This morning I headed out early to Noerenberg Gardens overlooking Lake Minnetonka. I wanted to go early so that I could be back in time to participate in my weekly online Soma Yoga class at 11 am.
The skies were overcast (perfect for flower photography), the air humid and warm, and the park filled with lush greens, pinks, purples and more. I took both of my cameras along and a knee pad to kneel on and I was in heaven photographing the lushness of it all.
Floral Heaven
The park has a kind of lilac with tinier flowers than normal lilacs and they were in full bloom today. So the air was filled with their sweet scent. And the peonies and iris were in bloom too! Ahhh—what a gift! I saw dragonflies and bees and heard birds in the trees and felt a little breeze on my skin. It truly was a beautiful morning full of beautiful scents, sights, and sensations.
Peonies
This morning the green fists of the peonies are getting ready
to break my heart
as the sun rises,
as the sun strokes them with his old, buttery fingersand they open —
pools of lace,
white and pink —
and all day the black ants climb over them,boring their deep and mysterious holes
into the curls,
craving the sweet sap,
taking it awayto their dark, underground cities —
and all day
under the shifty wind,
as in a dance to the great wedding,the flowers bend their bright bodies,
and tip their fragrance to the air,
and rise,
their red stems holdingall that dampness and recklessness
gladly and lightly,
and there it is again —
beauty the brave, the exemplary,blazing open.
Do you love this world?
Do you cherish your humble and silky life?
Do you adore the green grass, with its terror beneath?Do you also hurry, half-dressed and barefoot, into the garden,
and softly,
and exclaiming of their dearness,
fill your arms with the white and pink flowers,with their honeyed heaviness, their lush trembling,
their eagerness
to be wild and perfect for a moment, before they are
nothing, forever?— Mary Oliver
Forgetful
After awhile it began to feel more and more steamy with the rising temperatures and the high humidity and I finally packed up and came home to work on photos. Then I became so engrossed in working on my photographs that I forgot to “attend” my online Zoom Soma Yoga class.
I guess in some ways that’s a good thing, that I love what I’m doing so much that I lose track of time. If that is the biggest of my problems on this beautiful day, I’ll be quite happy. What do you love to do so much that you lose track of time?
I am thinking of returning the Noerenberg Gardens this evening to take in more of its sights, scents, and sounds. Where is your favorite place to take in nature’s lush morning beauty (or evening beauty)?
May you walk in beauty.
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