ODE TO A SUNRISE

           [Photos Source and Credit: Dave Wagenblatt   dave@getgrandresults.com ]
{These beautiful photos of Nature's Sunrise were taken in Grand Lake, Oklahoma, by Dave Wagenblatt, and are posted here for your viewing  enjoyment.  Dave is a Family member.  Thank You Dave for sharing your LOVE of SUNRISEs!  dht}

(8 DEC 2011 -   With the Birth of a New Day, one has but to look to the Sun Rise over the eastern Horizon to feel its Blessings and to somehow have the myriad tangle of emotions soothed.  dht) 

The other worldliness of daytime's shrubbery engenders an eerie ire for those who would brave a stroll -- as Nature assumes its nightly cloak.

There is a cautious stillness that accompanies one's shallow breath while perambulating around the neighborhood.

The only audible sounds – those of ducks and birds at their evening ablutions.

My Spirit proffers an inaudible reply to Nature's call for "Taps," as the sinking sun slips into slumber.

The soft breeze, rustling in the leaves of the Oak Trees, gives a final fare-thee-well.

The "storms" of the day find their rest, and a quiet mood settles down upon the Land.

The night holds the land in quiet slumber.

The night is black – silver threads of moonlight tease the shadows to a melodious serenade.

All too soon, the new dawn will awaken – as the stars that held vigil through the night, begin to fade, yielding their tour to the sunrise's hint of color across a morning's eastern horizon.

[Dorothy Hazel Tarr - 2011]

Signs of Winter's Season

           [Photo Source: My Photos, my camera, my backyard images]

(1 DEC 2011 – Every point on the sundial has its Season – every Life has its turn -- Winter's setting is the ending of one.  dht)

  

Winter sunlight dappled on the frosted landscape.

Cold winds blew through barren boughs.

Scents of CHRISTMAS pine delighted the nose.

December's stark repose held in Nature's embrace.

OH!  -- The signs of Winter's Season.

[Dorothy Hazel Tarr – 2011]

  [Photo Source: My Photos, my camera, my backyard images]

RIP – Be Still

[Photo Source: Google online images]

(28 NOV 2011 – My weary Heart beats discordant with Time – for my Heart lies in the Past with my Memories.  Life goes on all around me as Nature takes its turn in Time with the changing of Life's seasons.  My steps are disharmonious with Nature's Time - My Heart is tired of the Loss.)  [dht-2011] 

BE STILL my weary Heart.

Listen to Nature's Heartbeat. –

In accord with the changes of Nature's Seasons.

Rest here in Nature's bosom –

In accord with the changes of My Seasons.

As one with Nature's Hourglass –

In accord with the changes of Life's Seasons.

Rest In Peace my weary Heart –

BE STILL.

[Dorothy Hazel Tarr – 2011]

                   [Photo Source: Google online images]

FROM WHERE I STAND

                          [Photo Source:  My photos, my camera, my backyard 2011]

(19 Nov 2011 – A heartwarming Chapter in the Book of Life touches the very core of my being when I awake to the beginning of a new day.  One of my Loves and Passions is gardening in my yard, and seeing the flowers in their planter beds fills me with a sense of well being and accomplishment.  The view of my backyard through my living room window always soothes and calms.  Mornings are one of my favorite times in my yard, where the birds and bees are busy going through their morning rituals.  dht)

  

When I step outside for the first time each day, a sweet feeling of reverence and awe washes over me.

The sky so big, the clouds so high, the Moon and Sun sharing the role of caretakers to the Earth, upon which I stand.

The path I walk is worn smooth by time and passage of those generations that braved the path before me.

The Legacy of the generations to come is to add their footprints to the Path, and to add their story to the Book of Life.

The air is fresh and clean, the day new and full of promise, my Spirit soars with the Blessings around me -- From Where I Stand.

[Dorothy Hazel Tarr 2011]

EVEN SONG

              [Photo Source: Google online images]

(17 Nov 2011 -- One of my favorite times to take a stroll is in the evening after the day's demands are through.  The evening sights and sounds are emotionally nourishing and help untangle my thoughts and unravel my stress.  The wildness of Nature, the Mystery of its creatures, the panoramic beauty of the Lincoln Hills nestled to the Sierras – sets the day's events into perspective as the land stretches from the Delta Vales to the Sierras in as series of wetland course ways.  I'm truly Blessed to be alive and vertical.  dht)

As I walk during the last rays of daylight, the sky is alive with colored hues on horizon's clouds.

