intelligent terrier ...

me and eve in snow ...
photo: janice johnston howie

wonderments ...

meditation haven ...

spirituality ...
something i’m usually conscious of on a daily basis -
sometimes all day -
others, tangentially ...
most times, like wearing a comfortable, favorite sweater - you know its there if you think about it - and you certainly know when its not ...
its mirrored back in a pleasing way - and its absence reflects less complimentary representations ...
it keeps you warm in places you didn’t even know needed warming, and protected you when you didn’t know you needed it - until you’re without it ...
it comes in all shapes, sizes, colors, blends, and weights - but over time, as we grow - we find what fits and feels best ...
why is probably of little importance - as is ‘what chocolate tastes like’ -
once you’ve had it, if you like it, there’s no substitute ...
but why is it that when our five senses have evolved so clearly, we are left with this other paradox ...
why is it that people often grimace when it comes up in conversation ...
is it something so deeply personal or radical that its not meant to be shared outside organized or chaperoned assemblies ...
do fearful people have more of a tendency to be reliant upon apparently abstract intangibles ...
why is it that television evangelism is so popular today while contemporary art audiences have declined - does it have to do with familiarity, believability, or theatrical drama ...
is our failure to grasp ‘it’ unconditionally part of the same reason conceptual art really never caught on in a big way ...
is it too far outside the madison avenue ‘point of purchase’ principles to be assimilated collectively ...
or is there just a lack of measurable status in ownership ...
either way, like the space between planets and molecules, it seems to be a necessary ingredient for survival as i/we know it today ...

veil #23 ...

total eclipse - double dips - centric reminders - careless inventors - behind their front - inside out - frump ‘n pout - triple reverse - first resurrection - shell games - cursed - fashionably pursed - time lapse - mud flaps - radical simplicity - tolerable eccentricity - moronic behavior - alternative saviors - land locked sailors - paramount musicals - confused nubiles - classified files - bewitched and beguiled - kevlar camisoles - fishnet parasols - ligetti melodies - splintered pathways - aleph clarity - color density - household fame - linguine spaghetti - without fail - vapor trail - fleeting vision - indecision - jet stream turbines - recovery tips - slipped disks and hipsters - malpractice compromise - cuban cigars - underbrush thorns -

a few favorite things ...

for the same reasons i don't teach, i rarely make recommendations about art, music, movies, or books [beyond persistent references] - but i've been thinking lately about how much pleasure i derived from a few things over this cold and light deprived northeastern winter [or administration] ...
in no particular order;
sirius radio - classic jazz at 72, nearly perfect in all ways - bbc world news, the pulse of the globe ... there have been times when the last thing i wanted to do is navigate cold, icy, or snowy roads - but i know without fail, that there will be something i hear or learn that makes it all worth it ...
'voices of history' cd - double disk from british library archives - a potpourri of wake up calls ...
'money jungle' cd - ellington, mingus, and roach - especially 'caravan' ...
'sanctuary' cd - zen garden music - riley lee - sublime ...
'the artist's realities by mark rothko' book - straight shootin' ...
'catching the big fish by david lynch' book - simple and clean ...
'the universe in a single atom by dalai lama' book - mmmm ...
'wishing well by pearsall' book - practical guidelines to positive thinking ... not bad for a $3 dollar find at the giant food store [in the same isle as whole wheat linguine] ...
'anatomy of the spirit by caroline myss' book - a chakra tune up exercise ...
web - truthout, lally's alley, joel weishaus - refreshing, provocative, and enlightening ...
mini spiral fluorescent 'daylight' energy saver bulbs - cool, easy on the eyes and less agitating than yellow tint light ...
spring, change, and hope are a breath away ...

veil #22 ...

articulation - focus - avalanche of information - distraction - circuits dead - can you hear me major tom - dependence on fallibility - nothing neutral about mud - composites - blended identities - bubbling reductions - facts and figures - random fire - improvised devices - incendiary crisis - distancing - witnessing - termite infestation - virus - cyrus - tibernian dilemmas - think tank enemas - humor as abuse - squandering power - acid rain - meteor showers - sublime and ridiculous - audacity to ridicule - golden idols - gore vidal - therapeutics - vitalistics - city pillars - glass house shudders - final frontiers - arsenals of fear - toxic adrenals - causal dismissals - salient - sentient - crossing t’s - transepts - intercepts - casual neglect - symptoms of a cure - ravaging disease - revengeful dispositions - sworn depositions - as bill would see it - hell would freeze it - rapacious resigns - claudio casciolini - lama persuasions - dysinformation - portable heaters - variable cheaters - gradated - pericles - delian leagues - hopeless fatigue -

veil #21 ...

