The Step that Counts

Saucy, measured steps

sounds simple enough, but 

there will be a day when 

the bounce has disappeared. 

Plain, measured steps 

are simple enough.

who needs a saucy step 

~ it’s only the step that counts.

“Every step is on the path.”

~ Laozi, philosopher

Out of the Chaos ~ SIMPLICITY ~ Theme for August 2025

 

Saucy, measured steps…..

Initials carved…….

Margins of ……..

Playing in the……

Lingering on the……

Illumination of….

Curves wrap…..

Illustrations and…..

Tastes of……..

Yesterdays fill……

“There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth.”

~ Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

A Wondering, Wandering Mind

At a bus stop, cars, trucks buses, and one bicycle pushed aside muggy afternoon air. My mind wandered to ~ 'tires'. 

A sentence fragment scrolled through my mind: “I spend a lot of time spinning my tires over the slippery ground of ‘what if’…

Barely had I made a note of it when my bus rolled up, my mind trying to stretch that fragment to ‘why me and why not me?’.

‘What if…..’ gives my imagination 

a boost into story and poetry

‘Why me or why not me’

only rates a parental ‘just because’.

For each time these questions are posed 

by my wondering, wandering mind I feel 

free to get on a bus and ride, 

or walk down a sidewalk, 

always to stay where my feet are.

“A mind not agitated by good questions cannot 

appreciate the significance if even the best answers.”

~ Mortimer Adler, philosopher, educator and author

(Dec1902 - Jun2001)

Taking Care of My Guy

June 2024

There was no choice

It was surgery to fix the little bones

that hadn’t mended

 ~ or ~

I don’t want to think about it

So  - no choice.

~~~~~

No more cats, I said ~ 

until he needed a home

 

A companion since 2020, 

we’ve gotten to know each other. 

We communicate pretty well but 

I still struggle with the feline language

It’s in the eye contact, 

the tone of voice - feline or human

The curl of my guy around my legs

His snuggling up to me as I sleep.

~~~~~

So there was no choice

It was surgery to pin the little bones

that hadn’t mended 

~ or ~

I don’t want to think about it

So  - no choice.

“Each cat is a singular being ~ a pulsing centre of the universe

 ~ with this colour eyes, this length and density of fur, 

this palate of preferences, habit and dispositions. 

Each with his own idiosyncrasies.”

~ David Wood, If a Cat Could Talk

Simplicity

There is beauty 

in the simple things

To pass them by is easy

Colour deepens 

their innocence and 

I want to stop, 

to breathe, 

to say hello.

“Or, rather, let us be more simple and less vain.”

~ Jean-Jacques Rousseau, philosopher

(1712~1778)

Anchored

Balance is 

where I stand 

grounded and strong

Belief fills 

my heart so I can

fly through the sky 

and I am held safely 

while I share 

in the beauty of the world.

“Go placidly mid the noise and haste”

~ Max Ehrmann, Desiderata

(1872 ~1945)

Allowed to be Free

Emotions ~ 

so often left out in the cold 

to shiver and grasp 

the nearest blanket or coat, 

not to warm, but to hide. 

When allowed to be free of 

wrapped up hiding places, 

emotions are crayons and markers,

watercolours and glitter.

“One thing you can’t hide ~ is when you’re crippled inside.”

~ John Lennon