Thursday 14 May 2009

Moments of Perfect Happiness


Waldandacht
A moment of meditation in the woods
Stopping by woods early
on a spring morning
.

Spring Meadow
Morning mist rising
in a clearing in the
Vienna Woods at 7am on Monday.

Roadside Prayer
Growing roots while stuck in traffic?
One wrong turn, and there I was,
literally stuck, but the sight
of this tree made me smile
.

Cloud Imitating Tree?
I couldn't help wondering.
Blooming chestnut tree,
the whole city is awash
in chestnut blossoms
.

The Evening Sky
Looking out the window
shortly before 7pm,
I saw this herd of perfect little clouds
grazing with no shepherd in sight
in the evening sky
. *)

Into the Blue
Did you notice how the blue of the sky
turns into the hue of glacier water
near the horizon?

The One That Got Away
I so wanted to capture
the bird in flight
and the airplane alongside,
alas, my brave little Lumix
does not exactly work at sonic speed
.

One Last Glimmer of Golden Light
then the Golden Hour was gone,
and the evening eased into the Blue Hour.

What Makes Us Happy?
Is there a formula
—some mix of love, work, and psychological adaptation—
for a good life
?
Click here
to read this article by Joshua Wolf Shenk
in the forthcoming issue of
The Atlantic
(Psychology, June 2009).

Thanks go to David Brooks,
who referred to this article
in his op-ed column, "They Had It Made,"
in the New York Times
on Monday, May 11.

*) Click on the picture
to listen to Bach's "Sheep May Safely Graze"
performed by the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields,
Conducted by Neville Marriner.

Clicking any other picture
will lead you to more
images of "Blue Hours"
around Vienna
.
Enjoy! :-)

21 comments:

  1. I like this Blue Hour...and much food for thought here, Merisi...and as ever, the most beautiful images to go with the thoughts. :o)

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  2. Hi Merisi -

    what different woods/forest scenes we have on our different sides of the world. But at the moment we both have GREEN!

    I couldn't access your music link.

    Happy Days

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  3. Thank you, Tracy!

    Delwyn,
    I am sorry, my mistake -
    I corrected the link, it should work now!

    Happy Thursday everywhere! :-)

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  4. So schoene G'schichten aus dem Wiener Wald...
    I have fallen in love with the beautifully ornate blue house.
    Your posts are always a delight, the root man was a darling and I just enduged myself with your Bach selection.

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  5. so beautiful indeed!

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  6. The photos are gorgeous Merisi!
    I love the root tree!
    ~ Carol ~

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  7. I love the first image.
    It's SO Secret Garden! :)

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  8. beautiful...you are also a great writer...I love the little "herd of clouds"! =)

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  9. VERY interesting links. Thank you!

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  10. Beautiful images, Merisi.

    I thoroughly enjoyed the link about Vaillant and his studies on what makes us happy. I've heard of him before, and often thought I'd like to read the results of his study, but I didn't know much about him, and it's fascinating to think of how he created the study itself, isn't it? I'd love to one day learn who all the participants were, and read about his conclusions etc. His own life is a book in itself, isn't it!

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  11. I would love to have the first photo in a frame. It's beautiful. And the sky photos are amazing, also. Wonderful job!

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  12. Your post made me happy just to see it!

    Great shots of the altocumulus (and also the cumulus!)

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  13. I love your photos, Merisi - they always make me feel happy. It's like stepping into another world. Thank you for your ability to capture beauty everywhere! All the best to you!!!

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  14. The root tree does look like it's praying! Wonderful! And wonderful photos as always!

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  15. I love the first pic - so much atmosphere in that one! But also "the one that got away" - the clouds have such soft forms there.
    Hmm, I see you like psychology...(I am a psychologist, almost retired).

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  16. Ah...these pictures remind me of something out of an old Grimmm story— particularly the images of the woods and the gnarled tree.

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  17. So happy to come across this. I've been working on a poem, What do you call this, is there a word for this, and you called it the golden hour. The golden hour, yes! Although sometimes not an hour but a moment well lived is an hour, is a lifetime.

    I'm glad I discovered your blog!

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  18. The tree is looking like it might be imploring someone. A perfect supplicant pose.

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  19. Love the blue peeking out from the clouds - all shades of it.

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  20. That spring meadow is pure A ROOM WITH A VIEW... gorgeous!

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  21. That interface between the woods and the meadows, the play of light between the two, is so magic, isn't it?

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