Fleeting beauty
There is nothing as joyful
As walking underneath the pink clouds
(Waving gently in the wind)
Of the sakura or Japanese cherry blossoms.
They remind us that life
Is intense and fleeting
As it follows the natural cycles
Of birth and death and renewal.
They flower for such a short time, like us,
And remind us that we too are as beautiful
And transient as a cherry blossom.
For more blossoming stories, please visit: Our World.
Swan light
I do believe
The wings of the swan
Love the light of the setting sun.
“Sometimes I need
only to stand
wherever I am
to be blessed.” — Mary Oliver
For more lovely light, please visit: Skywatch.
Spring sparkles
It was one of those perfect spring evenings
When the sun made stars out of water
And Oscar made abstract art
Out of water pearls.
On the way home, I turned around
To see my daughter caught in the fairy glitter
And become one with nature.
The setting sun
Threw its golden drops
On grass and woodland flowers
As if to say: Stop. Look. Listen.
And appreciate.
For more fairy glitter, please visit: Our World.
Metamorphosis
Nature often holds up a mirror
To show us change as one season glides into another,
(This is winter going into spring.)
It shows us renewal and transformation through stormy phases
And, finally, softens into peace and beauty.
(All shots are of my local lake over the past couple of weeks.)
For more changes, please visit: Our World.
Musical birds
After the silence of winter,
Spring makes itself heard in the loud
Symphony of birds
Twittering, singing, warbling.
It’s a feathered harmony of music!
For more song, please visit: Camera Critters.
Snow blossoms
There is something so delightful
About the bright light of spring
And the cold of a lingering winter.
If you look carefully, you can find snow moons
Dancing on the snow.
And instead of flowers,
We have snow blossoms
And dazzling light.
And – just as in real life –
You might be lucky to find
A diamond in the rough.
For more hidden jewels, please visit: Our World.
The many shades of cold
Since we’ve had fresh snow and sinking temperatures –
Down to minus 19 C this week –
I am inspired to show you the colours of cold.
Sometimes the cold is a golden fog,
Sometimes an intense orange framed by trees.
When the dawn is really cold,
The fingers of the sun paint the treetops
With frosted red.
My favourite winter colour
Has to be the diamond carpet of snow
Topped off by dazzling blue skies and sun –
It’s moments like these that lift my spirits.
For more winter/summer shots, please visit: Skywatch.
Spring Schpring!
People want to know if I’m tired of winter and longing for the spring.
The answer is no.
Late winter is a fabulous time of dazzling sun;
Of lacy art made out of ice and rainbows:
Of exhilarating days of trees made out of curtains of lace.
It’s still minus 14C when we wake up
Making it pleasant to walk on the iced over lake
To enjoy the sight of sunken boats and endless blue skies.
The secret to happiness is not to long for something you don’t have
But to enjoy fully what you do have.
For more bedazzled posts, please visit: Our World.
Dawn’s blush
That first blush of dawn
Is a marvel of pink and purple and cold.
The hidden birdhouse
Enjoys wonderful views from its perch.
As dawn’s blush fades
The crooked trees stand still -
And like me -
Enjoy the moment.
For more colours, please visit: Skywatch.
Frosted delight
Come and let’s take a walk through my enchanted world.
In the early morning, the freezing temperatures
Create art out of silver beeches
And the hoar-frosted trees frame
The pyramid of the swings at the end of our street.
Once out on the lake, I walk past
An enchanted red boat house
Hiding among frosted branches.
Zooming out with my lens, I see the boat house
Belongs to this summer cottage
Patiently waiting for warmer days.
As for me, I’m enjoying the last cold days
Of magical hoar frost and ice.
For more delights, please visit: Our World.
Under home skies
I might not live anywhere special –
My little house is in a row
Behind the houses you see on the left.
But we do have a great location
Right by the lake.
And when the sun shines through
Magical frosted trees,
The skies — and all underneath them — suddenly seem so very lovely.
I’m so used to living here
That it was only when I walked out onto the iced over lake
And looked back
That I realized how very lucky I really am.
Like most things in life, a new perspective
Can promote appreciation and joy.
For other perspectives, please visit: Skywatch.
Frosted freedom
For nearly three weeks,
My world has been wrapped
In shades of silver and grey.
