¡Feliz año nuevo! Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Party tonight @ Paseo Caribe

Full Moon Winter Solstice

Feliz Navidad

Feliz Navidad

Paseo De Las Sombrillas

Calle Fortaleza, Viejo San Juan

A Secret View

Una Vista Secreta

As my daughter Ali and I walked through Santa Maria Magdalena De Pazzis, inspecting our favorite tumbas/tombs for damage from last year's 2 hurricanes, (Yes!!!! I finally made it home for Thanksgiving), she noticed this view from the caretaker's building.

 

Mientras mi hija Ali y yo caminábamos por Santa María Magdalena De Pazzis, inspeccionando nuestras tumbas / tumbas favoritas en busca de daños causados ​​por los 2 huracanes del año pasado, (¡Sí! Finalmente llegué a casa para el Día de Acción de Gracias), se dio cuenta de esta vista desde el edificio del cuidador.

Arc Of Sun

Red Dirt Of Home

red dirt of Manati

survives    I plant the flowers

for you, daddy

the red dust on your boots

on the porch tiles

after you brushed out your khakis

there was always some left

in the cuffs of those work pants

today I whisper to your bones

look at your granddaughters

dad, one has your hazel eyes

one your blond hair

our hands stained red

the land you loved

I know you, I understand

we rinse our hands

water running red

splattering manicured toes

wipe dry on our shorts

they clean their hands meticulously

I keep the dirt 

under my nails

just a bit 

of home, of you

it is how 

I survive

Fire In The Sky

I almost forgot how the light dazzles the clouds. Fire in the sky on the first Monday after we changed our clocks. We say FALL back one hour. Silly Americans, how we play with time as if we can manipulate the universe.

November Sky

Some people believe in miracles. Days are random as I pace through life. Until the universe conspires to stop me, awaken me, to the simple treasure of an early November sunset. I am humbled by the gesture of light shearing the clouds, painting them yellow to red to gray. Just for me, as I wait in the ONLY lane to turn and drive into the sky.

I'd Much Rather Be....

I'd much rather be.....

Caldera Of Santorini

Santorini Caldera

Overlook With Seagrapes

Coast Road, Amalfi

Amalfi Coast Road

Jeweled Poinsettia

I grow the poinsettia plant because I can. The rain catches on the leaves like cabochons of perfect light. They glitter each leaf as the sun returns after a summer rain.  They will be green, green, green until after the Autumnal Equinox.

Then as the days grow shorter, the sunlight changes its angle in the sky. Little by little, some of the leaves will turn red. As the leaf clusters turn, small yellow flowers grow within these bunches. The combination of these become what we call the Christmas flower.

It is important to allow the plant to create itself. All summer it will grow larger and larger. We must wait. The poinsettia is responsive to light and I would never think of forcing it. Mine stay outside until the nights get cold, like the end of October. This takes patience and a watchful eye. Let the plant be a miracle on its own. Enjoy the change. It will continue to grow.

One True Thing

One True Thing

 

tell me one true thing

demanding without fear

without petulance

just one    between us

what is true

escapes the moment

yet I see my words

spelled out a contrail

in the summer sky

one thing in our world

you laugh predictably

touch your fingertips to your ear

as if I'm silent

noon day heat

light breezes toss my words

beyond you sidestep

the contrails fade

my words hang

hotter than any sun

glaring    yes one true thing

don't whisper I love you

don't whisper always

forever is not true

so breakable ephemeral

lies spiral up

you want to say

yes but no but

I can't    you can't

say anything can you

truth catches in your throat

while all around us

the truth of nature smiles

bite it if you dare

swallow the world entire

you will never hold it

within you    I know

one true thing

you can't tell me anything

Unnecessary Drowning..... Please Read & Reblog If You Care!

Ok, people help me out! This is a serious post about a life and death problem....Accidential/Unnecessary DROWNING. It happens every summer. Here are some facts:

 • 350 children under the age of five drown in pools each year nationwide.

• The majority of the deaths occur in June, July and August; most in backyard pools.

• Among unintentional injuries, drowning is the second leading cause of death to this age group after motor vehicle accidents. In some Sunbelt states such as California, Florida and Arizona, drowning is the leading cause of accidental death to children under five.

• Another 2,600 children are treated in hospital emergency rooms each year for near-drowning incidents. Some of these submersion accidents result in permanent brain damage.