The evening is soft and cool – sounds are muted and distant with only the sky birds in the wild grasses.

There is magic in the starlit sky with a bright moon trading shadows as I walk along their prominence.

The colors on the horizon are gone now – replaced by the shades of night.

The sky no longer holds even the memories of Sunset.

The moon commands the celestial symphony, the stars twinkle in delight – at the music of the night.

The land slumbers peacefully now – under a blanket of Even Stars.

[Dorothy Hazel Tarr - 2011]

WALK ON THE WILD SIDE

[Photo Source:  My Photos, My camera, Sunset over Beaver Pond -- LOOK CLOSELY and you will see a group of birds in flight in the sunset in the TOP photo. In the photo at bottom is a beautiful Oak Tree outlined in a soft evening sunset. dht]

 (8 NOV 2011 – A walk in the evening sooths the spirit and smoothes the feathers ruffled from daily stresses. I am truly BLESSED to be able to walk and to enjoy Nature's wonders! dht)

  

Time for a walk to the Beaver Pond –

where the call of birds fills the stillness --  

where the breeze whispers in Oak Trees --

where the water tumbles over a rocky dam –

while the California Canada geese, ducks, and egrets,

perform their ritual primping. 

The wild grasses sway to Nature's Tune --

insects dance at leisure –

wild roses flirt with bees –

fish play tag in gentle waters –

the rolling hills of Lincoln

nestle in the Sierra's sheltering embrace.

A place you can hear your own footsteps,

a place you can step out of yourself,

a time to ponder and daydream,

a time to think about where you are,

where you have been,

and where the Path will lead Tomorrow.

[Dorothy Hazel Tarr - 2011] 

A QUIET JOY – A TIME FORGOTTEN

(Photo Source: Google online images]

(5 NOV 2011 – There is in Nature a healing balm – available to all freely and in abundance.  When the tide of melancholia threatens to drown me, I go outside and tend to my garden, walk under the stars, or watch the clouds roll by.  It is only outside that, a certain welcome calm flows over me in a veil that shields me from transient thoughts of gloom.  dht)

As I let my head lay against a woodsy Oak –

my eyes scanned the azure Sky –

and I watched the clouds move across

a bright blue Sky.

For a moment, I forgot,

at least for the time being,

what it meant to be unhappy,

or lonesome, or depressed.

A Quiet Joy –

filled my senses –

A Joy that outlasts –

Transient sorrows.

[Dorothy Hazel Tarr – 2011]

Nature's Caring Arms

                      [Photo Source:  My camera, my photos, my wildlife neighborhood.]

(25 OCT 2011 - There is no tonic or elixir of Life that can compare to the balm of Nature upon the human Spirit. dht-2011)

The balm of Nature surrounds me –

And I'm content.

 

Birds in the sky follow air currents –

And I'm content.

 

Creatures in the bush skitter about –

And I'm content.

 

Nearby water ripples over shimmering stones –

cascading in a curtain of liquid silver –

And I'm content.

 

Wild grasses waft to a gentle breeze –

combed to a tamed sweet order –

And I'm content.

 

Clouds shelter from on high –

holding Mother Earth in embrace –

And I'm content.

 

In Nature's Caring Arms –

slumber beckons – while blissful Dreams fill my senses –

And I'm content.

 

My troubled thoughts float away –

on the wings of the day –

And I'm content.

[Dorothy Hazel Tarr - 2011]

[Photo Source:  My camera, my photos, my wildlife neighborhood.]

Circle of Life

[Photo Source: My camera, my photo of my neighbors and Nature's wonders.]

(23 Oct 2011 -- A walk on the dirt pathways of the wildlife nature preserve where I live, always shakes the troubles from my thoughts and adds perspective to my perception. dht-2011)

A cool morning mist hangs in the air until a lazy sunrise wakens the New Day.

Shorter days signal Nature's preparations for a Winter's slumber.

Another endless cycle of birth and death completes the season.

The occasional echoes of passing migrating California Canada Geese fill the air.

As I look up, my Life seems to fall into perspective within the larger Circle of Life.

