Ramblingwoods.com has a Nature Notes meme that challenges us to find something interesting in nature and then post our impressions about it. Here is my contribution for this week from my garden:
June
from "The Vision of Sir Launfal"
by James Russel Lowell (1819-1891)
"...Earth gets its prize for what Earth gives us;
The beggar is taxed for a corner to die in,
The priest hath his fee who comes and shrives us,
We bargain for the graves we lie in;
At the devil's booth are all things sold,
Each ounce of dross costs its ounce of gold;
For a cap and bells our lives we pay,
Bubbles we buy with a whole soul's tasking;
'Tis heaven alone that is given away,
'Tis only God may be had for the asking;
No price is set on the lavish summer;
June may be had by the poorest comer..."
Oh wow...Great poem to go with your photo. I love that you included the little visitor and didn't choose another picture. I love it when I take a photo and find more than I was looking for....You do have a way with words and I am happy to have you join Nature Notes....
ReplyDeleteMichelle From Rambling Woods
Job well done my friend! You do have a way with words...
ReplyDeleteLovely, I wish gardenias would grow up here. My friend has one she overwinters in the house, not very successfully.
ReplyDeleteI used to belong to a rose club who's motto was 'you get what you pay for'. They hated inexpensive bare root roses. If I go to another meeting I'll have a good come back quote;)
Marnie
Very wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI shall check out other Nature Notes.
Surprises are always interesting.
Sherry
That particular species of fly (Bottle or Blow fly) is usually attracted to the odor of rotting flesh. I wonder what your gardenia was offering?
ReplyDeleteI love gardenias and this is a beautiful photo. Also, I've just discovered daisy gardenias and hope to have some soon.
ReplyDeleteLove the poem! Whether it's the economy or the fact that I'm getting older and "wiser," I enjoy more and more those things that are offered to us freely. It's always a pleasant surprise when I download photos and discover a little "visitor" I hadn't noticed at the time.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Michelle. I've shied away from participating in memes before because I tend to be nonconformist (in case you haven't noticed). Your meme, however, appeals to me because you ask so little of us and give us free reign to post on any day we choose. Thanks for the invitation.
ReplyDeleteSkeeter, funny lady, so do you. You're not afraid to "let it all hang out," and that fearlessness makes you pretty special in my book. Transparency is a rare trait that more people ought to cultivate.
Marnie, for a while there I got suckered into thinking only perennials would do for my garden. Annuals were just too cheap, common, and short-lived for me then. A change in fortune has a wonderful effect on pride. I've since changed my gardening habits, and pride gets swallowed on an almost daily basis now in other aspects of life. It's a great tonic and comes highly recommended. I hope your come-back quote doesn't fall on deaf ears. ;>}
Hi, Sherry. I'm so glad you liked the post. The links on Michelle's site have inspired me to visit the other participants and join in the various conversations. It's good to expand my horizons a bit and explore some other points of view.
TC, maybe the fly just needed a fragrant break from its daily routine. If I had to work around rotting flesh all the time, I think I would need some aromatherapy too.
PJ, this particular gardenia shrub is a low-growing, evergreen groundcover, and it looks beautiful even without the flowers because of the variegated leaves. I've never heard of daisy gardenias. Let me know how they do for you.
Rose, you're so right. The best things in life are free. It's kind of hard to justify that idea with real life, though. You just have to savor and store up those brief moments where job loss, bills, taxes, debt, illness, etc., don't exist. I'm learning....
You seem always to see the glass half full. The Lowell poem begins in cynicism and doubt about all things having their cost, and ends in celebration of the month of June - for free.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the pick-me-up when I posted today in such a grouchy mood.
WS, I learned the half-full-glass attitude years ago from my mom. Money was tight then for my parents, and mom could make a food budget stretch like you've never seen. At the tender age of 7 or 8 I began to notice her methods. She could feed a family of two adults and three children at that time(including two teenage boys) a sumptuous banquet on just one baked chicken and some vegetables. She herself would take only the back of the chicken and fill up on veggies. When I asked her how she could be satisfied with eating just the tiny bit of meat from the chicken's back, she would assure me that the meat on the back was so filling she wouldn't dream of needing more to eat. I believed her then and kept that thought with me as I've grown older with a family of my own to take care of. She had food to eat I knew nothing about (then). And you're not grouchy. You just have a way of cutting through the baloney. Glad I could help.
ReplyDeleteLovely gardenia. They are not hardy up here but oh the scent. Hope all is fine down there and it looks to be that way with a gardenia!
ReplyDeleteOne more beauty I can't grow but still enjoy vicariously
ReplyDeleteLovely flower with visitor. I also like your post on the cornflower below. Lots of folks don't even know what an invasive plant is. I am always looking for something native to plant.
ReplyDeleteGreat nature notes post. Lovely shot of the gardenia and also liked the poem.
ReplyDeleteTina, I think these gardenias were designed with a gardener like me in mind. They don't require a lot of fuss and bother, and they stay neat looking all year long. The blooms are what I look forward to all year, but I'm not disappointed by the shrubs the rest of the year. And to think I bought them at Home Depot for a few bucks each several years ago. I think the buyer for the store must have changed since then because I haven't seen them for sale again. I'm going to try rooting some cuttings this fall now that the shrubs are large enough to trim.
ReplyDeleteTroutbirder, you can stop here anytime and gaze to your heart's content!
Thanks, Leora, for the visit and comment. I've always been somewhat of a haphazard (gullible?) gardener, buying and planting whatever looked pretty in the garden shop. Usually I'm lucky enough to avoid anything really invasive. Except for the time I yielded to the lure of Mexican petunias. I did have some wits about me, though, when I limited their spread to one small flower bed and didn't scatter them all over the yard. Now they just annoy me on a small instead of grand scale.
Thanks, Carver. I'm glad to be joining Michelle's meme, though I might skip a week now and then. I enjoyed reading your post today. It's great to see what other bloggers are finding in and about nature.
lovely shadows and light, I can almost smell it.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Tammie Lee. I just happened to snap the picture at the right time of day. I'm still quite a novice at photography but enjoy learning as I go.
ReplyDeleteexcellent design
ReplyDelete