Park Bench in the Forest

In the forest there is a Bench

A bench that should be in a Park

In the park is where it should Be

Yet in the forest where it's Dark

Why I ask is the bench placed Here

Here in a place where one can't Sit

In the park is where it should Be

The forest is where it does not Fit

Walk a mile and start to Ponder

Ponder on a bench out of Place

In the park is where it should Be

In a place with a lot more Space

Let the Angels Rest

She closes her eyes for just a moment and faces the Sun as the morning mist evaporates into thin air.  The warm breeze whispers through her wings with enchanting sounds of tranquility.  Clinching her Cross close to her Heart, she anticipates what lies before her.

Though uncertain what the future brings, what little rest gained now will place her in a position to play her role as the Guardian for those who are suffering.  Easing the pain and guiding them through hardship is what she was sought out to do.

If ever you see an Angel facing the Sun with her eyes closed, let her be for she is briefly resting and rejuvenating for what might possibly be, for you.

Let the Angels Rest!

17 Tugs

The landmark 17 Tugs mural on Broadway in Tarrytown, NY was a community effort by a diverse group of 15 area artists who share an affinity for the Hudson River. Adapting their own original hand-carved images to the wall 4x larger, the ambitious process was a salute to tugboats as icons of steady endeavor.

In the winter of 2013, totemic17 and artist Ilse Schreiber-Noll took the project indoors to Ilse's studio, working with each artist to facilitate inking the blocks & printing by press & hand. On handmade Japanese and Thai kozo papers, available individually or as a complete collection, archivally housed in t17's signature clamshell box. Only 20 printed.

This portfolio has been on view twice in Irvington, at the 21st Annual Tugboat Race in on Pier 84 Manhattan, at the Tugboat Round-up in Waterford, at 3rd Friday & the Tarrytown Street Fair & at Arts Westchester in White Plains. Individual prints have been featured at various other group shows.

Special thanks to Kristen Dreher, not only for contributing her #9 print but for coordinating the 5 participating Sleep Hollow High School Artist and for countless hours painting.

I Can Fly!

If you want to Fly...

Don't be afraid to give up all that has weighed you down!

You Force Me to Die

A man Ponders

With questions deep Inside

With open Mind

How long must one man Bide

Lord our Savior

Who lives high in the Sky

We want to Life

But you force us to Die

Your Reasoning

We just don't Understand

It is your Law

Laid out just how you Planned

Lord our Savior

Who lives high in the Sky

We want to Life

But you force us to Die

So little Time

To learn and Reconcile

Asking Questions

Wondering all the While

Lord our Savior

Who lives high in the Sky

We want to Life

But you force us to Die

Questions, Questions

We keep locked deep Inside

All these Questions

I can't run from and Hide

Lord my Savior

Who lives ever so High

I want to Life

But you force me to Die

Mausoleum Monday

Meanwhile, somewhere in the middle of Connecticut...

I saw this magnificent mausoleum in Connecticut two weeks ago and of course as I was driving I'm hanging out the window snapping the shutter of my camera in hopes of capturing it.  It was quite a large, open cemetery that was backed up to the Housatonic River.  I later found out that this cemetery was appropriately named the Riverside Cemetery.

Happy Father's Day

We all heard the phrases:

"Like Father, Like Son"

"The Fruit Doesn't Fall far from the Tree"

"A Chip off the Old Block"

"Follow our Father's Footsteps"

Simply put, these phases or if you want to call them proverbs are dead on as much as we tend not to agree.  We like our Fathers and his Father have the same manner that passes down from generation to generation.  Father's and Sons very much resemble each other and tend to do what their Father's did before them.

Have you ever once stopped and say to yourself:  "I'm sounding just like my Father right now!"  Or have you even been told that you sound just like your Father?  I have countless times...  Is it such a bad thing to be compared with a person who help bring you into this World?

As much as those behaviors we act upon like our Fathers we tend not to like, their are far greater behaviors we tend to do that are frequently ignored.  Take a moment and think about them, you will surprise yourself with how many there are.

This is my moment to thank my Father for those ongoing wonderful behaviors that I see myself perform daily.  As the Proverb repeats itself over and over through generation after generation, the fruit really doesn't fall far from the tree!