• Medical costs for submersion victims during the initial hospitalization alone can be quite high. Costs can range from an estimated $2,000 for a victim who recovers fully to $80,000 for a victim with severe brain damage. Some severely brain damaged victims have initial hospital stays in excess of 120 days and expenses in excess of $150,000.

 In a comprehensive study of drowning and submersion incidents involving children under 5 years old in Arizona, California, and Florida, the CPSC found that:

 Most were young.Three quarters (75%) of the submersion victims were between 1 and 3 years old; More than half (65%) of this group were boys. Toddlers, in particular, often do something unexpected because their capabilities change daily.

 Most were being watched by parents.At the time of the incidents, most victims were being supervised by one or both parents. Almost half (46%) of the victims were last seen in the house; one quarter (23%) were last seen in the yard or on the porch or patio; and 31% were in or around the pool before the accident. In all, 69% of the children were not expected to be at or in the pool, yet they were found in the water.

 Most happen in familiar surroundings.Submersion incidents involving children usually happen in familiar surroundings. 65% of the incidents happened in a pool owned by the child's family and a third of the incidents happened in a pool owned by friends or relatives.

Most accidents happen quickly.Pool submersions involving children happen quickly. A child can drown in the time it takes to answer a phone. More than 3 out of 4 of the victims (77%) had been missing from sight for 5 minutes or less.

 Seconds count. Survival depends on rescuing the child quickly and restarting the breathing process, even while the child is still in the water. Seconds count in preventing death or brain damage.

 A silent killer.Child drowning is a silent death. There's no splashing to alert anyone that the child is in trouble.

Read more: http://www.momsteam.com/sports/swimming/safety/grim-statistics-on-child-drownings#ixzz5IXnejZcl

I’m a swimming instructor and coach 7 days a week. I have seen a lot. I was a lifeguard since I was 16. I think I know a little bit about this issue. I have rescued many children, both in the pool for recreational swimming and even in my classes. I have seen accidents in the water, seizures and most recently rough horseplay which ended up in a resuscitation and trip to the ER.

Also, with the drowning last weekend of Bode Miller’s toddler, parents have been on hyper-vigilance and asking questions. We as instructors, believe that waterproofing your children is our most important job.

On with my story. Today was the last day of school here in Northern Virginia. This week was our last days for the Spring session of swim classes. Tonight, I was evaluating my classes for skill mastery. I was in 3.5 feet of water and I took my students into the 4 - 4.5 feet area for treading water and swimming 15 yards of front crawl and backstroke.

As we come into the deeper water, I notice a woman leaning against the wall, just chillin’..... so I remind the kids not to splash the lady and we moved past her. I begin to review treading water and out of the corner of my eye, I see a child in the next lane over, perhaps 5 or 6 years old, not swimming correctly and struggling to continue toward the wall or lane line. I then noticed that the woman had to leave the wall and reach over into the other lane and grab her child and push her toward the wall about 5 or so feet away. This is not safe.

I, therefore, did my job and signaled a free lifeguard to ask the woman to walk or swim in the same lane as her child. Then the hoopla began. I continued to test my students and the mom and then dad began to argue with the lifeguard. The father was even rude to me saying that he “HAD TO GET IN THE WATER WITH HIS CHILD BECAUSE I SAID IT WAS UNSAFE!”

DUH! Yeah, it was unsafe and I’m sorry if he didn’t want to get wet but, nobody was supervising the his child. OMG, they scowled and fussed with the others people that they came with for at least 10 minutes. I went on finishing my class and I ignored their nasty looks as I handed out certificates to my happy kids and their happy parents.

People are either terrified that their young kids are going to drown or over confident that their kids will make it to the other side. It just doesn’t work that way. Even with my level of skill, I was always in the water near my daughters. I taught my girls how to swim and behave safely in every kind of water. We have been swimming and diving around the world and we have always gone together. We know what to do.

I’m just so incensed that these parents were so casual about such a dangerous situation. Unfortunately, I see it all the time. I don’t want to rant much further. Just one more issue. The parents that bring their kids to the pool and then are on their phones or tablets while their kids do what ever. Then they’re surprised and indignant when the lifeguards are whistling and reprimanding their kids for dangerous behavior. All the time. I see it all the time.

If you have taken the time to read this and it strikes a cord with you, please reblog this information. This is vital. This is life or death happening right in front of our faces. Drowning is preventable. Get your child swimming lessons. We begin with baby & me and go all the way up to competitive swimming. Please have a safe summer near and in the water.

Thanks, I feel better now. Coach Cindy

What A Photo Op!

On the road....people watching. Wow, she got a great picture!

