take the gesture

palomino's last laugh, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Every man has a different idea of what's beautiful, and it's best to take the gesture, the shadow of the branch, and let the mind create the tree.

-- William Faulkner

tre

three, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Even in war moral power is to physical as three parts out of four.

-- Napoleon Bonaparte

one's duties

blessings, originally uploaded by McBeth.

To act with common sense according to the moment, is the best wisdom I know; and the best philosophy is to do one's duties, take the world as it comes, submit respectfully to one's lot; bless the goodness that has given us so much happiness with it.

-- Horace Walpole

spinning discs

coliseum, originally uploaded by McBeth.

I gave up on new poetry myself 30 years ago when most of it began to read like coded messages passing between lonely aliens in a hostile world.

-- Russell Baker

an art form

DeGrazia, originally uploaded by McBeth.

When you become good at the art of letting sufferings go, then you'll come to realize what you were dragging around with you. And for that, no one else other than you was responsible.

-- Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

mother's day reminder

your attention please, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Mothers are integral members of families. Before a child is born they’ve read books written by experts. Despite morning sickness and her gag reflex your mother choked down prenatal vitamins the size of horse pills to give you every nutrient your sea monkey self would need for proper brain development. Mothers even refrain from consuming alcohol during pregnancy to ensure a safely delivered package. She does these things because she already loves you, even before your birth. Mothers feed us, they teach us to clean our hands, our ears and our teeth. They comfort us when our feelings have been hurt and they love us unconditionally. Your mother would put her personal safety behind yours in any dangerous situation. She would pitch you out the second story window of a burning building into the arms of a waiting rescuer before tossing herself out. She is the person who will reassure you that you are the most exquisite creature on earth, even during your clumsiest, most acne-laden years. She may dispense advice and demonstrations on completely embarrassing topics you are horrified to be speaking openly about, but this is because she knows the Universe will at some point hand you a pop quiz and she wants to know she did her best to help you study for it. But make no mistake: she who gives life can also take it away. If you giggle during worship services she will squeeze your hand so tight you’ll start to wonder as you squirm if she’ll ever let go, or if you’ll ever get the feeling back in your tingling purple fingers. You cannot imagine the challenges of motherhood, young friends. Mothers are burdened with the task of saving us from ourselves until we are old enough to recognize that we don’t actually know everything, and mothers take their jobs seriously. It might seem like unfair wrath, but trust me on this one: don’t talk back to your mother.

You and your friends have been engaged in covert ops during lunchtime and math classes, hatching plans to get to the Rat Poison show next Friday night. Your plan is to induce her into giving you her blessing by tugging at her heart strings. If you’re brighter than the average bear your argument will resemble some form of ‘I’ll die if I don’t get to go’. Be prepared: she will probably say no. Even if she does, even if you cannot convince her with sobbing and tears rolling down your cheeks, don’t tell her you hate her. She can, and will, come up with a list rivaling Santa’s ‘Good Children’ tome of ingenious ways she will teach you to regret the fact that you said you hated her. Unless you enjoy cleaning carpets with your tongue for a month, do not tell your mother you hate her.

It is a sunny Saturday afternoon and, because you’re bored now that you and your friends exhausted all the ways to set things on fire using a magnifying glass, you inform your mother that you’re going to head over to a convenience store two miles away to watch the clerk twitch as you and your friends paw each piece of pocketable candy. If your mother has a pulse she will say, over my dead body. This, young friend, is not the moment to tell your mother she is not the boss of you. Right there, in front of your friends, she will peel your emotional skin off with a single silent glance. She will grin her grinchiest smile. And because mothers are calculating creatures, she will calmly inform you, oh yes she is the boss of you. At this point you may hear the screen door slam, an indication that your friends have abandoned you. This is because they know you will be spending at least the next month setting tables and scrubbing toilets, cleaning the litter box, the hamster cage and your little sister’s stinky diaper pail until your mother is sufficiently convinced that you do understand she’s the boss of you.

Your mother wants the best for you even if the direct route to goodness is paved with dictatorial punishment and personal misery. Make her job easier while you save yourself some time and tears; don’t talk back to your mother.

celebration

two left over, originally uploaded by McBeth.

The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.

-- Oprah Winfrey

commitment

bouquet, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Onion soup sustains. The process of making it is somewhat like the process of learning to love. It requires commitment, extraordinary effort, time, and will make you cry.

-- Ronni Lundy

rest

lights off, originally uploaded by McBeth.

He who sleeps in continual noise is wakened by silence.

-- William Dean Howells

the quiet ones

paoli, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Do not assume that she who seeks to comfort you now, lives untroubled among the simple and quiet words that sometimes do you good. Her life may also have much sadness and difficulty, that remains far beyond yours. Were it otherwise, she would never have been able to find these words.

-- Rainer Maria Rilke

fun

night vision specs, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Fun is good.

-- Dr. Seuss

ignorance

cannot just ignore it, originally uploaded by McBeth.

An ignorant person is one who doesn't know what you have just found out.

-- Will Rogers

gather around

rocking the firehouse, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace.

-- May Sarton

transmogrification

grape hyacinth, originally uploaded by McBeth.

The fool inherits, but the wise must get.

-- William Cartwright

broken places

bug guts, originally uploaded by McBeth.

The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.

-- Ernest Hemingway

mortality

gumbutt tree seedlings, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent.

-- R.D. Laing

sundown

sundown, originally uploaded by McBeth.

What a nice night for an evening.

-- Steven Wright

try it

tentacle salad, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.

-- James Stephens

unfashionable

in here, originally uploaded by McBeth.

Fashion is gentility running away from vulgarity and afraid of being overtaken.

-- William Hazlett

hold please

michael graves design, originally uploaded by McBeth.

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.

-- George Bernard Shaw