Here is a photograph of my Father (the Chip or Fruit) and his Father (the Old Block or Tree).  I'm guessing this was taken in the year 1939 or 1940 standing in front of their small house after moving from Brooklyn N.Y.

Outside My WIndow

Outside of my window

I can see the World rushing by

I can see that look in her eye

That look that does not lie

She cries that time is moving too fast

Those good times that do not last

She frets upon what gives her pain

And those who hurt for their own gain

Outside of my window

She looks up into the sky

She sees that life tells no lie

And those who lay down to die

She cries to those who have past

But knows that their love will so ever last

She grieves and feels such bitter pain

And knows those innocent souls will remain

Outside of my window

I can see the World rushing by

I can see that look in her eye

That look that does not lie

She looks back at me with a little smile

Yet inside she hurts all the while

Extending my heart to share the love

Look to the skies to the Lord up above

New Beginning

One might think it's the end where there's no where left to go and no where to turn to. But in actuality, it's a brand new beginning, a new start of what will become and what will be.  It is you to find where that new beginning is and it is you to opt on how it will become.  Go for it and see where it leads you!

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end!

The Hunter

Wild & Withstanding ~ She is Adaptable Anywhere

Her slow deep wingbeats lower her majestic body down into the marsh, blending her in the tall grass.  She stately stands motionless and quiet for several minutes until she decides to stealth-like step through the tall grassy marsh making no sound or vibrations.  Ever so slowly she inches closer and closer to the murky water's edge and patently waits.  Like a statue, she remains with just the ever so slight tilt of her head in order to get a clearer look into the water.  Her Keen eye watching endlessly for an hour until she knows that it's the perfect time to execute what she sought out to do.

Suddenly without warning, like a lightning bolt shooting into the shallow waters, it's all over before you can comprehend what had just happened.  As the wild is never cruel or kind, it just happens as she had to hunt and kill to survive.  The strong survive and the weak perish as this is how it was meant to be.

Do we Pray and are not Prey or is it we are Prey without a Prayer?

All Roads Lead to Heaven

We all take different Paths in our life

Our Journey is never the same

Yet, we all take the same Road to our final destination!

For Sinners Only

If you want to get to Heaven, You got to raise a little Hell!

So a Woman I never saw or met before randomly came up to me today and handed me this pamphlet with the title: "For Sinners ONLY!"  I looked up and asked:  "Am I a Sinner?"  She quietly walked away without a word.  I must be a Sinner for her to hand me this pamphlet...  But what about her?

I mean, she never transgressed a day in her life?!  She never Accused, felt Bitter, used Profanity, Despised, Gossiped, had Hatred, Lusted or had Prejudice?  "Well, Jesus Christ!" Oh, and using the Lords name in Vain.  These are just a few Sins many of us perform on a daily basis that will ultimately send us straight to Hell.  "Shit, I'm already half way there!" 

Didn't Christ come to save the Sinners?

Didn't Christ die for the Sinners?

Doesn't Christ invite the Sinners?

Don't saved Sinners go to Heaven?

"Oh My God!  I'm so confused!"  The way I see it is, that if you're a good Person who has a Loving Heart and Soul and does good unto others...  A little Cursing, Bitterness, Gossiping, Disliking, Fucking and having a slip of the tongue yelling out the Lord's name isn't going to place you in Hell!  If it does, I'll deal with that when the time comes.  No need to start redeeming myself now in hopes that I'll slightly have a chance in Hell to make to Heaven.

Thoughts?

Morristown & Erie

Alco Century C-430, Morristown & Erie #17 on the Move!

Take em' to the Cleaners

Had to stop and take a photograph of this cool looking sign!

The Del-Vue Cleaners in Lambertville, New Jersey

Steinheim Skull

Steinheim Skull

Homo Sapiens Steinheimensis

Between 200,000 and 300,000 years old

Possibly found near the Murr River ~ Steinheim, Germany

Crucified

"They have Pierced only my Hands and my Feet

Yet, I can Count on all my Bones."

A Deer in the Woods

We have a friend who has been paying us a visit the past several days... A young White Tail Deer Buck who relaxes under our large Pussy Willow tree for hours a day. The surrounding noise of us entering in and out the house as well as coming into the driveway really doesn't alarm this little Stag too much.

My yard is all wooded with little open space so it's a quiet and secluded area that keeps him hidden as he lay in the cool. Appropriately we named him "Willow!"