Tag: nature (Page 2 of 4)

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Dahlia23oct12g

The dahlias waited till the very last minute to get all dressed up and flaunt their beauty.

Dahlia23oct12l

Such delicate beauty that unfolds

Dahlia23oct12k

and unfolds
seems a perfect companion to Nancy’s drawing.

Dahlia23oct12a

The touch of the natural and timely frost
creates a stained and withered look, a natural and timely beauty.

Dahlia23oct12d

Next year we will plant them in a different place,
a spot that’s easier to get to, perhaps.
We will put them in the ground earlier
and we will get sturdier, taller stakes to support their sizable blooms.
We are learning.

~~~~~~~~~

She is my developmentally disabled sister-in-law, Nancy,
and I am Jeanne, the woman who flat-out loves her.
Go here to start at the beginning.

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Despite the homeopathic jet lag remedy that keeps me from feeling like a big truck ran over me at least three times, I slept a mere 2.5 winks last night . . . and they weren’t consecutive winks. But three walks today helped immensely. Nature has a way of sorting things out for me, showing me things I need to see, shoring me for what needs to be done. And sometimes, Mother Nature just makes me chortle . . .

We took a different path today:

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Saw a tree that looked to be outgrowing its bark:

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and another tree that appeared hollow on the inside:

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The bark grew in beautiful patterns around this rotten interior, however, creating a captivating exterior with beautiful moss accessories:

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We spied stones stacked atop one another to prevent further erosion:

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and we saw a stoney face – do you see it?

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Here. Let me clear away some of the surrounding rubble. Can you see it now?

75rocks1cropped

We saw flowers that prefer cooler temperatures, blooming one more time because they can:

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and a barn that would make a fetching (if cold in the winter) studio:

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Then, on the way back, what to our wandering eyes should appear but a gigantic heart of stone:

Heartboulder

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Nature restores my soul every time.

~~~~~~~~~

She is my developmentally disabled sister-in-law, Nancy,
and I am Jeanne, the woman who flat-out loves her.
Go here to start at the beginning and read your way current.
And there’s a pinterest board, too.

day after day after day

Fether1

How we feel about events, respond to them, transform them and judge them, is a matter of the shape of our spirit, the corrugation of the feathers in our wings. And this, the shape of our spirit, our way of reflecting the world, is something we must work to create and tend, day after day after day.
~~ Kathleen Dean Moore ~~

Feather2

How did you shape your spirit today?
Reflect the world?
Create and tend?

Regale me.
Right here
right now,
regale me.

More about 365 Altars

drawing near, bending close

Dahlia1

this year
i discovered
dahlias.
discovered,
more specifically,
that i can grow them.

Dahlia2

i also discovered
instagr.am
and fell flat out
in love
with photography,
realizing
what a visual
person i am.
and how i take
pictures
the way i present
myself in life:
only a wee little
bit at a time.
perceived safety and all.
we’ll talk more about that
later.

Sunflower1

Sunflower2

i discovered
sunflowers this year, too.
oh, i knew sunflowers
from way back.
in graduate school,
i’d trek up to stowe
for some good wine,
good chocolate,
and roadside
sunflowers,
sold on the
honor system.

Sunflower3

but this year,
thanks to the
help of my
camera
(iphone 4, no less)
i came to
know both
dahlias and sunflowers
in a different,
more intimate way,
much as jane kenyon
came to know
peonies . . .

Dahlia3

In the darkening June evening
I draw a blossom near, and bending close
search it as a woman searches
a loved one’s face.

Sunflowerdying1

sunflowers,
like so many people i’ve been honored to know,
age
and eventually die
with grace.
something you’re
bound to see
if you don’t just gaze
or look
or glimpse
but see,
deeply,
lovingly
see.

Sunflowerdying7

acquainted

Sunflowerfamily

at first glance,
it’s obvious she belongs to
the Sunflower family.
the family resemblance is obvious.

Sunflowerpetals1

those yellow petals
shining brightly
from the dark center
of seeds.
future generations of Sunflowers.

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but sit with her,

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take a while to get to know her,

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and you’ll see that
while yes,
she is a Sunflower,

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she is more
than who she’s related to,
more than the
geography
from which she
comes.

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so much more.

Sunflower2

and maybe
not at all
what you
thought she was
when you knew her
only as a Sunflower.

so many ways

All things are symbolic by their very nature
and all talk of something beyond themselves.
~Thomas Merton

There are

Riviera1

so many ways

Sangria1

to see

Sangria8

a dahlia,

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each of them

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beautiful

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in their own

Sangria15

unique

Sangria

way

Sangria16

if you ask me.

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and i can’t help

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but wonder

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how different things would be if

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we could see

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people

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as dahlias.

war bride

WarBride1

“i was a war bride,” she says. “we were so scared – things were changing so fast – we needed something to hold onto and we knew marriage even if we didn’t know each other.”

“but i wouldn’t do it again. no, i definitely wouldn’t do it again.”

///

maybe it’s because my daddy worked in a rock quarry,
maybe it’s because i collected rocks as a kid,
maybe it’s because i’m plum nelly crazy.
whatever the reason,
i see stories in stone.
stoneiatures, i call them.
if you’d like to see the context,
the complete photo,
come right this way
. . .

Continue reading

voice lessons

Bothsidesofhermouth

she had reached
that certain age
where it seemed
to those who had
known her for a long time
that she was of
two mouths
and it often seemed to those
on the receiving end
that the mouth in the back
of her head
was full of
jagged, razor-sharp, uncensored teeth.

it didn’t take long,
as it turned out,
for that toothy, cheeky,
big ole’ mouth
with the prominent overbite
to become
her favorite
way to communicate.

///

maybe it’s because my daddy worked in a rock quarry,
maybe it’s because i collected rocks as a kid,
maybe it’s because i’m plum nelly crazy.
whatever the reason,
i see stories in stone.
stoneiatures, i call them.
if you’d like to see the context,
the complete photo,
come right this way
. . .

Continue reading

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Hey, Sugar! I'm Jeanne Hewell-Chambers: writer ~ stitcher ~ storyteller ~ one-woman performer ~ creator & founder of The 70273 Project, and I'm mighty glad you're here. Make yourself at home, and if you have any questions, just holler.

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