Nature Quote - March 25, 2010

The mockingbird singing in the oak tree outside my window lifts my heart better than chocolate. For him, and for the fair lady he woos with his sweet spring singing, I found these quotes:

Spring would not be spring without bird songs.
- Francis M. Chapman

I sincerely congratulate you on the arrival of the mockingbird.

Learn all the children to venerate it as a superior being in the
form of a bird, or as a being which will haunt them
if any harm is done to itself or its eggs.
- Thomas Jefferson

I hope you love birds too. It is economical. It saves going to heaven.

- Emily Dickinson

Nature Quote - March 15, 2010

"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade." ~Charles Dickens

This is exactly the kind of weather we're having today! Of course it's Dickens who can capture the moment perfectly in words.

In pictures, today's weather reminds me most of Windflower. Check it out:

http://www.worldofcolorgallery.com/Gifts/Unlimited%20Photographs/Gallery_Unlimited_Floral.html

Winter’s Well-Timed Waiting Game

This article was written for the March issue of Moonshine magazine online.

While most of the north is still wrapped in a winter blanket of white, here on the Gulf Coast there are already signs that spring is waiting just round the corner.

Waiting being the key word.

Though my toes ain’t froze and my streets ain’t snowed, I’m still anxious for spring. I note each tiny sign of impending primavera with a little heart’s leap for joy.

The red swamp maples are blooming. Joy!

It’s time to start putting out nesting materials for future pairs of mama and papa birds. Joy!

It’s no longer dark when I serve dinner (we eat on a three-year-old’s schedule, which is early, but I’m still counting this one)! Joy!

And so my mind finds two types of creative input from Mother Nature late this winter season: a.) Treasure the tiny things. Revel in the smallest details, and b.) Enjoy the waiting. The longer you have to hold back, the more energy with which you can spring forth!

These are not easy tasks to accomplish, especially in a world so full of over-inflated words and gestures, big screen TVs and high-definition speculation, loud and louder personalities. But, then, the best accomplishments are never easy.

Though the end of winter is when we long for color and indulgence most, through a little focus and restraint we can learn and grow creatively and re-ignite our artistic passions even before the spring sun begins to heat them up.

A few suggestions to get you going (or stopping, as the case may be):

• Don’t touch the instruments of your preferred medium for a week. If you’re a photographer, no camera. If you’re a painter, no canvas. If you’re a writer, no keyboard. Though most of us have been taught to work on our craft every day, a purposeful break will renew our perspective and appreciation for our work. Keep a journal of ideas you have, or write them down on scraps of paper, but refrain and restrain from action.

Take an extra hint from the animals, though, who have spent their winter break feeding themselves well and stockpiling supplies . . . when you’re done with your break, you’d better have materials ready, because you’ll be as busy making art as the spring animals are making babies!

• Refuse to accept that winter is a colorless season. Each time you go out, look for Roy. ROY G. BIV, that is. At first, brown, white, and green will be the only shades you see, but nature will give you an example of each color, I promise. (The advanced version of this little exercise is to grab a few paint chips at the local home improvement store, and grab one each time you leave the house. Find the exact colors on your paint chips, and you’ll train your eyes to see much more accurately.)

• And, as always: go outside. (Being in a car doesn’t count.) Your body needs the vitamin D from winter’s weak sunshine and your mind needs some space into which it can expand.

So, even if you’re bundled from head to toe and it’s only for five minutes, be in nature purposefully. You may not yet be able to DO anything outside, but you can be there and think there and let your heart beat a little there. You can relish the tension of winter’s waiting and delight in the dream of spring.

# # #

Nature Quote - May 18, 2009 - Spring Weather

I watched the weather this morning over a cup of fair-trade, organic dark roast coffee. The coffee was delicious, but the weather pattern over the U.S. was even more enticing.

While the poor southwest is baking at 100 degrees for its umpteenth straight day, a glorious cool front has moved in over the midwest and east.

Just when I had resigned myself to five months of Florida summer and days that break 80 degrees before 8:00 a.m., Mother Nature throws us a meteorological curve ball! (Yes, women can pitch. If you doubt it, check out your nearest softball game. Those women could pitch a fly off a fencepost fifty yards - both killing the fly and shattering the post.)

It's 62 degrees, grey, and breezy here in the Florida panhandle! I would write more about this lovely reminder that summer doesn't really start till June 21, but I've got to get away from this keyboard and out into the gorgeous weather.

And so I'll leave you now with a quote from a famous American writer, observer, and lover of life's curve balls, quirks, and all things smart and funny:

“In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.” - Mark Twain

http://www.worldofcolorgallery.com

Sultry

After yesterday's pouring rain, today dawned golden and bright, with the morning sun making crystals of the raindrops still held on the plants' leaves and petals. It was absolutely breathtaking.

And then I stepped outside.

And quickly discovered air so thick with moisture that I, in fact, might have had trouble breathing because (silly me) I'm not accustomed to breathing underwater.

