Author: Mihaela Limberea

Acceptance

  1. Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale
  2. From Blossoms
  3. Wild Geese
  4. The Peace of Wild Things
  5. My Gift to You
  6. Departing Spring
  7. The Skylark
  8. What a Strange Thing!
  9. Although The Wind …
  10. The Old Pond
  11. Spring Is Like A Perhaps Hand
  12. Hast thou 2 loaves of bread …
  13. Youth and Age
  14. A Postcard From the Volcano
  15. The Kraken
  16. He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
  17. There Is a Solitude of Space
  18. Because I Could Not Stop for Death
  19. Mad Song
  20. Answer July
  21. Success Is Counted Sweetest
  22. Hope Is the Thing with Feathers
  23. The Bluebird
  24. A Vision of the End
  25. The Crying of Water
  26. A Rose Has Thorns As Well As Honey
  27. Winter
  28. The Dark Cavalier
  29. There is no Life or Death
  30. Sheep in Winter
  31. To a Snowflake
  32. Sextain
  33. A Crocodile
  34. Sea Fever
  35. The Giant Cactus of Arizona
  36. The Coming of Night
  37. Going to the Picnic
  38. Moon Tonight
  39. A Southern Night
  40. Greenness
  41. Twilight
  42. On the Wing
  43. In Summer
  44. Before Parting
  45. Sonnet
  46. The Red Wheelbarrow
  47. Acceptance
  48. At The Pool
  49. Incurable
  50. Bluebird and Cardinal
  51. [Say What You Will, And Scratch My Heart To Find]
  52. The River
  53. Vas Doloris
  54. Squirrel
  55. Ghosts
  56. The Spirit of Poetry
  57. Nightfall in the Tropics
  58. Journey of the Magi
  59. The City Lights
  60. January
  61. Winter Night
  62. My Heart Has Known Its Winter
  63. Things Said When He Was Gone
  64. Jabberwocky
  65. Expectancy
  66. Surrender
  67. At the Mid Hour of Night
A pond in a forest at sunset

When the spent sun throws up its rays on cloud 
And goes down burning into the gulf below, 
No voice in nature is heard to cry aloud 
At what has happened. Birds, at least, must know 
It is the change to darkness in the sky. 
Murmuring something quiet in its breast, 
One bird begins to close a faded eye; 
Or overtaken too far from its nest, 
Hurrying low above the grove, some waif 
Swoops just in time to his remembered tree. 
At most he thinks or twitters softly, “Safe! 
Now let the night be dark for all of me. 
Let the night be too dark for me to see 
Into the future. Let what will be be.”
 

Robert Frost (1874 – 1963) was an American poet and winner of four Pulitzer Prizes, most known for The Road Not Taken (a poem often read during graduation ceremonies), Fire and Ice, Mending Wall, Nothing Gold Can Stay, and Home Burial.


To read more poems, click here.



Books Are Humanity In Print

A classical style library

Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. Without books, the development of civilization would have been impossible. They are engines of change (as the poet said), windows on the world and lighthouses erected in the sea of time. They are companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasures of the mind. Books are humanity in print.

Barbara Tuchman (1912 – 1989) was an American historian, journalist and author.


To read more quotes, click here.



The Red Wheelbarrow

  1. Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale
  2. From Blossoms
  3. Wild Geese
  4. The Peace of Wild Things
  5. My Gift to You
  6. Departing Spring
  7. The Skylark
  8. What a Strange Thing!
  9. Although The Wind …
  10. The Old Pond
  11. Spring Is Like A Perhaps Hand
  12. Hast thou 2 loaves of bread …
  13. Youth and Age
  14. A Postcard From the Volcano
  15. The Kraken
  16. He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
  17. There Is a Solitude of Space
  18. Because I Could Not Stop for Death
  19. Mad Song
  20. Answer July
  21. Success Is Counted Sweetest
  22. Hope Is the Thing with Feathers
  23. The Bluebird
  24. A Vision of the End
  25. The Crying of Water
  26. A Rose Has Thorns As Well As Honey
  27. Winter
  28. The Dark Cavalier
  29. There is no Life or Death
  30. Sheep in Winter
  31. To a Snowflake
  32. Sextain
  33. A Crocodile
  34. Sea Fever
  35. The Giant Cactus of Arizona
  36. The Coming of Night
  37. Going to the Picnic
  38. Moon Tonight
  39. A Southern Night
  40. Greenness
  41. Twilight
  42. On the Wing
  43. In Summer
  44. Before Parting
  45. Sonnet
  46. The Red Wheelbarrow
  47. Acceptance
  48. At The Pool
  49. Incurable
  50. Bluebird and Cardinal
  51. [Say What You Will, And Scratch My Heart To Find]
  52. The River
  53. Vas Doloris
  54. Squirrel
  55. Ghosts
  56. The Spirit of Poetry
  57. Nightfall in the Tropics
  58. Journey of the Magi
  59. The City Lights
  60. January
  61. Winter Night
  62. My Heart Has Known Its Winter
  63. Things Said When He Was Gone
  64. Jabberwocky
  65. Expectancy
  66. Surrender
  67. At the Mid Hour of Night
The red wheelbarrow in the rain with white chickens

