Rainy Day Lilies

The Day Lilies are starting up again. They come every year and I look forward to their bold display of ORANGE-ness.

Orange is not a color that features prominently in my life and it's not a color I choose often.

But I certainly *do* love all the wild abandon of the orange Day Lilies that the previous owner of my home planted.

I like how the choices of others can expand my life...

Sweet Presence

This delicate autumn budling is only a few millimeters in size. Really, she's *that* small. But nevertheless, she rises every gradually darkening fall day and faces the adventure of change that is ahead of her with all the presence and willingness she can contain.

Trustingly, she sweetly says, "Yes" to the day and, "Yes" to the coming changes, and even, "Yes" to the imminent cold temperatures of winter she knows are not meant for her.

The little budling knows only that she is here *now* and, without worrying about the coming chill, she simply and willingly says, "Yes."

The Seeds of Empowerment

For the last four days I have been working in the yard -- gardening and planting a meadow.

Although I live in the suburbs I have a large yard that is divided into two sections -- one that is close to the house and gets a lot of use -- and one that is farther back and doesn't "do" too much.

This year I decided to put that back section to work!

I am turning it into a meadow -- a field of wildflowers. I have tilled the land and planted 6 pounds of wildflower seeds (that's a lot!)

I dream of living in "the country" but have no plans to move there just yet -- so instead, I am bringing "the country" to me...

The Fortune of Presence

When I get up close and peer quietly into, what feels to me like, the heart and soul of the Dogwood tree, I truly have a hard time finding words to explain how special I find her tender and delicate beauty -- and also, I find it hard to explain how privileged I feel to be her witness.

Enjoying the Journey

I *adore* lilacs -- especially the purple ones.

Ever since I was a little girl purple was my favorite color and to see it so unabashedly expressed in nature, by the lilac bush, is exciting for me.

These purple lilac budlings will be bursting forth any day now and although I am waiting patiently for them to take their time in emerging, I am very much looking forward to when they do.

But even before the flowers do emerge I find the budlings to be just as intriguing as the sweet and beautiful flowers they will become. I enjoy looking closely at all the intricate patterns of the buds as they crowd next to each other making their space, and place, in the future bunch. Although I am eager for the bloomed flowers, I slow myself down to enjoy observing the budlings just as much.

It's another reminder for me to value the journey as much as the destination.

The Present Beauty

This autumn country road is beautiful -- but I can't enjoy it. The road is curving up around the bend and I don't know where it's going. For a minor league control freak like me, that unknowing is quite unsettling.

I want to rush through this curve to see what it around the corner. I want to zoom by the gorgeous fall colors just to be certain that nothing bad is waiting for me around the bend. Intellectually I can see the colors of the trees and know that they are beautiful -- but I don't feel it. I am too busy being worried...

I am challenged to work on being in the "here and now" when change is impending.

It's easy for me to relax in the middle of July when summer is surrounding me but in the transition seasons I lose my grounding. I find myself nostalgic for the past and worrying about the future. It's a vicious circle that takes away all of my enjoyment of the present.

I strive to be able to pull up a Lazy-Boy chair in my mind, right there in the middle of the tall grass of this scene, and take time to breathe in the beauty I see around me to the deepest parts of my still un-trusting soul.

I want to enjoy the "here and now" before it so quickly becomes the "there and then."