I had to go to the grocery store today, so I rode my bike. It was sooo beautiful outside, and every time I rode past a crabapple tree the air was like sweet perfume.
So I did what any sensible person would do in this situation... I went three times.
You know... different things are on sale at different stores... I had to get the best deals, didn't I?
OK... it was really just an excuse to ride around the neighborhood on my bike and enjoy the flowers while convincing myself that I was being "productive."
In the end, I gave up on the pretext of productivity and just wandered around my yard taking pictures.
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| Creeping Phlox |
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| Yellow Flame Tulips |
And of course, I had to play with my macro filters...
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| Grape Hyacinth |
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| No clue what this is... something blooming on a bush |
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| Looking inside a tulip |
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| Even the lowly dandelion is pretty close up |
I always feel like I want to bottle up days like today and hold onto them forever. Of course, we all know it doesn't work that way. Life is a fleeting proposition. Nothing stays the same. Ever. Not even from one second to the next.
I've spent a lot of my life fighting against that reality. Why can't I just find a way to make the good times to stick around indefinitely and fast forward past the yucky stuff?
Perhaps the key lies not in trying to control the "now," but in trying to experience it fully. That's easy to say on a day like today... I'll try to remind myself of that next time the yucky pays me a visit.
The yucky days are hard. What I try to remind myself is that sometimes there is not way through something except through it. Meaning, you've just got to experience it as it comes.
ReplyDeleteOn happier notes--The flowers are beautiful and I want a camera that has filters rather than just a point and shoot. However, if I got a better and bigger camera, I'd have no idea what to do with it. :)
Truer words, spoken from a person who understands the yucky very well right now, I think. I also have to remind myself that while the yucky hurts terribly when it's happening, it's also a doorway that opens up a whole new world - like the Hindu god Shiva, the Destroyer. He destroys things to make room for new things.
DeleteAnyhow, I totally LOVE my digital SLR - and the thing that pushed me over the edge to get one was when a friend told me that they have an automatic mode - so you can play with all the aperture and shutter speed settings if you want, or you can just set it on automatic and get the best of both worlds!
Great photos - I can almost smell the flower's fragrance through the computer :-) Good reflections on the fleeting nature of life - something for me to reflect on today.
ReplyDeleteIt's smell-o-vision! Glad you enjoyed them and thanks for stopping by.
DeleteThanks for sharing these lovely pictures. I can almost smell that grape hyacinth!
ReplyDeleteThe grape hyacinth is one of my very favorites. When it stops blooming I'll have to go dig up all of the stragglers that have made their way out into the lawn and move them to more appropriate homes in the flowerbeds!
DeleteHuh huh. I'm afraid I can't continue following you through the A to Z challenge. I'm so jealous, and I still have to wait for many weeks until spring comes to Finland. No, but your pictures are so intense (and so beautiful!) today.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to your feelings (as probably many others). I’ve difficulties with changes, but I should try to work on the “experiencing it fully”.
A to Z challenge. www.whenthecatisaway.com Participant number 1390.
I spent a year living in Norway, so I remember the long wait for spring. It was pretty spectacular when if finally came though!
DeleteThanks for stopping by.
Thank you for a look at spring. I took a stroll through my town Sunday and saw nothing! Absolutely nothing! Not even a dandelion. The closest thing I have seen is my one tree is starting to get buds, but you have to get up close to see them.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a rather crazy spring here - averaging 20 degrees warmer than normal with hardly any snow through all of March, which is supposed to be our snowiest month. The ski resorts are looking at having to close in a few weeks - normally they're open until may or even June.
DeleteAnyhow, I'm trying to enjoy the moment now because if this pattern holds, it's gonna be a long, hot, dry summer... and I fear fire season will be devastating.
I think you did bottle it up and save it for later by writing this post that you can look back on! Also you saved it for us, too! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAwwww... that's such a nice way to look at it! :-)
DeleteThanks for the peek at Spring. Hoping it gets here someday....
ReplyDeleteYour day will come... trust me!
DeleteBeautiful pictures! I think our trees are starting to bud out a bit ... or maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.
ReplyDeleteI'm really surprised at the blossoms. We got a bad cold snap early last fall, and a bunch of the horticulturists were fearing that it killed off the tender ends of the branches so we wouldn't have any blossoms this year. I am pleased to report that their fears were unfounded!
DeleteI love your pictures, spring is just beginning here, a few snowdrops and crocus.
ReplyDeleteYes flowers are fleeting beauty....but there are others to fill in for every season and watching the changing landscape reminds us that there really is a season for every thing.
Marieann
To everything, turn, turn, turn... there is a season, turn, turn, turn...
DeleteOr were you quoting the Bible rather than the Byrds? Well... in any case, it is good to remember that there is always beauty - sometimes you just have to look harder than others!
Experiencing life fully, even the bad days - shudder. But I guess the bad days are the tutors. Well I think today may be a 'dancing in the rain day' for me. Your yellow flame tulips are so sunshiny beautiful.
ReplyDelete"... the bad days are the tutors." That's so well put.
DeleteI hope you find a way to dance with it today, and I'm sending out my hopes that there will be flowers in your future! xoxoxo -Cat
I think you're right about trying to accept "now," and spring makes it easier for sure. The flowers never fail to surprise me, even though they show up every spring (thank goodness). It's like, I forget about them in the dark winter, and it's such a relief to see the color and smell the fresh scent. (Can you create scent for you blog to go with these photos?!)
ReplyDeleteWouldn't that be great if we could transmit smells over the interwebs... well, it would be great for smells like flowers and popcorn, I can think of a few others I'd rather not experience! :-)
DeleteYour photos are amazing. I loved peering into the tulip. Actually I enjoy the changing of time, day to day.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment on my blog today.
Thanks so much for visiting, and for your kind words about my photos - I'm really just a hack, but I enjoy it.
DeleteLove the photos! A beautiful way to spend the day.
ReplyDeleteYvonne
It was a lovely day indeed! Thanks so much for stopping by.
DeleteSuch beautiful flowers! I know what you mean about bottling up days. When we lived in Montana, I always wanted to bottle a summer day to release it in the midst of winter :)
ReplyDeletebetty
Thanks so much for coming for a visit. The crabapple blossoms are my favorites... they're so beautiful, and so brief. At the moment I'm doing a little happy dance because the storm that's coming in a few days is now predicted to be rain instead of snow, so hopefully they'll stick around for a few more days!
DeleteJust beautiful shots. Thanks for sharing those with us!
ReplyDeleteI live to serve...
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