A Time for Contemplation
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It is a beautiful, sunny day, though a bit chilly outside this morning—a time for contemplation. It’s one of those days when you’re grateful for the simple joys in life.
Charlie and I have already made our rounds of the patio, checking the flower and plant containers. I always take my camera outside to see what I can capture, while Charlie does what dogs do when they’re let outdoors.
This strange-looking object was growing on the clematis vine. I love the texture of it. I’ve already had many white flowers on the clematis vine this year. It’s my very favorite flowering vine.
Yesterday afternoon, I spent some time rolling around on my garden cart, snipping and performing maintenance on my plants. It was a perfect time to enjoy nature all around me.
Nothing Is Quite As Beautiful As Nature:
It’s one of my favorite things to do, checking each flower, bud, and tiny vegetable. It’s so exciting when you go outside and see something new that wasn’t there the day before. I spend that time looking closely at how everything is formed.
Then I sit, reflect, and enjoy the beauty and wonder of it all.
There is nothing quite as beautiful and perfect as nature. There is so much to see and so many opportunities for contemplation.
I like to spend a bit of time with each plant, snipping old blooms and leggy plants. Sometimes I move little seedlings around to spots that are a bit bare. Then I sit and look around me and take it all in.
I hear the three sets of wind chimes and the trickling of the water fountain. There’s the occasional chirping of birds up in the tree, which is ablaze with white blooms.
Stepping into a Living, Breathing Poem:
Being in nature is like stepping into a living, breathing poem. The air feels cleaner and cooler against your skin, scented with flowers waving in the breeze.
You can hear the rustle of leaves whispering in the wind, and birds calling to one another from hidden perches. There is the rhythmic hum and buzz of insects as they hover over the plants.
The sunlight filters through the trees in uneven patches. I close my eyes and tilt my head upward to feel the sun’s warmth.
There’s the sparkle of dew on grass, and the distant murmur of water pouring over stones.
Worries seem to fade, replaced by calmness and the steady beating of my heart. I start to notice small miracles, like a spider’s web that glimmers like spun glass, and how a breeze carries the sweet smell of rain before it arrives.
Being in nature takes me to a meditative, soothing place. There’s the sense that I belong to this world, and it belongs to me.
Ivy Watching From Her Perch:
Ivy watches me from her high perch. Charlie noses around, sniffing at this and that. Sometimes I can see his leg shaking, know his back is hurting, and that he needs to go in and rest. So I get up and let him in, reflecting on our time together.
Then I make the rounds again. Checking for bugs and watching the butterflies and bees. Yesterday, out in front, I saw a hummingbird. It was magical.
Did you know that those little winged creatures flutter their wings 80 times per second? They don’t flap their wings; they rotate them in a figure 8, which makes it even more remarkable! This also enables them to go backwards in the air and to hover in one spot.
Being outside in nature is to step away from noise and motion, and the world seems to exhale around you. The air carries a freshness that fills your lungs and clears your thoughts.
The trees stand like sentinels. The sound of wind moving through leaves is like a low, soothing chant. Even the most minor things draw my attention, like the way a bird pauses before taking flight.
Your thoughts drift through like clouds. There’s no rush, no need to be anywhere else. The heart makes space for gratitude, and for simple being.
In nature, you remember what it means to belong—not to tasks or worries, but to life itself. Everything moves in balance, and you, for a moment, are part of that balance too.
Feeling Grateful & Contemplating Life:
I have the envious position of getting to do this every day, and I never stop being grateful for this time outdoors among my plants.
I hope others sheltering at home go outside and watch spring evolve into summer. Maybe they’ve never really had much time to think about it before. Maybe they have small children and their days are full.
Mine was once full, too. I stayed home with two little girls, joined the neighbors and their kids, and handed out Kool-Aid on hot days.
Life seemed so simple then. There were no cell phones to intrude on conversations, and no one was watching a screen instead of visiting with the other mothers.
It was just a more uncomplicated time, and I look back on it fondly. I wonder if life can ever be so innocent and effortless again. Somehow, I doubt it.
