Amazing Beauty of Nature

Every season has its own beauty but to me the stoic yet amazing constant in all seasons is the tree. Today I wrote a poem in honor of the beauty of a tree. Hope you enjoy.

Oh, To Be A Tree

Oh, to be a tree, sometimes I wish I was thee

Especially this time of year, when the sky is not clear

Oh, to be a tree, it would be great to be thee

In the long winters keep, all you would do is sleep

Oh, to be a tree, that’d be the life for me

When weather begins to warm, the bees begin to swarm

Oh to be a tree, the honey would drip from thee

With your leaves so green, and the birds sit to preen

Oh to be a tree, the beauty you would see

As your leaves grow thick, the shade is the trick

Oh to be a tree, the laugher just for thee

Of children come to play, making joy of the day

Oh, to be a tree, sometimes I wish I was thee

Then the leaves turn brown, as they fall to the ground

Oh, to be a tree, the beautiful colors you would be

When the snow starts to fall, go and sleep for us all

Oh, to be a tree, how magnificent that would be.

Anita Neal

And as a reminder that I always close with, never forget the beauty of Kindness, in all seasons of life.

The beauty of Autumn

We all know that each season has it own type of beauty but the reds this year seem to be brighter than usual. Maybe its because we need something better to focus on with all the chaos of the pandemic, the violence and basic unhappiness we all seem to be in. So I give you the beauty of the trees here in the Midwest. I am sure the leaves for you area are just as beautiful, so share those and let us focus on the beauty of nature for a while.

And remember, kindness is usually contagious, so spread it around a little as you go about your day.

Beauty in Life

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.

I am only 2 inches in size big in beauty

Yellows and red make this Dahlia special

I am the larger of the blooms picture this morning but still under 3 inches

Hoping these smiling flowers bring a smile to you. And as always remember to be kind. It shows the beauty of YOU.

Fall is Coming

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.

Trees don’t go across streets..with car light behind them…

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…

I am just not ready for the grayness of winter…

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.

MY Feeder

This is my feeder

It’s very easy to see

And I do not share

George, The Hornworm

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 Old Oak Tree

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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.

Kindness 18

A Photo A Week Challenge: Squirrel

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.

image000000 (21) — Need to clean my windows.

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…

flower squirrel

So, share the beauty of nature with a friend and be kind.

Cycle of Life, FOTD

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.

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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.

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Some of us grow slow and some grow fast

But the life of our bloom is one that wont last.

image000000 (24) — First bloom of the season

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.

kind beauty

Squirrel Haiku

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Just Not Fair

This yard is not fair

Much to hard to get the food

Don’t taste good anyway

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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.

kind flower