Welcome back to Shang Simla, China. The first day of the HoH challenge is over and the second day is just beginning. Contestants are beginning to wake up and pick up where they left off…

Stacey missed out on getting an adventure yesterday so she wakes up first thing at midnight to check to see if any new adventures had been put up… unfortunately none had.

As morning breaks, May is the first contestant to wake. Her task has been to collect platinum for a meditation statue after discovering the secret of Dragon Cave. May has collected the platinum and now must deliver it to Ai Pei for the next part of her mission.

Sparrow is next to wake. Her mission has been to find a hidden relic in a tomb. Sparrow has made good progress in the tomb and now must return to find the relic.

After running out of food the day before and becoming very hungry, Sparrow decides to first have a hearty breakfast.

Meanwhile, Stacey is running around desperately to find an adventure from one of the locals.

Dirk is next to wake. Dirk’s mission was to help Zhang Hua build a telescope. He has already collected 5 metals and has bought two common relics, he now now needs to deliver these common relics to Zhang Hua for the next part of his mission.

May delivers the platinum to Ai Pei. Ai tells May that she must now find three pieces of Lapis Lazuli to complete the meditation statue.

Tired of running around, May decides to buy the Lapis Lazuli gems. However, the store only has two gems and so May must find the third gem. This will be difficult as Lapis Lazulis are very rare.

Dirk arrives at Zhang Hua’s house and delivers the common relics. Zhang tells him that he must now deliver the different parts of the telescope to Ai Pei so he can make the telescope.

Sparrow has re-entered the tomb and has found a dive well and dives through it.

Aaron is the last contestant to wake up after going to bed too late the night before. Aaron has gained a martial arts skill and now must fight with the mysterious Gao Pei.

Sparrow swims through the dive well and comes out the other side. On the other side is a chest containing a keystone. Sparrow swims back through to the side she was on before.

May finds her final piece of Lapis Lazuli, and now needs to return to Ai Pei.

Aaron is surprised to discover that Gao Pei is actually an old lady, however he does not hesitate and challenges the old lady to a fight.

Sparrow finds a door and unlocks it with the keystone she found, the door opens.

Inside Sparrow finds the relic she was looking for!

Sparrow must now find an exit to the cave and find Bao Louie to win the challenge!

Gao and Aaron fight…

However it appears that Gao is kicking Aaron’s a**!

Dirk delivers the telescope to Ai Pei and he fixes it, Dirk must now return the telescope to Zhang Hua and his adventure will be over!

May is delivering her Lapis Lazuli to Ai Pei, if she delivers the Lapis Lazuli to him first, then she may win.

Sparrow is finally out of the tomb and is trying desperately to find Bao Louie…

Dirk is speeding down the road heading straight for Zhang Hua’s house. Who will get there first?

Sparrow has arrived at Bao Louie’s house and is delivering the relic!

Dirk has arrived late by a few seconds and he is locked outside Zhang Hua’s house.

Bao Louie gratefully accepts Sparrow’s relic and congratulates her happily.

Sparrow has won HoH!

Zai Jian!

As there are only five contestants left, there is no need for nominations. Therefore, all contestants apart from the HoH will be up for eviction. So which contestant would you like to say “Zai Jian” to?

Stacey: She never even started the adventure and never had much of a chance.

Aaron: He was beaten up by an old lady and lost his dignity

May: Ai Pei believed she was the chosen one, but she didn’t get close to completing her mission

Dirk: He got so close and just missed out

As The Sparrow

To give life you must take life,
and as our grief falls flat and hollow
upon the billion-blooded sea
I pass upon serious inward-breaking shoals rimmed
with white-legged, white-bellied rotting creatures
lengthily dead and rioting against surrounding scenes.
Dear child, I only did to you what the sparrow
did to you; I am old when it is fashionable to be
young; I cry when it is fashionable to laugh.
I hated you when it would have taken less courage
to love. 

-Charles Bukowski 

NOTE FROM THE PRODUCER: This week’s HoH challenge is VERY long, so instead of having one HUGE post, I will divide it into two big posts. The next entry should be posted tomorrow

Stacey angrily tries to ignore Aaron as they both wait to see who has been eliminated.

Both are happy to see May and Dirk return, but before they can rush up and greet them, someone walks through who makes all four contestants stop in there tracks…

It’s Sparrow!

Aaron is overjoyed to see his old flame, considering how he has become quite an outcast amongst the contestants after his affair was revealed, he is happy to have a friend. The couple embrace passionately but before anything can be said, Big Brother interrupts the reunion.