ominous crescendos - ebb and flow - shifting innuendoes - tidal pools and gravity - harmonic dissonance - camouflaged androgyny - modalities - punctuated extremes - tangential distractions - diffused reaction - perfunctory tasks - filigree masks - chromosome deficient - wisdom's’ refraction's - relevant questions - dismissive replies - pleading redemption - calico cries - perfume pervading - rebels invading - relegated blame - once again - ready for anything, but more of the same - channels jammed - hallowed land - slight of word - heavy hands - farrago decrees - third degree - forest for trees - sketches on lakes - undulating reason - ethical imperatives - time of the season - didactic narratives - interpretive oozings - bohemian fledglings - moronic excuses - omitted treason - committed recluses - waters reduce - prodigal sun - alter ego - inducing allegro - temples of thought - convergences fraught - speed think - power drink - missing link - synchronize - calibrate - neutrons - protons - kalamazoo - hyperbolize - exacerbate - enlightened reviews - past mashing - weathered stash - what matter is - orbiting - sorting things - nothing to lose -

yet again ...

still enchanting ...

Enchant
En*chant" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Enchanted; p. pr. & vb. n. Enchanting.] [F. enchanter, L. incantare to chant or utter a magic formula over or against one, to bewitch; in in, against + cantare to sing. See Chant, and cf. Incantation.]
1. To charm by sorcery; to act on by enchantment; to get control of by magical words and rites.
And now about the caldron sing, Like elves and fairies in a ring, Enchanting all that you put in. Shak.
He is enchanted, cannot speak. Tennyson.
2. To delight in a high degree; to charm; to enrapture; as, music enchants the ear.
Arcadia was the charmed circle where all his spirits forever should be enchanted. Sir P. Sidney.
Syn. -- To charm; bewitch; fascinate. Cf. Charm.
Enchanted
En*chant"ed (?), a. Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
en·chant
–verb (used with object)
1.
to subject to magical influence; bewitch: fairytales about witches who enchant handsome princes and beautiful maidens.
2.
to delight to a high degree: Her gaiety and wit have enchanted us all.
3.
to impart a magic quality or effect to.

[Origin: 1325–75; ME < AF, MF enchanter < L incant?re to put a spell on; see incantation]
—Synonyms 2. fascinate, attract; captivate, enrapture.
en·chant (?n-ch?nt')
tr.v. en·chant·ed, en·chant·ing, en·chants
1. To cast a spell over; bewitch.
2. To attract and delight; entrance. See Synonyms at charm.
[Middle English enchanten, from Old French enchanter, from Latin incant?re, to utter an incantation, cast a spell : in-, against; see en-1 + cant?re, to sing, frequentative of canere; see kan- in Indo-European roots.]
enchant
verb
1.
hold spellbound [ant: disenchant]
2.
attract; cause to be enamored; "She captured all the men's hearts"
3.
cast a spell over someone or something; put a hex on someone or something [syn: hex]
Sense 1:
enchanted (vs. disenchanted)
beguiled, captivated, charmed, delighted, enthralled, entranced
bewitched, ensorcelled
fascinated, hypnotized, hypnotised, mesmerized, mesmerised, spellbound, spell-bound, transfixed

enchanted ...

found this place in 1972 - somewhere off route 32 in rural upper bucks county on a steep hillside across from the delaware river - facing east to the river ...
an outcropping of red limestone, granite, and shale percolating with fresh water springs under a canopy of deciduous trees, fern, and moss ...
don’t know how i was drawn to the location since it is fairly remote, but on one of my hikes i clearly recognized/sensed it as an ‘enchanted’ location - whatever that means...
[found a few others in my life: point dume in malibu, ca - pueblo bonita in nm - monastery in palenville, ny - torrox in southern spain - dunoon, scotland ]
at the time i was very active in routinely practicing transcendental meditation [having been formally initiated in ‘71] ...
discovering the location coincided with my afternoon ‘tm’ time, so i planted myself and experienced a profoundly beautiful twenty minutes ...
no matter where life has taken me, i return from time to time to realign ... why?, because so much of what i live today was born from the dreams, prayers, clarity, and meditations at this location ...
i’m finding that my ‘disappointments’ with career, or life are more about not being clear or true to the dreams and prayers that i began to lay out here some thirty five years ago - i’m increasingly more fascinated than disappointed in the outcome of dreams, meditation, and prayer ... and the diversions, distractions, and clichés that we allow to fog our focus ...