59: Wondering
Posted: November 20, 2010 Filed under: 365 Life in the Bogs Challenge, Adventures in art, Adventures in Life, Air, Autumn, Earth, Fire, friends, goals, home, NaBloPoMo, nature, Photography, travel, Walking, wandering, water | Tags: birds, Blog, California, NaBloPoMo, NaNoWriMo, reflections, San Diego, sculpture, sunsets, trees 6 Comments(View from the airplane window.)
I wonder. I wonder a lot. I even wondered about the word wonder and had to go look it up just to see if it is all the things I think it is and I was delighted to find it’s true: Wonder is a wonderful word.
(Looking to see what’s out there.)
To think or speculate curiously
I wonder about blogging and life. I wonder about the ups and downs of it. I have a few blog mates that have dropped off the blogosphere for a while. Some have come back for NaBloPoMo. Some have made brief appearances for NaNoWriMo. And others are showing up in comments here and there remarking about how this is the first year they have missed NaNo or NaBlo.
(Looking up while standing inside of a sculpture. Shelter Island.)
I wonder about some of those folks. Is life keeping them so busy that they no longer have time to blog? Did they grow tired of it? Have they moved on to some other aspect of online life? Or are they so immersed in life that blogging about it doesn’t even enter their minds anymore? (I like to think it is the last option because I want to imagine them happily going about life.)
To be filled with admiration, amazement or awe
Some of those I am missing from blogland are people I admire, people who amazed and awed me with their use of words. I’ve often wished that I could put together letters, string together words, and make sentences and paragraphs the way they do. I know there is a certain amount of skill involved in writing as with any art, skill that comes from knowing the basics and practicing them, but I also know there is a gift to it as well.
I miss their gifts and I hope they are still sharing them somewhere so that others can experience the wonder of their use of words and their ability to draw one in to a story or a poem.
To doubt
I’m committed to this — blogging and the outdoor adventures challenge — for a good long while and I have to tell you, I wondered (a lot!) after making the announcement if I wasn’t making a great mistake. A whole year??? How crazy is that?? Did I aim too high?
(Becoming part of the sculpture.)
But day after day it has become easier, mainly because it has become part of my daily routine. I am habit building. A day without some outdoor time doesn’t seem normal anymore.
I also wonder if I’ll be able to catch up. I tried to keep up with blogging and my blogging friends while in San Diego but I could only devote so much time to it as my days were filled with enjoying being in San Diego. So I think I’ll give up on catching up and start from where I am.
Today’s Walk
Today’s walk was filled with wonders, too. It always is. Today I admired the silvery sheen of the sunlight and clouds, especially as they were reflected in the water of the pond.
The sky has been milky today. Even the blues, when they were showing, looked washed out. It’s an unseasonably warm day. Perhaps that is what is causing the haze and milkiness.
(Reflections through the grasses.)
M has been outside using his new toy, a chain saw. I can’t get quite as excited about it as he is, but I am glad he has a better chain saw than he had in the past. It should make it easier and quicker to cut up all the wood lying about out there, especially the huge chunks of elm left from when we had to have the dead elm trees cut down.
One of the places I be sure to visit each day is the back of the pond where a big, old maple tree hangs over the water. We are going to have to remove it sometime soon. A strong wind could bring it down, roots and all, and that could/would undermine the dam. I feel awful about it. It’s a beautiful tree. I took a few photos but they all came out blurry (sort of how I look at the tree now, feeling teary-eyed about having to cut it down).
I’ll try again tomorrow to get some decent shots of it. I will be visiting the tree every day until we finally do the dastardly, but necessary, deed.
I also wondered at and admired the browns. I know most people don’t think of brown as a beautiful or wonderful color. I like it. There are so many different shades of brown now that most of the other color has dropped away. Sometimes I try to see how many of those shades I can get into one photo.
That’s about it from the Bogs for now. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
The Children’s Garden
Posted: July 6, 2010 Filed under: Adventures in art, Adventures in Life, Earth, garden, Local Tourists, Photography, Spring, Summer, Walking, wandering, water | Tags: Bountiful Healing, Cleveland Botanical Garden, sculpture 11 CommentsIf my heart can become pure and simple like that of a child, I think there can be no happiness greater than this.
~ Kitaro Nishida
I’ve been going through the photos I took in the children’s garden at the Cleveland Botanical Garden, enjoying the sculptures, colors, and whimsical qualities. Since I have nothing else to write about today, I thought I’d share a few of the pictures with you. (Don’t forget you can click on the photo for the larger view.)
(If you follow me over at Bountiful Healing, the horse probably looks familiar. It made an appearance over there in another photo.)
I’ll be back with a few more tomorrow.
(The completed puzzle.)
Project Patio is on hold for a few days. M is back at work and I’ve moved indoors to catch up on all the things that need doing around the house (cleaning, laundry, ironing, etc.). It’s not quite as exciting or picture-worthy as Project Patio so I’ll be searching for some blogging prompts once I finish with the children’s garden. All suggestions are welcome. 🙂