Empty Water
As the family car drove past the beautiful blue-green lake, the boy wondered why no one was swimming in the lake. Why no ducks or geese paddled its rippling surface. Why no cat tails swayed along its shores. “It’s the … Continued
As the family car drove past the beautiful blue-green lake, the boy wondered why no one was swimming in the lake. Why no ducks or geese paddled its rippling surface. Why no cat tails swayed along its shores. “It’s the … Continued
This line from the French poet Baudelaire (1857) is one of my favorite resorts to describe wafting on warmth and joy. All is ease–luxe, calme. All is indulgence–volupte. It’s rare to feel such untroubled ease in the midst of a … Continued
In that dreamy mode when the mind brings up images as if from the deep, I imagine the swan as a ballerina, arching her beautiful long neck as she takes flight on her toes, her arms like slender graceful wings. … Continued
I’m more aware of them now with the windows and doors closed – the swishy tails, the meows, and pawing at sleeve or pants leg. I’m more in the house where they live all the time. In summer feeling guilty about cooping … Continued
The Wise Old Owl counts the leaves falling off her catalpa tree with the snow. She counts up to 56, the same number as children who have been abused by caregivers in Minnesota since 2005. Not many two-leggeds care to count … Continued
Wise Old Owl looks at various arguments pro and con about adding bird-friendly glass to the Vikings Stadium design, in Minneapolis, MN. * Item one: A Star Tribune editorial (Oct 18) has asked Wise Old to keep “bird deaths in … Continued
We Americans like to think of ourselves as individuals to the max, making our own way for better or worse in the world. Yet, as I think about the tragedy of 4-year-old’s Eric Dean’s death, reported Sept 2, 2014 in … Continued
It’s perfect Minnesota weather for window washing–clear, crisp, low humidity, pleasant to stand outside washing a year’s grim off my kitchen windows, then the front ones within the porch, then the kitchen door–all with silhouettes of falcons pasted on the … Continued
It’s a beautiful morning in this small part of the Upper Midwest–skies “couple-colored as a brindled cow,” to quote Gerard Manley Hopkins. Brisk breezes counteract humidity. Sun dazzle makes a row of poplars wink and glow. Within a tall stand … Continued
Late Summer Tears You don’t have to weep with me–not wrenching sobs at any rate, just a slow seep of wet, honoring the clouds of green and scimitars of swallows twittering against high blue. Mornings on the deck with black and … Continued