BIG BROTHER: Contestants, congratulations on making the final five. As a prize for making it this far into the competition, for this HoH challenge you will be traveling to ShangSimla, China!

MAY: OH MY GOD!

DIRK: Awesome!

AARON: Wheee!

BIG BROTHER: Please get into the Big Brother car and you will be taken to the base camp immediately.

STACEY-ANNE: Welcome contestants, to ShangSimla, China. This peaceful city is a popular tourist location for many Sims, it is also a great place for adventure, and it is the location for Sims 3 Big Brother’s Sixth Head of Household Challenge.

STACEY-ANNE: Contestants have just arrived at the base camp, in front of them is a notice-board containing four adventuring offers. Contestants must run over to the board and find an adventure quickly, because the first contestant to complete their adventure is the winner! As there are five contestants and only four adventures, the person who misses out will have to wait at base camp for the day until the board is refreshed tomorrow! Contestants, get ready, set GO!

Sparrow is the first contestant to reach the adventure board, she finds an adventure request from Boa Louie, asking her to contact him if she wants to help him find an ancient relic.

And so Sparrow is the first cab of the ranks, she heads for the markets to buy some supplies for the trip.

May is the next one to find an adventure on the board. It is a very secretive adventure from Ai Pei to explore the Dragon Cave.

And so May is the next contestant off, heading straight for Dragon Cave

Aaron and Stacey both aggressively go for the adventure board at the same time, but Aaron violently pushes Stacey out of the way and snatches an adventure from the board, it is from Ai Pei, he is offering to help someone with their Martial Arts, and to meet up with him if they are interested.

Aaron runs off to find Ai Pei.

Dirk gets to the adventure board quickly and finds an adventure from Zhang Hua who is looking for help to build a telescope, he needs 5 pieces of metal.

And so Dirk runs off to search Shang Simla for 5 pieces of metal.

Unfortunately, Stacey has missed out on finding an adventure and therefore must wait until tomorrow. Upset, Stacey returns to her room.

Meanwhile, Sparrow as arrived at the picturesque Shang Simla markets, she must find some goods for her upcoming adventure.

Sparrow buys a tent, a shower in a can and a large amount of food for the journey. She is prepared and ready to meet up with Bao Louie.

Dirk has found his first piece of metal.

Aaron arrives to the place he thought Ai Pei was, but as he arrived he sees Ai Pei cycling away. Annoyed, Aaron jumps back on his bike and chases after him.

Nearby, Dirk has found his second piece of metal. Pleased and believing he is on a roll, he excitedly searches for more.

Meanwhile, May has arrived at the impressive Dragon Cave. However, to her disappointment, there does not seem to be anything in there. Tired from running all the way up the hill, she leans her hand on the wall of rock inside the cave.

To her surprise, when she leans on the wall, it disappears, revealing the secret passage behind it.

Sparrow finds Bao Louie and checks in with him. Bao gives Sparrow a key and tells Sparrow of a secret tomb that hides a hidden relic nearby. Sparrow runs off to find this tomb.

May goes through the secret passageway of Dragon Cave. Inside she finds a beautiful room filled with ancient statues and pools. At the end of the room a door stood, and May knew she had to go through it.

Ignoring her cowardice telling her to get out of this dangerous cave, she listens to her greed and need to win this competition and decides to go in.

Meanwhile, Dirk has found his 3rd metal, two to go!

May enters the secret room, and is amazed and terrified by what she sees.

Fire is blasting through holes in the ground, and May sees a vision of a mummy fighting an adventurer. Frightened, May goes to tell Ai Pei what she saw.

Aaron finally catches up with Ai Pei and tells him he is ready for the adventure. Ai tells him that before he can start the adventure he must learn Martial Arts. Disgruntled, Aaron travels back to the Martial Arts Academy to learn some martial arts.

Sparrow has arrived at the place where the tomb was supposed to be, but she cannot find an entrance anywhere. However, she accidently steps on a tile which turns out to be a hidden switch and a staircase appears in front of her.

Surprised but happy, Sparrow excitedly goes down the stairs into the tomb.

Dirk has found his fourth metal, only one more needed!

Aaron arrives at the Martial Arts Academy and tiredly trains, hoping to improve his skills.

While all this is happening, a frustrated Stacey is still at base camp, itching to find an adventure.

Sparrow enters the keystone that Bao gave her and she gains access to the ancient tomb.

