Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Checking In #2

I'm back home in Michigan, but I have a pretty full day of appointments and meetings. At times, "No rest for the weary" seems like a lifestyle more than a cliche. I got home last night (make that this morning) at 2 AM. I should have been home by 8 PM, but thunderstorms in Asheville then Atlanta allowed me plenty of time to sit around and read. Hopefully I'll begin to catch up with everyone tonight or tomorrow. Since I was talking a break from writing, I thought I'd share a few photos.I took these photos of water lilies (also known as water nymphs or nymphaea odorado) on Sunday in a lake near where I was staying. I borrowed a canoe and was able to get close to get the good shots. It's rare to see the pink lilies, they're normally white.

" Nature might have made Sphinxes in her spare time.
Or Mona Lisas with her left hand,
Blindfolded."
-Jerry & Renny Russell, On the Loose

"Nature is the art of God" -Latin Proverb
"Yet I feel as if I'm entering something pure/ some place not wholly exterior. I knew it once, I think, but so long ago it has ceased to be..." from "The Lilies of Landsford Canal" by Susan Ludvigson, published in Sweet Conflluence: new and selected poems.
" O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth." from Psalm 8, NRSV

17 comments:

  1. Some of us rarely see water lilies of any color so I would have been happy with the white but I love the pink.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gorgeous photos, and nice choice of quotes to accompany them!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Welcome home. Love the quotes you've included here. And the pictures in the post below are awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  4. When amongst lily pads, I generally pick some of the seed pods below water and munch on the seeds which taste very similar to raw peas. That explains why I don't have any water lilly pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You sure you're not a professional photographer along with everything else!?!

    Magnificent photos!

    ReplyDelete
  6. They have been my favorite flowers since I was five! Gorgeous photos, Sage. Welcome home.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Those waterlilies are simply stunning.

    Welcome home...you were missed.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I saved them to my photo file, Sage. Hope you don't mind.

    I think the only requirement to being an elder is to be over 50, but I will check and let you know.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks y'all! It's nice to be missed. I'll try to get back into writing today with Bone's "pregnant" three word wednesday (he's got four words today!)

    Karen, you'd have to define professional photographer. I certainly don't make a living from it, but years ago when I was really into photography, I did make a little money from it.

    Ed, so you eat munch on lilies instead of enjoying their beauty? hum...

    Kenju, it's okay to save 'em, as for the elder advice... no comment.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The second to the last one is particularly brilliant! I enjoyed your fine photography!

    ReplyDelete
  11. 12 JUne 2007


    A silver sky

    ripe for the mirror.

    you can not see yourself in this mirror

    you can only see others

    moreover, you can only see what others choose to expose.

    Their houses, their boats, their sea-doos.




    Birds skimming low over the water could

    like as not

    see them selves if they were to look down

    as they skim low over the water

    but they never do.

    Rather they allow their reflections to chase them

    quick and sharp over the still, glistening waters

    while the bird's mind remains ever fixed on

    food, or other birds, or escaping those damn noisy humans.










    A dense forest impenetrable as a gaze.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Good to see you back.

    I love water lilies. Second and fourth picture make me want to swoon.These pictures inspire me to write a poem. If I do, I will link this post if you don't mind.

    Thanks for some well chosen insightful quotations too.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow. A spectacular post. Gorgeous photos and poignant quotes.

    PS - Welcome back.

    ReplyDelete
  14. ooh so very beautiful and peaceful. thank you.

    ReplyDelete