Catch Phrases (motivational aphorisms?)

March 7, 2019March 10, 2019 by David Koblentz ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

landscape nature night relaxation — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I decided to hop on the GSP this morning instead of the Turnpike because my route to said roadways takes me directly over them so I can actually see the levels of hell I might be descending into (Edison is quite advantageous a place to live, in that regard), by rule I almost always avoid the GSP weekdays, well, rules have exceptions but sometimes they are also rooted in pretty darn good experience, but (oh the but…), I threw that logic out the window seeing as the Turnpike looked more like the Meadowlands (er… Met Life stadium) the day of a Giants game (yes, I am a fan…), anyhoo, so I wound up in some mind numbing traffic (I know, I know, I complain about traffic all the time), so instead of getting my road rage on (for no apparent reason or recourse honestly) I popped on some Eric Johnson (Tones specifically) to soothe my soul (and make me forget my current annoying predicament), I find Eric’s playing full of the joy of life, so, for whatever reason, the muse came down from whatever cloud and handed me these, some phrases and thoughts, feel free to share as long as you remember where you got them…

“live life in amazement
love life in amazement”

(edit 3/7 – love life through engagement), pick whichever version you prefer…

“for some, winter never ends
for them, I can only pray”

“there is no currency lost in dreaming”

“I find myself looking for metaphors in rusty guard rails
maybe I am trying to hard”

notes.. don’t they look so much more impressive in quotes… anyway here is some more Eric Johnson, he is coming to town at the end of the month as part of the Experience Hendrix tour which also features perhaps the most underrated rock vocalist ever, Doug Pinnick, anyway…

Eric Johnson – Song for George (acoustic)

and as always, thanks for the eyeballs…

Even in the teeth of winter…

March 6, 2019 by David Koblentz ♥ 2 Comments

seashore during nighttime — Photo by Studio 7042 on Pexels.com

I could post about the new Game of Thrones trailer (OK, I am totally amped for that) but this is not that post, winter is not coming… in fact it is fading but surely going out with a roar here in the garden state, however among the storms we are trying to dodge, and snow that surely makes my morning commute an absolute slog – there are signs, this morning I heard it, the song of spring, the birds that had gone are back again, not in full force, perhaps just an expeditionary crew to lay the ground work for the re-population of the summerlands, I have come quite familiar with the sparse chirps of winter (cardinals mostly and finches well), this morning there was more singing in the choir (I stopped to pause) even with the temperature dropping, the sun seemed stronger, or perhaps my eyes have learned to harvest yield more of the weaker rays, either way, this morning was different, and so was last night, the day is starting to stave off the night, the endless battle swings in our favor…

somehow the night sky
somehow retains the blue
as if midday or the afternoon
the clouds viewing by in celluloid panes
mirrored on the fresh snow upon the ground below
melted, slightly
until this night drops more
and breath rises
still stark limbs, still out-reached
still searching for a conclusion
weighed down in corners with tufts of white
instead of leaf
and yet the sky seems bright
a trick of my mind perhaps
and no moon yet in sight
somehow – the night sky, tonight

bread crumbs and circus…

March 5, 2019 by David Koblentz ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

black metal bench on grassy garden — Photo by Matthias Zomer on Pexels.com

The scene: we have all seen it, the (generally) older person sitting alone on a park bench, next to some nondescript lake or pond (usually man made with a tree behind them), gathering about a flock of pigeon disciples all willing to take in the raining down of leftover bread bites all to the chagrin of the performance runners who might have to step one step out of their way (with a slight sneer) due to the feathery congregation…

animal animal photography avian beak — Photo by Frans Van Heerden on Pexels.com

I think we are not as far up the food chain as we might imagine, our daily flocking and pecking is surely more dressed up than the purity of nature between morsel and mouth, all wrapped up in a procession of our perception of what we aren’t doing (but actually are, in truth), who is the person on the park bench throwing out the ‘crumbs’ we flock to? whether it be prada or godiva or lady gaga or the NFL, is our importance (pause for a selfie) more important than the pecking prods of seemingly pleasant peasant pigeons positioning on top of a patch of asphalt? top to bottom fed, this is the way of things we perceive or more likely guess, but from our location (perch), on the proverbial bench in some metaphorical park, hand rustling about in that ubiquitous brown paper bag, we dispense what passes as vittles to those below, looking down, perhaps we should pause for a second (pause) and look… up (and wonder). perspective, pass it on.

Hastings-on-Hudson (NY)

March 4, 2019March 4, 2019 by David Koblentz ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

So… work shuffles me about the tri-state area (NY NJ CT, as always, sorry PA – you are your own thing), last week my life’s time was spent mostly in this little town, among the “Rivertowns” (for some reason I had not heard this term previously although I certainly had visited these towns), Hastings is much like the other enclaves up there (you say ‘up there’ because you feel quite removed from the seething behemoth that is NYC just a quick jaunt south). Right off the Saw Mill you are presented with a laid out, quite almost Revolutionary American style, Main Street dripping down the hills because it is all hills that eventually pour into the basin of the Hudson river. As the pictures show this all becomes normal – even the huge massive fall in elevation behind the buildings that veritably smile along the main. Unfortunately I was there for work and not play, although I am glad to have had a lay of the land for future use. There definitely was a buzz about, a gladness to being hung in the air, a protected little section of the world which likes to jump up and take a big bite of the apple to then run into the comforting corner to enjoy said bite. I am sure there is plenty of history in this area, but you have google, I am just passing on my experience in the matter.

and they come in pairs…

March 2, 2019March 2, 2019 by David Koblentz ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

(this is related to my previous post, quite by accident, or circumstance, or the whimsy of the muse) Oddly enough, as I woke this morning (better than the alternative), when I walked outside to observe my ‘get in the car go to work ritual’, there was a mad amount of noise afoot… crows, in trees on both sides of my street, so this wrote itself (I suppose I can take credit, the pen was in my hand, but sometimes it feels I am just a cosmic means to an end…)

a gathering of crows
in twin mirror treetops
bookend my block
angular shadows
pasted up against naked limbs
screaming, toasting, celebrating
I think of an irish wake
and then on a wink, on a wing
unison, sync, they fly away
on to the next barker’s perch

traffic can (really) breed inspiration…

March 1, 2019 by David Koblentz ♥ 1 Comment

buildings cars city cross harbour tunnel — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

This Wednesday was one of those ultra blue sky days that almost makes you forget about the cold (almost), hard to erase the visual impact of the season with all the trees with no leaves (well, besides those damn taunting pines and evergreens), stuck in the mud of the mind numbing vortex of traffic known as the NJ Turnpike, watching those more impatient than I dart in and out of the lanes like mad little minnows in the shallows looking for a perfect spot in a lake of no destination, only to advance a few mere feet… (and I admit to a ‘little’ pleasure as I pass them staying in my lane and my ‘subtle’ dismay (grrrrr) when they pass me driving like kamikazes), but anyway I have learned to (ok, mostly) calm my mind among this grind to think of higher things, observe nature even when corralled by this asphalt and steel shackle laid out before me, and so I wrote this in observation (in of course my horrendous handwriting which I had to decipher tonight for this post…)

a formation of crows
an arrow, greater than, forward
framed, in a cobalt sky, winter
underneath
human congestion coagulates
jealousy, flies away, east

Shades of My Garden

a window into a life, a conversation with a soul, a gateway to a heart

Month: March 2019