A Fool For Foliage

There's a ZZ Top song called "A Fool For Your Stockings". You can probably figure out exactly what that song is about just from the title.

I am indeed a fool for foliage. And snow storms. And sunsets. And lots of other things. But gladly so.

When I'm that kind of fool, I'm not a sucker. I'm inspired. I'm fully engaged in my passion. I surrender to that which moves me, and hence become a willing participant in a journey who's destination is unknown. 

That's exciting. And beautiful. And it fills my heart.

If that makes me a fool, then so be it. I've been called a lot worse.

©2012 Clint Piatelli & Red F Publishing. All Rights Reserved.

For You Dad

My father was a man who appreciated beauty. And he possessed a great respect for nature. He was in constant awe of natural wonders, like this tree. He died on this date back in 2006. So for you dad, I post this picture. You passed your respect for nature and awe of the natural world onto me. I am eternally grateful. I miss you dad. I love you, and if you were still here, we would look at trees together.....

©2012 Clint Piatelli and Red F Publishing. All Rights Reserved.

Full Foliage Fire

There is something so remarkably beautiful and magnificent about a giant maple tree on Full Foliage Fire that when I see one, I literally stop in my tracks and stare at it in in complete awe. A bolt of electricity shoots right through me, entering my eyes and immediately filling my body. But the jolt is literally focused on my heart, which is set ablaze with passion and emotion; set ablaze like the tree that inspied the fire within me.

Sometimes, like yesterday when I took this photo, I will make my experience auditory by singing out an evocative expletive. When that happens, I literally forget where I am, so lost in the rapture of the moment. That reality is evidenced by the fact that when I saw this tree, which is in the city, where there were several people within earshot, I sung out something like "Sweet Jesus! Look at that beautiful fuckin' tree!"

I don't sing out like that when I'm with someone else. But when I'm by myself, at times that I am hit by beauty such as this, the expression of the incredible impact it has on me is worth the perceived political incorrectness.

 ©2012 Clint Piatelli & Red F Publishing. All Rights Reserved.

Up On A Roof

       I’ve spent a lot of time on this roof. As a teenager, I would go up there just to get away. It offered a unique perspective of my environment.
       Many of us have had the feeling, certainly as adolescents, that we see things quite differently than everybody else. I sure did. Especially when I was on my roof. Being up there was a physical manifestation of my own unique experience of the world. Time seemed to stand still. And everything made sense to my eighteen year old mind.

1985

This weekend, I'm back in New Jersey, spending time with a dear friend who just lost his wife to cancer. My friend, and his beloved wife, went to Villanova with me. Many of the people I shared four years of college with came to the services last week.

In the midst of this tragedy, I experience not only a near suffocating sadness, but a sense of profound gratitude. I am grateful that these people who I so deeply love are still a part of my life. Grateful that I have retained the core of the man they loved all those years ago, and become so much more. Grateful that I am in a place where I can so freely give my love and attention to these wonderful people. And most of all, grateful that they choose to give it so freely to me.

Here is a picture of a few of us back in 1985. The dude on the far left, Kevin, we lost just a few years ago to a stroke. But he is still with us. As is our beloved AnneMarie, who we just lost last week.

If I had just one wish from a magic Genie, it would be a simple one. I would wish to stay as physically and emotionally and as mentally and as spiritually connected to all the people I love in my life for the rest of eternity. I know I can never get that wish, but I can do everything in my power to make it come true for me for as long as I am alive on this earth. And part of that means posting pictures like this and proclaiming, from the bottom of my heart, and with every cell in my body, how much I Love These People. And How Much I Always Will.