Posted in Branches, Inspiration, tagged abstract, beauty, flowers, gardening, Inspiration, morning glories, nature, Photography, seeds on October 22, 2017| Leave a Comment »
I went outside to dump the trash and thought I’d take a look at the morning glories growing on the wall nearby. Most of the flowers gone of course but then I noticed the little seed heads and somehow they found themselves in my house sitting in the sun. I’m going to add them to my box of seeds for this year’s winter garden.
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, Inspiration, milkweed, nature, Photography, seeds, urban landscape on October 13, 2017| Leave a Comment »
As I walked by the Charles yesterday, I could not help but think of the opening lines of that song, I was born by the river …
Posted in Inspiration, tagged art, depression, growth, illustration, Inspiration, light, MS Paint, musings, relationships, seeds, storytelling, sun on November 6, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged abstract, apples, fun, Inspiration, Photography, seeds on January 27, 2016| 6 Comments »
I found the seed on the table this morning. I placed it in a little dish because you never know what you might do with a seed, right?
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged gardening, gifts, Inspiration, nature, Photography, seeds, storytelling on November 22, 2015| 2 Comments »
I recently ordered some seeds. At first, it felt like an extravagance. Not a lot of money was spent but there were certainly other things I could have put that money towards. Immediate needs. But I bought the seeds thinking long-term for when the winter settles in, and all the leaves are gone from the oak tree and the sunlight shines through the many windows of the house. Even in the bitter cold, when on the one hand I am able to photograph ice on the inside of the windows, there are sunlit nooks just warm enough for sprouts to grow and even on occasion my bucket of little potatoes.
The sprouts grow in little dishes so I’m not working with much dirt but whether a few inches of soil or a foot, it brings me joy sometimes and calm always. I feel grounded. Of late I’ve been interacting with friends, family and even strangers for whom the winter is a tough time. I’m tempted to send them all seeds so that they can create winter gardens and perhaps find calm and maybe even joy. But I’m not sure that gardening works that way for everyone. I may do it anyway, out of selfishness, because the act would make me feel good.
I did this past summer mail a young friend a package of edible flower seeds. Someone who can be a little down and get stuck inside her head. I thought working with her hands might be good. She texted me back a picture of the unopened colorful seed packet sealed in a beautiful glass jar. What else could I do but applaud her on the composition of the picture. I mean, who am I to dictate how someone gardens. Later when she came to visit in person I let her taste some of the sprouts I had growing, some mild mixture of greens. I happened to have an unopened package of the seeds tucked away. I gave them to her … along with a little bag of dirt. The next text I received was of a bowl of growing greens.
Just some random thoughts this Sunday morning as I stare at empty vessels waiting for their seeds. The pictures are images of dried flowers from the Belle Isle Reservation.
Posted in Inspiration, tagged colors, Copley Square Farmers Market, family, flowers, gifts, Inspiration, Photography, seeds, sunflowers on June 28, 2015| 6 Comments »
The sunflower seeds that I sent to one of my brothers are doing well. During the most recent heat wave in Virginia, he described diligently watering their stalwart green stems along with his green pepper plants. I asked him this morning if they have yet to bloom and he replied, “No. They just keep growing taller! They are already taller than the porch. The landlord worries they might overgrow the house. The stems are so thick and the leaves so broad, you can’t see anything. They are creating a natural wall. The landlord may want to cut them down.” I encouraged him not to allow that to happen. While they are not beanstalks for Jack to climb, who knows what’s to be found at the top of those flowers once they pierce the clouds?
As for these sunflowers, they were to be found in Boston’s Copley Square as I dashed through the Farmers Market this past Friday. A delightful sight, living up to their name, like the sun come down to the ground.
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged curiosity, food, food photography, fruit, indoor gardening, Inspiration, nectarine, Photography, seeds on June 1, 2015| Leave a Comment »
The fruit was purchased at a roadside stand, warm red exterior and bright gold interior. Sweet and tangy. A delightful treat. And now I have this seed. To plant or not to plant? 😉
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, Nature Notes, tagged food, growing, indoor gardening, Inspiration, life, Photography, seeds, snow, sprouts, winter on January 25, 2015| 2 Comments »
in a recycled carry out container grows pea sprouts that are quite tasty with tomatoes and hummus. In the gold goblet, upland cress is hopefully germinating. Their sprouts from a previous harvest were quite fine on smoked salmon. And I think in the clay pots I planted some combination of sunflowers and a spicy mesclun mix. The sun shines on them bright so we’ll see what happens next. And, meanwhile, outside and down below, that same sun shines intense on a landscape covered in ice and snow.
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged food, food photography, indoor gardening, Inspiration, lettuce, mesclun, Mesclun greens, nest, Photography, recipe, seeds, shallow soil on June 19, 2014| 5 Comments »
Let’s see. Besides potatoes, I’ve been growing lettuce indoors. Mesclun greens, their seeds meant to sprout in shallow soil and then the green leaves snipped early to top other dishes.
But my dish with shallow soil was kind of large and so I found myself with many greens that I decided to form into a nest. And on this nest I placed a handful of brussels sprouts, chopped, and a couple of small leeks, chopped, and a bit of oyster mushroom found at the bottom of the fridge, also chopped. Before I placed them in their nest, these veggies and the fungi were sauteed in olive oil, butter and garlic and seasoned with salt and pepper.
Okay, there was some meat added at the end of the porcine variety but no pictures do I have of crisped bacon, and so this is as much of the recipe that I can share in images. Í’ve placed the large dish aside until I decide what to sprout next. So many seeds in the world. I feel quite lucky.
Posted in Inspiration, tagged compassion, family, friends, friendship, gifts, Inspiration, life, love, musings, Photography, seeds, wishes on April 6, 2014| 6 Comments »
I wish I had the money to wipe away all of the debts of my family and friends. Because if their debts were gone, would that make them happy? Would financial freedom allow them to treat themselves better, as well as improve their treatment of the people in their lives? No fancy behavior required, just respect, if not outright love and compassion.
Would it enable them to give the people in their lives a hug, on occasion, or at least a pat on the hand, and even sometimes to perform such actions without even being asked? Would it enable them to talk to each other and communicate in ways that work for all involved and not just one side? Perhaps conversations could take place without someone always having to be wrong so that someone can be right.
But I don’t have such funds to give and even if I did, I’m not sure that it would make a difference because in the end, I can control no one’s behavior except my own. Maybe I should wish for the money so that I can travel around the world, to where all these friends and family members live, those that are suffering and in some form of pain. Perhaps I could pass out those hugs or those pats on the hand, so that certain people know that they are loved and that their presence does make a difference to the people around them and always has, even if words of gratitude are not often shared.
Of late I have received so many calls and notes from friends and family, all suffering in some way, but mostly feeling alone though they are surrounded by others. I hear only their words, and know that there is always more than one side to any story. I can make no judgements about those others in their lives. I just wish that all were happy and each knew how precious each day was to have such people in their lives. I can listen to the words and I can read the notes but I cannot change behavior. But there is something I can do.
Each spring into summer, I buy seeds of all kinds, in packages large and small. I send them out into the world to family and friends, of all ages, to help people pause and maybe even share a precious moment with others as they plant the seeds in the soil. I send them to the closest of friends and family, and I send them to family and friends I know not very well at all. I send them to the people who cannot speak to each other in hopes they can plant a seed together even if they do so in silence. It is a selfish act — to know that I did something, gave something, to another. I do not know what the seeds do for the recipients or even if the seeds are planted. I simply hope they are. I hope they are.
*the photographs are the latest series of photographs taken through the rippled glass, of life blurried but still beautiful
Words + Images 