Glorious Glass: More Chihuly

 Dad's still in town from PA and we're having far too much fun. He's 80 and darn peppy. He can snooze at the drop of a hat when seated, but out walking,etc. - he's tough to keep up with . Nonetheless, I've done no writing. We are moving from meal to meal and that's a good thing.

 Thus - a blog filler post with pretty pictures from the Dallas Arboretum. This Dale Chihuly exhibit is beyond amazing and glorious.

That's it. If you aren't in the Dallas area - you should be. Come visit. It's not 100 degrees yet.

Choice Chihuly

 Dale Chihuly, premier glass artist, has a newly installed exhibit at the Dallas Arboretum - May through November. My father is visting from PA and we drove to Garland this morning. Fabulous, Stupendous, et al. The arboretum is lovely on any day, but these glass creations add a new dimension.

 It's a glass festival, a carnival bounty overlooking White Rock Lake.

 Hidden niches reveal glass wonders.

Waterfalls dance behind shimmering glass.  This is a sampling of the day. Words aren't enough to expound on the beauty.

Worth Sneezing

Earth laughs in flowers - Ralph Waldo Emerson

That time of year again. Spring at the Dallas Arboretum. Color pops at every corner.

The Amen of Nature is always a flower - Oliver Wendell Holmes.

The new Maple Rill at the arboretum is stunning. Despite the cloudy day, the beauty was in the details.

'Tis my faith that every flower

Enjoys the air it breathes - William Wordsworth

Aachoo! I feel a haiku coming on -

mustard yellow dust
fine icing awakens spring
between loud sneezes

Spring Surprises & Filler Until the Next Post

All gardening is landscape painting - Alexander Pope Life, like art, should be the celebration of a vision - Michael Larsen This has been a weekend of projects. With eighty degree weather, it's time to fertilize, trim, rake, and shape the bounty that is our yard. We have plenty of work to do. Thus I'm featuring pictures from the Dallas Arboretum - their hard work is constant year round and it shows. I'll rest on their laurels for this post.

Last weekend, we attended Ranger spring training in Surprise, AZ. I liked this sign outside the stadium.

In between workouts, players are mobbed by fans. Here, pitcher Colby Lewis was nice enough to stop and scrawl his autograph. It has to be a strange life. Everything the players do is scrutinized.

Fame is a bee

It has a song -

It has a sting -

Ah, too, it has a wing

Emily Dickinson

Spring Frenzy - More Flowers

I wanted to take off my shoes at the arboretum and wriggle my toes in this grass. No weeds. Perfection. A blank slate, so to speak. Spring inspiration. I've been jotting words, phrases, and half-assed haiku. Then again, let's just enjoy the absolute clarity of green grass.

Nature is always serious - does not jest with us. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Accuse not Nature, she hath done her part;Do thou but thine - John Milton/Paradise Lost

Believe me, the arboretum has done its part to make nature shine

Nature's above art - Shakespeare/ King Lear

Tulip-mania

Earth laughs in flowers - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature - Gerard de Nerval

'Tis my faith that every flower

Enjoys the air it breathes - William Wordsworth

The Amen! of Nature is always a flower - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

and dances with the daffodils - William Wordsworth

But I Want To

I read this sign and instantly wanted to scramble along the rocks and dangle my feet in the babbling brook. Normally I'm a rule follower, but there are times when contrariness kicks in, and I want to break the barriers.

Rules are often meant to be broken. Why not have pretty flowers growing out of a rock wall, precariously clinging to life and eager for sunshine or raindrops? I guess that's why as writers, we read books about general rules on plots, character, dialogue, and the hero's journey. We hear "you'll never sell a book about (fill in the blank) in this market." Then a writer breaks the rules and is declared genius. It can boggle the mind.

So, if you love azaleas and want to write about azaleas, then go for it. Maybe azaleas are "out" this year, but like fashion, sooner or later they'll be back "in". (Just pick the winning color.) Or vampires are old hat, wizards have been done, and zombies roamed Pride and Prejudice.

Blare your horn, reach to the skies with your words, and trust your instinct. Then again, I've found that to have poetry published in journals or on-line, you have to follow many rules - nothing trite and no rhyming. I recently had two pocket poems published in River Poets Journal. My father emailed me that he enjoyed it. "However, don't tell anyone, but I prefer rhyming." Gasp! My own father.

So I responded:

Stay shushed

I'm crushed

All other poems

I flushed

Gotta break the rules and have fun.

Under the Tree

Walking around the Dallas arboretum makes me think of an excellent book The Secret Garden.
You want to find your special nook and make it your own corner of the world.


Perhaps a flowering bower "snowball" tree would be your favorite spot.

Or rather than hide, grab a notebook or paperback, and settle in under the shadow of a huge tree. Think of the stately oaks in Gone With the Wind, or branches scratching a window in a horror story. Read or write your own tale under the tree.

Triumphant Tulips

Not much to say. The Dallas Arboretum spring spectacular does its talking with flowers. I'm working up some haiku or poems, but for now, today's stroll shall suffice.

Whew! Spring

Tulips tower power

Wordless Wednesday - well, nearly

Sun is shining brightly today and there's a hint of spring in the air. It teases us. By the weekend, back to rain and temps in the 40s. Here are some best of shots from past springs at the Dallas Arboretum.

This year's spring festival begins March 6. I'm ready for some tulip frenzy and haiku inspiration. Pen is poised.

Pumpkins Galore

The Dallas Arboretum is like a fairytale this time of year. The pumpkin could turn into Cinderella's coach. I'm going to let the pictures stand for themselves. It's magical. It's fabulous and an absolute gem of a venue.

I was born in October. Fall colors. Pumpkins. The splash of oranges and crimsons speak to me. The mums are going to burst here in a week or two. The colors are shloshing in my brain. I feel a poem coming on....

October Heat

October, burning leaves
it’s in my memory, inhale,
nose tingles
deep in my blood,
burnt leaf smoke oozes from my pores
airy wisps of ash encircle my head
seeps into my hair.
erie figures drifted in and out of the haze,
rakes in hand
swooshing crimson, orange, and yellow leaves

today, October in the South
air-conditioner whir kicks on at six
wheezes to a halt late evening.
dollars fly about the room
distilling humidity, cooling tepid air,
I sweat.

step on crunchy grass
wind chimes still
flags slacken, droopily oppressed
scurry back indoors
soul compresses

yearn for fire reds, golden, and deep oranges
brown, drab leaves herald fall this year.
it can’t be October.
pumpkins will explode in this heat,
melt into a pumpkin pie
not glow with Halloween candles.

thanks for indulging me. Isn't this gorgeous? Go now -enjoy Autumn at the Arboretum.

http://www.dallasarboretum.org

Yep - bobbing for pumpkins...........how cool is this?

Fall Fever!

Joanne

summer slacker

I've been working on a chick-flick novel and haven't written a grand finale. Like the crape myrtle arbor tangle at the Dallas arboretum I have lots of twists and turns, just no defined ending.

I need that one surprise. That one gem that makes readers go "wow".

I'm treading water here, pondering death or life for one key character.

Then again, I've been such a summer slacker. Putzing about on yard work or floating in the pool. Anything to avoid a crucial life or death decision.

Yep, life is messy. I need to plunge in, make decisions, and just write the darn conclusion. I can always clean up my mess during re-writes. I can edit the crap out of it. BUT, if I don't write something.......then I have nothing but cake icing on my face. (thanks to Makyla's first birthday and the Dallas arboretum for inspiration).

that and the duckie thermometer that records the crazy pool temps of Texas.

Joanne