Introduction

Paws & Reflect     or variations thereof   

 

 

I shall start by stating my firm belief:   Memory is a verb.

 

Dogs&Cats I’ve lived with and loved

and    

Cats&Dogs who have lived with and loved me/us.

 

This website is dedicated to the idea that it is a diversion, albeit a meaningful turning aside, from the trials, tribulations, and vexes drubbing at our doorsteps and grinding at our energies. 

Therein lies some rather serious needs for ‘things’ to attract our attention and activities to bring relief from such strains. 

While some people find meaning, or perhaps diversion, in religions and politics, those options are inherently subjected to other’s hierarchical and power structures.  They are not aiding one to attend to the simple daily world as it presents itself to them  - -  or as is present at that moment. 

Spending my childhood summers in rural NY had a deep impact on me. I was five or six when our mother learned to drive so for those years prior, we walked (or rode in the wagon my father built) the mile to town or to the lake.   No TV and staticky radio reception meant a lot of unstructured games and play, curiosity and exploration of the natural world, and living in the moment – rain or shine.

My luck at having been exposed (pun intended) to photography at around seven years old was delightful.  A cousin’s foldout Kodak camera with a print size equal to its negative size, along with only having to turn a dim ceiling lightbulb on-off to expose the paper, was childishly mysterious, mesmerizing and … simple.

Photography at such an early age, thankfully, has returned to me as I experienced it then: a spontaneous, often unbidden, happy discovery. 

There is an old expression: “Close is only good in horseshoes … and grenades”.  However, in these posts, depending upon how critical you (the reader) are, several or many ‘near miss’ images will be encountered.  It is in this vein that I adhere to another old expression: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

In these posts, I clearly aim and attempt (intend?) to Pause and Relax. These thoughts and quotes are my musings as they resonate with me.  They are not intended to lecture or provoke anyone.

 

Therefore, I shall proceed with three considerations:

 

I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world

and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world.

This makes it hard to plan the day.      E. B. White

 

 

It is the nature of desire not to be satisfied.    Aristotle

 

 

Every day look at a beautiful picture,

read a beautiful poem,

listen to some beautiful music,

and if possible, say some reasonable thing.       GOETHE