Letting Go

Let everything be allowed to do what it naturally does, so that its nature will be satisfied. – Chuang Tzu

I am in a natural cycle of shedding what no longer serves… releasing, deleting, burning. I am re-creating, re-imagining, and re-examining.

I have a tendency to let go prior to January 1st, in hopes of having a bit of a clean slate for 2012.

Do you do this before the New Year begins?

Can you help me choose?

My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am. ~ Author Unknown

I took so many photos on my hike a few days ago at sunset. it was such a beautiful evening, I’ve been editing for hours trying to narrow things down. I’m often willing to toss aside the good shots and will focus in on what I feel are the best shots that tell the story I want to share, yet I’m struggling to decide which shots to save of my favorite subjects…

I love the architecture of each of these and it was fun trying to catch the webs floating in the gentle wind. Queen Anne’s Lace looks good any time of year.

a bit worried ?

seems to have relaxed

gleaming

As my dog Sunrise moves slower on our hikes I seem to be taking more photos of him, he won’t be around forever, even though I’ve asked him to live forever. I’m glad I have these moments of time captured.

Since you’re less emotionally attached to these two subjects than I am, perhaps you have a favorite of each?

Prickly

I have seen the sea when it is stormy and wild; when it is quiet and serene; when it is dark and moody. And in all its moods, I see myself. ~ Martin Buxbaum

Today I’m prickly…

I’ve made peace with being such a mercurial being… one moment I’m filled with delight, wide open joy is surging through me, my energy rises and I’m ready to take on 10 new things and often I do….who knows when, but suddenly I find myself exhausted, frustrated, cranky and don’t want to be bothered by anybody and just about anything bugs me.

I do have weeks and sometimes even a whole month when things can even out a bit, but mostly I surge up and down and I’m pretty okay with the rollercoaster ride.

I am moody, I am temperamental. I am a yo-yo. I seem to be so easily affected by the energy that surrounds me. The weather, the cashier, the clothes I wear all have a profound affect. I actually like to feel everything but sometimes I’m not so good at letting the moods just wash through me, sometimes I pitch a fit.

So how was your day, any fits!?

Gratitude

Open your heart to all these blessings and let them flow through you, then everyone you meet on this day will be blessed by you, just by your eyes, by your smile, by your touch, just by your presence. ~ Brother David Steindl’s

The golden hour yesterday was divine. I took 774 photos on my 2 hour stroll at sunset. It’s days like these that make me feel so lucky to be alive, experiencing nature in all her glory, who else could make dead drying decomposing weeds & grass look so magical.

My friend Barb sent me this 10 minute film on gratitude by Louie Schwartzburg today. I am so grateful that my blog has kept me in touch with her and so many of you who I would have lost touch with if I did not blog. And so many of you who I would not have met if I did not blog. And for those who I get to be present with in my life ~ I am so deeply blessed.

If you have 10 minutes this video is a lovely reminder of how lucky we are to see and experience such beauty. (The quote above is from the film).

Happy Thanksgiving

Repeat?

There is no harm in repeating a good thing. ~ Plato

Usually when I go for a hike everything feels fresh and new and different. I always seen to find things I haven’t seen that surprise and delight me. This week I went for a hike and had a deja vu kind of feeling??

Poncho Fringe

Fall Flower

On one of my hikes last week, I was surprised to find a moth flying about & purple flowers blooming in mid – November, it was a shock to go back this week and find the same kind of moth flying around (though much slower than last week, it is so cold?) and the purple flowers are still blooming?? It felt like finding rare gems not once but twice.

Flickering Lanterns

More Moss

Branch Blooming??

I was thrilled and a little weirded out by such similar strange circumstance, maybe this is not strange, maybe it’s normal for this to occur and for these branches to bloom this way this time of year?? Perhaps I’ll find someone who knows more about theses things… perhaps I’ll enjoy the mystery more than knowing.

What do you enjoy doing again and again and again?