May tells Ai Pei of what she saw, and he gets very excited, telling May that she might be the person the prophecy is about. He tells her that he needs to build a meditation statue, and May must find 2 pieces of platinum. Sick of running around, May begrudgingly runs off to search for platinum.

Meanwhile, Dirk has found his fifth and final piece of metal. Ecstatic and believing he is at the end of a relatively simple adventure, he runs to deliver the metals to Zhang Hua, sensing victory close at hand.

As Dirk runs to deliver the metals, Sparrow struggles in the tomb, pulling statues and activating floor switches…

May has found her first piece of platinum for the meditation statue, and hurries off to find another.

Back at the Martial Arts Academy, Aaron has gained a martial arts skill. Excitedly he travels to find Ai Pei.

Sparrow is making a lot of progress in the tomb, and finds a floor switch which opens a hidden door.

Dirk delivers the metals to Zhang Hua, hoping that he has completed the challenge and won the challenge. However, Zhang reveals that the adventure wasn’t as simple as Dirk had hoped. He now needs to find two common relics.

Sparrow enters the hidden door and finds a treasure chest.

Hoping that she has found the relic she was looking for, Sparrow opens the chest. She is disappointed as all that is inside is a few ancient coins and a fossilized lettuce.

May has found the second piece of platinum, and now needs to deliver the platinum to Ai Pei.

Dirk decides that instead of searching tombs for the relics he needs he would just buy them in the market, he buys the relics and then searches for Zhang Hua to deliver them to him.

Aaron finds Ai Pei and tells him of his Martial Arts skills. Ai Pei tells Aaron that he must now find a local called Gao Pei and spar two times with him.

As night falls, May is the first to return to base camp and get a good night’s sleep so she can be ready for adventuring tomorrow.

Sparrow hitches up her tent just outside the tomb and gets her beauty sleep.

Dirk returns to base camp and finds a big comfy bed to sleep in.

And finally Aaron is the last to return to base camp and half asleep throws himself into a bed.

And so the contestants first day in China comes to an end, and the first half of the challenge comes to an end also. The rest of the challenge will be posted tomorrow, and the winner will be revealed. In the meantime, feel free to discuss who you think will win the challenge…

Dirk: Dirk has made a lot of progress, he has been able to find five pieces of metal and now has cheated a bit by buying two common relics from the market, how much more will he have to do? Surely not much.

Sparrow: Sparrow has explored the tomb very thoroughly and has made a lot of progress, surely she must be close to the chamber holding the relic.

May: May has found the hidden secret of Dragon Cave and has helped find platinum to build a meditation statue, has she almost finished her task?

Aaron: Aaron has gained a martial arts skill and is now preparing to spar with a local, what else will he be expected to do in order to complete his task?

Stacey: Stacey has been put at a severe disadvantage but she isn’t eliminated just yet, will she be able to stage a miraculous comeback and win this competition?

If you are trying to find hip and cool jewelry that can be worn casually or dressed up, you should take a look at all the necklaces and bracelets featuring birds such as doves, owls, and sparrows. More recently sparrows and doves have become so popular in the jewelry world and indie jewelry. Owls especially have been featured on many necklaces and bags in department stores, boutiques, and little chain stores. The most popular version among the stars has of course been sparrow necklaces. We have seen them on actresses and socialites. The great thing about sparrow necklaces is that they look elegant on almost anyone wearing anything from a little black dress to a plain white button down.

Bird necklaces are great, but today I want to focus on bird themed bracelets. I have seen many bracelets featuring birds from cuffs to charm bracelets to beaded bracelets. I think the best thing about this style is how effortless and beautiful a simple sparrow or dove appears. As doves represent peace, the jewelry already has an automatic relaxed feeling. Most bracelets featuring owls just have a single owl charm dangling from the bracelet. On bracelets, doves and sparrows usually have their wings spread open and so they lay flat across the wrist. I think the overall look it delivers is charming and effortless.

However, finding this style of necklaces and bracelets is not the easiest thing in the world. They are seldom found in department stores or chain stores. If you do find them in these stores, you will find that they are often of poor quality. For this exact style you will probably have to look online or in small boutiques. If you are in a city, you will probably know where the trendy boutiques are. You can try these stores, but they are likely to charge a little more for their one of the kind pieces. Check online for better prices. The only thing with ordering online is the wait time and the extra cost of delivery-which can sometimes be a considerable amount. Like anything, there are ups and downs to ordering jewelry online. For one, you will not be able to physically try on the jewelry and feel it for yourself. Sometimes when you receive your order, the color can differ from what you expected it would be or it may not lay the way you thought it would. On the other hand, if you order online, there will be a much wider selection to choose from than any store you could go to. You can find almost anything you are looking for online. So, keep it stylish and chic with bird themed jewelry!

