Liberation

Seasons come and go

Sun-kissed wintertide buoys heart

Spirit wears death well

© Ilija Lukić 2026

Sun-kissed Wintertide

Timeworn stumps at Mary Holmes Park playground

Embracing Life's Journey

As days get longer and warmer, woodlands near our home shake off impacts of recent arctic chills and rouse from winter slumber.

I cannot resist the call of the wild and before long find myself rambling down a favorite stretch of forest trails. Naturally, the excursion rekindles primal instincts, but also a longing to embark on a fresh journey of self-discovery—best served by solitude and unburdened mind. Forest secrets once shrouded by snows are now laid bare and encourage soul-searching—a personal journey to understand my reason for being.

Quietude makes woodlands a coveted playground for fertile imaginations. Simple treasures like a wisp of soft bird plumage buoyed by leaf litter turns into an ethereal breath, a sigh of an angel. A large stone bejeweled with blue oxidation surfacing through woodland debris stirs a sense of wonder and invites curiosity, akin a patch of the eternal blue sky after a storm-wracked day. Even tangled messes of deadfall covered by pine straw duff highlight the perfection of their intended design, as their unsung sacrifice completes the circle of life. And finally, what would theater on life’s grand stage be without an audience. Unbidden, fantastic stick figures emerge from shadowy hollows and materialize in sun drenched spaces. Once majestic branches in trees— adorned with colorful leafy lichen— and now earthbound after summer tempests, they stand in silent adulation of the broad strokes and fine details that are their woodland sanctuary.

Said vibrant tapestry of existence—woven from diverse threads, yet an interlocking narrative about life—begs reflection and invites mindful pauses to appreciate the beauty of the natural world. In the quietude of the wood on a sun-kissed late-winter afternoon, these unassuming envoys of divine providence reveal secrets that strike a chord in my heart and speak to my soul in whispers that gather momentum and swell to a profound crescendo…embrace life’s journey.

© Ilija Lukić 2026

Unsung Sacrifice

Silent Adulation

Embracing Life's Journey

Divine Whisper

Wracked Allure

After recent bone-chilling days, a welcome mid-February thaw provides a few days of respite. At Jordan Lake overwintering seagulls shed and replace winter garb with breeding plumage. For miles on end, feathers and down drift on lake waters and collect in wrack deposits along rugged eastern shorelines.

© Ilija Lukić 2026

Wracked Allure

Ebenezer Church Point shore on Jordan Lake NC

Primal Poetry

Large congregations of overwintering Ring-billed Gulls still gather on Jordan Lake beaches. Now and then they take flight, akin a whirlwind of feathered aerialists. It's a primal response to threats from predators or to mob a beach-combing human intruder.

Like ominous whispers of impending doom, said living cloud of aviators rising into hazy skies is a fearsome deterrent to those who trespass into their domain. Yet, the beauty of the swirling and tumbling spectacle of aerial acrobatics also tugs at heartstrings—it’s primal poetry in motion.

© Ilija Lukić 2026

Winged Whispers

Ebenezer Church Point public beach on Jordan Lake NC

Lifetides

Dawn spills rose hues over snowbound hollows,

Lets human heart find snow-globe-like escape,

Chase hopes, dreams and joys of bright tomorrows

That restore the soul as new self takes shape.

© Ilija Lukić 2026

Rosy Wintertide

On Cobble Ridge in Pittsboro NC

Vanished Sun's Ashes

Where one day past celestial fires raged,

Newborn winter mists quench cosmic passion

And icy hush has astral flames upstaged—

With sky’s hearth cold, realm of light turns ashen. 

© Ilija Lukić 2026

Primordial Dust

Toching Eternity

Angel Down

Just watching snow sift onto cobbled shore

Comforts my weary heart, it’s angel down.

Said stroke of grace heals earthly scars at core

And helps forge inner peace without one frown.

© Ilija Lukić 2026

Angel Down

Jordan Lake shore at Farrington Road

Breathless Anticipation

Remnants of last weekend’s ice apocalypse still linger in deep woodlands and sun-sheltered nooks and crannies across landscapes as well as urban spaces. As wildlife rebounds with innate recovery behavior, people return to more normal winter routines.

