Joshua Tree

There are those extraordinary places we visit once in our lifetime, for an hour or two, crossing the experience off a list.

 Then there are those we visit, again and again,

encounter in various seasons, and for different occasions.  

They become familiar, but no less magical.

These photos are from my first trip to Joshua Tree in 1992.

I was unaware then how many times I'd return.

After I purchased a desert home less than an hour's drive from the majestic rocks, my visits became more frequent, but no less spectacular.

I wonder about those who live in the shadow of places I still want to venture --

Stonehenge, Yosemite, Petra.

What is familiar to them flutters in my dreams.

Art

What an artist is trying to do for people is bring them closer to something,
because of course art is about sharing:
you wouldn’t be an artist unless you wanted to share an experience,
a thought.
I am constantly preoccupied with how to remove distance so that we can all come closer together,
so that we can all begin to sense that we are the same,
we are one.

David Hockney

Topsy Turvey

My life is topsy-turvy

Don't know if I'm coming or going

literally, figuratively, metaphorically

I'm swept up in a vortex of energy

whatever was blocked is being cleared

it's powerful

the recent disappointments are being swept away

no time to dwell

like being caught in a strong current

I'm floating downstream

breathing, enjoying, but aware,
 the banks are getting

blurrier and blurrier

as I float faster and faster

Me and My Brother

Sorting through boxes of old photos, I'm continually  amazed by the speed at which my life is passing, and how much life I've lived.  I am also struck by how many people have been in my life for decades and the depth of these relationships.  I met my brother days after I was born, and he's been a constant in my life ever since.  We've lived in the same three states, NJ, NY and California, and as adults we lived together.  We share so many friends I often forget who originated the relationship. We laugh frequently in each other's company and our lengthy conversations are often followed by long periods of silence, usually because we've found our way back to an engrossing book. We're as similar as we are different. We're siblings and we're friends.

Siblings

Love

Favorite Things

I love This American Life and David Sedaris

so when the weekly show featured Sedaris reading this recent essay

from The New Yorker I was in heaven.

Cholla Cactus

Joshua Tree in Black and White

Friends For Life