falling

It is such a wonderful, tender moment, when you fall in love. The duration of the falling itself is inexplicable. Sometimes it is a torturous tumbling of years, other times it is a fleeting moment of two pairs of eyes meeting on the street. But the feeling itself, once you have fallen lasts forever in your mind.

I remember the summer that I fell in love with John Keats. And today I remember him with more affliction than most days.

No, no! go not to Lethe, neither twist
Wolf's-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine;
Nor suffer thy pale forehead to be kissed
By nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine;
Make not your rosary of yew-berries,
Nor let the beetle nor the death-moth be
Your mournful Psyche, nor the downy owl
A partner in your sorrow's mysteries;
For shade to shade will come too drowsily,
And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<But when the melancholy fit shall fall
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud,
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<That fosters the droop-headed flowers all,
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<And hides the green hill in an April shroud;
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose,
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave,
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<Or on the wealth of globed peonies;
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<Or if thy mistress some rich anger shows,
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<Emprison her soft hand, and let her rave,
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes.

She dwells with Beauty -- Beauty that must die;
And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips
Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh,
Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips;
Ay, in the very temple of delight
Veiled Melancholy has her sovran shrine,
Though seen of none save him whose strenuous
tongue
Can burst Joy's grape against his palate fine;
His soul shall taste the sadness of her might,
And be among her cloudy trophies hung.

-Ode On Melancholy by John Keats

suddenly i cannot work any more.

x marks the spot, originally uploaded by prettyjjbean.

Waiting for the peak can be risky. Once the peak is here the leaves are at a very tender stage. They dangle by a few molecules at the stem base where it connects to the twig. One good storm and down they come. Peak today, thunderstorm with winds and rain tonight, no leaves tomorrow. While the storm will not strip all the leaves off the trees, it will destroy the full glory of the peak's color. -taken from the Ozark Fall Foliage site

It's been raining for two days now.

unlike a parasite

unlike a parasite, originally uploaded by prettyjjbean.

As defined on wikipedia: "A Mutualism is an interaction between individuals of two different species, where both individuals derive a fitness benefit, for example increased survivorship. Similar interactions within a species are known as co-operation. Mutualism may be classified in terms of the closeness of association, the closest being symbiosis, which is often confused with mutualism. One or both species involved in the interaction may be obligate, meaning they cannot survive in the short or long term without the other species."

trapped inside the labyrinth

trapped inside the labyrinth, originally uploaded by prettyjjbean.

Sometimes it is difficult finding our way back through the mirror. As much as I desire to write here, to draw there, to photograph this, or cook that the hours and energy disappear without even trying. I'm trying to make an effort to push myself, to see things, to observe and become inspired. So often, it is easy to watch the weekend pass by in front of our laptops, catching up with rss feeds, doing laundry, watching Netflix tv episode after episode... Before we know it, Monday has arrived and our brains are still the same size as they were when we left work Friday night. I find myself in much better spirits walking and discovering, breathing the "fresh" air of New York streets and parks.

It would have been so easy just moments ago to drift off to sleep and let the day pass un-noted. I have to give myself a swift jolt and deny myself that pleasure for the moment. Instead tomorrow, I will be able to say I have written something. I have photographed something. I went somewhere. I did something worthwhile this weekend.*

*read this past week from The Healthy Brain Initiaive - A National Public Road Map to Maintaining Cognitive Health: "Mental health encompasses emotional functioning and the ability to think, reason, and remember (cognitive functioning). While standardized, widely accepted definitions of cognitive health have yet to be adopted, most experts agree that the components of healthy cognitive functioning include: language, thought, memory, executive function (the ability to plan and carry out tasks), judgment, attention, perception, remembered skills (such as driving), ability to live a purposeful life."