so much depends

upon



a red wheel

barrow



glazed with rain

water



beside the white

chickens
 

William Carlos Williams (1883–1963) was an American poet and physician, closely associated with modernism and imagism


To read more poems, click here.



Favorite Photos: July 2024

  1. Favorite Photos: January 2023
  2. Favorite Photos: February 2023
  3. Favorite Photos: March 2023
  4. Favorite Photos: April 2023
  5. Favorite Photos: May 2023
  6. Favorite Photos: June 2023
  7. Favorite Photos: July 2023
  8. Favorite Photos: August 2023
  9. Paris Is Always A Good Idea
  10. Favorite Photos: October 2023
  11. Favorite Photos: November 2023
  12. Favorite Photos: December 2023
  13. Favorite Photos: January 2024
  14. Favorite Photos: February 2024
  15. Favorite Photos: March 2024
  16. Favorite Photos: April 2024
  17. Favorite Photos: May 2024
  18. Favorite Photos: June 2024
  19. Favorite Photos: July 2024
  20. Favorite Photos: August 2024
  21. Favorite Photos: September 2024
  22. Favorite Photos: October 2024
  23. Favorite Photos: November 2024
  24. Favorite Photos: December 2024
  25. Favorite Photos: January 2025
  26. Favorite Photos: February 2025
Close-up of an African elephant head

I didn’t do much photo processing this month, what with summer vacations, gardening, and the Olympics.

African elephant photographed in Marataba Marakele, South Africa. Many people commented on the elephant’s long lashes on Instagram, but most missed just how long they really were. Take another look. Yes, they are long and thick near the eye, but if you look closer, you’ll see that they are even longer than you think!

A zebra walking leisurely ahead of its harem in the Marakele National Park, South Africa

A zebra walks leisurely ahead of its harem in the Marakele National Park, South Africa. In zoology, a harem is a group of zebras consisting of one stallion, several mares, and their offspring.

Two Southern yellow-billed hornbills on a perch

Southern yellow-billed hornbills (Tockus leucomelas) are also called ‘flying bananas’ because of their huge bills. This bird’s bill is remarkably large in comparison to its body and can make up to 1/6th of its entire body length!

Interesting breeding behavior: Once a mating pair is established, they search for a nesting site, often in a tree facing northeast, and construct their nest using leaf litter and bark. The female enters the hole, seals it with her droppings, and leaves a small opening for the male to feed her while she tends to the eggs.

The female lays 3 or 4 eggs and incubates them for 25 days without leaving the nest. During this time, she sheds all her flight and tail feathers, becoming reliant on the male and vulnerable if he is absent or harmed. While in the nest, her feathers regrow, and she emerges with new plumage when the oldest chick is about 3 weeks old. Both parents take turns feeding the chicks for the next 6 weeks. When the chicks mature, hunger prompts them to break down the nest wall.


Stay tuned because I’m bursting with excitement to share more about this unforgettable adventure with all of you!


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A Work Of Art

A lion

A work of art is the unique result of a unique temperament. Its beauty comes from the fact that the author is what he is. It has nothing to do with the fact that other people want what they want. Indeed, the moment that an artist takes notice of what other people want, and tries to supply the demand, he ceases to be an artist, and becomes a dull or an amusing craftsman, an honest or a dishonest tradesman. He has no further claim to be considered as an artist.

Oscar Wilde (1854 – 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. 


To read more quotes, click here.



