Day 7, A Bouquet for You. “I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.” John Burroughs. I miss my friends. I miss our … Continue reading A Seven Day Bouquet: Day 7
Day 5, Antelope Horns “I go to books and to nature as the bee goes to a flower, for a nectar that I can make into my own honey.” John Burroughs, The Summit of the Years. Observing nature is not only about what we see, but about what is awaken in us by what we … Continue reading A Seven Day Bouquet: Day 5
Day 4 of a Seven Day Bouquet, White flowers. “In the field of natural history, things escape us because the actors are small, and the stage is very large and more or less veiled and obstructed. The movement is quick across a background that tends to conceal rather than expose it. In the printed page … Continue reading A Seven Day Bouquet: Day 4
DAY 2 of a Seven Day Bouquet, yellow flowers. “So far as seeing things is an art, it is the art of keeping your eyes and ears open. The art of nature is all in the direction of concealment. The birds, the animals, all the wild creatures, for the most part try to … Continue reading A Seven Day Bouquet: Day 2
When the late spring green deepens, the landscape turns from thin and twiggy to lush and bold, and the coming summer skies begin to dance. It is a certain refrain of the season during an uncertain time. And while the confident scene of the larger landscape comforts, it blends many of nature’s treasures into a … Continue reading A Seven Day Bouquet: Day 1
What a pallet upon which to place tiny treasures. The bursting of spring across the landscape is a painterly expression attributed to one artist. The view changes at each moment in millions of moves — the budding leaves and flowers, the emerging colors, and the sprouting blades and … Continue reading Spring, See it with the Heart
It’s winter for a short time more and the ranch is wearing winter colors — cold blues, shades of gray, and gentle browns bitten by freeze. I love a winter day that points to spring while carrying along memories of fall. Today I am in my swing, a favorite spot to write, looking out … Continue reading Come Walk Through the Grass
Oh, little bird, why did you visit — to entertain, to prick, to haunt, to teach? To hear each spring the birds announce the return of familiar flowers, longer sunlit days, and a cast of budding greens, awakens my senses to pay attention. That a wren announces this intensity of life is no wonder. Compared … Continue reading Oh, Little Bird, Why Did You Visit?
On most visits to the ranch lasting more than a day, I gather plant material — whether bare branches or full blooms — and make an arrangement to display at the house. It might be a simple zinnia or fern frond in a vase, an oversized arrangement of fall leaves and grasses, or a quickly … Continue reading Seeking Flowers, Finding Spiders, Considering the Lilies