fluttering

sunday afternoon —
mobiles and cherry blossoms
fluttering in the breeze

. . . . . . . . .

Seattle Art Museum had a cool promotion today: a library card got you free admission.

magnolia blossoms

how fragrant
the snow flakes!
magnolia blossoms

. . . . . . . . .

Today was a Worldwide Sketch Crawl. The Seattle chapter met at the Convention Center, meaning as the weather went from sun to rain to sun to rain, we could move from Freeway Park to indoors and vice versa.

listen. peace

Living
in the landscape

I
Listen.

Plenty of
peace.

. . . . . . . . .

Apropos for playing with a harbor scene, the OED word of the day for the erasure poem was 'cruise.'

sun in the woods

Sun Talking to Moon
a convivial society

close to the water

. . . . . . . . .

Today's OED word of the day for the erasure poem is 'lumber.'

rainbow blossoms

rainbow arches
behind cherry blossoms —
faux spring

Springs of Riches

those Springs of Riches which
Surprise the Heart...
nature, imagination and a keen sense of enjoyment.

. . . . . . . . .

After yesterday's rather abysmal word of the day, microsatellites, the OED was back on track today, giving us 'animal spirits' for the erasure (aka 'found') poem.

bedeviled by
the pond's thin sheet of ice
the mallard pair

. . . . . . . . .

While I was sketching the moon bridge at Kubota Garden, some letterboxers came along to investigate a nearby stone bench. They were fun, and I had them all stamp my paper. You can see part of the pink Energizer bunny at right, and below it a lotus stamp.

Their parting comment was, "See what you have to look forward to when you get old?" :)

witnessing sunday

everyone is out
witnessing sunday
live up to its name

. . . . . . . . .

The Seattle chapter of UrbanSketchers convened at the "center of the universe" (aka Fremont) this morning, having gladly changed an indoor event to an outdoor one. Viva El Niño!

I found a great bench (made of plastic recycled content, of course) from which to observe the Sunday market & paint.

El Niño tulips

El Niño bringing
tulips a month early —
the bay sparkles

a journey with paint

a Journal is a journey,
epistles with Paint.

The tourist will do well to equip himself with good strong boots.

. . . . . . . . .

Today's erasure poem/commentary, as always, comes from the OED's word of the day, 'equip.'

songfest

songfest in the reeds —
red-winged blackbird

howling silence

howling wind
and white caps on the bay --
silence in the woods

a spell of spring

a spell..

A sort of warm small spot in which spring rises
emerald after rain.

A party comes to Life.

. . . . . . . . .

Once again, today's erasure poem is from the OED word of the day. This one was made for the Northwest: soak.

BTW, the previous question about whether the OED editors throw a dart at their 17 volumes to find a word of the day has been answered: the WOTD for the first day of the Winter Olympics was 'salchow.' What are the odds? Which means they are, in fact, culpable for choices like 'lawyer.' Frankly, I'm disappointed.

pale wash

the pale washed-out blue
of the February sky —
denim jeans

garden blessings

chanted blessings
to open the garden —
a turtle suns itself

. . . . . . . . .

This year marks the 5oth anniversary of the Japanese Garden at the Seattle Arboretum. Opening day was celebrated with Shinto and Buddhist blessings.

lion dance

the thunder of
a thousand firecrackers —
lion dance

. . . . . . . . .

Some of the Seattle UrbanSketchers met up for the lunar new year celebration in the International District. The rain was no match for the exuberance of lions dancing and little kids drumming on pots & pans. I saw one business owner on a ladder outside his shop, hanging a long string of dark-red firecrackers that for a moment I mistook for a string of dried chilis! I tracked this lion over several blocks; a pair of them were dancing in and out of local businesses.

sculpture garden

the only sculpture
in the museum garden
a moss-covered rock

mid-february —
sun salutations confined
to yoga class

today's catch

today's catch
basted with black ink —
gyotaku

. . . . . . . . .

I just took my first class in gyotaku, the art of fish rubbing, which began in Japan in the mid 1800s. You put ink on the fish and then rub the paper into it. For this rockfish, I added watercolor later. One printer called these prints "using templates from the hand of God."

After the rockfish, I tried a butterfish. Our instructor had the fishmonger remove the eyes of the former, but we were on our own with the latter. I really could have gone through life very happily without knowing how it felt to stick my finger in a fish eye. The things we do in the name of art...

night flashes

February night
flashes of white —
sanderling bellies!

forsythia

whatever the date,
forsythia is spring —
a girl on her bike

original blessing

Every life is Divine
genuine and original

a Blessing shone again

. . . . . . . . .

Today's OED word of the day for the erasure poem is 'republication.'

I'd like to ask them whether they throw darts to select these. In the past week, the words of the day have been decidedly ho-hum and on a slippery downhill slope ever since 'spaghetti,' I'd say.

sunshine valentine

February sunshine —
Mother Nature's valentine
to the Northwest

nearly empty

mystifying, life.

All Year Round
Leaning against the wall…

nearly empty
When Benevolence
overflows,
with small streams

. . . . . . . . .

Today's OED word of the day, from which the erasure poem was taken, is 'tilt.' I fear for the current generation of game players who will not understand this citation:

1980 G. HAMMOND Reward Game xi. 157 ‘No, we've already been offered forty by Frank Hutch’ ‘That should make him light up and say “Tilt”,’ Keith said with satisfaction.

bitter oranges

oranges on the ground
next to the bocce ball court —
retirement

wednesday 3 february

the Estrellas
glazed pink by the rising sun —
moonset

tuesday 2 february

in Arizona
no shortage of shadows —
Groundhog Day

monday 1 february

Sometimes
hoping

ruthlessly.

intervals along a groove

intensity

stored inside

. . . . . . . .

Today's OED word of the day for the erasure poem was 'over-cut.'