A Heron Stopped For Breakfast

The heron showed up this morning at the same time I went out to the pond. He had come for breakfast. It was an unusually bright sunny morning and the bird wafted down onto the half submerged tree where it likes to hunt.

I was on the opposite side of the pond but went to get my camera and went around the pond. I got some good shots of the bird.

Notice the little black bird. I have observed their purpose in life is to act as irritants to every other bird. They serve the other birds the way mosquitoes serve mankind.

I made a video of the photo series I snapped and added some music a friend arranged and played. You can watch A Heron Stopped For Breakfast by clicking.


The images below are offered for sale. Clicking on the image will take you to Zazzle.com where you can purchase a print of any standard size with the choice of a variety of frames

Heron In The Shadows by Hermenutic
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Heron In The Shadows # 2 by Hermenutic
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Either / Or (a Memorial Day Poem)

Either / Or (a Memorial Day Poem)

You can choose sides,
or you can choose compassion.
Choice changes the world.



I was watching the Democracy Now Memorial Day special. Veterans were turning in their medals and explaining why. One after another came up to speak and discard the medals they had been awarded. They were men and women who felt they had been deceived and used as thugs in a criminal gang. One veteran quoted two time medal of honor winner General Smedley Butler saying: 'War is a racket'.

As I watched I realized the vast majority of Americans have not chosen compassion. Only a few have compassion directed energies. Most 'love' one side to the exclusion of the other. Such 'love' is devoid of compassion and amounts to hatred.


What is compassion? Compassion is able to be perceived in the story of the good Samaritan who stopped to help a member of a race hated by his own culture. The Samaritan helped a stranger. He saved his life and paid his bill even though he did not know him. This is an example of compassion.




Human need is the basis of compassion. Choosing sides disallows compassion requiring that you take up a cause directly against other human beings. The last 10 years overwhelmingly display the fruit of taking sides.

If as many who had chosen sides had instead chosen compassion the record of the last 10 years would be significantly different because what is chosen has certain results.

One of my favorite 'good Karma' songs is 'Anthem'. I recall seeing this performance on the Smothers Brothers Show when it was broadcast in 1969. The song reintroduces the idea of making compassionate choices. In 1969 more people were choosing sides instead of compassion. The song is by the Hello People. Enjoy.






Poem 'Either / Or (a Memorial Day Poem) (C) 2012 by David H. Roche

a Clear Running Water state of mind.

We Were Young (poem)

We Were Young …

and passed joints …
laughing despite the war
consuming us;

free to do anything but drink,
vote, have sex,
or smoke pot.

We were encouraged to die instead.
It was 1966,
we didn‘t know any better.

"We Were Young" a poem by David H. Roche

Photograph taken 5/9/2009 by David H. Roche at the Bonneville dam.

a Clear Running Water state of mind.

(C) 2012

Transmutation

I witnessed a hawk drop like a stone into a field from the apex of the sky. It was part of the intricate fabric of simple transactions of life and death we all become aware of.

As I thought about what I saw I realized one thing was becoming another thing before my eyes. The poem came to mind at that time and has been written and re-written since 2005. The poem in the image is the latest version. You will probably need to click on the image to read the poem.

Poem and Image (C)2012 David H. Roche

Truckin' my blues away @ blogspot.com
a Clear Running Water state of mind.

Dead In The Water

I took advantage of a sunny day and went to the city. It is rare to have mainly blue skies but today it was mainly blue skies.


My skin soaked up the blue skies and turned red and itching. Old timers understand this as a common sunburn, and a chance for free vitamins. Younger or more media conscious people are terrified of the sun and do all they can to keep from being exposed to it. I hope I don't die in my sleep tonight from exposure to this wicked sun today.


Well, I took some photos. When I see a possibility for a series of similar but different photos in the same theme I jump on it. I found the following.

The images are of rotting pilings. They are the remaining evidence of a departed industry. I saw in them some kind of beauty. I had to look over the railing and down to the river to get the perspective. But when I did I saw something. So imagine yourself looking over a railing.

I titled the photographs "Dead In The Water". The pilings are the remnants of a flourishing industry that is now absent. An industry which appears to have consumed itself leaving the warehouse empty and workers scrambling for work.

I see this development with rational eyes. The outcome was inevitable, not a surprise. Everything decays and falls apart. click to see video I made of the pilings as they swayed back and forth in the tide.

I was sitting on the riverside, the sound of sea lions barking a short way off, while I read the Dhammapada and thinking about impermanence.

Photgraphs, video and text (C)2012 David H. Roche

a Clear Running Water state of mind

Emptiness and the Tao

I meditate on these concepts.

Emptiness and the Tao (a Koan)

Inside and out are the same,
any difference is due to perspective.

There is no chicken, or egg:
one is always becoming the other
in the process of making omelets.

What is the answer?
Or, if you prefer,
what is the question?

"Emptiness and the Tao (a Koan" a poem (C) 2012 David H. Roche Photographic Art (C) 2012 David H. Roche

a Clear Runnng Water state of mind

Changing Dimensions

Changing dimensions ....

Click to watch a video of "Changing Dimensions".

(C)2012 David H. Roche
a Clear Running Water state of mind

Spirit

I began with the photograph of a leaf with a rain drop gleaming with light.

I had fun with the picture and liked the theme that appeared. The resuting images are all the product of manipulating the original image. (with the exception of the addition of the bird and moon.) Any change to the image came from the use of various tools creating the changes. Once again I am prompted to marvel at the content hidden in the ordinary moment.

I thought the title "Spirit" was appropriate.

postscript:

I thought I was done, but looked out the window. It has been raining and ducks have been swimming in the front yard. The wind came up and ripped cherry blossoms off the tree. Some fell in the puddle that was the driveway. I made the following video of cherry blossom petals floating on the water. It came out ok, click here to take a look.


All images and text (C) 2012 David H. Roche

a Clear Running Water state of mind