When they reported the weather as "humid" this morning, I believe our Gulf Coast weathermen were either making the most outrageous understatement in meteorological history, or playing rather tasteless joke on all of us. Had they wanted to get out the true story and warn the public properly, they would have put up a little image of a steam room with skull and crossbones over it and the warning caption "Do not go outside if you've a) forgotten deodorant or b) bothered to put on makeup or c) mind sweating through every stitch of clothing you're wearing."

And all of this was plainly obvious from just my first breath.

My second inhalation told me that it wasn't just moisture in the air, but moisture carrying the heady scent of every blooming flower in a five mile radius. Most close to home, the jasmine in full bloom scented the air with the essence of the sultry South.

There was no doubt about it - refreshed by yesterday's long, cool shower, nature had put on her perfume, unfurled her petals, and declared herself ready to mingle.

No less obvious than the haughty humans in a nightclub, all of the local wildlife is strutting its stuff and on the prowl for possible procreation opportunities.

How apropos, then, that today the local procreation poster children arrived: the "lovebugs".

Lovebugs (Plecia nearctica) are also called honeymoon flies or kissy bugs. They fly around attached to one another but, unlike that last nickname might suggest, they are not attached at the mouth.

For the next four weeks, the air will be full of paired lovebugs finding satisfaction in flight. Love on the fly. Or, rather, love on the wing of the fly.

And those of us that live here will heartlessly crush unknown millions of these diminutive duos as we zip from here to there in our cars (and sometimes on our bicycles - a lovebug couple in the face will pretty much ruin a ride, in case you were wondering).

Caught up in the heady perfume of the season, the copulating couples will meet life's windshield together. Sad, it's true, but not a bad way to go out.

At least they get to escape the humidity.



http://www.worldofcolorgallery.com

Springing Into Spring

This piece was written for the April edition of Moonshine magazine.  To view the whole magazine, please visit www.moonshine.southerncreativity.com


I recently had the good fortune to travel to Virginia and back over the first weekend of spring. Driving northward from the bountiful blooms of the Florida panhandle to the still-skeletal trees of the Appalachians, it seemed at first as if we were traveling back into winter. On the contrary, though, the longer I spent staring, rapt, out the windows, the more attuned my vision became to the subtler signs of mountain spring.

Where the azaleas, tulips, redbuds, and daffodils had already danced onto the stage of the deep South, singing “Spring is here!” the trees and plants of the mountains seemed, still, to be holding their breath, anxious and waiting in the wings for their cue.

This made me think that spring is the season of held breaths. Starting with that poor, beleaguered groundhog in early February, we’re all waiting for Mother Nature to tell us “It’s all right. You can breathe. I’m going to bring the flowers and the leaves and the warm sun and the soft breezes back this year. I keep my promises.”

And we wait and hope and wait and look for buds and tiny sprigs of peridot green and wait and then one bright morning, the natural world bursts forth in its party ruffles like a line of can-can dancers. The birds strike up the chorus and it’s time to celebrate!

So, artists, photographers, sculptors, crafters, knitters, jewelers, weavers, and writers, it is time for us to join the party. Not just to document the joy, but to take some time to revel – to let our own party ruffles fly out around us as we twirl in the confetti of petals. To strut our fine feathers. To turn our faces to the sun, smile, and say, “Welcome back!”

So get out there and party with the primavera! Take all of your supplies outside on the next sunny day and let loose. See your work in the truest (and prettiest) light: sunlight. Listen to the springsong and feel the warming wind, smell the blossoms on the fruit trees and trace the softest petals with the tip of your finger.

Take it all in and then let it go freely into new and inspired work. And, try to remember to dedicate at least one piece to Mother Nature – she deserves a thank you for always keeping her promises.

www.worldofcolorgallery.com

Blooming

Spring is springing out all over down here and it's gotten me to thinking about one of my mother's favorite phrases, "Bloom where you're planted."

I've always enjoyed the concept of being happy where you are, but never really delved into it.  Now, surrounded by tulips and daffodils and blooming dogwoods and crabapples and pear trees and peach trees and wisteria, I'm thinking about it and getting a better grip on it.

"Bloom where you're planted" isn't just a simple instruction - if we follow the flowers' example, it's a step-by-step guide to a joyful life:

1.  Start by sending out roots into your community.  If you stay tightly closed in your seed shell, you'll be dark and lonely forever, so break out, get out immediately!  Explore and let your feelers find for you places of nature that will inspire you, places of culture that will excite you, and (most importantly) friends that will nourish you.

2.  Once you've got your roots taking up nutrition, learn to absorb the place and the people, go slow and take in the good parts while leaving the not so good parts alone, but without judgement.

3.  Push through the muck till you see sunlight.  Persevere.  

4.   Keep growing.  Stand tall and strong, but let yourself be flexible so that you can dance in the breeze.  

5.  When the sun is warm and you are well rooted and nourished, open up and share all the best you have to give.  You are wise and beautiful; feel the sunshine on your cheeks and know that you are reflecting that light to the world in a way only you can.  You are beautiful.  You are a miracle and a blessing all wrapped up into one - just like the blossoms of spring.

www.worldofcolorgallery.com