Photography by Rich Gigli
Reflections
Now to consult the rules of composition before making a picture is a little like consulting the law of gravitation before going for a walk. Such rules and laws are deduced from the accomplished fact; they are the products of reflection.
Edward Weston 1886-1951
Photography by Rich Gigli
Murray Harbour Wharf , P.E.I.
Isn’t it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive–it’s such an interesting world. It wouldn’t be half so interesting if we know all about everything, would it? There’d be no scope for imagination then, would there?”
– P.E.I. Author, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
Photography by Rich Gigli
Statue of Liberty
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free;
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless,
Tempest-tossed to me
I lift my lamp beside the golden door! – Emma Lazarus
Mountain Brook
Robert Frost – Hyla Brook
By June our brook’s run out of song and speed.
Sought for much after that, it will be found
Either to have gone groping underground
(And taken with it all the Hyla breed
That shouted in the mist a month ago,
Like ghost of sleigh-bells in a ghost of snow)–
Or flourished and come up in jewel-weed,
Weak foliage that is blown upon and bent
Even against the way its waters went.
Its bed is left a faded paper sheet
Of dead leaves stuck together by the heat–
A brook to none but who remember long.
This as it will be seen is other far
Than with brooks taken other where in song.
We love the things we love for what they are.
Photography by Rich Gigli
The Rainbow
My heart leaps up when I behold
A Rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the man;
And I wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.
William Wordsworth – 1770-1850
Photography by Rich Gigli
TIPPIE - April 4, 2001 - May 29, 2012
IF IT SHOULD BE
If it should be that I grow weak
And pain should keep me from my sleep,
Then you must do what must be done,
For this last battle cannot be won.
You will be sad, I understand.
Don’t let your grief then stay your hand.
For this day, more than all the rest,
Your love for me must stand the test.
We’ve had so many happy years.
What is to come can hold no fears.
You’d not want me to suffer so;
The time has come — please let me go.
Take me where my need they’ll tend,
And please stay with me till the end.
Hold me firm and speak to me,
Until my eyes no longer see.
I know in time that you will see
The kindness that you did for me.
Although my tail its last has waved,
From pain and suffering I’ve been saved.
Please do not grieve — it must be you
Who had this painful thing to do.
We’ve been so close, we two, these years;
Don’t let your heart hold back its tears.
Author Unknown
Photography by Rich Gigli
Gulf of St. Lawrence
A bell’s not a bell ’til you ring it, A song’s not a song ’til you sing it, Love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay, Love isn’t love ’til you give it away! Oscar Hammerstein II
Grand Canyon National Park
Under a Pine at the Grand Canyon
by: Edward Robeson Taylor (1838-1923)
Beneath a friendly, towering pine we lay–
Its sun-smite needles dancing in their bright,
Gem-glittering sheen–and breathed the deep delight
That streamed ecstatic through the veins of day.
Below, the awesome canyon’s vast array
Swam silent in its sea of azure light,
While far beyond, within our wondering sight,
The desert stretched illimitable gray.
Above us screamed a rapture-hearted jay;
And while the breeze swept music to our ears,
Whose murmurs deepened all the joys of rest,
Dream’s noiseless pinions wafted us away,
Beyond the toils and tumults of the years,
To purple-glowing Islands of the Blest.
Photography by Rich Gigli
Wash Day
Oh Monday was our washing day,
and while the clothes were drying,
a wind came whistling through the line
and set them all a-flying.
I saw the shirts and petticoats
go flying off like witches.
I lost (oh bitterly I wept),
I lost my Sunday breeches.
I saw them flying through the air,
alas too late to save them.
A hole was in their ample part,
as if an imp had worn them. (Author Unknown)
Photography by Rich Gigli
Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
Under the Maple Tree
By Rich Gigli – Nov. 20, 2002
A young boy asked the old man, who was sitting under the maple tree, for wisdom.
Young boy: I want to see the world?
Old Man: Learn to see each new day unfold.
Young boy: I want to climb the highest mountain?
Old man: Learn to walk in the valley.
Little boy: I want to hear all the great sounds in the world?
Old man: Learn to hear the voice in your heart.
Young boy: I want to find love.
Old man: Learn how to mend a broken heart?
Young boy: I want to be strong?
Old man: Learn how to bend.
Little boy: I want to be rich?
Old man: Learn to desire nothing.
Young boy: I want happiness?
Old man: Learn to feel its kindly presence near.
Young boy: I want to travel the world?
Old man: Learn to walk on the narrow path.
Young boy: I want to be famous?
Old man: Learn to be kind.
Young boy: I want to fly like an eagle?
Old man: Learn how to dream.
Young boy: I want to be spiritual?
Old man: Learn from the whispering wind.
Young boy: I want to be good?
Old man: Learn not to fool yourself.
Young boy: I want to be humble?
Old man: Learn from the mighty ocean.
Young boy: I want to be noticed?
Old man: Learn from the budding flower.
Young boy: I want to know all the stars in the sky?
Old man: Learn to count the grains of sand on the beach.
Young boy: I want not to have any pain in my life?
Old man: Learn to catch a baby robin falling from its nest.
Then the young boy said to the old man, sitting under the maple tree, give me all your wisdom. Ha! The old man said, laughing; then learn to give me your youth.