Water Worlds

If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water. ~ Loran Eisley

When I download shots of rain drops hanging out to dry, I feel like I’ve shaken a magic snowglobe that reveals tiny upside down mysterious miniature world after world…

Have you watched the fairies when the rain is done, 
Spreading out their little wings to dry them in the sun? ~ Rose Fyleman

Late Afternoon Meditation

No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see. ~ Taoist proverb

The river water was so clear and moving so slow. The stillness enveloped me.

In the reflection the leaves that had fallen in the river appear to be back on the branches.

There are still some leaves hanging on the maples.

This tree was filled with yellow polka dot patterns.

It’s a fungi that likes maples… kinda beautiful?

We continued on… winding river… winding trails, slanting bridges over slow moving water.

It was one of those afternoons that the light called me from tree to tree.

The leaves on these trees sometimes last all winter long, I don’t know why but I love that they do.

The birds were feasting on bugs.

The squirrels were collecting acorns.

I was collecting photos… I sat on the ground trying to get just the right angle of this dried up tulip tree branch. I’ve yet to see a tulip tree in bloom in summer?

I wonder what this is?

or this… I wonder why these branches are sprouting in mid – November?

It was a long… slow… lovely afternoon. Sunny was hungry and was howling on the bridge near the parking lot asking me to please finish up so he could go home and eat (I forgot to fill my pocket with biscuits). I reluctantly listened to his request, I could have stayed till it got dark.

P.S. If you have time, check out this post from the spring with dried tulip tree blossoms and lingering leaves. (When I read what I wrote months ago, I feel like such a new person, yet the same. It’s fun to reflect on who I was and who I am becoming.)

Mother Nature is My Muse

The most potent muse of all is our own inner child. ~ Stephen Nachmanovitch

Do you remember weaving string between your fingers?

or building a teepee?

How far can you reach?

Pretty far!

Do you remember drawing triangles?

and then geometry got a bit more complicated?

Can you catch a raindrop?

or a rainbow?

Linked with POTW, thanks Hilary

Is it Really November!?

Flowers… are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty out values all the utilities of the world.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

When I headed out for a hike a few days ago, it was cold, snow flurries here and there and I forgot my walking shoes,  my toes were getting numb in my flimsy fashionable boots. I thought I do a short little walk, but I just can’t help it, I wander. I get lost taking photos and spend so much time immersed in the magic of being outside. An hour can feel like 5 minutes.  In my state of wonder, I was so surprised to stumble upon this purple flower blooming!? Maybe it only blooms when its cold and wet and gray?

And then a moth flew by full of energy, I have not seen a moth or butterfly in weeks, this little guy was full of energy flitting all about like it was the middle of the summer. I was wandering in circles waiting for it to land, it was worth the wait. I love the wings they look like a warm woven poncho with soft fringe.

Each day I hike I keep finding something new to see, to learn, to share… mother nature keeps reminding me that miracles happen all the time.

Have a beauty ✻ filled week.

P.S. I also stumble on this netflix find in the instant queue, have you seen Rivers and Tides? Andy Goldsworthy is an amazing artist working with time. He goes outside day after dreary day and co -creates with nature. I’m so inspired by his work, his focus, his desire to make something beautiful.

Linking with

The Creative Exchange

Random Strangeness

I don’t like standard beauty – there is no beauty without strangeness.  ~ Karl Lagerfeld

I like all kinds of beauty, but there is something about strange beauty that stops me in my tracks. The other day I was in the middle of the woods on a new hike… I turned the corner and this cat… a domestic cat, was just hanging out. It was so weird to see a calm cat in the middle of the forest. It kind of made my day, got me thinking about how strange and wonderful this world is.

I have way too many fall photos and can’t seem to keep up , so I got busy collaging.

I love this nut/seed ? I’m not sure what it is? Do you know? I just adore the shape, color contrast, and bursting seams.

Can you see these little gems? I named them fairy flies, it was tricky to get any of these strange floating bugs to come into focus -

This leaf is amazing, it would take me forever to paint something similar, those lines and textures and colors decaying into a masterpiece <3

I love this one too, the curls are like a roller coaster ride -

I could not stop taking photos of this color filled moss, I can’t get enough of it -

Lately I feel like a squirrel running all over the woods gathering 100′s of photos hoping to have enough nourishment.

Here are way too many photos of a fat squirrel that reminds me of me -