Met Sparrow zijn we vorige week begonnen met de campagne ‘Onderwijs helpt!’.

We hebben als  doel gesteld om aankomend jaar aan 50 kinderen een sparrowbeurs te geven. Zonder een sparrowbeurs zouden deze kinderen niet naar school kunnen. Onder deze 50 kinderen zijn ook de kinderen die vorig jaar een sparrowbeurs hebben gekregen. We hopen dat elk kind dat we sponsoren  een volledige opleiding kan afronden, zodat zij een kans hebben op een leven zonder armoede.

Voor deze campagne hebben we verschillende advertenties gemaakt en we hopen dat u ons wilt helpen om deze te verspreiden. Misschien kunt u zorgen dat zij geplaatst worden in uw clubblad, schoolkrant, kerkbode of huis aan huis krant. Daarnaast kunt u de advertenties ook afdrukken op posterformaat en ophangen in uw kerk, school, supermarkt of  sportvereniging. En natuurlijk kunt u ze ook op uw website zetten of op hyves en facebook.

U kunt de advertenties downloaden van de Sparrow website. Ook kunt u op onze website precies zien hoe het met de fondswerving gaat en hoeveel kinderen er volgend jaar al naar school kunnen gaan.

Sparrow Portrait, originally uploaded by © Don Iannone Photography.

Another sparrow shot from my North Chagrin Reservation photo shoot late last week.

NOTE FROM THE PRODUCER: The next posts might be up a bit late because my Sims game is currently undergoing some technical difficulties and has apparently deleted this family… So I am doing my best to retrieve it but if I cannot I will have to do my best to remake the house and the relationships amongst the contestants and everything so please forgive the possible lateness… I was considering giving up all together but then I decided I couldn’t do that to you guys, plus I think I’m more curious than any of you guys to see who is going to win…

STACEY-ANNE: Welcome to our sixth eviction everybody! Please welcome the contestants who might be going home tonight!

STACEY-ANNE: It’s May!

MAY: I can’t believe I’m up for the second time in a row! I have got to get a bit more sl**tier…

STACEY-ANNE: And here’s Dirk!

DIRK: I hope I look like James Bond and wearing this suit was worth it because it is totally riding up on my crotch…

STACEY-ANNE: And finally, Meesha!

MEESHA: Whoooo! I’m here! I’m totally used to rocking these evictions now!

STACEY-ANNE: Well… This vote isn’t exactly what you would call close. The evictee this week got a total of 53% of the vote with the other two receiving 31% and 16%. And the person who is going home tonight is…

DIRK: I hope the ladies are checking out my guns…

MEESHA: I’m gonna sneeze… I’m gonna sneeze… I’m gonna sneeze… Oh wait… no I’m not.

MAY: I just thought of something encouraging and disturbing… I am the most normal competitor in this competition…

STACEY-ANNE: It’s time to go… Meesha!

STACEY-ANNE: May, Dirk. Feel free to return to the house, I will have a quick chat with Meesha.

STACEY-ANNE: I’m here with Meesha, the sixth evictee from Sims 3 Big Brother. Now Meesh, your time in the house was short but sweet, and definitely very eventful. How do you feel about your involvement with Aaron?

MEESHA: I could not regret it more… I did not know about him and Stacey, and I would not have done it if I had known.

STACEY-ANNE: Well, you have not been evicted just yet, you still have a chance to return in the wild card. Please welcome in our other wild card contestants…

STACEY-ANNE: Here are our previous Big Brother contestants, Sparrow, Brittanee, Freddie, Ricardo and Sammy J!

Well contestants, this vote resulted with two contestants far ahead from all of the others, and one of them being far in front of the other one. The winner of the vote tonight got 53% of the vote, followed by the second person getting 28%, with all the other 4 not getting much of the share of the votes at all. I will reveal one by one which contestant will NOT be returning into the house…

With a pathetic 1% of the vote, Sammy J receives the least amount of votes, and will not be returning.

Brittanee received the second least amount with only 5% of the vote

Freddie received the third least amount of votes with only 6% of the vote.

That leaves only three contestants. Meesha, Sparrow, Ricardo. One of you will be going back into the house…

But it will not be Meesha, who only got 8% of the vote.

