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Lean On Me
Driving through the fields behind Grand Lake, near Rockville and Cold Spring, Minnesota, we stumbled on this hamlet of twig houses. You can walk through and amongst them. “Lean on Me” houses woven of willow and ironwood, in the arboretum of St. John’s University, Collegeville, MN.
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Take a Walk in Yeats Country
We returned to Sligo, the town and the county, to recall the poetry of W.B. Yeats, to walk the area, and to take photos. By good luck and some poking around, we ended up having dinner with a local couple, Damien and Paula, who regularly host Yeats Evenings of fine food, great conversation, and the…
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Dragonflies in the Garden, Nikko, Japan
Nikko was our first stop out of Tokyo. The temple and shrine area (combining Buddhism and Shinto architecture) has the advantage of being situated on a gorgeous wooded mountainside, above a fast flowing river. The downside during our visit was that the Rinnoji Temple was completely encased by another building, as an eleven-year renovation project…
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Three Wise Monkeys of Sacred Stable in Nikko, Japan
The Three Wise Monkeys get all the attention, but the famous panel of “See/Hear/Speak No Evil” is just one of eight carved scenes depicting the arc of life. In any case, the monkeys are incorporated into the outer face of an Edo-era stable because they were thought to protect the animals inside. The stable sits…
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Haiku: Two Sets of Questions
Five Haiku Questions: Child Who offers haiku To whom when a child outlives Her two parents What child listens to Elders without resistance An opposite pole Where did the story slip loose now coated with ash And altered by time When will memories Become blossoms like faces Sunning together Why can’t I hear you In…