• flowers,  Plants,  quotes

    Beholding…

    There’s a difference between seeing something and beholding it.

    Martin Shaw

    The sun shines, the wind blows, the leaves on the trees dance wildly, robins sing happily, squirrels chase one another, a flotilla of pelicans float on the reservoir, and white clouds drift across the blue sky. There is so much beauty around us to see and behold. They all grab my attention, maybe even calling to me. I hope you had a wonderful Friday and may you have a wonderful weekend!!!

  • flowers,  landscape,  Plants,  rants

    Even the Onions

    Taken in 2005

    This beautiful field of sunflowers is now a high school with a huge parking lot, three baseball fields, a half dozen tennis courts, and a massive football stadium. And, directly behind me is over a mile of houses (Starting in the low $400s the signs say). Along with the houses comes buried sewer lines, water lines, gas lines, electrical lines, paved streets, concrete sidewalks, all required infrastructure needing years of constant maintenance against nature’s attempt to reclaim it’s world. And there’s a quick stop place for our gas guzzling cars and to purchase unhealthy foods. For such a large area it would be almost impossible to actually touch the earth as most of it is covered with concrete and asphalt.. The farmer that previously owned this field would alternate the sunflowers with onions yearly. Personally, I preferred the sunflowers over the onions but I will take the onions over what is now there. Saturday morning on my way to meet Eric for coffee I realized how much I miss those sunflowers, even the onions.

  • flowers,  Plants,  quotes

    It Just Blooms

    Daffodils

    I spent part of late yesterday afternoon at the CSU Flower Trial Gardens. With my camera and tripod I meandered around for awhile. It is still early in the season so they do not have much planted. And, even though it was a beautiful day there were not many people there. But, I left with the hope of what is to come and the desire to spend more time there this summer. It is not that far of a bicycle ride and there will always be little gems to find. And for me there is also a gift that flowers offer with their beauty, peace and silence. And in today’s competitive world more time among Creation’s gifts is needed for the spirit.

    “A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms.”

    Koshin Ogui
  • flowers,  quotes

    Present Here and Now

    Snow topped tulips from March 2024

    When we focus our attention on our breath,
    we find out very quickly that we are a living reality,
    present here and now,
    sitting on this beautiful planet Earth.

    Thich Nhat Hanh
  • flowers,  poems,  quotes

    Let me linger…

    A busy bee and daisies

    It may be a product of getting older
    But sometimes I want to stop time.

    I want to make the sunsets last just a little longer.
    I want the quiet mornings to go on and on

    The laughter at the dinner table
    To stretch out into a whole evening
    The beauty of the clouds as they race
    Across the valley to never end.

    It is not that I want to freeze reality, just slow it down.
    I want life to move as slowly as I do.
    For I have learned that life moves far too fast as it is.
    It is a joy that endures but briefly
    Made of moments that pass as quickly as hummingbirds.

    Let me linger in the love I feel.
    Let me see the light for as long as I can.

    Steven Charleston, Spirit Wheel

    I stopped on my ride this evening because these daisies caught my eye. However, I was not the only one interested in the daisies as this bee busily flitted from flower to flower. So busy in fact, I never got a good infocus shot. Oh well. I watched and lingered and loved the moment.