places, thoughts, wildflowers

wandering

etikser


I’ve never been to Paris. Or Rome, or Hawaii. But … I have looked up from a spot near the end of the beach to see the Milky Way, suspended across the sky on a dark and moonless night.

On the last day of June, I took an evening walk along a trail through the woods. All around me, here and there, I saw flimsy wildflowers like the ones in these pictures. They grew along the path. And, in the distance, there were pockets under the trees, out in the deeper parts of the woods. You’ve probably seen them where you are too, in the woods or along a road. It was already sundown and the light was fading when I noticed them. Small bright forms out there among the dark green tones of the forest.

Do you remember those little tree spirits from Princess Mononoke? The Kodama? Bright, almost glowing. Tiny, almost shapeless. Cute, but almost creepy. Odd wide-eyed creatures perched high on the tree limbs and lined up along the mossy grounds of a Great Forest that existed centuries ago, somewhere in the ancient folklore of Japan.

My mind wanders when I write. That’s a long way from Paris.

Photographed June 30, 2020

© Etikser. All Rights Reserved.

All photos and images here are my own.
They may not be used elsewhere or reblogged.

Please visit my other blog, Clover & Ivy, https://cloverandivy.wordpress.com.
I post mostly nature photos there.

catch the wind, music, summer rain

when rain has hung the leaves with tears

etikser

When rain has
hung the leaves with tears,
I want you near
to kill my fears,
to help me to leave all my blues behind.
For standin’
in your heart is where
I want to be
and long to be.
Ah, but I may as well try and catch the wind

~ Catch the Wind, Donovan ~

photographed june 20, 2020

music, nature, plants, sounds

evening

etikser

It looks like these trees and this brush are endless. Sometimes I feel that way too. But they’re not.

I was hunched over, trying to get a picture of the flowers and the green and a bit of the sunlight still coming through. It was getting close to eight, and there was a towhee doing what towhees always do at sundown. It was ‘drink your tea’ time. They sing those notes over and over, part of the evening ritual.

But this time there was music too. Human type music. Past all the green, up a hill, there was a house and the glow of flames in a fire pit, and somebody was out back. None of my business, but how could I not notice? He was playing folksy music, and it sounded so good I wanted to yell, “Hey, what’s that you’re playing?” Of course I didn’t. I thought it was somebody sitting by the firepit playing a guitar or banjo, and singing one of those folk songs that feel like springtime, and good times, and flowers in a field. Eventually I realized the music was too good, it must have been a recording.

I didn’t want to move on, but I started walking slowly along the path, around a bend, and the music playing behind me faded in the distance, past the trees.

Photographed May 29, 2020

bamboo, nature, percussion, sounds

clack, clack-le

etikser
It’s haunting.
You barely hear it, a rattle, or a whistle.
Some sort of earthy percussion.
Random, humble, rhythm-less repetitions.

clack, clack, clack, clack-le
clack-le, clack, clack, clack-le
clack, clack-le, clack, clack-le
clack-le, clack-le, clack-le
Bamboo stalks look so calm and graceful,
but when they bend and bounce in the breeze, they produce a strange sound.
The tones come from the top of the plant, almost from the wind itself,
and to me feel unexpected and jarring.