The Four Headless Falconers

After heavy voting and nail biting suspense we have our Halloween winner: Headless, and a few of his friends.

Hollyween Eve Cornucopia

Holly requested a Halloween fractal but instead of creating just one, we've got eight new ones and one golden oldie. Please take time to vote for the one you would like to see as tomorrow's Halloween winner. (Click the image to see a larger version)

Moving from left to right and top to bottom:

(1) Cateye (1)
(2) E.T. (2)
(3) Headless (8)
(4) Faces (1)
(5) Spiders
(6) Mask
(7) Feeding Frenzy (4)
(8) Eyes (2)
(9) Cobwebs (3)
(10) Write in vote by Lisa for Hairdressers (1)

Reflections in Honey

""Well," said Pooh, "what I like best -- " and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called"

Winnie the Pooh

Yoda: The Early Years

Do or do not... there is no try.

Yoda

Momentum: La Nouvelle Vie

I don't remember ever feeling the way I have the last couple of days. . . . I feel more alive than I have in years, perhaps ever. In fact, I'm sure, ever. Everything is going to be okay.

Autumn Storm

Apophysis: Cento Cuori

A hundred hearts would be too few
To carry all my love for you.

Author Unknown

Apophysis: For Aggie (Yin-Yang)

Transformation contains both change and stability, plurality and unity, movement and constancy. It has the nature of life, namely, to connect organically the polar opposites, the stumbling blocks of logic, and to unite them in an all embracing rhythm.

Lama Govinda

Apophysis: Ring of Fire

Love is a burning thing
and it makes a firery ring
bound by wild desire
I fell in to a ring of fire...

Johnny Cash

FNF: Plaid

Specialization is for Insects

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

Robert A. Heinlein

Apophysis: Just the Facts Ma'am

In the spider-web of facts, many a truth is strangled.

Paul Eldridge

Apophysis: The Road Not Taken

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

Aggie, Welcome to the Team

Agnes joins Team Andrax as mate #117. Welcome aboard my dear friend. I have always felt you were as much a part of our team as anyone else before, for you have given as much support to others as anyone else. My heart is very heavy for you at this time and our thoughts and prayers are with you and your father. Welcome to the team and welcome to the fight against this horrible disease.

Apophysis: Intimité

May she be granted beauty and yet not
Beauty to make a stranger's eye distraught,
Or hers before a looking-glass, for such,
Being made beautiful overmuch,
Consider beauty a sufficient end,
Lose natural kindness and maybe
The heart-revealing intimacy
That chooses right, and never find a friend.

William Butler Yeats

Apophysis: Mario Returns

Well, this work was commissioned by me for me. The angel of Mario, wings and all, has returned to protect our house from squirrels and wayward UPS men alike. Whenever Mario wanted to protect something in front of him, his legs would bow out just as you see them above. Nice to have the little guy back, if only in his angelic spirit. Peace.

Apophysis: The Song

Liz (ME Strauss) suggested I could use some of her poetry to inspire a fractal or two; a joint effort if you will. I can't claim to have lived up to my end of the bargain, but the poem alone is magnificent. Liz, thanks for giving me this opportunity to work with you. Peace.

The Song

From the silence came the indigo melody
deep vibrations of abounding love
running like the water of life
standing in stillness
like the ocean of a soul.

Lilting almost imperceptibly
the blue and turquoise harmony
echoes of a kiss blown on the wind
flickering like hope unfounded
like the dreams dancing on a heart.

A hint, a promise of gold in a chord
and kiss of yellow barely heard.

From the dreams came emerald answering indigo
love and romance in pas de deux
soaring like feelings on wings
blending, being their melodies
like notes that hang and hide in the air.

After a time indigo was winding under emerald
a stronger driving beat, demanding
turquoise snapping up and down with the blue.
emerald jamming in a new direction,
making all the colors move .
All following a new colorful thing calling,
calling, answering, giving, taking
solo, duo, jamming, meshing,
moving, dancing, always true to the color
and to the beat of the drummer.

Notes hung in the air again.
Feelings roared instead of soared
Love and romance became games of chance
Indigo answered emerald back
The pas de deux became the dying swan
and then dream and the drummer were gone.

The ocean of the soul stood frozen still
like winter in the river of life.
Deep sounds of abounding love lost
shot through the melody, absent of all harmony,
indigo tears that washed the song into silence.

