Sunset
Jack Sparrow taken with my new iPhone 16
Silver, Glenda, Gwendolyn
Sandias @ Sunset
Cranes under a purple sky
Spunk playing with his tail in his performance art piece called Tell Tale Tail.
Cranes flying to the Rio Grande at dusk
Cranes in the Rio Grande at dusk
Gwendolyn
Venus in the Tangle Heart Tree with birds on the skyline at dusk.
The wind blew away the color this morning
Silver: “Hey, Loki! Loki, Loki, Loki, Loki, Loki, Loki! Hey, Loki! Hey, Loki! Hey, Loki! Hey, Loki! Loki, Loki, Loki, Loki, Loki, Loki!”
Glenda, Spunk, Silver, and Loki waiting for Gwendolyn.
Gwendolyn: “Okay! Here I am! The Jugger Not Band meeting can begin!”
“Well? Well?”
“Calling a Jugger Not Band meeting to order is like herding cats!”
Sasha sacked out
I thought my latest song, Dick Meets Jane, would be good for Valentine’s Day. Lyrics are at the end of the post.
I have to admit, I hated Valentine’s Day and the “Dick and Jane” books when I was a kid. Valentine’s Day was humiliating, and the “Dick and Jane” books represented a culture that was polar opposite of mine. Something I read triggered the lyrics for the song quite a while ago. With Valentine’s Day approaching, I decided to put them to music.
Dawn
Crescent Moon in the Tangle Heart Tree.
First beaver sighting of 2024
Can you find the pTerodactyl?
Canadian Geese landing in the Rio Grande.
Kissy cranes
Déjà vu all over again!
It looks like the pTer is missing some feathers on his wing. Or perhaps he was given the “Black Spot” by the other pTerodactyls à la “Treasure Island.”
Jupiter and the crescent moon
Tangle heart tree and crescent moon.
Dick Meets Jane
By Timothy Price
[Verse 1]
I was reading on the trolley when I looked up to see
A Goddess of a woman standing right next to me
I stood and kindly offered her my seat
She blushed as she sat, and I tried not to stare
Inviting were her amber eyes, and her smile was so sweet
Was it our destiny that we should meet?
[Chorus]
Oh Lord, must you do this to me?
You temp me with this lovely Lass
Don’t you know that I am just way too plain
Am I another player in her game?
[Verse 2]
We got off at the same stop “Thanks for giving me your seat
My name is Jane. Who are you? May I ask?”
“So nice to meet you, Jane. Funny, you should ask.
My name is Richard, but people call me Dick!”
“Dick and Jane!” We both laughed “Are we like the storybook?”
We joined hands and skipped along
She sang an unfamiliar song
[Chorus]
Oh Lord, must you do this to me?
You temp me with this lovely Lass
She’s a beauty and so divine
Is this an act? Will she be mine?
[Bridge]
We ducked into a Starbucks
Espressos straight-up and black
“May I have your number, Dick?”
“I’m free can you take me out?”
YES! “Yes! You’re a dream come true.”
[Outro]
We dated, and we courted. We fell in love, I proposed
As Dick and Jane, we got married. Two together apropos
We are like a storybook. Lives perfectly aligned
Together, we live in bliss, Happily and so divine
[Chorus]
Oh Lord, I’m happy you did this to me
Tempted with this lovely Lass
Now that all my prayers are answered
We are living our dream at last
Spunk waiting with AantíiciipÁation!
Gabriela announced the winners of her Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose poetry contest this morning. I am very excited to announce that I shared Third Place with D. Wallace Peach. Congratulations to Virginia Mateias for her First Place poem, and Ingrid Wilson, and Eric Daniel Clarke for their Second Place poems. You can read all the poems at: The Winners of The Poetry Contest Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose.
My poem is One Side Sacred The Other Side Profane inspired by Gabriela’s poem Between Sacred and Profane. I based my poem on W. Eugene Smith’s activism against mercury poisoning in Minamata, Japan in the 1970s. He published a book titled Minamata: Life Sacred and Profane in 1972 that brought the issue worldwide attention. I first saw the book when I was a photo student at the University of New Mexico in the early 1980s. I wanted to buy a copy of the book back then, but I couldn’t afford it as a student. Now copies sell for hundreds of dollars, so I still don’t have one. W. Eugene Smith was one of the most important American photojournalists of the 20th Century. I don’t think he ever took a bad photo. His County Doctor series is brilliant. Chisso employees attacked and beat Smith in 1972. Smith lost sight in one eye and never really recovered. He died in 1978 at the tender age of 59. His death was a huge loss to the world of photography.
Dawn
We have cloudy skies tonight. The photos below are from last night before I encountered the zombies and sprites.
Christine’s Tree with the moon in the background. Mia’s Tree under Venus. Christine’s Tree with a bicycle in the background.
Sunset
Moon in Tangle Heart Tree at sunset
We have cloud cover tonight with snow predicted by early morning. Therefore, I’m posting the birds I photographed yesterday.
Flicker at the tiptop of Susan’s Tree at dawn.
Actually, there were two flickers at the tiptop of Susan’s Tree at dawn.
The other flicker.
Owls’ Backs
The Canadian Geese complained that I have not been giving them enough attention.
The Pter in a tangle.
Downy Woodpecker
Grazing
Cooper’s Hawk in the top of a cottonwood between the clearwater ditch and the irrigation ditch.
Over Mia’s Tree
Sandias mostly covered by clouds
Holly’s Tangle Heart Tree
Shehanne’s Tree
Looking southeast from South Bend
When I was out at Beaver Point just before sunset last night, I could see the clouds were really wild looking to the southeast, and I would get much better photos from the south bend about a quarter-mile downriver. I hightailed it south and along the way heard the owlets peeping in the cottonwoods between 4th of July Point and South Bend, but I could not see them. I got down to South Bend in time for some spectacularly wild clouds with the half-moon hanging behind them. On my way backed I looked for the owlets, but could not find them in the trees. There was still a lot of color in the clouds when I got to the Tangle Heart Tree, but the color had pretty much subsided to the east when I got to Shehanne’s tree on my way back home.
Looking east over the Rio Grande a the Sandias from South Bend.
A half-moon peaking through the Tangle-Heart Tree.
The last of the color looking north from the Tangle Heart Tree. Can you see a face in the clouds?
Shehanne’s Tree in front of a fading eastern sky.
From the levee looking west.
Resa’s Tree
Red rain approaching.
Holly’s Tangle Heart Tree.
Clouds formed the same shape as the canopy of Resa’s Tree.
Tiny hummingbird in the tangle heart tree
Chokes on smoke from a distant fire
Purple haze on Sandia’s gray
Pink snuffed out while beaver plays
Owls fall silent have they taken their leave?
A dove coos atop Mia’s tree
Nighthawk flies erratically
Bat cuts through the air
Hangs thick
Off Center & Not Even 