If I could frame my life,

you would be my star,

and I your leading man.

© Word and Photo Dan DeMarle 2016
Taken at Nominingue Quebec Canada 9-12-16
along the L'Petit Train du Nord Bike Trail

Some days,

you walk out your front door

and this is what you see!

On those days,

your day starts off looking at creation,

at those magic moments between night and morning,

that time when life is writ large on the canvas of the sky,

When God or gods is/are busy creating the day.

When Magic can happen.

So,

Do you head back into bed,

or continue on your walk?

or bow down in prayer,

thanking life for giving you another day.

© Word and Photo Dan DeMarle 2016
Taken outside my front door 9/9/16.

Do windows keep things out?

or do they keep things in?

Is the storm worse outside that window?

or worse when trapped inside with me?

If I climb out that window will my magic adventure start?

or will it simply end?

Am I already in an adventure?

AND no-one told me about it?

I think..

Hmmm…

I am already in an adventure.

So come along..

Pick up my tiara,

You, grab that sword,

Call that dog  out there,

And lets,

Get,

Moving.

BYE!

See you, wouldn’twanttobeyou.

Cause you are definitely NOT in an adventure.

(or at least in MY adventure).

Why? What?

Because, you did not crawl through the window,

LIKE WE DID.

(I mean like duh).

……

……

Psst…

Have you seen my tiara?

I think it fell out this window.

© Word and Photo Dan DeMarle 2016
For all the smart, intelligent, brave, and 
stalwart princesses I know, no matter what age they may be.

Bike path  5 miles out  from Cedar Pines PA, along the Pine Creek Trail.

© Dan DeMarle 2016

Nostalgia is the attempt to find comfort from the past, that a) our parent/s wouldn’t let us watch or experience, b) were to busy with other more important  stuff to do or  see at the time, c) watched hyped up on jolt cola or other substances so we never really got to see how good or bad it was in the first place, d) don’t remember seeing or doing due to the concussion from not wearing the nonexistent seat belt, e) saw it but in a theater so full of cigarette smoke, it was like seeing through a thick fog, or f) only experienced or heard about from our older sibling/s or friends. Now leave me alone if I find 25 more cents in malo cups coupons, I can send them in with my green stamps, for that limited addition Cocoa Puff code ring.

© Dan DeMarle 2016

We over simplify the differences between us.  When people discuss, argue, and pontificate about red states, versus blue states, about US values, versus Russian values, what is missed, are the differences that grow from where we live.  I’m not talking urban, versus suburban,  versus rural.  I  am sure that there  are differences there and that they exist.  No I am talking about whether you grew up near a sea of grass, or near a sea.  Did you grow up with tornadoes, on the side of a volcano, in a sea of snow, or in sea of sand?  Did you have four seasons to a year, or just one? Have you ever driven across the great plains, sailed the great lakes, or swam in an ocean?  The basic environment of what you saw,  and heard, and smelled, every day of your life shapes you at your soul.  In our attempts to down play these differences, to down play how our environment shapes us, we are missing the things that formed our religions, our cultures, and our societies.  When we move from air conditioned house, to air conditioned car, to air conditioned work, we miss a basic part of life.  Weather becomes a problem, the environment becomes something to be denied,  or something to be controlled.  So its simple. Go for a walk. Go for a bike ride. Next time it rains,  get wet.  Wake up early, and listen to the birds, wherever you are, welcome in the day. Embrace your world, and in doing so,  the world of your ancestors. Embrace the fact that growing up in the desert gives you a different view of life, and its meaning, then someone who grew up by the sea. My family carries our background in our name. De Mar, of the sea.

The sea between Scotland and the Isle of Mull from the road between Glenberg and Salen Scotland 8/5/15
© Dan DeMarle 2016 – © photo taken by Dan DeMarle 2015

There is something about the mist, 
the fog, 
the wind,
and the ocean near by,
and the way things seem to appear,
and disappear,
in the mist.
In the way the wind blows hard,
until suddenly there is silence,
and only the sound of water dripping.
 
That makes us appreciate;
good stone walls,
a warm fire,
good drink,
and good friends,
waiting for us at the end of the day. 


Road between Kilchoan and Glenberg Scotland 8/5/15
© Dan DeMarle 2016 – © photo taken by Dan DeMarle 2015

© Dan DeMarle – photo taken by Dan DeMarle 2016

I would never cry for you,
so you never cried for me.
I would never say goodbye,
so you never would say hello.
I would never open my heart for you,
so you left me.
and
found someone who would.

© Dan DeMarle – photo taken by Dan DeMarle 2015