we always took a trip to the zoo. I remember it being very gloomy then - high, dark concrete caves,  roaring echoes from the cages of lions and screaming monkeys and the noisy aviary..sounds that haunted me as a child.  The main attraction was the baby elephant. More pleasantly, 

we loved watching the traditional Rose Parade in June.  Grandpa arrived ahead of us very early and saved seats for us by placing old blankets on the curb in front of the library.  He had a thermos of hot coffee and waited for us.  Another fond memory we have is of riding the old elevators in the vintage Meir & Frank department store, with its bars and cords and attendants in uniform clicking a bell for each floor reached.  Our first visits with Santa were there, as were wonderful moving Christmas displays  in the windows during the holidays.  

But my favorite memory is of our walks to the Portland Park Blocks to feed the pigeons.  We passed the nunnery where young ladies ran with their black sails flying behind them on their way to class.  I remember grandpa buying us triple-decker licorice ice cream cones that eventually melted down the wrist if eaten too slowly.  We strolled down the main walkway, through the land marked trees, many park benches and ornamental rows of roses.  Although there were over 20 blocks created by the original founders, there are now 12 remaining.  We encountered elderly persons hunched on a bench (were they homeless?),  high statues of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt to admire.  


Hundreds of pigeons awaited us, for we carried  loaves of stale bread to feed them.  Rain or shine, we loved to listen to his stories on those walks with our grandfather. We loved to drink from the bubbly old water fountain. He talked about working hard for a living, was friendly to all and always had a joke to tell.  He worked in a pharmaceutical company since before the Great Depression, had been to China once in his youth, belonged to the army in WW I.  He wrote pithy comments to the local newspaper columnists which generated humorous responses...about the local baseball team, politics, or run of the mill events.  He sent his jokes to Readers' Digest and I believe a few were accepted.  My mother and aunt's grade school and Lincoln High School were adjacent to the park blocks.  The park is surrounded by beautiful old Italian style mansions and old churches.

Now the Southwest part of Portland is full of new high tech  and entrepreneurial businesses as well as new restaurants and shops.  Students from Portland State College spend time in the park blocks on warmer days...still the home of the pigeons and squirrels.  However, where my grandparents house once stood, as well as local grocery and other small merchants, now exists a freeway that took a lot of the old neighborhood away for good.  But the park blocks are still there.  The next time I visit downtown Portland I will again walk those blocks and be taken back to those times we spent with our grandfather.  But I doubt anyplace there serves licorice ice creams cones anymore.  I will let you know.  Kathy

Scavenger Hunt Sunday... 2/12/12

This week's prompts:  facial feature, shadow, spicy, gold, fabric:

Facial feature...Old Royal Doulton mug..a sailor's wink with classic nose and chin...

Shadow...I'm holding an old fountain pen...

Spicy...Old mustard spice tin and vintage cloth...

Gold...The corner of a gold frame in my living room...

Fabric...Needlepoint done by one grandmother for a child's rocking chair...

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Haiku Wednesday ...Relief...

A women's movie perhaps,  but Terms of Endearment won Oscars for the talented cast of Shirley MacLaine, Jack Nicholson, and Debra Winger.

"What a Relief"

How Shirley did feel

   when Jack swore to not puff smoke

 up her derriere

Haiku Wednesdayhttp://youknowthatblog.com/2012/02/08/sensational-haiku-wednesday-137/

Wednesday's Child...

Although I was born on a Monday, I always felt I was a Wednesday's Child.  It seemed I made many mistakes, cut off my nose to spite my face, or felt like the odd man (person) out most of the time, not getting it done just right or having to do something over again.  Once,  I was told I did not have any common sense.  Growing up with these harsh false beliefs is most apt to foretell or determine the nature of one's character or future.  In the 1500's, however, according to legends and folklore, one's life was prophesied by what day of the week one was born on...as the sun and moon had particular influences on when one moved or took a trip.  There was no science.  The painting of the girl with the bow and arrow may be a bit disconcerting, but the implications are many.  We all know the poem:

Monday's child is fair of face

Tuesday's child is full of grace

Wednesday's child is full of woe

Thursday's child has far to go

Friday's child is loving and giving

Saturday's child works hard for a living












But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day is blithe and bonnie, good and gay

There are variations of this poem in Iambic Pentameter and the Irish  had their own superstitions.  Obviously, now we know the source of our "bad or good luck" or grief and sorrow; it is not because of which day of the week we were born on, and that most heavy calamity is brought on my our own choices, our environment and experiences.

We all have periods when we are all these things.  Hard work or laziness, hateful and spiteful and slow as opposed to kind, sharing and a high I. Q. depend more on our inherited genes than such an uneducated idea.  The poem is fun to sing, but like so many nursery rhymes, skewed and misleading.

It was written by Anna Eliza Bray in 1838 in her book "Traditions of  Devenshire" in which she delved more deeply into those traditions and guidelines believed to be true a long time ago.

And I am not a Wednesday's child anymore.  Today I am more a Friday's child, striving to become more like Sunday's child...






Regrettably I did not keep the names of the artists with their work that I've used here today.

K

500 Years of Female Portraits in Western Art...

Credit for posting to UTube below:


I really have not wanted to use my blog to share as one shares on face book, but this particular video, shared with me via a face book friend, touched the ganglia in the creative side of my brain.  If you have already seen it, I apologize for adding something so popular or mundane (from 2007) to your day. But, if you haven't, I think many will appreciated the art involved in producing it. 


Moreover, perhaps from the viewpoint of a player in a like game of 'Concentration', you might enjoy pairing and identifying the artwork or women with their artists/creators/originators in history.  

I certainly don't have all the answers to such a game or test, nor do I have the time to research each face, but I recognize many..and am sure you are as curious about some, as I am. One could use a pencil and paper to write down as many names one knows, I suppose...;)