Tuesday, January 12, 2010

the bridge

i was making my way through a valley
alongside a small stream

still running
in mid winter!

my heart leapt
when i saw this

i leaned against a tree



in wonder.


first snow
falling
on the half-finished bridge.

30 comments:

Sixpence and A Blue Moon said...

I feel this way...sometimes. :)

Beautiful words, Steven.

NanU said...

reading your posts makes me feel like i've been outside myself, even when i've been cooped up in the lab all day in front of a computer screen.

Jinksy said...

Like the range of low key colours in this picture of one of Nature's bridges...

Elisabeth said...

Given how cold it has become the first snow seems an amazing thought. These pictures are beautiful Steven, alongside your words.

steven said...

hello sixpence - it's great to see you! i feel this way when i'm walking in the woods or fields. it amazes me that it's the way it is!! have a lovely day. steven

Barry said...

Beautiful picture Steven. I had to enlarge it to fully appreciate it along side matsuo basho elegant words.

steven said...

hey nanu - that's really nice - i'm glad for that!!! i remember ten years of factory work, my only escape during the work day was to stand at the back door and watch the weeds by the railroad track as they changed colour through the seasons. have a lovely day. steven

steven said...

hi jinksy - i'm glad you like the photograph. steven

steven said...

hi elisabeth, these pictures were taken a while back but i am just going through them now and bringing them together with text!! i'm glad you liked it. steven

Golden West said...

I love how you captured the curved branches that mimic the curved span under the bridge!

ellen abbott said...

How delightful to come across something unexpected.

Anonymous said...

I used to walk through a little nature preserve with running streams even in midwinter.
Used to wear welly-boots and clear out the debris.
Ah happy days.......!

Tess Kincaid said...

Amazing words to accompany your photo, Steven. Beautiful, my friend.

Reya Mellicker said...

Our world is so extraordinary, so varied and beautiful. I love the pic - looks like a gateway leading to something wonderful. Makes me want to walk through and see what happens next!

Titus said...

Wonderful tones in the picture. Just magical.

Linda Sue said...

"first snow falling on an unfinished bridge" sounds to me like my closer to old age than middle aged position in time. Most certainly an unfinished bridge caught up in the first snow of winter...Yikes- I had better get busy - get out my saw and hammer and nails...
Loved your comment on eyebrows- and I did laugh heartily! Steven, you are a prize!!!

Linda Sue said...

Oh, and I would love to hear the eyebrow story sometime! Bound to be interesting, ridiculous, spell binding, awesome...

Butternut Squash said...

There is so much reverence in a bowing tree. Beautiful.

steven said...

golden west i think that at some point they all start talking and really to be polite they try to bend to be able to better hear each other!!!! steven

steven said...

ellen it truly is!!! sometimes i am deeply surprised by the simplest things because they were so unexpected!!! have a lovely evening. steven

steven said...

elizabeth when i was in junior high we cleaned out the local river on a regular basis. i didn't appreciate much of anything at that point in my life but i liked the chance to clean up the earth! steven

steven said...

willow - thankyou very much. i am so happy with this post. steven

steven said...

reya - i love portals - real and imagined - that compel me to think about where i am and then where i am going. have a lovely dc evening. steven

steven said...

titus thankyou. i wish i could have had all my bloggy friends there with me. it was amazing. really it was!! steven

steven said...

linda sue i have heaps of stories from before that i'll share eventually!! they are good and memorable and sometimes silly or even bizarre but they're me and i love each of them!!!! the bridge as old age - well i'll have to think about that one. steven

steven said...

butternut - you saw it!!! ha!! steven

Delwyn said...

HI Steven

I love coming to visit you and seeing what treats you have in store for us. I am constantly amazed at your out-put for one who works and has a family in addition to a job blogging!

I have to tell you that over the year I have been visiting you I have noticed an evolution in your blog, it's contents, style and nature and in your inclusion of your self in it. I find the format that you have settled on for now to be very appealing and the time I spend here provides a rewarding and nourishing spell in my day.

I have been introduced to so many poets and artists through your endeavours and have enjoyed your own evocative photography but most of all I have benefited from getting to know you more thoroughly and being inspired by your intentions for goodness kindness and Godliness.
Thank you Steven.

You are a joy.


Happy days
Delwyn

Dan Gurney said...

Like Delwyn said.

But most of all I am amazed, amazed at how much blogging you fit in around teaching and parenting. Your output is prodigious.

steven said...

delwyn - i'm deeply touched by this very thoughtful and kind letter. it's entirely unexpected and of course those are the more powerful moments. that this should come from you makes it doubly powerful as i look towards your work as an inspiration from many perspectives, not the the least of which is that i know that we share a deep need for privacy and space and that blogging represents something of a challenge for that reason. so, thankyou. steven

steven said...

thankyou dan. my days are very full but i like this space and dedicate a small amount of time each day towards maintaining it. i create one post for each day. my hope is to create posts that create and sustain (as delwyn so intuitively observes) goodness in the world. it's highly motivating. responding to each comment and visiting other blogs is where the challenge becomes too great some days. but i am gradually allowing myself to accept that it isn't always possible to do all that i would wish!!! have a lovely day. steven