The expected and the unexpected

Exploring the inner world of a zinnia.

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.

~ Confucious

When you do something noble and beautiful and nobody noticed, do not be sad. For the sun every morning is a beautiful spectacle and yet most of the audience still sleeps.

~ John Lennon

Exploring the garden.

I had not intended or expected to post today.  I am not sure what I intended, if truth be told.  To read, perhaps, or do some writing.  I knew there would be no drawing or artwork because my studio (which is really the kitchen table) is not available to me today.

Part of the evening dinner crowd.

There are workers here at the house.  We are having two big picture windows replaced.  It’s something that has needed to be done for a while.  With the weather as hot as it is today (it is horrid; the heat index or “feels like” temperature as of noon was 110°F), we offered to reschedule because the guys that are here doing the work will have to spend a lot of time outside, in the sun.  The windows face east and that is where the sun will pound down on them for half the day.  One of the windows is located in the kitchen dining area.  The other is in the master bedroom.

Light in the water.

Nothing is every straightforward and easy, of course.  We had some work done under the windows earlier this year (February, maybe?).  John (our singing handyman — if you’ve been following me for a while, you might recognize his name) replaced some siding and found there was some rotting going on underneath.  We also had problems with the windows fogging up.  He suggested we might want to have them replaced.  So, here we are, having them replaced on one of the hottest days of the year.

The guys doing the work today found some more rotten wood when they took the first window out.  They weren’t prepared for that but M-The-Ever-Prepared was and has the wood needed to replace it.

One day at the Point when we took the kayak out. (There are two kayakers off in the distance.)

I’ve been sitting in the home office, catching up on emails, blogs, and the things I set aside to look at when I had time.  Apparently it takes less time than I thought it would to get caught up.  So, I thought I would share a few beautiful things with you.

It was a beautiful day to be out on the water.

• Richness of Reality, a short film about artist Peter Von Straten.  (“There is a lovely Salvador Dali quote, which is, “The only difference between me and a madman is that I’m not mad.” We are all a bit touched. And it’s about how much courage or the lack of fear that you have with allowing the more exotic elements of yourself to display themselves, or whether you have a terror of that. And one wishes everyone could express themselves more freely and without needing others to OK every thing that you do.”)
• I know a lot you already follow Emergence Magazine and may have already seen this:  The Nightingale’s Song.  I was fascinated by Sam Lee’s collaboration with nightingales and looked into him a little further.  I love this song:  The Moon Shines Bright.
• Thomas Merton’s Rain Text (“And I listen, because it reminds me again and again that the whole world runs by rhythms I have not yet learned to recognize, rhythms that are not those of the engineer.”)
• Three exercises from the film Becoming Animal (based on David Abram’s book, Becoming Animal).  (PDF format)
• Long read:  Guerrilla Beauty by Trebbe Johnson (“Moments of beauty jog our consciousness into that old truth we knew as children—that we are, each of us, endowed with a mysterious, easily accessible, and intimate connection with this world, and that magic can pop up and amaze us at any time. Grabbing the beauty that shoots through brokenness and taking the risk to pass it on just might save the Earth—or at least our life on Earth.”)

Watching the sunrise through the hydrangea.

If this seems to you like an odd collection of images with no rhyme or reason, you’re right.  I used to call this kind of post my Friday Farrago (farrago means hodgepodge, a confused mix).  Some of the photos will seem familiar to those who follow me on Instagram.  I bring them here today because I’m trying to get caught up with myself after a month of taking a lot of photographs but not blogging, and I know not everyone has seen them on IG because not everyone uses IG or other forms of social media.  Most, I think, will be new to you whether you’re on IG or not.

Light dances in shadows.

I reckon that’s enough from me for this terribly hot and humid Friday.  A hello and welcome to my new followers.  Thank you so much, old and new, for stopping by and meandering around in the photo archives (from the last month) with me.  Let’s meet out at the Point for sunset this evening.  The days are growing shorter and sunset is now at 7:58 PM.  There is a slight chance of thunderstorms so we’ll need to keep an eye out for that.  If it looks good, I’ll meet you there about ten or fifteen minutes ahead of time.  Dress for hot weather or to swim.  It’s a scorcher out there, even near the water.

Please be safe, be well, and keep being your beautiful self.  ♥

Portrait of Ali, who used to sleep in our vegetable garden.

A few of the 10,000 reasons to be happy:  1,831)  Getting the old windows replaced.  1,832)  The guys doing the work.  They are doing a really good job (one window in as of shortly after noon).  They are being safe (wearing masks when in the house) and friendly.  1,833)  A distanced picnic lunch (we picked up lunch for the guys doing the windows).  1,834)  Zooming with friends I haven’t seen in forever.  1,835)  The Sarcastic Lutheran on IG.  Her name is Nadia Bolz-Weber.  I get her newsletter and her latest was a lesson in accepting reality for what it is, not what we want it to be.  I could almost become Lutheran just to hear her preach.  She’s a very wise woman.

Ali waiting for her mom.