214: Sunshine on a cloudy day

Fog, clouds, rain, mist, and gray sum up this Monday here in the Bogs.  Since most of the photos I took today are on the gray and gloomy side, I decided to brighten things up with a series of wildflower shots I took in Colorado last year.

They were all taken in Golden Gate Canyon State Park, not far from the Visitor’s Center.  The most difficult thing to capture was the incredible number of flowers carpeting the ground along the trail.

I picked these particular photos for today because you can clearly see the sunshine lighting up the day and the flowers that were growing around the aspen trees.

There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks.  Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story.

~ Linda Hogan

Each flower is a soul opening out to nature.

~ Gerald De Nerval

The Earth Laughs in Flowers.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

May our heart’s garden of awakening bloom with hundreds of flowers.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

As for today’s outdoor adventures…

Morning view of the pond

Today’s view of the pond is quite a contrast to all the sunshine in the previous photos.  What you might not be able to see well, except over to the right where the willows are, is that the trees in the woods surrounding the pond are leafing. This reflection shows it better:

It’s difficult to go out for a walk and not come back all muddy.  I don’t believe I’ve ever experienced such a mushy, muddy, soggy, boggy, earth.  With the way some of the water is running in little streams underground, I keep expecting the earth to collapse and a big sinkhole to open up.

The plants and trees all seem perfectly happy with the rainy conditions.  I’m trying to look at it in positive ways (beyond the usual “at least it isn’t snow” remark).  I do enjoy the musical sounds of the rain as it hits the earth, the roof of the house, or the top of my umbrella.  The lettuces and Swiss chard seeds are being well watered without any help from us (or the need to run a hose out to the garden).  I’ve always found that rain water does a better job of helping the plants grow.

The spring rains will likely bring lots of gifts that I haven’t yet thought of, and will have to wait to see.

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