spring | Words + Images

Posts Tagged ‘spring’

red onions and white potatoes

Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, Nature Notes, tagged colors, food, gardening, indoor gardening, Inspiration, onions, Photography, potatoes, red onion, spring, sprouts on April 6, 2014| 5 Comments »

An unexpected find in the pantry drawer this morning. Tucked in the back, a small red onion and a few small potatoes had sprouted. My father used to treasure such finds at this time of year.

He’d claim them from my mother and save to plant in the vegetable garden. I consulted with my brothers who paid much better attention that I to the details of planting vegetables that have gone to seed.

I’m going to tuck these sprouts into some dirt in some big pots I have in the house. I don’t expect I’ll get much of a crop but it will be fun to see what does happen. Stay tuned … 😉

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a new experience …

Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged fennel, food, food photography, herbs, indoor gardening, Inspiration, nature, Photography, spring on April 2, 2014| 7 Comments »

My favorite flower shop, Ricky’s, has reopened, providing further evidence that Spring is truly here. He does not yet have his full array of herbs on display but he had enough to make me happy as I walked into the shop. I departed with some standard items, e.g. two different types of thyme, but I also walked out with something new that I’ve never tried to grow before. Fennel.

The resident chef seemed happy with sight of the little pot on the table. We’ll see what he does with the feathery fronds in future dishes. Meanwhile, the other indoor greenery continues to do well, bathed by the light of the new season.

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oak and rain

Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged Branches, Inspiration, landscape, nature, oak tree, Photography, rain, spring, trees, water on March 30, 2014| 3 Comments »

As I waited for the coffee to brew, I decided to snap a few photos of the morning rain beading on the oak tree towering beside the house.

For the most part, I focused through one or two panes of glass though at one point I did open a window and stick my head out.

Despite the morning chill, it was neat to see the buds on the branches and the subtle colors emerging, suggesting spring blossoms and leaves will soon to be.

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love

Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged colors, compassion, daffodils, flowers, gold, hope, Inspiration, love, musings, nature, Photography, reflection, spring, yellow on March 23, 2014| 3 Comments »

Of late, I’ve met a man from a war-torn country who now lives and works in the U.S. He has described to me scenes of great brutality inflicted by man upon man for reasons like this person looked like someone from that country versus this country. He often has a smile on his face.

I am noted for seeing even an empty glass as half-full, but this man’s ability to find the positive puts me to shame. Why is he so happy? Not because he has a job that pays exceptionally well. He doesn’t. Not because he’s made many new friends in this country. He hasn’t. I think it is because, even as the soil ran red with blood around him, he remained open to the possibilities. He saw the beauty amidst the horror, like the flowers blossoming near that same bloody field.

He remained hopeful. Or, as he once told me, he has love in his heart and so long as you have love, what else do you need? Hmmm.

One day I did chance upon him not smiling. I asked the first question that came to mind. “Do you still have love in your heart?” He did not react with surprise to my words. His brow furrowed in deep thought. After a moment, he nodded, and then he smiled broadly. “Yes, Cynthia. Yes I do!”

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walking through the flower shop

Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, blooms, colors, flowers, Inspiration, nature, orange, Photography, plants, spring, yellow on June 19, 2013| 4 Comments »

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in that woburn field

Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged flowers, images, landscape, nature, Photography, seasons, spring, urban landscape, Woburn on June 4, 2013| 2 Comments »

More images from that field and stream bed next to an office park in Woburn, Massachusetts where I’ve had the pleasure of photographing in Fall, Winter and now in Spring. I hope that I am able to return in Summer.

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a green leaf abstraction

Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged Branches, colors, GIMP, green, Inspiration, landscape, nature, Photography, plants, seasons, spring, trees on April 30, 2013| 3 Comments »

Branches viewed while on a short walk this afternoon. Yes, I played around with the color and such a bit. I think the green of spring is finally calling to me. 😉

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walking beneath the quiet of branches

Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged colors, Inspiration, landscape, maps, nature, nonprofits, pedestrian, Photography, spring, transportation, WalkBoston, walking on April 28, 2013| 6 Comments »

A few folks have asked about the “donate to charities” section on this blog. I’ll start with WalkBoston. As a card carrying pedestrian living in a part of the U.S. that is fairly well networked with buses, trains, etc, I thought I knew all I needed to know about transportation. But after becoming involved with this Massachusetts nonprofit I have come to learn a great deal more about the benefits of pedestrian access for individuals of all physical abilities, and of the necessity to understand and advocate for certain transportation infrastructures.

As someone with no sense of direction (my mother used to say I could get lost in a paper bag), I have also come to rely upon the organization’s lovely timed walking maps that are freely accessible online: timed walking maps. With map in hand, I’ve gotten into conversations with strangers on the streets of Boston, and its helped me (a shy person, honest) say to someone, let’s go for a walk and investigate these sights. These images are the sights I “investigated” in Boston’s Back Bay this past Friday.

The older I get, for reasons as varied as terrorism to back pain, I recognize that walking beneath the quiet of tree branches in a city or on a mountain top is a gift. I hope I never take walking in Boston, or in any other area, for granted again.

If you’re in the Massachusetts area and you’d like to learn more about WalkBoston, you can visit the website here. Meanwhile, enjoy the day. 😉

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green (and more!) in the woods

Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged Bellevue Pond, colors, environment, Inspiration, landscape, Massachusetts, Medford, Middlesex Fells, nature, Photography, plants, seasons, spring on April 22, 2012| 1 Comment »

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through the looking glass(es)

Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged home, Inspiration, landscape, light, musings, nature, Photography, spring, trees, windows on April 17, 2012| 4 Comments »

Today I was a bit housebound with various projects. Still, the sunlit landscape called to me on many an occasion. As I have written before I am lucky to live in an old house well-kept in its old style with many windows of ancient rippled glass on all sides, some of which are double and even triple paned. It is both exhilarating and calming to move from pane to pane, over time, and try to capture an ever-shifting beauty from sunrise to sunset.