Sonnet

  1. Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale
  2. From Blossoms
  3. Wild Geese
  4. The Peace of Wild Things
  5. My Gift to You
  6. Departing Spring
  7. The Skylark
  8. What a Strange Thing!
  9. Although The Wind …
  10. The Old Pond
  11. Spring Is Like A Perhaps Hand
  12. Hast thou 2 loaves of bread …
  13. Youth and Age
  14. A Postcard From the Volcano
  15. The Kraken
  16. He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
  17. There Is a Solitude of Space
  18. Because I Could Not Stop for Death
  19. Mad Song
  20. Answer July
  21. Success Is Counted Sweetest
  22. Hope Is the Thing with Feathers
  23. The Bluebird
  24. A Vision of the End
  25. The Crying of Water
  26. A Rose Has Thorns As Well As Honey
  27. Winter
  28. The Dark Cavalier
  29. There is no Life or Death
  30. Sheep in Winter
  31. To a Snowflake
  32. Sextain
  33. A Crocodile
  34. Sea Fever
  35. The Giant Cactus of Arizona
  36. The Coming of Night
  37. Going to the Picnic
  38. Moon Tonight
  39. A Southern Night
  40. Greenness
  41. Twilight
  42. On the Wing
  43. In Summer
  44. Before Parting
  45. Sonnet
  46. The Red Wheelbarrow
  47. Acceptance
  48. At The Pool
  49. Incurable
  50. Bluebird and Cardinal
  51. [Say What You Will, And Scratch My Heart To Find]
  52. The River
  53. Vas Doloris
  54. Squirrel
  55. Ghosts
  56. The Spirit of Poetry
  57. Nightfall in the Tropics
  58. Journey of the Magi
  59. The City Lights
  60. January
  61. Winter Night
  62. My Heart Has Known Its Winter
  63. Things Said When He Was Gone
  64. Jabberwocky
  65. Expectancy
  66. Surrender
  67. At the Mid Hour of Night
Tuscany Landscape Watercolor

Oh for a poet—for a beacon bright 
To rift this changeless glimmer of dead gray;  
To spirit back the Muses, long astray, 
And flush Parnassus with a newer light; 
To put these little sonnet-men to flight 
Who fashion, in a shrewd mechanic way,  
Songs without souls, that flicker for a day,  
To vanish in irrevocable night, 

What does it mean, this barren age of ours?  
Here are the men, the women, and the flowers,  
The seasons, and the sunset, as before. 
What does it mean? Shall there not one arise  
To wrench one banner from the western skies,  
And mark it with his name forevermore? 
 

Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869 – 1935) was an American poet and playwright.


To read more poems, click here.



It Is Foolish To Think That You Have To Read All The Books

Cozy home library

It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones.

There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion.

If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the ‘medicine closet’ and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That’s why you should always have a nutrition choice!

Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity.

Umberto Eco (1932 – 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, and cultural critic).


To read more quotes, click here.



Before Parting

  1. Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale
  2. From Blossoms
  3. Wild Geese
  4. The Peace of Wild Things
  5. My Gift to You
  6. Departing Spring
  7. The Skylark
  8. What a Strange Thing!
  9. Although The Wind …
  10. The Old Pond
  11. Spring Is Like A Perhaps Hand
  12. Hast thou 2 loaves of bread …
  13. Youth and Age
  14. A Postcard From the Volcano
  15. The Kraken
  16. He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
  17. There Is a Solitude of Space
  18. Because I Could Not Stop for Death
  19. Mad Song
  20. Answer July
  21. Success Is Counted Sweetest
  22. Hope Is the Thing with Feathers
  23. The Bluebird
  24. A Vision of the End
  25. The Crying of Water
  26. A Rose Has Thorns As Well As Honey
  27. Winter
  28. The Dark Cavalier
  29. There is no Life or Death
  30. Sheep in Winter
  31. To a Snowflake
  32. Sextain
  33. A Crocodile
  34. Sea Fever
  35. The Giant Cactus of Arizona
  36. The Coming of Night
  37. Going to the Picnic
  38. Moon Tonight
  39. A Southern Night
  40. Greenness
  41. Twilight
  42. On the Wing
  43. In Summer
  44. Before Parting
  45. Sonnet
  46. The Red Wheelbarrow
  47. Acceptance
  48. At The Pool
  49. Incurable
  50. Bluebird and Cardinal
  51. [Say What You Will, And Scratch My Heart To Find]
  52. The River
  53. Vas Doloris
  54. Squirrel
  55. Ghosts
  56. The Spirit of Poetry
  57. Nightfall in the Tropics
  58. Journey of the Magi
  59. The City Lights
  60. January
  61. Winter Night
  62. My Heart Has Known Its Winter
  63. Things Said When He Was Gone
  64. Jabberwocky
  65. Expectancy
  66. Surrender
  67. At the Mid Hour of Night
Night landscape with full moon

A month or twain to live on honeycomb  
Is pleasant; but one tires of scented time,  
Cold sweet recurrence of acceptance rhyme, 
And that strong purple under juice and foam  
Where the wine’s heart has burst; 
Nor feel the latter kisses like the first.  