There were no oranges and reds.
This song was rhythm and blues.

08/09/05

M. Elizabeth Strauss

Apophysis: Vision D'Âme

Those things that nature denied to human sight, she revealed to the eyes of the soul.

Ovid

Apophysis: Mystère de l'esprit

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.

Albert Einstein

Apophysis: Joyeux Noël, Chéri

Blame Holly for this premature xmas posting. Expect a return engagement in a couple months. :-)

Greeting cards have all been sent
The Christmas rush is through
But I still have one wish to make
A special one for you

Merry Christmas darling
We're apart that's true
But I can dream and in my dreams
I'm Christmas-ing with you

Holidays are joyful
There's always something new
But every day's a holiday
When I'm near to you
The lights on my tree
I wish you could see
I wish it every day
Logs on the fire
Fill me with desire
To see you and to say

That I wish you Merry Christmas
Happy New Year, too
I've just one wish
On this Christmas Eve
I wish I were with you

Logs on the fire
Fill me with desire
To see you and to say
That I wish you Merry Christmas
Happy New Year, too
I've just one wish
On this Christmas Eve
I wish I were with you
I wish I were with you

(Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas - Darling)

Carpenters

Apophysis: Martini Dreams

"Let me fix you a Martini that's pure magic. It may not make life's problems disappear, but it'll certainly reduce their size."

Some Came Running, 1959
Frank Sinatra/Dean Martin

__________

"Happiness is a dry martini and a good woman... Or a bad woman."

George Burns

__________

"I love to drink Martinis
Two at the very most
Three I'm under the table
Four I'm under the host"

Dorothy Parker

__________

"Sir, if you were my husband, I would poison your drink."

Lady Astor to Winston Churchill

"Madam, if you were my wife, I would drink it."

His reply

Apophysis: Dawn

Only that day dawns to which we are awake.

Henry David Thoreau

SNF: Red Wine

Apophysis: You Turn Me Inside Out

Love is the best medicine, and there is more than enough to go around once you open your heart.

Julie Marie

Apophysis: Unrequited Love

He said "I'll love you till I die",
She told him "You'll forget in time"
As the years went slowly by,
She still preyed upon his mind

He kept her picture on his wall,
Went half-crazy now and then
He still loved her through it all,
Hoping she'd come back again

Kept some letters by his bed
Dated nineteen sixty-two
He had underlined in red
Every single "I love you"

I went to see him just today,
Oh but I didn't see no tears
All dressed up to go away,
First time I'd seen him smile in years

He stopped loving her today
They placed a wreath upon his door
And soon they'll carry him away
He stopped loving her today

You know, she came to see him one last time.
Oh, and' we all wondered if she would.
And it kept running' through my mind-
"This time he's over her for good."

George Jones

Apophysis: Bohémien Dansant

O let us live in joy, although having nothing! In joy let us live like spirits of light!

Buddha

Apophysis: 自殺

If you keep thinking "That man has abused me," holding it as a much-cherished grievance, your anger will never be allayed. If you can put down that fury-inducing thought, your anger will lessen. Fury will never end fury, it will just ricochet on and on. Only putting it down will end such an abysmal state.

Sunnata Vagga

_________________________

Liz, the photo below I took last fall to capture some of the local color here in Tennessee. I manipulated the image to look like a Japanese woodblock work. I actually have a 8.5 x 11" framed image of this one in my office, which I keep right next to my calendar. I just love the effect.

Apophysis: Mal de tête

The world is apprehended by way of the mind
The world is acted upon by way of the mind
And all good things and bad
Exist in the world by way of the mind.

Samyutta Nikaya

Apophysis: Premature

Everything is as it is. It has no name other than the name we give it. It is we who call it something; we give it a value. We say this thing is good or it's bad, but in itself, the thing is only as it is. It's not absolute; it's just as it is. People are just as they are.

Ajahn Sumedho

Apophysis: Intruder

If we divide into two camps--even into violent and the nonviolent--and stand in one camp while attacking the other, the world will never have peace. We will always blame and condemn those we feel are responsible for wars and social injustice, without recognizing the degree of violence within ourselves. We must work on ourselves and also with those we condemn if we want to have a real impact.

