Tag Archives: art

Like a Child that Knows Poems by Heart

“It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.”
Rainier Rilke

Michigan is once again alive with that striking yellow-green of early May and the swirling sounds of swollen creeks. Fleming Creek flows, rapidly now, through a woods near University of Michigan’s Matthaei Gardens.

Fleming Creek, Michigan

A World in a….Drop of Water

To see a world in a grain of sand
And a Heaven in a wild flower
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.

William Blake

Or, the visionary poet might have said, in a drop of water, suspended in time on its course between underground springs and the great river which is its destiny.

for more Blake

Iargo Springs, Michigan

Au Sable River, Michigan

Les Fleurs, Toujours–Flowers, Always

There are always flowers for those who want to see them.

Henri Matisse

where flowers bask in the sunshine

Matthaei Gardens, Michigan

Hope and Patience in These Uncertain Times

Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation

Romans 12:12

In these uncertain times, this verse rings true for me. And Spring greens have just begun to make their appearance in my corner of Michigan.

Van Gogh’s Dreams

For my part, I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.

Vincent Van Gogh

Even the one star that is closest to us.

Hartwick Pines, Michigan

Newburgh Lake, Michigan

newburgh lake, michigan

Magical places, Invisible and Visible

Magical places are always beautiful and deserve to be contemplated. Always stay on the bridge between the invisible and the visible

Paulo Coehlo

One of the magical places in my part of Michigan, the woods near University of Michigan’s Matthaei Gardens. When you walk the forest paths, you are surrounded by a hush, broken only by the wind in the branches above and the sound of Fleming Creek’s rushing waters.

Fleming Creek, Michigan

Matthaei Gardens, Michigan

Painting Your Dream

I dream and then I paint my dream.

Vincent Van Gogh

A relic of the last Ice Age, Bright Lake in Hartwick Pines, Michigan

July twilight steals away

Ballet on Swan Lake

…You Have But Slumbered Here

If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumbered here
While these visions did appear.

William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

These lines from Midsummer Night’s Dream reminded me of this gathering twilight of a summer past. On warm, humid July evenings, this lake in the midst of suburban Detroit becomes a social spot where people come to fish, canoe, strum guitars, or just watch the stars come out.

William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and traditionally this is the date for celebrating his birth.

Newburgh Lake, Michigan

Even Unpleasant Truths

When we really love truth we love even the unpleasant truths.

G.K. Chesterton

Winter reluctantly relaxes its grip on Michigan in mid March, and then we experience an interlude while waiting expectantly for the renewal of Spring. This stream west of suburban Detroit was swelling with winter’s melt when we were beginning to learn some unpleasant truths. A plague that had been lurking was then just beginning to surface.