Thursday, January 14, 2010

Necessities


I have need of the sky,
I have business with the grass;
I will up and get me away where the hawk is wheeling
Lone and high,
And the slow clouds go by.
I will get me away to the waters that glass
The clouds as they pass.
I will get me away to the woods.

-- Richard Hovey (1864-1900)

26 comments:

Small City Scenes said...

Excellent shot. What a great sky. Love those clouds. MB

John Sandel said...

Try to ignore the sky. Your day shrinks.

Acknowledge it—wonder beneath it—delight in it, and you rediscover how to fly.

We did not originally come from the ground.

Petrea Burchard said...

Thank you, MB. We've had some interesting skies of late. We don't get a lot of clouds in southern California so we've all been taking a lot of pictures!

J--poet. Sweetly said. I should have taken a picture of the ocean.

Laurie Allee said...

Love the shot. Love the poem. Love J's comment.

Pasadena Adjacent said...

Isn't that a gorgeous sky? I caught it from another vantage point...Sunday?

Cindy said...

Oh, Petrea! This has to be one of your best shots. The light!! The day those clouds graced us, I had to just go walk around Pasadena all day and soak it in. Lovely!

pasadenapio said...

Spectacular!

mark said...

If you turn this photo upside down it almost looks like a snow covered lake in Minnesota. I like your version better.

Louis la Vache said...

Very fine, Petrea!

Petrea Burchard said...

Laurie: I have my own poetry man.

PA--Sunday it was. I think the Hiker took hers the same day: http://altadenahiker.blogspot.com/2010/01/cry-me-river.html

I'm glad you all like it! It was impossible not to photograph those clouds.

TheChieftess said...

Glad you had your camera with you!!! Fab photo of fab clouds!!! I was driving from the valley Tuesday and wished I had my camera to capture those clouds as well...

Katie said...

Fabulous mackerel sky. Normally that indicates rain on the way, but maybe not in SoCal. I hope you get a wonderful sunset!

TheChieftess said...

Oh...if only it were true here in SoCal...we could use some rain!

Unknown said...

At first I thought it was Whitman and I was disappointed, because try as I might to enjoy him, I never actually do.

But this, poem and photo, they were worth sticking around for.

Petrea Burchard said...

Chieftess, this is why I keep the little one. It still comes in handy.

We had a bit of rain yesterday, Katie. (That comes in handy, too.) Apparently Chieftess didn't get it over by her. We have micro-climates around here, so even though I can probably drive to her place in about ten minutes she gets different weather.

Cliff, it must be good when I get a comment from you on a day other than Monday. A pleasure, my friend.

TheChieftess said...

I guess I was thinking of real rain...ya know, the kind that wakes you up if you're sleeping...yesterday there wasn't even much of a drizzle here, just enough to wet the pavement slightly!!!

John Sandel said...

Cliff, when Whitman starts talking, just hold your breath, 'cause he sucks up all the air. But give "Song of Myself" another chance. Think of when he wrote it—sometimes context can resurrect a work. (That's why they call it "fine" art; it responds to your response.)

Colleen said...

Wow, did this post make me happy. Thank you.

magiceye said...

wow! a stunner!!

Petrea Burchard said...

I googled "sky poem" and found a few awful ones and a few more that just weren't right. So I went to Bartleby.com, tried again and struck gold. I had never heard of Hovey before yesterday.

Ms M said...

Beautiful post; the photo and poem fit well together.

ben wideman said...

eerily similar today, Petrea!

my word verification is iminister. funny.

Petrea Burchard said...

Glad you like it, Ms. M.

I thought so, too, Ben. And that WV is prescient! Did you get a screen shot?

ben wideman said...

I didn't... I should have!

Dina said...

Gasp! This is gorgeous, both sky and poem.

Amy said...

Those clouds are so gorgeous, they barely look real. And you're right, for a mostly cloudless place, we've had some good ones lately.

Beautiful photo!