Seeded Earth - Bo Mackison » quotations

A Roadrunner for Joanne

Bo Mackison — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:12:33 +0000

”Now then, I can easily understand why it should puzzle you that a person of my intelligence, I.Q. 207 super genius, should devote his valuable time chasing this ridiculous road runner, this bird that appears to be so skinny, scrawny, stringy, unappetizing, anemic, ugly and misbegotten. Ah, but how little you know about road runners. Actually, the road runner is to the taste buds of a coyote, what caviar, champagne, filet mignon and chocolate fudge are to the taste buds of a man.” Wile E. Coyote

Last year, when I wrote about seeing roadrunners in my Arizona backyard, Joanne Keevers left a comment and said she wanted to see what a roadrunner looked like since there were no roadrunners in Australia, and would I please take a photograph if I got the chance. Well, it’s taken me almost a year to see a roadrunner within camera range, and even this guy nearly escaped without me getting a photo. You can tell he is running away from me as I snap his portrait.

Funny thing, before I reached for my camera, he walked to within ten feet of me and then stared at me, almost cocking his head as if to say, “You want something, lady?” Even while I had my camera in hand, checking the settings, he stood quite still. But as soon as I lifted the camera to my eye and began pressing the shutter, he took off at a brisk pace.

He did not run. He merely walked off in a bit of a hurry. I don’t think road runners do much running, but they are quick of movement. They are one of the few creatures that can kill a rattlesnake.

So, Joanne, here is a roadrunner photo for you — with best wishes to you from Arizona to Australia.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She enjoys watching the variety of birds in her backyard arroyo. And once in a while, she even gets a bird photo!

Let the Sun Shine In

Bo Mackison — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:23:59 +0000

Let the sunshine
Let the sunshine in
The sunshine in
Let the sunshine
Let the sunshine in
The sunshine in
Let the sunshine
Let the sunshine in
The sun shine in…

~ lyrics from the 5th Dimension’s song Let the Sunshine In, 1969

This is another photo from a series of photographs of a small adobe room, the granary, part of the ruins of the mission at the Tumacacori National Historic Site in southern Arizona.

I am finding much to think about as I work with images from this ancient storage room. There are pots to fill, small windows to let the sun shine in, even a quiet exercise I employed using my imagination to change seemingly drab surroundings into a scene (and sense) of vibrancy.

More to come. Amazing how many metaphors for living one can find in a centuries-old adobe ruins.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She frequently visits Tumacacori where she finds herself deep in thought.

A Crack in Everything

Bo Mackison — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 02:15:34 +0000

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.

~ Anthem by Leonard Cohen

The link is to the song on YouTube. Interesting, thought-provoking lyrics, interesting talk-sing voice. I love the line “forget your perfect offering.” I don’t usually post a lot of quotes on one post, but I kept finding quotes about imperfection that I wanted to remember, and this seemed like a good place for this compilation. It is a good thing to remember — no one is perfect. Imperfect is human, humans are imperfect.

Both our senses and our passions are a supply to the imperfection of our nature; thus they show that we are such sort of creatures as to stand in need of those helps which higher orders of creatures do not. ~ Joseph Butler

If you look closely at a tree you’ll notice it’s knots and dead branches, just like our bodies. What we learn is that beauty and imperfection go together wonderfully. ~ Matthew Fox

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Imperfection clings to a person, and if they wait till they are brushed off entirely, they would spin for ever on their axis, advancing nowhere. ~ Thomas Carlyle

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Persuade thyself that imperfection and inconvenience are the natural lot of mortals, and there will be no room for discontent, neither for despair. ~ Ieyasu Tokugawa

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The fastest way to break the cycle of perfectionism and become a fearless mother is to give up the idea of doing it perfectly – indeed to embrace uncertainty and imperfection. ~ Arianna Huffington

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There is a kind of beauty in imperfection. ~ Conrad Hall

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Bo Mackison is a photogrpaher and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.

Autumn Reflections

Bo Mackison — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:19:53 +0000

“Beauty is a primeval phenomenon, which itself never makes its appearance, but the reflection of which is visible in a thousand different utterances of the creative mind, and is as various as nature herself.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

On a calm, misty morning, these autumn colors were reflected in Indian Lake. Photographed at Indian Lake County Park in Dane County, Wisconsin as the sun peeked over the hill. October 20, 2007

The Non-Conformist

Bo Mackison — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 06:01:13 +0000

Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity. ~Christopher Morley

Photo taken at Devil’s Lake State Park near Baraboo, Wisconsin on a perfect late October day

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit http://feverishthoughts.com/garden/2006/06/23/green-thumb-sunday for more information.

Keeping in the Cows

Bo Mackison — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 19:32:42 +0000

If you strive for the moon, maybe you’ll get over the fence.
James Wood

The only fences found in Door County, WI are either rows of piled stones from field clearing or these wooden criss-crosses from forest clearing. Probably only effective for cows since at least they can’t jump (except over moons.)

Photographed in Ephraim, a hamlet of 400 people, who tolerate 6 months of lake-effect winter for 6 months of simple beauty. October 6, 2007