Ayya Khema

Chaoscope: Menagerie

Been One of Those Days :-)

Apophysis: Where the Wild Things Are

Apophysis: Shocked

Apophysis: Purple Iris

Apophysis: Angels

Small Towns

In the last three weeks of Mario's life we took him in to the vet twice a day, morning and evening, everyday. As soon as we walked in, the endearing call of Mario's name was lovingly uttered from behind the desk and the staff ushered us to the back for Mario's fluids and shots. We joked that for Mario, walking into the vet's office was like walking into Cheers--Where everyone knows your name.

For three weeks we were given first-class service and red carpet treatment for our terminal little friend. Dr. Gibbs gave us her home phone number and told us she was availible 24/7 if Mario needed her. In the end, she was true to her word as she crawled out of bed and met us in the early morning hours on 10 minutes notice.

The day after we had to say goodbye to Mario, we sent the office a beautiful bouquet of flowers as a very small token of appreciation for service and love beyond the call of duty.

Yesterday around five o'clock I received a call from Dr. Gibbs. She was delighted we were home and, without asking, said her and the wife of the other vet in the office were going to drop by in five minutes. Besides the most furious house cleaning one has ever seen in five minutes the purpose of the visit was a mystery. Perhaps they had discovered something more on why Mario became ill, maybe they wanted to break the news lightly on what three weeks of twice a day service was really going to cost. Didn't know, but they were on the way.

Dr. Gibbs and Ms Woody showed up bearing gifts. They presented us with a wonderful card signed by everyone in the office and the comments were lengthily and heartfelt. They also presented us with a gift, a small yorkie figurine that was not inexpensive. We invited them in--for just a minute they said--and about forty minutes later conversation and stories were still being told in our living room.

The whole time this is happening my mind is in a blur. Even though I was witnessing a house call by my vet to offer consolation, not to mention bearing gifts, I just couldn't believe such behavior could or would happen in this day and age. Yet, before me, I felt as if the clock had been turned back and we were living in an age long passed, an age where neighbor's stood together and in times of grief or tragedy, came together as a family.

Franklin, although not the small town it was just ten years ago, still has that wonderful small town atmosphere and still has those wonderful souls that renew one's faith in mankind.

Dr. Woody, Dr. Gibbs and Ms Woody, I cannot find the words to say how much that simple visit meant to our family. Never in a million years would I have ever expected such a magnificent show of compassion. Thank You.

Apophysis: Seduction

FNF: Half Out

Equal Time: By request for "J"

Apophysis: Epaulets

Apophysis: Amelioration

Chaoscope: Love in the Air

Mario: "Last Days"

25 July 1997 - 12 October 2005

Chaoscope: Sweet Release

Breakfast at Autumn's

Name Change

Time for a new name for the blog. "Moonlight" is an interim name until such time as I can decide on a proper designation. I'm open to any and all recommendations. I'm setting myself up for this one. :-)

Apophysis: Deus Ex Machina

Apophysis: Monk in Red Robes

Tracy Chapman: Change

If you knew that you would die today,
Saw the face of god and love,
Would you change?
Would you change?

If you knew that love can break your heart
When you're down so low you cannot fall
Would you change?
Would you change?

How bad, how good does it need to get?
How many losses? How much regret?
What chain reaction would cause an effect?
Makes you turn around,
Makes you try to explain,
Makes you forgive and forget,
Makes you change?
Makes you change?

If you knew that you would be alone,
Knowing right, being wrong,
Would you change?
Would you change?

If you knew that you would find a truth
That brings up pain that can't be soothed
Would you change?
Would you change?

How bad, how good does it need to get?
How many losses? How much regret?
What chain reaction would cause an effect?
Makes you turn around,
Makes you try to explain,
Makes you forgive and forget,
Makes you change?
Makes you change?

Are you so upright you can't be bent?
If it comes to blows are you so sure you won't be crawling?
If not for the good, why risk falling?
Why risk falling?

If everything you think you know,
Makes your life unbearable,
Would you change?
Would you change?

If you'd broken every rule and vow,
And hard times come to bring you down,
Would you change?
Would you change?

If you knew that you would die today,
If you saw the face of God and love,
Would you change?
Would you change?
Would you change?
Would you change?

If you saw the face of God and love
If you saw the face of God and love
Would you change?
Would you change?

Autumn: Anyone up for a walk . . .