That leaves just two contestants. Sparrow and Ricardo, one of you is the convincing winner of this vote with 53% and the other is the not-so-close second with 28% of the vote.

In the very first week of the competition Ricardo beat Sparrow in a vote which led to Sparrow’s elimination… Will that happen again?

The person going back into the Big Brother house is…

Sparrow!

Sparrow, congratulations. You were the first to be eliminated but now you are given a second chance to prove yourself, welcome back to the Big Brother competition!

Well viewers, we are down to our final five and we are now well and truly half way through the competition. As a celebration for reaching the final five, there will be many great surprises this week starting with the Head of Household challenge tomorrow so be sure to check in!

Das neue 52er Thema von Sari hat zwar Ähnlichkeit mit dem Thema der KW 32 “Wochenende”, aber ich denke, da lässt sich trotzdem einiges heraus holen.

Einige kaspern herum...

...manche machen Spaziergänge...

...und wiederum andere faulenzen an SONNTAGEN.

Bilder: T.R. aka Wortman

I received a delightful surprise in the mail a few days ago. My friend and colleague Shawn Gould sent me a sweet little self-published book of some of his recent paintings. I’m writing about this for two reasons. One, because I thought that you would enjoy seeing his work, which is quite different than mine, and two, to look at what he has done from a marketing standpoint.

Sparrow Song 12x16 acrylic on masonite

Shawn grew up in Iowa, but now lives about twenty minutes from me in Eureka, California. He started out as an illustrator, creating award-winning work for clients like National Geographic, the Smithsonian and the Audubon Society. For the last ten years, however, he has been creating beautiful paintings like the ones you see here. He’s a Signature Member of the Society of Animal Artists and his work has been accepted into a variety of national juried shows like Birds in Art, Art and the Animal Kingdom and Arts for the Parks.

Good Dog 18x15" acylic on masonite

Now, for the book, “Wild Sanctuaries”. I asked Shawn via email to tell me more about it. He said that “I have a lot of new work that hasn’t been seen by very many people, and the book seemed like a nice format to get it out to a targeted audience for a reasonable price. We sent out 100 books for less than the price of a one page magazine ad.”

The publisher is a company called Blurb.com, who I had never heard of. I wondered what they were like to work with. “Blurb was great. Kristen (Shawn’s wife) did the layout of the book, and deserves all the credit for how it looks. If like me, you don’t know InDesign very well, blurb does offer software you can download from their site. I don’t think you have as much freedom with the layout, but it’s easier to use and does still look good.

Gambel's Quail 12x18" acrylic on masonite

“Wild Sanctuaries” is available through Blurb on a print-on-demand basis, so Shawn hasn’t had to tie up any money in inventory. If you would like your own copy, for yourself or for a gift, it’s $30 plus shipping and handling and can be ordered here

Challenger's Bugle 26x38" acrylic on masonite

Given the down (down, down) economy, creating and producing “Wild Sanctuaries” took some courage and a leap of faith. But Shawn now has a powerful marketing tool that should prove increasingly valuable as conditions improve. Food for thought.

You can see more of Shawn’s work at www.shawngould.com

SHOW NEWS!

I recently received one of two Janie Walsh Memorial Awards from the Redwood Association for a painting that was in their 51st Annual Fall show. It even included $100 check! Here’s an image from the show. The painting of bighorn sheep, “Heavy Lies the Head” is mine. The show ended yesterday afternoon.

Diesen Freitagsfüller habe ich in den letzten Wochen immer wieder gesehen. Heute mache ich auch mal mit. Gefunden habe ich ihn bei Lilo.

1. Jetzt hätte ich gerne einen schönen Schokopudding.

2. “Aua! Verdammt!” würde man mich meistens sagen hören, wenn ich mir den nackten Zeh anstoße.

3. Der Besitz von zu viel Intelligenz ist in manchen Situationen sehr von Nachteil.

4. Für einen unserer Racker war er das Vorbild: Captain Jack Sparrow?

5. Glühwein und Kälte passen zusammen wie Wortman und eine Eisdiele. Einfach perfekt.

6. Kreativität nutze ich immer und immer weiter.

7. Was das Wochenende angeht, heute Abend freue ich mich auf ein paar Blogrunden, morgen habe ich einen Flohmarktbesuch geplant und Sonntag möchte ich mich entspannen und den hoffentlich schönen Tag genießen.

Der Sinn des Freitagsfüllers ist es, die Leerstellen des Textes zu füllen. Meine Worte sind hier fett unterlegt.
Hier findet ihr die Quelle.