I can never get enough of
One of my favourite winter scenes –
Silver-haired trees
And hoar frost on birdhouse and bridge.
The scene has both thrills and beauty
When a sudden snow shower
Sprinkles Oscar, my dog, with diamonds of snow.
For more frosted shots, please visit: Our World Tuesday.
Snow fairies
I love it when the snow fairies come to visit:
Turning pine trees into candles;
Decorating reeds
With garlands of ice –
And giving them hair-dos
Made out of spiky crystals.
The sunlight filters through
Icy fairy art to warm a long-forgotten leaf
And to remind us that we are intertwined –
Together, we can make
The mundane magic.
For more fairytale worlds, please visit: Our World.
Making your own pattern
Sometimes in the middle of winter
I like to nourish myself
With the patterns and colours
And silhouettes of vibrant summer.
This shot reminds me that
You don’t always have to go with the flow –
Going against it can also create beauty.
For more vibrant creatures, please visit: Camera Critters.
Romancing the snow
The romance of winter -
And the deep snow -
Never fail to surprise and please
When wrapped up in
A sky of pink tissue
And a bow of dreamy fog.
For more dreamy shots, please visit: Skywatch.
Snowy walk
A few weeks ago, the sun was shining
And the diamonds danced on the snow.
A perfect day for a walk with my furry buddy, Oscar.
This boat has been adrift
On the snowy landscape all winter.
Our neighbours placed their impressive gingerbread church
Outside for us – and the birds – to enjoy.
Walking down twisty lanes
I spied a vibrant splash of colour in someone’s garden:
An old red pump.
On the way home, we crossed the railway lines
In time to see the train disappearing
In a magical golden mist.
I felt as if I were living out a dream
In this enchanted winter wonderland.
For more magical moments, please visit: Our World Tuesday.
Enjoying winter
Please do not disturb…
I’m busy enjoying winter.
Let us love winter,
for it is the spring of genius.
Pietro Aretino
For more snowy pets, please visit: Camera Critters.
Floating in the pink
Winter’s freezing dawn
Creates an abstract work of art;
Trees rise ghostly
In deliciously cold lilac dresses;
And the ancient church
Floats in clouds of pink.
Cold and startling and beautiful –
Another gift from nature.
For more gifts, please visit: Skywatch.
The lost art of tree hugging
We tend to take them for granted – the trees –
Even when their bare bones
Create art on a sun-drenched wall in winter;
Or when the mistletoe
Hangs like disco balls from their weathered branches.
Some say ‘tree hugger’ as if it were a bad thing.
But I agree with my son,
More of us ought to take the time to thank the trees
For their beauty.
For more tree-mendous posts, please visit: Our World.
Swan lake
Sometimes the silence and the grey
Descend so softly
That you can almost hear the peace of the cloudy reflections.
Later on, the moody skies
Turn purple
And the old jetty seems to stretch out
Towards the swans
Dancing on the edge of infinity.
For more moody skies, please visit: Skywatch.
The grand finale
It takes but a short time to go from a blaze of colours
To the soft grey pastels of November.
But autumn knows how to make
A stunning grand finale –
Teaching us that finales
Are also glorious transformations.
(Picture taken a couple of weeks ago. It’s grey and bare here at the moment.)
For more last stands, please visit: Our World.
Frosted flowers
It’s still too mild and grey for November, so I’m looking back to the end of October
When the frost presented a cheery iced sun;
And a wild pink rose
Covered in cold eyelashes.
Further on, a rose bud
Shimmered with melted hopes and ice –
And I found myself
At the beating heart of nature itself.
For more flowery scenes, please visit: Our World.
Of silver and feathers
After many days of mild grey weather,
The early morning light
Carried whispers on the breeze
Of a frosty world of silver.
(See how the iced reeds match the bark of the silver birches?)
In the silence of that iced-over dawn
Peace floated down
As light and beautiful as a feather.
For more peace, please visit: Our World.
The farewell
As we stand on the cusp of autumn and winter,
The birds fly off into the pink dawn
Early every morning
Looking like autumn leaves in the rising sun.
The stragglers skim the silver surface of the lake
In perfect and opposite harmony
Looking like little origami birds.
“In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence.” — Robert Lynd
For more post fowl and fair, please visit: Camera Critters.
Who says what?