Saguaro Blossoms — Photo-Artistry by kenne
The lucky saguaro
survives the desert heat,
outliving the nurse plant
not knowing of its feat.
The patient saguaro
looks skyward at all hours,
until at age fifty
it produces first flowers.
— from The Mighty Saguaro by Debbie Emery
One Beautiful Bird (Turkey Vulture) — Image by kenne
— Robinson Jeffers
Turkey Vultures leaving their overnight stay along the Tanque Verde Wash as they continue their migration north.
Cactus Blossoms — Image by kenne
Turkey Vultures Migrating North — Image by kenne
The other morning we counted over 250 turkey vultures
leaving the Tanque Verde Wash just south of our community.
This time of year hundreds of turkey vultures spend the night in trees along the wash.
— kenne
Queen Butterfly — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Image by kenne
Hidden Valley Rock Formations — Images by kenne
Photo-Artistry Sunset by kenne
Zion Digital Art by kenne
— kenne
Desert Wildflower Painting by kenne
— from “Our Heros” by Phoebe Cary
Children, a Stream, and Connecting with Nature — Computer Art by kenne
A picture may seem not what it is.
Two teens may appear more interested in a
phone than a stream slowly passing at their feet.
Like most images, it’s up to the viewer
to place it in some element of their reality.
Put in the contact the image was taken,
the teens are sharing pictures taken in
my iPhone photography class where they
learn to connect the eye, to the mind, to the heart.
— kenne
Source: William Morrow/HarperCollins
It’s just a little after midnight in Tucson, and I’m having trouble sleeping. It could be that Joy is having surgery later today. It could be that in this age of hand-held technology, it was several hours ago I received a news alert on the passage of Robert M. Pirsig at age 88.
In the 1970’s I was interested in motorcycles — own a couple. It was a time in which I loved reading about technology and philosophy. So, in 1974 when I read a review of a recently published book, “Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values,” I went out and bought a copy.
The inside cover jacket begins with a quote from the book:
“ The study of the art of motorcycle maintenance is really a miniature study of the art of rationality itself. Working on a motorcycle, working well, caring, is to become part of a process to achieve an inner peace of mind. The motorcycle is primarily a mental phenomenon.”
What better way to write about the conflict between science and religion, and the nature of Quality in art than to have it as part of a motorcycle narrative of a trip Pirsig, his eleven-year-old son, and two friends took from Minnesota to California? As it turns out, the real journey was not a motorcycle trip, but a philosophic trip that centers on an insane passion for truth.
In February of this year, I posted a blog entitled, The Zen of Visual Imagery – Balancing Passion and Obsession, in which I reference the novel I have worshiped over the years. Whether in my own teaching of educational philosophy or photography, I can’t talk about life without referencing Pirsig for the truth. It is time for a Chautauqua.
–kenne
Desert Chicory Art by kenne
— kenne