A child’s world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood.
-Rachel Carson
Beautiful.You should get a hummingbird feeder.
Not that I need any reminders of how nice the simple life is, I am truly blessed and know it, but it is so nice to feel like you have kindred spirits who enjoy nature. I have a basic cell phone for emergencies only and glad we can use FaceTime to see our grand sons. Good thing I haven’t repotted my seedlings outside yet, we might get snow Friday night a little north of here. It would be the first time since records have been kept since 1870. Our last frost date is usually around Mother’s Day. I go to the grocery store about once every 3 weeks and in the last week or so have gotten carry out a time or two. Yesterday we got carry out from a caterer. We got Mexican and Saturday we will pick up a meal for 4. That works for me, 2 days worth of cooked food! Since I don’t want to go to a lot of different grocery stores, I am missing the delicious cooked turkey breast and other meats a store that I don’t buy the majority of my groceries from. I am happy to help out a small business. Have a good day.
I tend not to carry my cell phone around but it is convenient. I was texting a friend in Texas today who is hearing impaired and can’t easily use the phone, so it has its uses. And I got a flat tire the other day and could call the garage!
It’s a lifesaver that you have your patio. I can’t imagine being confined in a NYC apartment 24/7 as many are right now…. including my niece..
I’m one of those confined alone in a NYC apartment, and while I have loved looking at your photos of plants, flowers (and of course, your adorable pets) for many years now, seeing them these past few weeks has been a true bright spot in each day. So if you’re ever wondering if all your blog efforts are worth it, they certainly are. Thank you for sharing and helping me through this crazy time, Brenda.
I miss the days of yesteryear too! The days when my children were young and things were so simple! It seems now everybody is plugged into some electronic device and they have very little human interaction ! I think as bad as this pandemic is people are reconnecting again! I saw a hummingbird this week also. When my husband was alive he would sit on the porch and the hummingbirds would come over and hover as if to say “hey it’s time to put food in the feeder” and I felt that was what they were doing to me this week! I am going to bring my flowers in tonight because we have freeze warnings! The flowers I have in the railing boxes are in a separate box that I can take out. I will be glad when we have several warm sunny days !
The flowers on the clematis vine looks like a firework in the night sky. Just beautiful. I love your garden with so many different plants to look at as well as Ivy and Charlie . Have a great day Brenda.
Life can be as simple as we make it for ourselves. I don’t own a cell phone – got by for 50 years without one when they first started becoming more popular and less clunky (remembering the big phones that the guys used to pull out of their pockets on “Frasier,” LOL!) The last year I was working I got a simple basic cell phone through the plan my employer offered that cost me under $12 a month. I never used it – not even once. When I retired that was the end of that plan. Don’t miss carrying the useless (to me) thing around, either. I don’t watch TV anymore, but I do stream shows I want to watch on the computer. These days I listen to news programs on internet radio, read my newspaper subscriptions online and watch a lot of gardening and home improvement shows on my streaming service. I’ll “rent” an occasional movie from Amazon but most of the stuff out these days doesn’t interest me. I’m not into guns, violence, zombies and “modern” romances. If it’s not Jane Austen, I’m usually not too interested 🙂 My idea of an action film is “Twister” – about scientific tornado chasers. Give me my backyard, my table, my umbrella, my shezebo with the net screening when the bugs and mosquitoes start coming out, my computer and a whole lot of good books that I can read with my feet up and I’m good to go. I never lived one of those “zoom zoom” lives and at 68 I’m not going to start now! You have your little bit of paradise in your beautiful patio garden; it sounds like most of your visitors have similar interests and enjoy their natural surroundings too. Like minds tend to gather together it appears. Nothing wrong with living a simple and quiet life. I have more than enough excitement in mine just getting satisfaction out of a well-mowed lawn, LOL!
” I have more than enough excitement in mine just getting satisfaction out of a well-mowed lawn, LOL!” I really like this part of Your comment. I have more than enough excitement in my life getting satisfaction out of my flowerbeds, garden, indoor plants, etc. I’m with You, it is enough!!! 🙂 barb