Monday is the day we start out work week so I want to start mine with a reflection of the beauty of nature. Monday Macros is a good time to focus on the details of beauty around us so I give you Sunshine’s Monday Macro from my yard and wish you a beautiful start to you week.
Hoping these smiling flowers bring a smile to you. And as always remember to be kind. It shows the beauty of YOU.
Finally today the sun is shinning after a week of steady rain. I am not really complaining, we needed it badly. I pray that the Pacific coast gets some rain soon or at least relief from the fires. Yet still the south is reeling from the floods of hurricanes – 2 within a couple of days and we here in the midwest are still cleaning up from last month’s Derecho, an inland hurricane, where massive decades old trees were knocked over like toothpicks.
Weather, whether we like it or not, affects us all, sometimes good, sometimes bad. But today I am relaxing in the sun and tolerable temperatures and taking some fun pictures of the few remaining flowers as cool temperatures start leaning their lives toward their winter’s sleep. It’s hard to think of it that way since its just mid-September but last year it snowed on Halloween so…
As much as we would like to think we are in control…we really aren’t, but how we allow life to affect us as it swirls around us, plays an important role in how we survive or not and how those around us thrive or not. So for now I chose to let the sun shine in, smile with the flowers and hopefully spread some smiles in your direction.
My sincerest prayers is for all to be happy, encouraged and have the ability to enjoy the life surrounding you. Where there are troubles surrounding you, may they be short lived and may you feel the peace of Christ flow about you.
Flowers and nature make me smile so I share with you the smiles I had today.
And as always remember the beauty of kindness. All of nature understands this gift as it is from God, and we just forget to share that sometimes.
They all understand…so should we.
This is my feeder
It’s very easy to see
And I do not share
This is George. He is a hornworn caterpillar or rather a sphinx moth caterpillar. See that little pointy thing on his rear end? Or maybe its his head, not sure, all I know is he and his friends are eating up my tomato plant. If it was early summer I would be upset but my one plant is about gone so I picked all tomatoes of any size and brought them inside. They can ripen in the window.
According to what I read, once they mature into moths, they are great pollinators and encouraged by some farming communities. Since the plant is on its way out, I will let it be the food for the two worms I see. George is quite large, about the size of my finger but pictures I saw on the internet show them to get even larger. So I will study him to see how he does.
As long as he stays where he is and does not get on any other plants, I will leave him but but…don’t mess it up George or you will be a gonner.
All life and creation has a purpose, you just have to weigh what wildlife you have around you to see if you allow it to stay…if it had 8 legs….no, no, no. Don’t care if any spider is beneficial, stay out of my yard and if you come in the house…
While we try to be kind to all kinds…there is a limit to which crawly things I will tolerate. But try as much as you can to be kind when you can…
The Cycle of Life
I sit and I wonder at the beauty I see
The flicker of the light through the old oak tree
Shimmering green against the pale blue sky
Watching the birds zoom through as they fly
The grass beneath is beginning to turn brown
Still you hold every leaf so it doesn’t fall down
As the air turns cooler for this time of year
I look for the colors changes we hold so dear
For many the oak is a symbol of great life
With its strength and resilience bypassing its strife
She holds on to her leaves and sheds them last
A reminder to us all, this life goes too fast
We forget the truths of the stories we are told
That life is a cycle much purer than gold.
Anita Neal
With the understanding of life as we live through it paces, lets us never forget the stories of old that teach us the values that come from life, nature and God’s wonderful story of you. We are each His greatest creation because we reflect His love and His being. Like the old oak tree understanding the value of each leaf, God understand the value of each of us. Remember how precious you are to God and reflect His kindness wherever you go.
I have gone to great links to keep the squirrels out of my bird feeders…refusing to buy to 150.00 whirly-gig that spins them off. I think maybe I finally won…at least for now..by removing easy access to the feeder. We will see but for now, this guy look pretty disgusted. I wrote a Haiku about him earlier in the week when I first saw him sitting there, yet each day he returns to sit on this post and “study how to get to the feeder”. You can almost see the wheels turning.
After awhile he turns away but remains on the pole. Memories of an easy treat now gone.
Come join in on Nancy Merrill’s A Photo A Week and show us the squirrels in your camera’s view. And remember, even squirrels know how to be kind…
So, share the beauty of nature with a friend and be kind.
Cee’s fun Flower of the Day prompt challenges us all to see the beauty on nature. My post today takes this a step further in showing the cycle of life in a day lily. They are called day lilies as their bloom last only a day to a day in a half but the life cycle of that bloom is well over a week if not two.
The Life Cycle
The life cycle is not long for those like me
for we start very small as you can see.
My siblings and I, we number at six
On the same long shoot that looks like a stick.
With each passing day we grow to our size
Stretching our pods with goals to maximize.
The sun is so warm and helps us to grow
We all hope to open and put on a show.
Some of us grow slow and some grow fast
But the life of our bloom is one that wont last.
The life cycle is short, but shed not a tear
For behold we will come back year after year.
For those of us who so enjoy your flowers, it does get sad at the end of the season when they go to sleep or die. But we are renewed in hope knowing when spring returns they also will return.
Enjoy the beauty, love and peace of flowers and remember to share their beauty and kindness with others as they share theirs with you.
Just Not Fair
This yard is not fair
Much to hard to get the food
Don’t taste good anyway
I tried being kind to squirrels but they kept eating holes in my feeders, so I got rid of the peanuts and put nails in the tops of the boards so they cant jump to the feeder from the fence. The feeder pole has a slinky on it to keep them from climbing up. Sorry guys.
But we must always try to be kind as much as we can.
I do love my yard during the spring and summer months for all the many birds that come to visit. You can tell the difference in the younger ones who have not fully fledged out yet or got their adult colors. This morning George stopped by with his high shrill and really upset the other birds. George is a hawk. My phone does not have a good zoom and cropping made him fuzzy but still he was beautiful.
Here is a picture I took yesterday and the sun made a neat effect. George is on the stump of the tree in the center. Hopefully by Christmas I will have a real camera with a true zoom lens where I can really play.
Since I live close to a state park, we have more than the normal wildlife. Deer will walk down the street like they own the place and groundhogs will zoom through your yard as well. Here is George flying and squawking at his other brother George as they search for food.
Although my pictures are not great, they do show the beauty of nature all around us. This beauty reflects God’s love of creation and wanting to share it with us. So when outside, take in all the beauty around you and when you see something special, smile and know this was a gift given for you to enjoy.
And as always be kind…to all kinds.
In photography, your light source is of great importance, whether it be behind, in front, bright or shadowed. It helps tell your story through the eyes of the camera…and you. I like taking picture of how the sun shines around nature to highlight its beauty. Enclosed are my entries for 2020 Photo Challenge #18 featuring Light.
The March snow we had was heavy and wet but its beauty was highlighted by the bright sun behind the trees that made neat shadows.
Webs are magical as they reflect their silver lines in the rays of the sun.
The brightness of the sun and the rays sifting through the petals.
Even as light begins to fade, it still has beauty to share, And as always, I close with a reminder of showing kindness in all that you do. It could create its own sunshine.
