Spring blossoms are still bursting forth, but they are also beginning to fade and drop their delicate petals. Soon this season of blossoming delight will transition to hazy warmer summertime days. It’s the turning of life that never stops, only pauses here and there, to my eternal joy.
When I stood under the lush white blossoms of the crab apple tree across the street yesterday, white petals rained down on me in the gentle breeze. So I soaked in all of the beauty I could through all my senses. Because the only time there is, is…
Now Now Now
Each and every moment is a gift. A moment of beauty is sometimes all there is. Earlier this week I delightedly photographed forget-me-not flowers in the park area beside our house. The next day the city crew mowed the park area and the plant and its blossoms were gone. It was as if the plant had never existed.
Time stands still for no one. Spring blossoms appear, shyly begin to open, and then burst forth in a blaze of brief glory. They may only last a short time but if I am fully here appreciating them in the moment, that short moment is enough. The lushness of this moment, and the next, and the next, fill me with delight.
“Life is a dance. Mindfulness is witnessing that dance.”
― Mindfulness Living in the Moment – Living in the Breath
Whenever I went out on the deck this week, the scent of the lilacs wafted through the air. Each day I sat and swung on the deck swing and soaked in the beauty all around me. What a blessing this earth is!
Yesterday I picked a few lilacs to bring in to photograph and their scent filled my dining room studio. Their scent still teases my senses this morning. Such joy!
The wood duck babies left their nest yesterday
I missed them jumping out the nest box on the far side of the pond but saw them on their maiden voyage across the pond. There are 12 of them! I don’t know how long the mama duck will keep them in our pond.
Most years they quickly move down to the pond that’s down the hill across the street from us. It’s a bigger pond and apparently has safer habitat for raising ducklings because the wood ducks never stay in our pond for long after the babies are hatched. I often see wood duck families in the bigger pond. But I’ve been keeping my camera handy (with telephoto lens attached) and watching out the window every now and then hoping to see the new family again. If I’m lucky I may see mama duck leading her large family on the long trek through our yard and across the street. It would be a regular Make Way for Ducklings moment.
I took a walk yesterday in the neighborhood and photographed blossoms, and wildflowers as well as ducks and geese in the big pond down the hill. This week the gnats have begun arriving. They are bothersome enough that I’ve begun wearing a hat when I’m in the backyard. The brim of the hat seems to keep them from getting in my face so much. Soon I fear the mosquitoes will also arrive. It’s that time of year. Though I dislike their bites, they too are an important part of nature.
Each year I keep two sets of walking in the woods clothes which I spray with permethrin at the beginning of summer. Once the spray is dry it is not harmful to humans and its molecules stay in the fabric through several washes. Permethrin repels mosquitoes and ticks. Since I’ve always been a mosquito magnet, it’s the only way that I can go out in the woods comfortably during the insect-biting season. Also, since we live in tick country, and lyme disease can cause such lasting negative effects, I consider it a kind of health insurance to wear clothes treated with permethrin, even though I tend to avoid such things when I can. I figure that I’d rather use it than spray myself with Deet every time I go out.
Two wood ducks in the pond that’s across the street and down the hill
I’ll leave you today with a few more images of spring blossoms, turtles on a log, and ducklings. Soon they will be but a memory.
Remember the only moment is Now Now Now.
May you walk in beauty.
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