So Easy

You can get a great photo with your eyes closed in Hawai'i.

O'hau, North Shore

First View

For years now, I have owned myself and chose my lovers more for status than conversation. After you, all is impossible of even balancing out. Days pass, summer opens to the wish that I find you on my stoop at 6:30. Two suitcases and roses.

Please realize that in NYC, we have stoops. Up the stairs to your townhouse and the landing in front of the door or the very bottom stair in front of your house is called the stoop in my family, anyway.

Look Through The Door

this was someone's home

now it belongs to the world

What Remains

what was lost cannot be replaced

what remains cannot be forgotten

Preserved Mural in Pompeii

nothing loved is broken by accident

rather loved so much

its frailty and faults become treasures

repair becomes sacred

repair becomes an honor

Comes The Storm

Comes The Storm

I'm not going to give in

to sad endings

let me fly above them all

even if it is alone

I hold every moment intact

thought you look away from me

 

I have opened so many doors without you

closed others    changed the locks

I have walked the beach with no hand

to hold    hold me tight

 

what I want is worthless

what I want turns to dust in my hands

what I want I know better than to need

to define me    rain falls without you

comes the thunder

counting until lightening

yes I know the swift approach

light my own candle against the storm

 

I refuse you now

I have held constant for so long

even as old pictures fade

I remain    yes I

remain strong

Red Mimosa

Mimosa

Capri, Italy

Painterly Night With Aliens

Drinking Prosecco on a rooftop in Florence.

Vertigo

The Gallery of Maps

The Vatican

Trompe l'oeil

Challenge the eye...

There is no up nor down..... there is only everything. All at once.

Hug A Plane Today

You can never travel too much!

Night Blooming Jasmine

Disguise

"A rose by anyother name would smell as sweet"

The bloom invites you in

without warning

a thorn will cut as deep 

regardless of its disguise

Sometimes

Sometimes, there is so much going on that it is almost impossible to express any feeling. There is a point when all emotions implode and the mind becomes filled with static. I had to reclaim my life and my garden.

You planted so many roses and over the years they bloomed ever expanding outward. Did I tell you I hate roses. Did I tell you that I'd rather live in a city near the ocean than in a pampered garden. You thought I'd like the roses. Out of a twisted sort of kindness I said nothing.

Now, I want you to know that I'd rather walk across the Brooklyn Bridge or stand at the top of the Empire State Building and look out over the city, cold and concrete, than look at your roses.

BTW. I went out into the garden and cut each bush to the quick with my bare hands, enduring the thorns and treasuring each scratch as a momento of removing the last vestige of you from my chaotic life.

This Is How We Roll

National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Street Art.

My Ivan

Ivan Being Random

Hiking Trafalgar Falls

Hiking Trafalgar Falls

Island of Dominica

En pasos cortos o' con pasos largos

En pasos cortos o' con pasos largos.... seguimos pa'lante.

In short steps & with long steps..... we continue to go forward. I hope so.... Espero que sí.

Hot Springs, Dominica

Michael thought he'd been most everywhere in the Caribbean. Still, he had never visited Dominica. His father dismissed it as being unexciting and his mother bemoaned that the hotels did not have even a single star to their credentials. Grazi was crazy about the island.

Every time they visited San Juan, she found a way to hop islands to get to her Dominica. They spent plenty of time in the sulpher springs and visited every mineral bath on the island. As long as they had rum, he was along for the ride.

"This place is volcanic... so its alive."

"The hardships I endure for love." Michael replied thinking of his mother's absurd comment. This was more than enough.

Diving Dominica

One of their first free dives was in Dominica. Grazi took Michael to Champagne Reef. He laughed as she pull her running shorts on over her bikini and strapped the knife to her waist. She slid in with only her mask and fins.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked from the boat.

"Yea, I've been doing this my whole life. We'll start out shallow and go deeper."

"I'm going to wear my snorkle so I can take pictures."

Ok, one day our kids, will be able to see how crazy we were."

"You mean, how daring you are. I'm the crazy one. I'll follow you anywhere, even to the depths of the ocean."

"Oh, come on, it's not that deep!"

Grazi turned and dove under. As Michael jumped in he thought....this is the only person, the only person in this world who could make me leave my gear and follow her. The only one.

