beauty

Beauty is everywhere, if we look for it....

"Easter Lily"

It was an incredible day at the Desert Botanical Garden yesterday...I just happened to arrive on a day when numerous night blooming cactus decided to show their blossoms off to visitors with their stunning, yet ever so brief appearance of less than 24 hours.  They bloom in the dark, and are at their best at daybreak, starting to fade as the morning sun shines on them, til by mid-afternoon or so they are mere shadows of their former selves as they hang shriveled and forlorn from cactus arms.

The blossom below is called an "Easter Lily" - an echinopsis hybrid that comes in various colors.

Squash Blossoms

Spring is here in full force and there is no shortage of beautiful images to capture and share.  Living in the southwest we get to enjoy the rare beauty of cactus blooms in abundance, and it is truly a treat!  However, when I was at the Desert Botanical Garden the other day, what ended up capturing my attention were some gorgeous squash blossoms they had planted in the herb garden section.  So that is what I am sharing this week with "i heart macro".

a new blossom ready to unfurl...

an open blossom against a rusted beam

a gorgeous bloom up close

i heart macro - poppies

Poppies are one of my most favorite flowers, and I eagerly await each spring when they appear again with  their cheery golden faces smiling warmly toward the sun....

Warmth

Living in the Southwest, the prompt "warmth" from over at Project Alicia elicited different images than those I would be coming up with if I lived in colder climes....

Warmth of February sun is

bringing to an end winter slumber.

As trees once again awaken

with new life surging

through their veins,

they are compelled to cast off

all last vestiges of death,

pushing out new buds and leaves.

Warmth of February sun

calls forth a colorful array

Of beautiful blossoms

That draw buzzing bees

And fluttering butterflies,

Who spread delicate wings

Wide to warming rays

While drinking deep of

Each flower’s offering...

Beautiful promises of the spring fast approaching.

Solitude

A place to escape to,
where the noise and activity of
everyday life are far away....
a quiet spot at the edge of the river,
where the soothing sounds of water
rippling and flowing downstream
wash over my soul,
and my heart is refreshed looking up
to majestic red rock and
lifted in gratitude to the Creator.

Oak Creek, Sedona, AZ

i heart macro

A favorite picture from last spring....looking forward to the butterflies coming again!
   (you can click on the image to enlarge)

"Well, hello there....!"

Fleeting Splendor of a Night-blooming Cactus

Sharing over at:
Wordless Wednesday, NF Macro

"i heart macro"

I grabbed my camera this afternoon and ventured out into my backyard to see what I might find to shoot for "i heart macro" and "shoot.edit.submit." (links below).  Initially the Mexican Bird of Paradise didn't catch my eye as it doesn't have any of it's brightly colored flowers this time of year, but the more I looked at it my eye was drawn to the branches and the way the leaves hang down on them, so I aimed my macro lens at one, and liked what I saw.

The first picture is pretty much straight out of camera.  The second two I cropped and took some artistic license with using Aperture 3....I am continually amazed at the beauty found in such seemingly ordinary things!

 

The Creative Exchange: Yosemite

I just got introduced to "The Creative Exchange" through a friend, and decided it was timely to participate.  I like the theme, which is "your camera in one hand, your heart in the other."  Honestly, I don't think the two ever part ways when I take pictures, but obviously some photos have more personal meaning than others.

The 21st of this month marked five years since my dad passed away.  He had Alzheimer's, but thankfully what took him before being fully ravaged by that disease was a sudden heart attack - he was gone in an instant after returning from a walk with my mom in his beloved outdoors.

The pictures I am sharing were taken just this last Thanksgiving in Yosemite, a place very dear to my dad's heart from boyhood until he passed.  He was blessed to live nearby at the end of his life, and would go on weekly hikes with his "buddy Tom".  Alzheimer's took a lot from him, but never his love of Yosemite and being outdoors.  We just had a family reunion at my mom's at Thanksgiving, and one afternoon took a beautiful drive through Yosemite.  I will share a few of the images I captured that afternoon as sun and clouds shifted and played games with the incredible, ever-changing landscape where rain and snow had fallen just hours earlier....

I love and miss you, dad!

the road down into Yosemite valley

Bridal Veil Falls

fog shrouding the tops of granite walls

the sun breaking through and lighting up my dad's favorite tree to photograph

fall and the falls

the sun was shining on the valley floor, lighting up the fall colors while winter was presiding at the top

Half Dome was covered with clouds almost the whole trip, but suddenly the clouds cleared and late afternoon sun lit it up in spectacular fashion

low clouds started to gather again as we were leaving

as the sun was going down and it got cooler, mist began to rise on the meadow

a shot through the windshield of the rising mist

our last look back as we left, with mist rising from the meadow and the setting sun kissing the snowy peak good night...

i heart macro

Shortly after coming across "i heart macro" this week for the first time, I walked by my window and saw the morning sun illuminating a seed pod in it's fleeting light in my backyard.  I quickly grabbed my camera and ran out to capture what I saw a before the sun shifted and left the pod in the shadows again....

the mystery of wind-breath

eyes closed it is crystal clear,
vivid picture in my mind:
a small sturdy sailboat
her white sails bulging
taut with power
and mystery
the mystery of wind-breath.

