with or without

thought of saying that most sights i see, i see alone

(don't know if i prefer it that way, but that is the

way it is able to happen, so i go). then i realized

that it's never really alone. most every photo i take

is meant for someone. whether they ever see it or not-

i'm not sure it matters. it is there. for them & whoever

might love it. this is a great freedom.

what some would sweep away is what i love the best. what's

left, and what's about to go, and what comes from time.

looking up

well, the last few posts are only iphone photos.

but, for the most part- on this set- what i was looking at made me catch

my breath. & i haven't figured out what to do with the other photos taken

(bigger files than they used to be, with new little camera) and will

someday post some. but until then, these. & with them the happiness

they brought upon sight. (i can't seem to stop looking up, or down,

and find what others might think to be a surfeit of sky and stone in

my camera, but i don't really think so. can one have too much sky?)

and there are good stories i hope will come, because this month

held some great surprises- happening upon art, and moments, i did

not expect but was overjoyed to encounter. and there were moments

with loved ones that can never be caught- except, perhaps- as s knows-

in a god's eye.

it was rush hour

and when i saw the pink papier toilette i couldn't not bring out the iphone. so here were all these bleary well-dressed folk waiting in line at the sweetest minimart i may ever see, and tiny cardiganed ladies with sparse white hair asking me questions [in french. what aisle the peas are in? the time does the next train leave? i could almost decipher what they said, but found myself wide-eyed sputtering (in english) "i don't speak english." by which i meant french.] anyhow, the ladies were asking me where the peas were and then i was trying to unobtrusively take pictures and not bother the women in good shoes and men in good suits who just got off the train who just wanted to go home with their bottle of nice wine and i really just went in for water and maybe some cheese. and a small bag of almonds, maybe. but i fell in love with the way the shelves were so well-cared for, and with the bright happiness that somehow seemed to shoot from the soft-drink displays. i left with a tangy ball of chevre, wafery crackers, six bottles of water, no almonds, a smile. and i am strangely glad to remember the quick way the market seemed to cheer everyone a up bit and it didn't matter if it was paper or peas they were after.

the intention of doing

some people wake up & first thing in the morning

they center themselves: prayer, meditation, some sort

of devotion. a handful of my closest friends do this. i often

intend to. it takes five minutes, maybe ten. (or a bit more.)

not much time. but the people who practice it, those i know-

that bit of time they spend- it's clear that that time changes

their lives. (it's in their eyes; a peace others don't have. it's

in their lives, too. but that's another story.)

in the latest issue of rolling stone, the dalai lama mentions

this practice (it's something he has talked about often-

there's a good interview in the magazine).

devotion. & to something bigger.

to live it, though?

how, exactly?

not

just to intend

to live it.

somewhere in madrid saw an english translation (post

title) of something picasso said. tracked it down here.

more (Pablo Picasso to Marius de Zayus) follows:

"In art intentions are not sufficient

and, as we say in Spanish:

love must be proved by facts

and not by reasons.

What one does is what counts,

and not what one has the intention of doing."

(brought to these thoughts today by this)

stones: saint-germain-en-laye, july '11

weather

Saint-Germain-en-Laye

choose to

in madrid, stumbled upon this artwork of felix's.

life has unending sweetness. we can share it.

that's what felix did.

i know of no power greater than truth, no emotion greater than compassion,

no quality equal to generosity of spirit.

call truth what you will. find it in your heart, subject it to the knowledge of your gut.

don't hide, don't run, don't bury it. please.

have fun. taste the sweetness in life. turn towards it.

choose to believe that we are all in this as one.

Deine Zauber binden wieder,

Was der Mode Schwert geteilt;

Bettler werden Fürstenbrüder,

Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.

friedrich schiller,

ode to joy