Tag Archives: nature
The world is full
“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” — W. B. Yeats Awhile back we had an interesting discussion with Boomdee in the comments after she mentioned the rabbits in her world changing colors with the seasons. Until then, I didn’t know about the Snowshoe Hare, which turns white …
Created for the transcendent
“We were made to enjoy music, to enjoy beautiful sunsets, to enjoy looking at the billows of the sea and to be thrilled with a rose that is bedecked with dew…Human beings are actually created for the transcendent, for the sublime, for the beautiful, for the truthful…and all of us are given the task of …
For a moment
“I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance that I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn.” — Henry David Thoreau Not long ago Jeff called me to the front …
By the window
What life can compare to this? Sitting quietly by the window, I watch the leaves fall and the flowers bloom, As the seasons come and go. — Hsueh-Tou Don’t you love sitting quietly by a window? I don’t make enough time for it. I always find it calming; the combination of sunlight (or moonlight) and …
Blooming most recklessly
“Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night.” — Rainer Maria Rilke I probably say this every year, but I can’t remember when I was more eager for spring. Because I was expecting visitors in late March and early April, …
Sweet remembrancers
…Thus in each flower and simple bell, That in our path untrodden lie, Are sweet remembrancers who tell How fast the winged moments fly. Time will steal on with ceaseless pace, Yet lose we not the fleeting hours, Who still their fairy footsteps trace, As light they dance among the flowers. — Charlotte Turner Smith …
Showing off
“I’m lying in my room listening to the birds outside. I used to think they sang because they were happy. But then I learned on a nature show they’re really showing off.” — Jo Knowles So much for our romantic anthropomorphism. But for a bird, maybe showing off is a cheerful sort of thing to …
Fascinating to watch
“The common animals, birds and insects that are found in a little yard in the city are as fascinating to watch, and as fruitful in affording the careful observer a glimpse into some of the mysteries of nature, as are the rare and uncommon creatures of some far-off land.” – Leonard Dubkin While our tour …
Dressed in snow
“It felt as though the whole globe was dressed in snow. Like it has pulled it on, the way you pull on a sweater. Next to the train line, footprints were sunken to their shins. Trees wore blankets of ice..” ― Markus Zusak Just when I thought we were in for a fairly mild winter, …
Different from the sum of its parts
“When I looked, I knew I might never again see so much of the earth so beautiful, the beautiful being something you know added to something you see, in a whole that is different from the sum of its parts. What I saw might have been just another winter scene, although an impressive one. But …
All about us
“It seems to me that people are forever traveling great distances, and journeying to strange countries, to see things that, if they only knew it, exist beside their own doorstep…Whether one goes to nature for truth, or for beauty, for knowledge or for relaxation, these things can be found in a yard in the city …
All the magic
“The Sussex lanes were very lovely in the autumn. I started going for long lone country walks among the spendthrift gold and glory of the year-end, giving myself up to the earth-scents and the sky-winds and all the magic of the countryside which is ordained for the healing of the soul.” — Monica Baldwin Saturday …
The right way
“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” ― Frances Hodgson Burnett Recently on an early evening walk, I was basking in the new cool of September, and as I approached our Alexandria townhome I looked over the expanse behind it and felt almost as if I …
You learn to pay attention
“When you are where wild bears live, you learn to pay attention to the rhythm of the land and yourself. Bears not only make the habitat rich, they enrich us just by being.”― Linda Jo Hunter If I lived where my brother lives, I would certainly pay a lot of attention when I ventured out …
A running flame
“Autumn burned brightly, a running flame through the mountains, a torch flung to the trees.” — Faith Baldwin If you live in the northern hemisphere, I hope you are close enough to visit some area where the torch of autumn is lighting up the forests. Not all of us live near mountains, but anywhere there …
Delicious
“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.” — George Eliot The scene pictured above is one of my favorite places in our neighborhood. There is a pond just to the left, where you can’t see it in …
Autumn has seized the countryside
“The magic of autumn has seized the countryside; now that the sun isn’t ripening anything it shines for the sake of the golden age…” ― Elizabeth Coatsworth I would miss so much if I didn’t get out and walk. This neighbor’s yard, like so many, would be harder to appreciate through the windshield of a …
Bright and demanding
“She liked anything orange: leaves; some moons; marigolds; chrysanthemums; cheese; pumpkin, both in pie and out; orange juice; marmalade. Orange is bright and demanding. You can’t ignore orange things.” — Catherynne M. Valente Though I’ve never thought of orange as one of my favorite colors, I love the way it brightens this time of year. …
The full value of trees
“I never before knew the full value of trees. My house is entirely embosomed in high plane-trees, with good grass below; and under them I breakfast, dine, write, read, and receive my company. What would I not give that the trees planted nearest round the house at Monticello were full grown.” — Thomas Jefferson Because …
A natural affinity
“Children have a natural affinity towards nature. Dirt, water, plants, and small animals attract and hold children’s attention for hours, days, even a lifetime.” — Robin C. Moore and Herb H Wong One of the best ways to enjoy nature is to tag along with a child or two. They notice things we have forgotten …
Outdoors in
“Bring the outdoors in. Plants make for a happy home.” – Mr Jason Grant There were a lot of ways my mother created a happy home for us, and one of them was the way she loved plants, indoors and out. She was often joked about spoken of in regard to her composting and organic …
If we only knew
“Good heavens, of what uncostly material is our earthly happiness composed— if we only knew it! What incomes have we not had from a flower, and how unfailing are the dividends of the seasons!” — James Russell Lowell It’s hard to choose a favorite season, but this time of year I’m especially aware of the …
Finished and complete
“For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught …
Defeat Despair 