However, today there is increased urgency in foraging among wild creatures and food markets brim with shoppers in preparation for a follow-up punch of raw winter weather. Significant snows and extreme cold are in the forecast for this weekend. All denizens of Central North Carolina breathlessly anticipate winter storm Gianna’s softer, albeit much snowier landing in contrast to the gelid chaos wrought last week by her cousin Fern.

© Ilija Lukić 2026

Breathless Anticipation

Seaforth Peninsula on Jordan Lake NC

Alive And Kickin'

Over the last few days raw winter weather keeps me close to home hearth fires, growing whiskers and reminiscing about rookie firefighter days.

In mind’s eye I catch and ride the tailboard of a 530-series structural firefighting pumper, as a crew member responding to a house fire—in sub-zero Upper Michigan climes at KI Sawyer Air Force Base. We lived and breathed our creed: Desire to Serve - Ability to Perform - Courage to Act.

Lost in reverie ‘bout bygone days, I ease bone-chilling recollections with a room-temperature shot of Šljivovica (plum brandy) followed by a cup of freshly-brewed Earl Grey Tea and a slice of my wife Melanie’s widely-desired cheese cake.

Before long, my mind drifts into balmy breezes and tranquility of sunlit beach-combing adventures.

Reflecting on these memories leaves me with a light heart and ends on an upbeat note, as I contemplate finishing my painting of an American Bald Eagle. Heart and soul soar on said eagle’s wings, ready for untold creative and physical adventures.

© Ilija Lukić 2026

Alive And Kickin'

Medallion presented by Lajes Fire Department from Terceira on Azores, Portugal on the occasion of my retirement in the year 2000

Red Eastern Cedar driftwood

On Eagle's Wings

Winter's Danse Macabre

Jack Frost holds court past first cockcrow,

Intent on hosting dance of death,

Mid glaze ice and Hominy Snow

And fleeting skiff of winter’s breath.

 Ilija Lukić 2026

In the wake of Winter Storm Fern, wildlands as well as people and underpinnings of human activity suffer the beauty—albeit ravages—of sleet, graupel, glaze ice and dusting with flour-sifter snows. Old Man Winter’s minions spill single-digit arctic temperatures across landscapes and relatively warm Jordan Lake waters, where winter’s gelid airs  create a vaporous haze above the liquid plain. The wheel of life seems to pause in the profound absence of life’s hustle and bustle. The palpable quietude overwhelms senses, yet frees heart and soul to soar in defiance of winter’s danse macabre.

A Skiff Of Winter's Breath

Surrender To Stillness

Be still my heart,

  surrender to stillness.

Let go of fear—

  draw on calm and respite,

Veiled ‘neath unease

  and feelings of duress,

In silver linings of life—

  embrace it.

© Ilija Lukić 2026

It’s been a quiet, uneasy peace with forebodings of chaos amplified by dire prognostications of raw winter weather and scurrying of humanity to prepare for the worst. In the next few days Central North Carolina will host a shindig of warm upper atmosphere southerlies from the Gulf of America and arctic northeasterlies at ground level—the most likely and unwelcome fallout, a heavy glazing of ice, a perfect silver storm.  

Surrender To Stillness

Seaforth Peninsula at Jordan Lake NC

Mindful Purpose

A copse of trees in mindful unison

Finds peace as they reflect ‘bout unity

With raw lake breezes, warmth of winter sun

And life in harmony, designed prudently.

© Ilija Lukić 2026

My post this day is a tribute to a group of nearly two dozen Buddhist monks from Ft Worth TX on their 2,300-mile Walk for Peace…their stated purpose”…not to protest, but to awaken the peace that already lives within each of us.” They will spend the afternoon and night here in Pittsboro and continue their trek in the morning.

I wish them Godspeed in their endeavor to encourage people of all walks of life to come together in the spirit of compassion, mutual respect and understanding.

Cooper's Cove on Jordan Lake NC

Spiritual Surrender

While dayspring unfolds
  a masterful work of art,
Wherein rose-hued skies
  rain liquid tranquility 
And gently affirm 
  divine grace within my heart—
Soul soars, I’m content,
  heart brims with humility.

© Ilija Lukić 2026

Rose-Hued Tranquility

Jordan Lake NC in drought

Gelid Flotilla

Our backyard thermometer, mounted near a patio door on the northern exposure of our home, flirts with afternoon high temperatures in the mid to upper thirties.

