a colorful gift from nature
received on a cool winter morning
Winter Gift
Tag Archives: nature
Slow Restart…
After three glorious weeks on the road and over 5,000 miles on the car, we returned home tired, yet oh, so refreshed. We connected with so many friends and family, saw beautiful sights, and enjoyed one of the best Midwestern autumns! We’re home and have caught up on laundry, mail, appointments, household tasks and jumped into necessary holiday preparations. Now, we’re savoring the memories and reflect on them often.
I’m including a few snapshots from this epic trip.
I, however, seemed to have kept the vacation mentality, dragging my feet about stepping back into routine activities. All forms of writing have slipped through most of the cracks. My writing grounds me. It is how I sort my thoughts and feelings, and where I let my imagination run wild. So today, I’m tip-toeing back into my playground.
Thanks for joining me here.
I hope you are expectant about the upcoming holiday season and traditions important to you and those you care about.
Staycation Delight: Unforgettable Memories with a Friend
We do not remember days
We remember moments
Cesare Pavese
July has been my staycation month, which has been great!
From beaches to garden spaces
From tourist spots, to less known beautiful locations
From bustling to quiet…
Sharing time with a friend is a gift.
The moments of the last few days have provided many memories.
Time spent with friends is refreshing to the soul.
Joy
Summer is running,
already running away
It just arrived…
We spent a day at the county fair,
what a day it was
On a whim
we entered the Butterfly Farm exhibit
Enclosed environment filled with
beautiful
fragil
graceful
free
curios
butterflies
And people
All captivated or standing in awe
Numerous varieties of butterflies
each with their own colors and markings,
different species were drawn to various colors
They were emboldened and landed on whatever drew their attention.
The people moved among these winged creatures.
Enchanted by their movement,
their color,
their beauty.
We left the butterflies
Enjoyed other exhibits
Went out to dinner with friends
Returned home, contented
Reflection afterwards
brought the realization
most were smiling in this butterfly environment.
Leaving one wondering
when and where was the last time so many people were visibly happy?
why does it not happen more frequently?
Yes, we left the butterflies
yet a part of their spirit remains within me.
I say,
Bring on the butterflies!
Spring Thoughts
Daffodils make me smile and remind me another season is coming. This piece was first published in Clouds, Dreams and Fantasy Copyright © 2023. (available on Amazon).
I seldom date my pieces. However, the spring of 2020 was the beginning of the Covid Pandemic and all the changes it brought to the world.
Happy Spring! Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section.
Between Life and Death
Spring 2020
by Linda L. Flynn
I cut my first
bunch of daffodils
before Easter.
It snowed during the night.
The blooms left for later
bent under the weight.
Buds not yet open
succumbed to the
morning snow.
My bunch of daffodils
in the living room
brought sunshine and the promise
of spring to come.
I’ve enjoyed this
bundle of blooms.
I’ve watched
the petals on these beautiful blooms
first become paper thin.
Still beautiful,
but the truth
of their fragility
is now evident.
A few more days
and the edges of those paper blooms
are dry and wrinkled,
some have turned a darker color,
others just became more fragile.
How like us.
We bud and bloom,
bringing sunshine and promise
to those around us.
Our lives bring beauty to some.
Like these blossoms,
we don’t even recognize
the gradual process
of becoming more fragile.
Our bones are
more brittle,
muscle strength
steadily disappears,
our skin becomes
more translucent,
and our hair thins.
Like my daffodils,
we often fail
to recognize
these changes until
something happens.
Last night brought one
of those happenings.
I feel like
I should howl
and be in dissent.
Today, I’m weary and wonder,
what is this time all about?
Handstamp
A weekend at the shore
Seemingly at the very edge of the world,
Steps from the deck descend the rocks
Then end.
High tide rolls in
Obliterating the bottom steps
And sand below.
Waves crash upon the rocks
Spraying high into the air
Then dropping on the deck
before returning to the sea.
Other waves role in splashing against the house.
The tide recedes
and the ever-constant cycle repeats.
The sun comes up and then,
The sun goes down with
God’s majesty on full display…
As his hand stamp sunset ends each blue day.
Promises
Here’s a peek
at what’s to come
after the storm…
Natures Preparations
Packed and prepared to leave
Blurry-eyed I grabbed my purse
Sat and buckled in.
Relative quietness hung upon the town.
Entering the freeway
Ribbons of white or red lights
Streamed down the roadway.
Who would have known so many
Would be on the road long before light?
Dawn presented first signs of the day to come.
Heavy clouds hung on the mountain tops.
Light peaked through revealing the foothills
beneath the shrouded peaks.
Spots of pink adorned the clouds.
Traffic intensified.
At times its pace was a crawl
Resembling more of a parking lot than streamers.
Drawn back to the coast—
We stand on the rocky shore
Listening to the crashing waves
Watching sea lions bob and play
Surveying crumbling walls
Succumbed to an earlier hurricane.
The air, the light, the beauty of the sea
on such a day as this.
To town we travel
Where we traipse from one art shop to another.
Early dinner on Main Street, then off to the lodge
Where we enjoy a hot drink, a fire and live entertainment
With other guests of the establishment.
We fall into bed, drifting off to sleep.
Morning comes.
Opening the shutters, I find the marine layer
And local ecology all decked out in preparations for
Halloween.
Coming Soon
In the process of final edits, so this children’s story will be available soon.
If you want to be notified when the book is released, go the Sign Me Up page on my site and fill out the form. This book will only be available in a print copy.
Will it, or will it not? This one did!
I admit, I don’t know what I’m doing. Everything about my current environment differs from anything else I’ve known. The learning curve has been steep.
The first photo is of a dragon fruit bloom. Our first year here, I watched the blooms, waited and then, nothing…
I learned they often require hand pollination. So this second season, I began hand pollinating the blooms. And nothing. Nothing, that is, until late in the season. The fruit set.
You can imagine my initial surprise when the fruit starts gained in size, instead of just withering on the plant. This surprise was surpassed when I saw the fruit turning red and eventually appear ripe.
There is still much to learn.
Journey to the Heights 