[Dorothy Hazel Tarr - 2011]

[VIDEO: My camera, my video of the neighboring geese, in the wildlife preserve where I live, as they spy my digital eye and take flight. dht-11OCT2010]

[VIDEO: My camera, my video of the neighboring geese, in the wildlife preserve where I live, dht-2011]

DANCING DANDELIONS

[Photo Source: My photo, my camera, my neighborhood.]


(On 6 July 2011, I took a walk down a dirt path in the wild life preserve in my neighborhood.  There was a soft breeze and as I walked along.  I watched in fascination as the dandelion flowers waved with the breeze.  I picked a flower that had turned into a white feathery sphere, and held it to my breath and to make a WISH!  Nature is full of moments of delight and inspiration! dht)

(DANDELIONS: Old French word meaning "Lion's Tooth" for the shape of the leaf)

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Yellow Dandelions border the trail, their blossoms dancing merrily to a tune only Nature plays.  Suddenly Day's Passage changes the blooms to white seeded spheres.  Be QUICK to make a WISH and use your BREATH as the feathery seeds fill the air.  Watch in wonder as the seeds take flight and drift far and wide on a summer breeze.
[Dorothy Hazel Tarr - 2011]

BLESSINGS of a New Day

[PHOTO SOURCE: My camera, My backyard at dawn]


(This is a tribute I wrote on 5 July 2011 to welcome the sunrise.  Each morning I count my BLESSINGS that I am witness to a New Day. And more, I am grateful for my home and the view of the sunrise over the Sierra Redwood Trees that I planted in my backyard. dht)

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My heart is weightless, like a cloud floating in a bright blue summer sky, drifting in a warm breeze. The sounds of the (bird's) Dawn Chorus fill my hearing. The scent of flowers saturates the air with their soft fragrance. I feel BLESSED to be alive to share this morning as the SUNRISE anoints the day with Promise and Peace and Hope.
[Dorothy Hazel Tarr - 2011]

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ELEVATION -- A Poem

[PHOTO Source and Credit:  Courtesy of  J.M. Hire]

(10 JUN 2011 – A special THANK  YOU to my kindred spirit "CAMV" for sharing this poem with me and for her sister "JMH" for the two beautiful photos to partner with the words of the poem.  ENJOY!!  Dorothy Hazel Tarr - 2011)

SOURCE LINKS

I was new to the poetry and writings of this French poet before my kindred spirit shared the poem ELEVATION.  I want to explore more of his writings. Here is some info from wikipedia  about him.

[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Baudelaire ]

Charles Baudelaire (April 9, 1821 – August 31, 1867) was a French poet who produced notable work as an essayist, art critic, and pioneering translator of Edgar Allan Poe. His most famous work, Les Fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil) expresses the changing nature of beauty in modern, industrializing Paris during the nineteenth century. Baudelaire's highly original style of prose-poetry influenced a whole generation of poets including Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud and Stéphane Mallarmé among many others. He is credited with coining the term "modernity" (modernité) to designate the fleeting, ephemeral experience of life in an urban metropolis, and the responsibility art has to capture that experience.
Philosophy --  Many of Baudelaire's philosophical proclamations were considered scandalous and intentionally provocative in his time. He wrote on a wide range of subjects, drawing criticism and outrage from many quarters.
It is interesting to me, to note that Charles Baudelaire knew the painter Édouard Manet.

Manet and Baudelaire became constant companions from around 1855. In the early 1860s, Baudelaire accompanied Manet on daily sketching trips and often met him socially. Manet also lent Baudelaire money and looked after his affairs, particularly when Baudelaire went to Belgium. Baudelaire encouraged Manet to strike his own path and not succumb to criticism. "Manet has great talent, a talent which will stand the test of time. But he has a weak character. He seems to me crushed and stunned by shock". In his painting Music in the Tuileries, Manet includes portraits of his friends Théophile Gautier, Jacques Offenbach, and Baudelaire. While it's difficult to differentiate who influenced whom, both Manet and Baudelaire discussed and expressed some common themes through their respective arts. Baudelaire praised the modernity of Manet's subject matter: "almost all our originality comes from the stamp that 'time' imprints upon our feelings".  

