• Plants,  quotes

    Wonder

    April 30, 2022
    A bedraggled dandelion from the archives

    Wonder at reality demands the humility to sit at the foot of a dandelion. The proud are so full of themselves that there is little room to marvel at anything else.

    Thomas Dubay

    Our world is a mix of both, those who look with awe and wonder at the world and those who only look in their mirror. Hopefully, many of those looking in the mirror learn to turn away. I’m one of them. As a young man it was all about fishing, camping, anything outdoorsy. Then somewhere between the ages of 18-40 years the focus was on the American dream: the career, a family, a home, a car, the pursuit of money. Seemed to always be some carrot dangling out there. I spent a share of my life vainly looking at the mirror.

    I won’t list all the changes in my life which have allowed me to see life differently. But I do. I’ve heard it called finding a new pair of glasses. With these glasses I’ve discovered I know I don’t know it all, nor do I need to know it all, yet striving to become all that I can be. I’ve come to know it as humility. I become a teacher only by living as a student of life, knowing I will never know it all. Now I sit at the foot of dandelions and ants and sunrises… in wonder of it all!

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  • Black and White,  flowers,  Plants

    Thinking Out Loud

    August 18, 2018

    A World of Black and White
    A World of Black and White

    Perfectionism implies there’s a need to compare and judge, placing myself above or below, better or less than others or some standard that I set or society sets. It spawns worry, more judging, creates false ideas and beliefs. But, it is the need for my imperfections, and those of others, to learn and grow from. Just thinking out loud.

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  • flowers,  Plants,  sunsets

    Suspended in Air

    August 13, 2014

    Suspended in Air
    Suspended in Air

    Last nights walk through Rowland Moore Park allowed me to see nature do, what I thought, was a very strange thing. From a distance I noticed a leaf suspended in mid-air. I stopped and moved closer. It looked like a blade of grass had poked through a hole in the leaf and was holding it up. So, I grabbed a photo and continued on my walk. After loading it on the computer and lowering my exposure, I was able to see that the leaf was suspended in the air because it had fallen on a spiderweb. The sensor saw it but my eyes did not. The walk also included a photo of the setting sun bursting through tree branches and couple huge dandelions, everyones favorite flower.

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  • Canon Powershot G12,  Cityscapes/Urban,  mountains,  Plants

    My Kind of Morning

    May 14, 2013

    Dandelions

    I saw this group of dandelions along the bike bath at Rolland Moore Park yesterday and just had to stop and take a photo. I find it strange how some people call them weeds and others don’t. I actually rode on a part of the bike trail I had never been on before. At the far west end the trail is the Spring Canyon Community Park. Wow, was I surprised at it’s size and beauty. It is nestled up against the foothills so the view is awesome. I found a picnic table situated among a butterfly garden and journaled for a while. I loved listening to a couple of meadow larks calling to each other. I think this will be a place I come to visit more often. Anyway it was my kind of morning.

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  • Plants

    A low perspective

    April 24, 2010

    Dandelions

    Are they weeds or flowers? Or are they both, a weed that has a flower? A quick search on Wikipedia came up with some interesting information about dandelions. It s considered a weedy species, especially in lawns and along roadsides, but it is sometimes used as a medical herb and in food preparation. They are important plants for bees. Not only is their flowering used as an indicator that the honey bee season is starting, but they are also an important source of nectar and pollen early in the season. Dandelion pollen is a common allergen and is a common component in bee pollen. This allergen may be commonly responsible for asthma, allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis and contact dermatitis in sensitive individuals. I found these in the Inniswood Garden’s lawn, which is the lawn where most people would prefer they stayed.

    Anyway the gist of this post is about perspective and not giving you information on dandelions. Paul Lester has an older post on his experience of a lower perspective which I agree with, and a pretty good image. With the development of the photographers eye through practice we do pickup on the vision of our world from a different perspective We yearn to see it from new directions.

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