On Watch © 2013 Bo Mackison
A lake is a landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature.
It is Earth’s eye, into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.
~ Henry David Thoreau
Skies hint of purple,
the sun withdraws.
Winds calm in the heavy summer air.
A tumble of rocks deep
disappear in gray shadow.
Ghost carp glide under the dock.
The spirit trembles, shaken, then
regains its equilibrium
On watch for the first star.
The hermit doesn’t sleep at night, in love with the blue of the vacant moon. The cool of the breeze that rustles the trees rustles him too. ~ Ching-An
I wonder if the hermit had insomnia. I spend too much of the night listening to the rustling trees. And I love the blue of the moon, too.
Black Earth Wisconsin
It was a blue evening for several reasons.
Reason one. Within ten minutes of the sun’s disappearance below the horizon, the sky had turned a blue shade and the snow seemed to pick up a blue reflection. Yes, definitely a blue evening.
Second reason. It was shivery cold outside, and I had half of my shooting hand uncovered so I could turn and adjust all those camera knobs and thingamajigs. My thumb and first finger turned an ugly shade of blue and throbbed with a rather angry pulsation for a good hour after I had suitably warmed them. And I swear, the thermometer said it was only 14˚F, not nearly cold enough to begin applying extreme methods during my photo-shooting forays in and out of the car.
Third, I was blessed to have my three children home for at least a part of the holidays, and it is lovely to interact with them as young adults, and to see them enthusiastically enjoy each other’s company. But this was the night of goodbyes, and these goodbyes added a bit of the blues to end of my day.
And, reason four, even though I repeatedly tell myself it is way too early to be developing a bad case of the winter blues, I appear not to be listening to myself. Maybe I need a vacation in, say, a desert clime, or some other such place that evokes feelings of warmth and well-being. I’m thinking loudly to myself on that idea!