Once yet, this poor one time; I will not pray  
Even to change the bitterness of it,  
The bitter taste ensuing on the sweet,  
To make your tears fall where your soft hair lay  
All blurred and heavy in some perfumed wise  
Over my face and eyes.  

And yet who knows what end the scythed wheat  
Makes of its foolish poppies’ mouths of red?  
These were not sown, these are not harvested, 
They grow a month and are cast under feet  
And none has care thereof,  
As none has care of a divided love.  

I know each shadow of your lips by rote,  
Each change of love in eyelids and eyebrows; 
The fashion of fair temples tremulous  
With tender blood, and colour of your throat; 
I know not how love is gone out of this,  
Seeing that all was his.  

Love’s likeness there endures upon all these: 
But out of these one shall not gather love.  
Day hath not strength nor the night shade enough  
To make love whole and fill his lips with ease, 
As some bee-builded cell  
Feels at filled lips the heavy honey swell.  

I know not how this last month leaves your hair  
Less full of purple colour and hid spice,  
And that luxurious trouble of closed eyes 
Is mixed with meaner shadow and waste care; 
And love, kissed out by pleasure, seems not yet  
Worth patience to regret. 
 

Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837 – 1909) was an English poet, playwright, novelist and critic.


To read more poems, click here.



Harry Potter And The Squirrel Wizard

One rainy afternoon, while sorting through thousands of safari photos, I decided to take a much-needed break, indulge in my love for Harry Potter, and have some fun.

Being a huge fan of both the books and the movies, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to immerse myself again in the magical world of witchcraft and wizardry, even if for a few hours.


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In Summer

  1. Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale
  2. From Blossoms
  3. Wild Geese
  4. The Peace of Wild Things
  5. My Gift to You
  6. Departing Spring
  7. The Skylark
  8. What a Strange Thing!
  9. Although The Wind …
  10. The Old Pond
  11. Spring Is Like A Perhaps Hand
  12. Hast thou 2 loaves of bread …
  13. Youth and Age
  14. A Postcard From the Volcano
  15. The Kraken
  16. He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
  17. There Is a Solitude of Space
  18. Because I Could Not Stop for Death
  19. Mad Song
  20. Answer July
  21. Success Is Counted Sweetest
  22. Hope Is the Thing with Feathers
  23. The Bluebird
  24. A Vision of the End
  25. The Crying of Water
  26. A Rose Has Thorns As Well As Honey
  27. Winter
  28. The Dark Cavalier
  29. There is no Life or Death
  30. Sheep in Winter
  31. To a Snowflake
  32. Sextain
  33. A Crocodile
  34. Sea Fever
  35. The Giant Cactus of Arizona
  36. The Coming of Night
  37. Going to the Picnic
  38. Moon Tonight
  39. A Southern Night
  40. Greenness
  41. Twilight
  42. On the Wing
  43. In Summer
  44. Before Parting
  45. Sonnet
  46. The Red Wheelbarrow
  47. Acceptance
  48. At The Pool
  49. Incurable
  50. Bluebird and Cardinal
  51. [Say What You Will, And Scratch My Heart To Find]
  52. The River
  53. Vas Doloris
  54. Squirrel
  55. Ghosts
  56. The Spirit of Poetry
  57. Nightfall in the Tropics
  58. Journey of the Magi
  59. The City Lights
  60. January
  61. Winter Night
  62. My Heart Has Known Its Winter
  63. Things Said When He Was Gone
  64. Jabberwocky
  65. Expectancy
  66. Surrender
  67. At the Mid Hour of Night
Hilly landscape at sunset

Photo by Claudio Testa on Unsplash edited by me

There were the black pine trees, 
        And the sullen hills 
        Frowning; there were trills 
        Of birds, and the sweet hot sun, 
        And little rills 
        Of water, everyone 
Singing and prattling; there were bees

Honey-laden, tuneful, a song
        Far-off, and a timid air 
        That sighed and kissed my hair, 
        My hair that the hot sun loves. 
        The day was very fair, 
        There was wooing of doves, 
And the shadows were not yet long. 

And I lay on the soft green grass, 
        And the smell of the earth was sweet,
        And I dipped my feet 
        In the little stream;
        And was cool as a flower is cool in the heat, 
        And the day lay still in a dream, 
And the hours forgot to pass. 

And you came, my love, so stealthily 
        That I saw you not 
        Till I felt that your arms were hot 
        Round my neck, and my lips were wet
        With your lips, I had forgot  
        How sweet you were. And lo! the sun has set, 
And the pale moon came up silently. 
 

Lord Alfred Douglas (1870 – 1945) was an English poet and journalist.


To read more poems, click here.