:

EDIT: Speziell für Lilo:

Wortman mit Schokopudding und Aufpasser

The sparrow twists its little head left, then right. It knows what we are thinking, studies us, flits away and posts itself gallantly on the weathered tree branches now barren.

Thriving off of the growth of civilization, the sparrow has adapted to the ways of humans, in great numbers they exist upon the refuse of mankind. Its movements quick, almost manic, it takes in sensory information at the speed of light, judges whether it is in danger or not, resides within a coursing ball of 15-20 other sparrows just in case. As with humans, they too have a tendency to plunder nature, ripping new plant shoots from the ground, decimating fruit still on the trees, extinguishing flowering plants. But this one simply sits and watches, seems far distant from a signifier of destruction, seems curious, almost playful. I throw a few seeds out along with some bread crumbs. It hops over on its pumpkin-orange legs, twists its head to the left watching me and then decides it is safe and begins to eat, manically pausing every so often to check that I have not moved.

One minute later, the sidewalk is inundated with their little puffed-up bodies, each vying for the best position nearest the food. The brawls begin, two begin pecking at each other, chirping obscenities and while they fight, another swoops in, takes the very food that they were fighting over. The timid or the small remain passive but clever in the background. While they miss out on the larger morsels, they wait for the intensified fights to begin and as the bigger birds go for each other’s necks, calmly they will hop in and begin their long-awaited feast. The old and decrepit are brought pieces by some of the bigger birds that hop them over in their beaks, drop them to the frozen concrete below, and stand guard as the elders eat.

There is a strange sense of commonality between these birds and humans. Perhaps it is no mistake that they have grown in such large numbers with mankind. They have become the backdrop of city-life, the nonchalant decorations in our daily comings and goings. Miniature representations of the radiance and madness that mankind embodies, the sparrows rest calmly within the collapsing branches of an effete  society marking time, watching us as we busily ride out our days.

A petite, disheveled sparrow hops in my direction, stopping not four feet from my boots. I smile and it opens its beak, its little pink tongue quivering. “Our day will come,” I hear the sparrow say and taken aback, I clench the bread bag tight in my left hand, turn quickly and go back inside, scrupulously watching that the sparrow does not follow.

It merely flies away.

Photo of the day:

Click on image to order note cards from Redbubble.

Sparrow

Op 25 augustus vertelden we over de operatie van Juliet. Juliet heeft een gezwel in haar baarmoeder die operatief verwijderd moet worden. De operatie was gepland in de eerste week van oktober, maar is nu al een paar keer uitgesteld. Dit omdat bij de standaard controles voor de operatie bleek dat de gezondheid van Juliet niet goed genoeg is om deze zware operatie te ondergaan. Juliet slikt nu verschillende medicijnen en hopelijk kan zij in de tweede week van december geopereerd worden. De kosten van de operatie zijn helaas ook hoger geworden dan eerder genoemd, maar gelukkig hebben we genoeg fondsen kunnen werven om Juliet te laten opereren.

Ojo al dato:

Me llega esta foto de Zapatero Turner y Blair Sparrow.

Como se ve fue dura y ardua la negociación.

Eliassu.

Now that I have stacked my macrolens away for the winter I try to focus on the birds on the garden, though I am not really patient enough for that. Moreover the light is often so bad that most of the time I can’t get the shutterspeed I need. Still every now and then I manage to get a decent shot.

Hear me read this poem (click here).

See the photograph inspiring this poem (click here).

So small, delicate
So full of November
That something making you
Fit perfectly into the whole
That I so desperately seek

It’s so easy for you
To be yourself
Not worrying what others think
For somehow you know
Who you are without trying

You, the November sparrow
Just happened along one day
I saw the sparkle in your eye–
The sparkle of life
As the sunlight fell upon you

There was music
No words
But life’s sweet melody
Drifting from you, through life
Touching everything about you

You make life seem so instantaneous
So there
Within reach
Approachable
Sadly believable
For all us nonbelievers

You, the November sparrow
Sitting meditatively still
Your hush overcomes me
My heart fills
Overflows with emotion

I am angered to think
That for so many years
I have hurried through November
On the way to Thanksgiving, Christmas
And all these years I have missed
The blessing of November

But for this moment
Because of you
I am filled with November
Her barren trees
Faded gray skies
Earthy browns and rust

My dear November sparrow
I thank God for you
My sweet reminder
Of November’s beauty, grace, charm
Because of you
November is a special place inside me