The View from Here

Lighted Tree, October 2020
Taste of Texas, Houston

Starry branches draw

intricate patterns above

where leaves become lace

To Be a Beginner

 

Watercolor, October 2020

Start right where you are 

you can trust the colors and

you can trust yourself

Calendar Days

Kitchen still life, October 2020
featuring Blue Horse by Franz Marc, 1911(Germany)

 

Turn the page with me

and glimpse a world alive with

possibility

The Work of Love

        

                                                            Strawflowers, October 2020

As the days go by

may I be fully transformed

by the work of love

As the days go by

may you be fully transformed 

by the work of love

As the days go by 

may ________ be fully transformed

by the work of love

Lifted

Nandina at Fair Haven UMC, October 2020

I saw it today,

the tenderness of new growth

and my heart lifted

In Every Hour

Sweet William, October 2020

In every hour

may my whispered thanksgiving

find its way to you

How Far We've Come

Lost Maples State Natural Area, October 2020

I know the blessing

of being carried by grace

across the distance

May you know it too.

Lost Maples State Natural Area, October 2020

 

Unexpected

Lost Maples State Natural Area, October 2020

 

Our healing might take

a very different form than

we first expected 

Our healing might take

a more beautiful form than

we first imagined

A Resting Place

Lost Maples State Natural Area, October 2020

Choose a resting place

look through the tangled arbor 

and find refreshment

Where Are We?

Lost Maples State Natural Area, October 2020

 

We've been brought into

an extraordinary field

of sunlit wonder

*Our trail took us through clouds of migrating snout nosed butterflies who gathered on yarrow flowers. 

Early Autumn Walk

Lost Maples State Natural Area, October 2020

 

                                              Who would you most like to meet here?

Stillness

Lost Maples State Natural Area, October 2020

 There is a stillness

rarely ruffled by the wind

flowing under all

Noticing

Lost Maples, October 2020

A long hike ahead

and we've stopped to watch the bees

gather goldenrod

Lost Maples, October 2020

*Photo credit: Karly Anderson. We had just passed the trailhead for our hike at Lost Maples when we noticed the bees collecting pollen from the goldenrod. We stopped for several minutes to watch them and Karly captured some great photos with the macro setting of our camera. 
 

Blessing for a Beginning

Lost Maples State Natural Area, October 2020

 

                            Bless my body with strength to follow the chosen path.

                            Bless my heart to swing open towards those I meet along the way.

                            Bless my senses with sights and sounds, textures and tastes.

                            Bless my soul and the secret work of God therein.

Autumn

Leaf in the Window, October 2020

 

Autumn nestles in

forgotten corners, stirring

the air around her

Morning Prayer

Metal Heart (made in India), October 2020

 

Will you let me read

what's been written on my heart

from the beginning?

* The first line of this Haiku was almost, "May I decipher" - but I opted for the simple and plain, "Will you let me read." I like the nuance of decipher - the process of decoding and interpreting - which is appealing. But my heart responded more to the simple phrase. I also used the terms read and written and recalled their connection to how we interact with a religious icon. Even though it's an image (not words), the artist writes the icon and we read the icon and we are read by the icon. This metal heart has an icon quality for me. I imagine what has been written on my heart - and what hasn't been written just yet. 

Sign and Symbol

Mailbox in my Neighborhood, October 2020

Our way is marked by 

appointed signs and symbols 

all along the path

Mailbox Detail, October 2020

 

May We Come to Know

Red Zinnia, October 2020

May we come to know 

the way of bold, selfless love

given and received

Hello Up There

Red Bellied Woodpecker, October 2020

 

Morning work begins

he hunts for bugs, I pull weeds

in our shared garden

Lean In

Pink Turk's Cap on the Back Fence, October 2020

Said the fence, "Lean in -

you can bloom all on your own -

but you don't have to"

 

Sunday Blessing

Cone Flowers at a nearby garden center, October 2020

 

May we recognize love when it comes our way.

Golden Hour

Sunset, October 2020

Golden hour hues

partner up for tonight's dance

above the tree tops

 

Tend and Befriend

Orange Zinnia, October 2020

 

Welcome to nightfall

she tends gathering shadows

I follow her lead

* I stepped out on the porch earlier this week and saw a zinnia under the landscape light. It was so transformed by the night - radiant. I felt like I saw it more fully. I call to mind loved ones who have shared their shadow-side and see them more fully, and they become more beautiful. It encourages me to befriend my own shadows. 

Patterned for Joy

Fabric from a nearby store, October 2020

Wherever they go

whatever they might become

may it be for joy

Wherever ________  goes

whatever ________ might become

may it be for joy

Fabric from a nearby store, October 2020

A Closer Look

Bengal Clock Vine, October 2020

There is a beauty

that makes us pull off the road

for a closer look

* It's true. My husband I were running errands and I saw a fence covered with this beautiful vine. We pulled over so I could stop for a moment and see it up close.

Fresh this morning

Plumeria, October 2020
(the flowers used in Hawaiian leis)

Let me savor the

fragrance of distant islands

a world not yet seen

Morning Light

Turk's Cap, October 2020

Welcome October

welcome lambent morning light

welcome autumn air

lambent [ lam-buhnt ]

1. running or moving lightly over a surface
2. dealing lightly and gracefully with a subject; brilliantly playful

3. softly bright or radiant

Harmony

African Daisy, October 2020

She has made her home

among stones and fallen leaves

they all live in peace

* Not just a pretty flower. 

When I saw this African Daisy in  my neighbor's garden, I was drawn by how striking the white petals were against the dark background. I opened the photo this morning and my first thought was to crop out the background to have only the flower squared off. When I did that, I really missed the background - it felt like the background of stone and leaves and dirt was just as important as the perfect daisy. As I kept listening and pondering - I begin to see the connection and harmony between all of the elements. The garden stone is unchanging - or at least would require a lot of effort to move - and there are aspects of my life that are like that stone, unchanging. The fallen leaves that have collected are what used to be alive, and now play an important role in keeping the soil damp and nourished. I have my own fallen leaves - things that are not alive the way they used to be - but are still an important part of the whole. Lastly, the daisy - she is blooming right now, in this present moment. And in my life there is the vibrancy of this present moment - what is alive and blooming today. All three of these elements - stone, leaves, flower, are integrated in my neighbor's garden - there is room for them all and they each are an important part of the whole. And the same is true in my life - elements that seem unrelated are actually very connected and my invitation today is to hold them all with love. 

 

Joy

 

Four o' Clocks, October 2020

Listen with your heart

joy may arrive unannounced

on this very day

One Last Look

Gulf Fritillary on Turk's Cap, September 2020
 

One last look - she hears

the music of migration

her wings know the way

Blessing

Mid-Day Art, September 2020

 

    Bless the books that find us at the right time.

    Bless the books that live on our shelves and become like friends we visit over and again.

    Bless the writers who dare to labor and give birth to their books. 

    Bless the watercolor palette with its limitless possibilities. 

    Bless the pencil that allows vision to take shape and be re-shaped.

    Bless the open and waiting paper.

    Bless the favorite brush that arcs and fills, both faint and full.

    Bless the table that holds everything before me.

    Bless the chair that holds the weight of me - body, mind, heart & soul.

    Bless my hands as they learn a new dance across the page.

    Bless God the Artist

           Maker of the Colors, Maker of the Hours, Maker of us All.

* This blessing is inspired by an invitation in In The Artist's Rule: nurturing your creative soul with monastic wisdom.  Christine Valters Paintner asks readers to consider writing a blessing for creative work and the sacred tools of creating.