building the new

The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new. 

--Dan Millman (b.1946) author.

bleeding heart

How else but through a broken heart may Lord Christ enter in?
--Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish writer.

travel light

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears.
--Glenn Clark (1882-1956) author.

Above: American Wintergreen plant growing on Unaka Mountain.

sacred in the ordinary

 

The great lesson…is that the sacred in the ordinary, that it is to be found in one's daily life, in one's neighbors, friends, and family, in one's back yard.
--Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) American psychologist.

Above: Fern illuminated by early evening sun

Happy Mother's Day!

I realized when you look at your mother, you are looking at the purest love you will ever know.
--Mitch Albom (b.1958) author. 

growth

 

All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous, unpremeditated act without benefit of experience.
--Henry Miller (1891-1980) American Author and Writer. 

Above: Poplar tree leaves budding in spring.

revive

The beautiful spring came; and when Nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also.
--Harriet Ann Jacobs (1813-1897)

Beautiful bluebell blooms blanket a byway at Winged Deer Park in Johnson City, TN. Click here for a map of the park and its many trails. The scenes above are found on the aptly named Bluebell Loop. The blooms are approaching the end of their spring show, so get out to see them in the next day or so if you're in the area.

Click here for a previous post describing the trails at Winged Deer.

Click here for a link to JC Parks page.

cleverness

Life is a mosaic of pleasure and pain - grief is an interval between two moments of joy. Peace is the interlude between two wars. You have no rose without a thorn; the diligent picker will avoid the pricks and gather the flower. There is no bee without the sting; cleverness consists in gathering the honey nevertheless.
--Sri Sathya Sai Baba (1926-2011) Indian Spiritual leader.

Mother's Day

Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes, by dozens and hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, comrades and friends — but only one mother in the whole world. 

--Kate Douglas Wiggin (1856-1923) American educator and author.

Happy Mother's Day! Love you, Mom!

wildflower's song

As I wandered the forest,
The green leaves among,
I heard a Wild Flower
Singing a song.  

--William Blake (1757-1827) English painter, poet and printmaker.

Above: Foamflower

spring work

Spring work is going on with joyful enthusiasm. 
― John Muir (1838-1914) Naturalist and Conservationist.

Above: An early white trillium blooming in Rocky Fork.

spring has returned

Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems. 
--Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) Bohemian-Austrian poet and novelist. 

Such a fun, unusual spring wildflower, with such a fun name... Dutchman's Breeches.

precious gift

The most precious gift we can offer anyone is our attention. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.
--Thich Nhat Hanh (b.1926) Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, teacher and author.

blessings

May brooks and trees and singing hills join in the chorus too,
and every gentle wind that blows send happiness to you.
--Irish Blessing

late bloomer

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. 
--John Muir (1838-1914) Naturalist and Conservationist.

Above: A late-blooming May Apple found on Iron Mountain.

Happy Mother's Day

Be a living expression of God's kindness. 
--Mother Teresa (1910-1998).

Happy Mother's Day to my mom, the living expression in my life of God's kindness. Hope you have a wonderful day!

spring gladness

"Awake, thou wintry earth -

Fling off thy sadness! 

Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth 

Your ancient gladness!" 

- Thomas Blackburn, An Easter Hymn 

love life

I have found that if you love life, life will love you back. 
--Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982) Polish-American classical pianist.

Happy Easter!

It is the hour to rend thy chains, the blossom time of souls. 
--Katherine Lee Bates

spring has sprung

Love is like wildflowers; It's often found in the most unlikely places.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Above: This is rue anemone, one of the first wildflowers to appear in the woods each spring.