At Jordan Lake timid westerlies barely ruffle surface water. Overnight lows in the teens form first ice near secluded shorelines. Ring-billed Gulls appear to ignore the bone-chilling effects of the gelid water and huddle in silent flotillas wherever placid, wind-sheltered shallows are available. Single-digit lows and snowfall are in the forecast.

© Ilija Lukić 2026

Gelid Flotilla

Rete Mirabile - Miraculous Rest

Yesterday’s weather system brought meager rains and a half-hour of wet snow flurries with its trailing edge. As the arctic airs continue to spill into our neighborhoods and countryside, last remnants of said snow linger into afternoon hours.

Why then, with biting breezes and gelid Jordan Lake waters do overwintering Ring-billed Gulls prefer to congregate in wind-sheltered open water and shallows?

It’s not just for predator-free roosting and safety. This curious behavior also happens to be the most energy-efficient way to rest, because of unique biological designs and adaptations to manage the cold. Their leg blood vessels use a specialized, countercurrent heat exchange system that keeps their core warm. And, since the feet have little muscle and nerve tissue, they are resistant to freezing damage…a miraculous design.

© Ilija Lukić 2026

Gull Haven

Winter Visitors

Coastal Carolina seabirds are known winter visitors at Jordan Lake NC and often congregate on leeward shorelines. While most of their opportunistic, omnivore brethren are in pursuit of food, a small flock of Ring-billed Gulls enjoy a fleeting respite in sheltered shallows on an exposed tip of sandy lakebed—where the Seaforth Peninsula eases into drought-stricken lake waters. Weather forecasters call for a meager reprieve with rain, then snow followed by bone-chilling cold..

© Ilija Lukić 2026

Winter Visitors

Ring-billed Gulls at exposed lakebed on Jordan Lake NC

Old Man Willow's Sanctuary

Several venerable Willow Oaks (quercus phellos)—majestic veterans of onslaughts by storm and flood—thrive in the lakeside environment. The secluded area under their stately canopies and among gnarly sapling boles is an inviting sanctuary for wildlife. The oaks are also known as Water Oak, Peach Oak and Swamp Chestnut Oak.

The trees provide shade on hot summer days and hold cold breezes at bay in winter. The wind shadow of said stand of oaks—unmistakably shoreline sentinels as well as attention-grabbers—encourages winter visitors like Ring-billed Gulls to rest, fish and socialize in adjacent lake shallows.

© Ilija Lukić 2026

Old Man Willow's Sanctuary

Seaforth Peninsula on Jordan Lake NC

Home Free

Purpose fulfilled...home free and basking in afternoon shafts of sunshine piercing dense pine stands, a piece of Eastern Red Cedar (juniperus virginiana) driftwood deposited by summer flooding rests in winter slumber among Loblolly Pine cones—the latter, dressed to the nines. Their bluish patina is a natural decay process indicating fungal activity. 

I pause my meander through shoreline woodlands and lend heart and ear to stories of the winter wood, as spun by said pine cones. Their subtle dialog defies the chill breath of Old Man Winter, as they whisper of life in windblown canopies on the Seaforth Peninsula. But they also spill admiration and marvel at the cedar branch's tales of an arduous river cruise. After all, it was severed many miles away by thunderstorm squalls near the headwaters of the mighty Haw River. 

Before I head out, the cedar branch gives a parting nudge to my sense of self-discovery. Are we kin, threads of the same cosmic tapestry, made of the same stardust? Behold, it sighs as it touts its shape—a monogram of my last name. 

© Ilija Lukić 2026

Home Free

Self-Discovery

Time abides no one...

  unseen, yet flows in ripples

  called life’s ebb and flow.

Best witnessed when quietude

  reveals rare eddies

  in the endless tides of life—

Doors to self-discovery—

  which help clear life’s noise,

  restore glum, despondent heart

  and lost, downcast soul…

Heart learns who you truly are,

  when you shed guise and mask.

© Ilija Lukić 2026

Alone

Views from Seaforth Peninsula of distant Ebenezer Church Beach, Jordan Lake NC

Riding For The Brand

Working the spread since daybreak, cowboy time,

Ridin’ for the brand and kickin’ up dust,

Till summoned by chuck wagon dinner chime,

While skies pour gold ‘cross Dutch oven cobbler crust.

© Ilija Lukic 2026

Ridin' For The Brand

Laser-cut, brushed metal sculpture...unknown Clovis NM artisan

(acquired during my years on the High Plains of Eastern New Mexico)