February 2019

Ripples in a Zen Garden
Ringling Museum
Sarasota, Florida
2019

Ascending Tianmu Mountain in a Dream
Bozeman, Montana
2019

Up a ladder of blue cloud,
Halfway up the cliff I see the ocean sunrise,
Holy cock-crow in space,
On a thousand precipices and in ten thousand valleys, the path is not clear.
Flowers lure me, rocks ease me. Day suddenly ends.
Bears, dragons, tempestuous on mountain and river,
Startle the forest and make the heights tremble.
Clouds, blackest black, are going to rain,
From placid water, mist rises.
Thunder and Lightning
Shatter hills and mountains.
The stone gate breaks asunder
Venting in the pit of heaven,
An impenetrable shadow.
…But now the sun and moon illumine a gold and silver terrace,
And, clad in rainbow garments, riding on the wind,
Come the queens of all the clouds, descending one by one,
With tigers for their lute-players and phoenixes for dancers.
Row upon row, like fields of hemp, range the fairy figures.
I move, my soul goes flying,
I wake with a long sigh,
My pillow and my matting
Are the lost clouds I was in.

–Li Bai

Banyan Tree #2
Ringling Museum
St. Petersburg, Florida
2019

Banyan Tree #1
Ringling Museum
Sarasota, Florida
2019

A single banyan tree like this comes across as a self-contained forest (or perhaps jungle).

Trapped
Ringling Museum
Sarasota, Florida
2019

Never, ever take a nap under a banyan tree!

Guess What Day It Is!
Ringling Museum
Sarasota, Florida
2019

My tribute to a commercial that always makes me smile even though it’s been ten years since I was part of the gainfully employed 40 hour workweek set.

Put a Camel in the Window
Ringling Museum
Sarasota, Florida
2019

After making this connection, I will never hear this song quite the same again:

Road Rage Anyone?
Ringling Circus Museum
Sarasota, Florida
2019

Maze Runners
St. Petersburg, Florida
2019

These ibis made the what looked like impenetrable maze of the mangroves look much less impenetrable. They worked their way through the thick of things without any noticeable trouble negotiating.

Mangrove Maze #2
St. Petersburg, Florida
2019