• clouds,  consumer,  flowers,  landscape,  natural areas,  Plants,  prairie,  quotes

    I Relate

    June 21, 2020
    Salsify plant found in a local Natural Area

    “I am still a consumer; the consumer world was the world I emerged into, whose air I breathed for a very long time, and its assumptions still dominate my psyche—but maybe a little less each year….There are times when I can feel the spell breaking in my mind….There are times when I can almost feel myself simply being.”

    Bill McKibben

    I must confess consumerism has been a struggle most of my life. I easily fall prey to the  daily bombardment of marketing, always suggesting I purchase something I don’t need and can’t afford. There, also, has been a long history of buying today with tomorrow’s check. Mix these two together and we have trouble. For the past several years I buy only with money I already have and for things that are needed rather than wanted or enticed with. It’s taken a few years but I feel the spell is also breaking in my mind. So, I relate to his quote.

    Happy Father’s Day!

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  • flowers,  Plants,  poems

    The Storm Has Passed

    June 9, 2020
    Salsify found at Pineridge Natural Area last week

    There is buried within us
    a beauty hidden so deep
    that we would think
    it would sleep forever.
    But there are those,
    whose eyes so luminous shine,
    they reflect upon our universe
    the light of the Divine. 

    Reflection by Edwina Gateley

    High winds began around 7:00 pm last night. About the time I went to bed we were experiencing lightning, thunder, rain and hail.  Made for a rather noisy night. This morning it is overcast, gusting winds and cold at 48 degrees. Does not feel close to what we’d expect of a June morning but the storm has passed.

    I sit here watching the trees sway with the wind. As clouds move east, patches of blue sky appear allowing the light of the sun to peek through clouds. I choose to see it as a promise of a brighter day.

    I have met people whom the poet is describing and what a difference they make in this world. They are the ones who shine their light when the darkness of the storm is all we see. I believe more people are shining that much needed Divine light in our world. So, I choose to see that as a promise this morning. Maybe the storm of our troubled world has passed over.

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  • flowers,  Plants,  quotes

    Being Present

    July 27, 2019

    “All that we can do with any spiritual discipline is produce within ourselves something of the silence, the humility, the detachment, the purity of heart and the indifference which are required if the inner self is to make some shy, unpredictable manifestation of his presence.”  James Finley

    Here is a link to an interesting article by William Neil.

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  • flowers,  Plants

    Flowers and Insects

    July 17, 2019

    I like how the Mercy Center has plants all over the place. There is very little grass as they have planted these wonderful flowers and a vegetable garden. One section is almost all raspberries which are very good. And, of course along with the flowers come the bees, butterflies and other insects.

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  • flowers,  Plants

    Common Chicory

    July 25, 2018
    Daisy
    Common Chicory

    Common chicory is a somewhat woody, perennial herbaceous plant of the dandelion family, usually with bright blue flowers, rarely white or pink. Many varieties are cultivated for salad leaves, chicons, or roots, which are baked, ground, and used as a coffee substitute and food additive. In the 21st century, inulin, an extract from chicory root, has been used in food manufacturing as a sweetener and source of dietary fiber.

    Chicory is grown as a forage crop for livestock. It lives as a wild plant on roadsides in its native Europe, and is now common in North America, China, and Australia, where it has become widely naturalized. “Chicory” is also the common name in the United States for curly endive; these two closely related species are often confused. (Wikipedia)

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  • Camera Equipment,  flowers,  Fujifilm X-T10,  Plants

    It Was an Accident

    August 7, 2017

    Rose of Sharon

    While wandering around the backyard of my sisters I decided to take an image of this Rose of Sharon. After pressing the shutter buton I noticed a pause in the camera and a message in my EVF that said saving. This is not normal. So after some troubleshooting I discovered I’d somehow moved the drive dial to Adv1 setting. This had placed to camera into creating an image to duplicate a toy camera. I liked how they adjusted the image. So, by accident I found something I will use in some situations. This the untouched image it produced.

     

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