When Manet's famous Olympia (1865), a portrait of a nude prostitute, provoked a scandal for its blatant realism mixed with an imitation of Renaissance motifs, Baudelaire worked privately to support his friend, though he offered no public defense (he was, however, ill at the time). When Baudelaire returned from Belgium after his stroke, Manet and his wife were frequent visitors at the nursing home and she would play passages from Wagner for Baudelaire on the piano.

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ELEVATION
(NOTE:  This poem was originally written in FRENCH, and there are may translations on the Internet.  Below is one translation.  dht-2011)

[~A Poem by Charles Baudelaire, translated by William A. Sigler]

[ http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/elevation/ ]

Above the ponds, beyond the valleys,
The woods, the mountains, the clouds, the seas,
Farther than the sun, the distant breeze,
The spheres that wilt to infinity.

My spirit, you move with agility
And, like a good swimmer who swoons in the wave
You groove the depths immensity gave,
The inexpressible and male ecstasy.

From this miasma of waste,
You will be purified in superior air
And drink a pure and divine liqueur,
A clear fire to replace the limpid space.

Behind this boredom and fatigue, this vast chagrin
Whose weight moves the mists of existence,
Happy is he who vigorously fans the senses
Toward serene and luminous fields—wincing!

The one whose thoughts are like skylarks taken wing
Across the heavens mornings in full flight
Who hovers over life, understanding without effort
The language of flowers and mute things.

SOURCES OF some interesting YOUTUBE LINKS —

Printed in french with instrumental video:

[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDXd2wFIZK8&feature=related ]

 Read in French with instrumental music:

[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVpJoDOxxDw&feature=related ]

 Sung in French by Patricia Guede with instrumental music by Regis Flecheau and photos:

[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYzHVLnt2NE ]

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[PHOTO Source and Credit: Courtesy of  J.M. Hire]

Just Butterflies - and - Emily Elizabeth Dickinson

PHOTO SOURCE: National Geographic online images]

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Butterfly – A poem #354 by Emily Dickinson

From Cocoon forth a Butterfly

As Lady from her Door
Emerged -- a Summer Afternoon --
Repairing Everywhere --

Without Design -- that I could trace

Except to stray abroad
On Miscellaneous Enterprise
The Clovers -- understood --

Her pretty Parasol be seen

Contracting in a Field
Where Men made Hay –
Then struggling hard
With an opposing Cloud –

Where Parties -- Phantom as Herself --

To Nowhere -- seemed to go
In purposeless Circumference --
As 'twere a Tropic Show --


And notwithstanding Bee -- that worked --
And Flower -- that zealous blew --
This Audience of Idleness
Disdained them, from the Sky --

Till Sundown crept -- a steady Tide –

And Men that made the Hay –
And Afternoon -- and Butterfly –
Extinguished -- in the Sea --

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[PHOTO SOURCE: National Geographic online images]

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Butterfly – A poem #541 by Emily Dickinson

Some such Butterfly be seen

On Brazilian Pampas --
Just at noon -- no later -- Sweet --
Then -- the License closes --

Some such Spice -- express and pass --

Subject  to Your Plucking --
As the Stars -- You knew last Night --
Foreigners -- This Morning –

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 [PHOTO SOURCE: National Geographic online images]

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Butterfly – A poem #533 by Emily Dickinson

Two Butterflies went out at Noon --

And waltzed upon a Farm --
Then stepped straight through the Firmament
And rested, on a Beam --

And then -- together bore away

Upon a shining Sea --
Though never yet, in any Port --
Their coming, mentioned -- be --

If spoken by the distant Bird --

If met in Ether Sea
By Frigate, or by Merchantman --
No notice -- was -- to me --

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A SPECIAL THANK YOU for a PERFECT gift and remembrance from a KINDRED SPIRIT and FRIEND -- A Book of Poems by Emily Elizabeth Dickinson. This Book is very special to me, for it was only this year (2011) that I was delightfully surprised to find that Emily and I had the same maternal "many" great grandparents.  I am delighted to call Emily my maternal Cousin. And, I am very grateful for Ancestry.com for help in researching my Family History.  Many thanks again for this wonderful Book of Poetry goes to my SPECIAL FRIEND who knows how much Family and Friendship mean to me.  -- WITH warm affection, respect, and friendship, Dee [Dorothy Hazel Tarr - 2011]

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