Beyond words

Perhaps it is not the presence of language that defines brilliance,
but rather, the ability to create something which is beyond words.

Please click on photos to see detail.

Life lesson from a Quince

It never ceases to amaze me--the resiliency of nature.
That trees, stressed in last summer's drought to the point of dropping leaves much ahead of fall, can rebound with such force.
And fill their branches with hundreds of wildly blooming flowers, plump and luscious.
When I wondered if they'd return at all.



And I find another lesson in wondering how this can be.

Wait and worry not in the trying times.
Conserve your energy.
For next season, there will be opportunity.
Be ready.
Flower wildly.

Plum

Cherry

Autumn Olive
(Invasive in Ohio)

Tatarian (?) Honeysuckle
(Invasive in Ohio)

Flowering Quince





Thanks to Mrs. Nesbit for hosting ABC Wednesday!

Decisions, decisions, decisions

In our family, I’m known to explain things—to attempt to understand why things are as they are, and share the revelation with others. Not that what I end up with is "right"—there are many ends, once you start down a road. But, as much for myself as for others, I am rewarded with a settled feeling when I make sense of this world…an assurance that, whatever the issue, there will be resolution. Once resolved, set aside.
Most often, I find my understanding has come from nature--perhaps because I look for it there, perhaps because nature willingly shares it.

I can recall, one spring, watching a nesting robin repeatedly lay strands of grass against a small branch outside my window. For days she brought piece after piece—yet, none held fast. I worried she would continue without end—so long she fussed at that spot. But, weeks later, I found her “happily” nested in the adjacent bush. How long do you keep at something that isn’t working? Long enough to be able to say you’ve given it your best effort—not so long as it prevents you from getting on with the egg-laying of life.
Last February’s ice storm glazed the same tree—the branch heavy with its coating of ice, fell. Sometimes our choices are taken away.

Right now, I’m choosing paint.
A lover of color, I’ve decided upon brown.
The absence of color can be beautiful, too.

Yarrow

Goldenrod