Geometry In Nature

 

This iris is so delicate like a white and purple butterfly delighting in its otherworldly ruffled wings. The white is absolute and the purple starts as speckles and culminates in a full explosion of color at the curling edges. The very central three petals form a purple and white triangle radiating out and each petal has a central white streak within the purple radiating inward to a precise centerpoint. These irises seem to be a series of repeating triangles lain crisscross upon each other. Each ruffle appears to be part of the curve of a perfect spiral. (Words cannot to it justice!) Everyday new ones are transforming from tight bud and unfolding themselves to the sun. Then, they just sway in the spring breeze for us to enjoy.

Hurricane Season Is Coming

Hurricane Season begins June 1, 2018

That is 24 days away! There are still approx. 25,000 people in Puerto Rico without power from Irma & Maria.

Haleakalā Sleeps On

    

At least Haleakalā on Maui is still sleeping. Treat softly and don't wake Pele.

Purple Iris Of Spring

I forgot about the irises

perennial like every season turning

they return    a reminder

a constant

something to hold on to

Alone With Your Numbers Staggering Through My Head

Backstory: Solstice 35 - novel in progress

Graziella is a Literature major who becomes a sucessful writer. Michael is an Economics/Mathematics major that she falls in love with. This is the story of 35 years of their relationship and the poetry she writes about their lives.

 

Winter Solstice 8

Alone With Your Numbers Staggering Through My Head

 

a thousand thousand thousand

days have past yet winter

arrives with and without you

shadows of days shorten

nights of stars arc to a fullness

a tipping point where dark slips

before it falls

night of solstice

full moon luck

shimmering snowy hills crystalline

glamouring the foxfire to greenest green

I stoke the fire against the cold

kindling catches then crackles

painting this room golden eloquent

whisper of prayer in Fibonacci sequence

escapes my lips just

because 1 and 1 is always 2

0, 1, 1, 2

how long this night is without you

how the universe seems to bank and pivot

out of my reach

dare I miss you

while you live in a random array of infinite values

continents oceans that divide us

your hypothesis that distance

multipied by time

will close the circle

only you chose to bisect

so this night

solstice     longest of nights

I claim the luck of foxfire in the woods

alone moonlight on the snow

lights me a new path

the full moon whispers to me

binary code 1010111

one step or nothing one

step nothing one step

take another step

Visiting The Parthenon

Grazi and Michael wove their way up the Acropolis hand in hand through the crowds of tourists. They had a dare....who could get the most photos with the least people in them. Michael took crazy angles and Grazi chased shadows and sunbeams.

Street Life, Athens

Grazi and Michael always stopped in Athens before going island hopping. She loved the street life. She loved the Plaka and the Monastiraki with its flea market stalls. Grazi welcomed the sun warming her bronze. Everyone speaking greek to her. She always answered in such a silly mixture of broken greek, italian and spanish. Michael's patience would melt as he began to sweat and pink up. He always refused sunscreen. They would find a table in the shade and drink ouzo all afternoon. He would be placated. She would be drunk on love and geography.

Waiting For The Azaleas

First the buds pop. Then, in the blink of an eye it seems.....azaleas everywhere. Like over night! The only words I can use are orgasmic, ecstatic, sacred, astounding, ethereal, and unfortunately evanescent. Yes, this apotheosis of blossoms and range of Pantone colors from white, to yellow, to shades of orange, and a complete continuum of pinks, reds, and violets, only lasts about two to three weeks at best. Then, we have solid green hedges for the rest of the summer and fall. As soon as the last flower drops, we begin our long wait until next April/early May (depends where you live) when the azaleas will grace us with their presence once again.

Note: No Southern home would be without an azalea bush. Then for the complete summer we have night blooming jasmine, crape myrtle trees, and magnificent magnolia trees. (See the vine in the photo - thats the jasmine creeping over the bush.)

Just To Let You Know

just to let you know

I chopped    more cut

the poor fig tree you

planted for me    yes

out of spite yet I 

kept the lilacs

so close to blooming

I could not

deny them

life

Profusion Of Azaleas

My yard explodes with pink azaleas, to my delight.

Violets From Oversea

Villanelle

by Roland Leighton

From the film Testament of Youth

Violets from Plug Street Wood,
Sweet, I send you oversea.
(It is strange they should be blue,
Blue, when his soaked blood was red,
For they grew around his head;
It is strange they should be blue.)

Violets from Plug Street Wood-

Think what they have meant to me-
Life and Hope and Love and You
(And you did not see them grow
Where his mangled body lay
Hiding horror from the day;
Sweetest it was better so.)

Violets from oversea,
To your dear, far, forgetting land
These I send in memory,
Knowing You will understand.