The Bowfin Pond

Here is my personal space, the quiet place I come to think, to feel the breezes, and watch the flowers, insects and birds. The leaves rustle above me, giving dancing, flickering shade, and whispering louder to me when the wind blows harder. I imagine there is a wily old bowfin lurking somewhere in the weeds, remembering the days when bowfins and dinosaurs were common, and the ancestors of the redwings snatched dragonflies from the air in their toothed jaws.

These are poems and writings that try to preserve in words those images in my mind of things and moments I love, and that make me feel alive. Even fears make me feel alive, because they remind me of what can be lost. They remind me of how much I don't control in life, though I can capture some of them and hold them for a while in my words. Sometimes that makes them less dreadful, but not always.

In early 2008 I joined the Saltwater Writers group at the Saltwater Unitarian Church in Des Moines, Washington. Roughly a dozen writers meet each week to do a writing exercise and share whatever they are working on. We provide feedback and suggestions, if they are requested, and encourage and support each other in our writing, whatever form it takes. I have been very encouraged by their reactions to my poetry, and have written many new pieces (most of it poetry) that I am including under the Saltwater Writers link.

On Febrary 27, 2013 I published a collection of 196 pieces, including most of the things here, in a 262 page book called "Day Stew". Click on the banner at the top of this page to see a description and cover picture from "Day Stew". From there you can link to createspace.com to see a description and to order the book, if you are interested.

I hope that you can enjoy some of these word-pictures, by spending some time here.

 

The Beagle Walk Poems

Beagle Haiku

Beach Day

Natural Spaces

Awakening in Gimmelwald

Open Field Runner
(Emily's Poem)

Something's Out There!

Prisoner

Between the Poles

The White City
(Imagining the Columbian Exposition of 1893)

Loose Photos

Phantasmophilia

Younger Days

Children on the Tube

John's Exhibit

Saltwater Writers pages

 

Bowfin Artworks 

 

Here are some of my own artworks, mostly done in either crayon, pastels, or colored pencil, and pen. There will be a number of my fish drawings eventually, but the opening exhibit will show a sort of Carousel horse and a couple of my monochromatic 'Organic' artworks.

 

"Carousel Live"

 

Organic Monochromes 1 & 2

 

The Lists & Font Guides

 

 

References & Preferences. These lists are another of my passions. They may be about Nature, History, Books, Baseball, Movies, or anything else that makes me want to make a list.

The Font Guides. These are my attempts to do for typefaces (fonts) what field guides have done for bird watching. There are more fonts than all the bird and fish species put together, and new varieties are being created every day. 'Font spotting' is a hobby that will never run out of new 'species', and you can do it anywhere you see type. The Font Guides have a practical side too, if you are someone who uses fonts. You can use them to identify a client's old 'look', or to browse them to find a new 'look', or just to find a new favorite of your own that you've seen, but didn't know the name of. There are Supplier codes with each typeface, so you can fond out where to get them.

 
     

 

My Bio Page

 

If you want to know more about the person behind these pages.
 

[HOME | CasualCards | Custom Spice Labels |Calendars | Products/Slogans | Featured Faces |
Type Providers|Contribution$
]

Date of this page version: 28 February 2013