after one final close look
at the butterflies we raised
it’s time to release them back into nature
where they quickly find their wings.
“the butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.”
-rabindranath tagore
May14
Category Archives: nature
May7
tree dancer.
drove by
this lovely tree
dressed in all of it’s finest adornments
dancing to the wind.
—
“no matter how mighty and strong a tree is,
it will always dance to the tune of the wind.”
-okelola olamigoke
May3
tulips.
*”tulips are the only flowers that continue to grow, up to an inch or more, after they’re cut.”
-sarah jio
i find it fascinating that they refuse to surrender so easily
even defiantly growing longer
and,
there’s science.
—
*Tulip stems do continue to lengthen once they’re snipped. That’s because the cells in their stems are particularly responsive to the plant hormone auxin, which causes them to elongate. Auxin also influences phototropism — the tendency of plants to grow toward light. – google
—
art credit: watercolor by vadim
Apr30
les voyageurs.
on my frequent walks to the river
each time passing this sign
i wondered –
often someone chopping wood
putting up canoes, cooking outside
peaceful communal living
until i learned the intriguing backstory
and understood
the amazing spirit of this society.
—
Society of Les Voyageurs
As the oldest continually active student group on the University of Michigan campus (founded in 1907), the Society of Les Voyageurs upholds a long-standing tradition of convening over the love for nature and the out of doors. The Society owns a cabin on the Huron River just north of downtown called Habe Mills Pine Lodge that was built in 1927 to house the Society, its activities, as well as those members who choose to live there. The group also hosts potluck dinners every Sunday at 6pm, followed by a program from a professor or a community member pertaining to learning more about the out of doors. The group is known to embark occasionally on casual outings such as hiking, backpacking, rock climbing, caving, cross-country skiing, etc.
—
*”si le voyageur n’espere rien, il ne verra ce que voient les yeux.”
-eric-emmanuel schmitt (franco-belgian playwright, novelist, film director)
*(If the traveler does not hope for anything, he will only see what the eyes see.)
argo park, ann arbor, michigan, usa – april 2021
Apr28
growth.
everything is growing and changing
all in their own time
each in their own way
we watch and care for them
soon they will all be something new.
—
“and the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
― Anais Nin
Apr15
on water and light.
“on water and light she runs.”
-katherine catmull
—
ann arbor, michigan, usa – april 2021
Mar20
the swan.
on the river – welcoming spring
—
The Swan
Did you too see it, drifting, all night, on the black river?
Did you see it in the morning, rising into the silvery air –
An armful of white blossoms,
A perfect commotion of silk and linen as it leaned
into the bondage of its wings; a snowbank, a bank of lilies,
Biting the air with its black beak?
Did you hear it, fluting and whistling
A shrill dark music – like the rain pelting the trees – like a waterfall
Knifing down the black ledges?
And did you see it, finally, just under the clouds –
A white cross Streaming across the sky, its feet
Like black leaves, its wings Like the stretching light of the river?
And did you feel it, in your heart, how it pertained to everything?
And have you too finally figured out what beauty is for?
And have you changed your life?
– Mary Oliver
Mar15
questions.
came across this open door
when walking in the park
so many questions.
–
“answers are closed rooms; and questions are open doors that invite us in.”
-nancy willard
—
argo park, ann arbor, michigan, usa – march 2021
Feb26
wintersleep.
almost time to awaken to spring.
—
“there is a time for many words, and there is also a time for sleep.”
-homer
—
image credit: Wintersleep (giclee print) by Marjolein Caljouw
Feb24
crisp.
last night’s walk in the park
—
“it is the life of the crystal, the architect of the flake, the fire of the frost, the soul of the sunbeam.
this crisp winter air is full of it.”
-john burroughs
—
argo park, ann arbor, michigan, usa – february 2021