...the Spirit breathes where he wills
and you hear his voice....
the Spirit breath-speaks;
am i listening?
am i positioned to hear,
to receive life-giving,
life-propelling mystery into myself?

his heart exhales,
pulsing breath-voice
whooshing softly to fill sails;
to guide this little vessel
sure and steady,
puff by puff
breath by breath.

without his breathing
i am stalled
dead in the water;
a dormant vessel
needing to reposition
sails again toward the wind
the wind-breath of the Spirit.


The wind blows (breathes) where it wills; and though you hear its sound, yet you neither know where it comes from nor where it is going.  So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." 
 John 3:8 (Amplified)

the exchange

the morning air
is a gentle breeze
refreshing my body
refreshing my soul
refreshing my spirit.
as i breathe in pneuma
that Holy Spirit breath
at the dawning
i breathe in life
and exhale the old
exchanging night's
oldness for new life
at the beginning of day.


"...he breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit [pneuma].'"  ~ John 20:22

a band of women

unbidden they come
they follow
they pour out their means
for Jesus and the twelve -
a band of women
drawn to him by love.
compelled by gratitude
they must be near him
they must take care of him
they must give all to him.

these are the forgiven-much ones
who love much in return.
these are the delivered-from-demons ones
the healed and set free ones;
women who have freely received
and now freely give.

no more crippling shame
no more sickness or bondage or fear.
instead freed hearts and lives
full of gratitude and joy...
a band of women
with Jesus and his disciples
bringing kingdom wherever they go.


"...he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God.  And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna...and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means."  ~ Luke 8:1-3


[stock photo]

forgiven

a woman of bad repute
and uninvited
she quietly kneels behind him
as he reclines at the table.
tears flow freely
washing his dusty feet.
gently drying them with her hair
she takes costly perfume
and pours out all,
anointing his feet with
sin-bought gift of devotion
and tender kisses;
love language of a bursting
full-of-deep-gratitude
forgiven-much heart.


"Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.  But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."  ~ Luke 7:47

[stock photo]

sweet supply

in the freshness

of the early morning

the little hummingbird

darts and hovers

drinking nectar

from the uplifted cornucopias

of vibrant purple blossoms

life-giving nourishment

for the taking

supplied abundantly

by the Father

Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father  feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they? ~ Matthew 6:26

I Hunger and I Thirst

Hymn lyrics that have put words to early-morning longings of my heart for many years....

I hunger and I thirst,
Jesus my manna be;
Ye living waters burst
Out of the rock for me.

Thou bruised and broken Bread,
My lifelong wants supply;
As living souls are fed,
O feed me or I die.

Thou true life-giving Vine,
Let me Thy sweetness prove;
Renew my life with Thine,
Refresh my soul with love.

For still the desert lies
My thirsting soul before;
O living waters, rise
Within me evermore.



This poem/hymn, written by John Samuel Bewley Monsell; born 1811, ordained 1834, died 1870.  Author of 11 volumes of poetry, encompassing almost 300 hymns.

weighty words

in my set-apart chair

i sit in the early morning hours
savoring first the sensory.

my body nestles into cushiony embrace

while open hands feel
the comforting weight of the book.

fingertips caress the texture

a texture that stirs my heart
with anticipation
for breaking the dark night's fast.

hugging it close

with eyes closed tight
my nose takes in its
leathery smell while
savoring this slight delay
that makes the anticipated repast
all the sweeter.

then the deliberate opening

and the soft sound
of thin pages rustling
until my eyes settle
on words for today.

my heart begins to partake

of their vitality
as i break the fast
with my Father
and i lean in close
to hear him speak his Word
to me for this day.

Your words were found, and I ate them. and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. jeremiah 15:16

Life In A Cup

"The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?" 1 Corinthians 10:16

Cup of blessing which we bless
was the bitter cup he drank.
Bitter cup he asked to let pass,
chose he instead to drink.
Costly crimson outflow from the bitter
becomes life-giving cup of blessing
to the ones who gratefully
receive and partake.

Bitter cups we choose to drink,
and sweeten with the tree*
cast into our bitter waters ~
poured-out fruit of these cups
become rivulets of blessing
to parched and hurting souls;
the ministering of inwrought
experience of the Christ-life.

Bitter cups becoming cups of blessing
as we draw hard strength to echo his
"Not my will but Yours."
Bitter cups becoming
cups of salvation for us,
cups of blessing to others,
as we call on the name of the Lord;
mercy and grace, love and forgiveness,
redemption and hope ~ life in that name.



"I take the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord."  Psalm 116:13


* "Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter....And the people complained against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?"  So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree [type of Christ's cross].  When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet."  
Exodus 15:23-25

"Enjoy Me" ~ poem by St. Teresa of Avila

" 'Enjoy Me.'  Just these two words He spoke changed my life." ~ St. Teresa of Avila 

What a burden I thought I was to carry -

a crucifix, as did He.

Love once said to me, "I know a song,

Would you like to hear it?"

And laughter came from every brick in the street.

And from every pore

in the sky.

After a night of prayer, He

changed my life when He sang,

"Enjoy Me."