Feast of Being

“If the garden of Eden really exists it does so moment by moment, fragmented and tough, cropping up like a fan of buddleia high up in the gutter of a deserted warehouse, or in a heap of frozen cabbages becoming luminous in the reflected light of roadside snow.” —  Helen Dumore, The Raw Garden

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Photos of some perhaps ordinary, obscure, small, oft-overlooked and even maligned elements of the paradise that’s earth, this feast of being. (All photos taken in the last month, in New England, except for the final collage.)

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I’ve been a little fascinated by dandelions lately.

And other so-called weeds. Like ajuga in the lawn, in shadow and light:

pinkpurpleajuga1June2017pinkajuga1June2017

And ferns, coltsfoot, tall rockcress, and violets along the roadside.
fernsKezarLakeSuttonNH27May2017

fernfurryspiralcloseKezarLakeNH16May2017
fern spiral, Kezar Lake, Sutton, NH
curledfernCPT1June2017
curled fern, Clark Pond Trails, New London, NH
yellowcoltsfootflowersshadowKezarLakeNH16May2017
Tussilago farfara (coltsfoot) and shadows, Kezar Lake, Sutton, NH
mayberockcressBflowerleavesNRTAndover4June2017
rockcress of some kind, Northern Rail Trail, Andover, NH
whitepurplevioletflowerKezarLakeNH16May2017
violet, Kezar Lake, Sutton, NH

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And grass.

grassesonthewaterpondBedrockGardensNH20May2017
grasses on pond, Bedrock Garden, Lee, NH
carexgrassflower1June2017
carex grass, garden

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‘Never forget that every mind is shaped by the most ordinary experiences. To say that something is ordinary is to say that it is of the kind that has made the biggest contribution to the formation of your most basic ideas.’ — Paul Valéry

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There are beautiful pests.

waspstakeb1June2017
wasp on pea trellis, garden
EuschistusStinkBuginsectBeautyofMoscowlilacbloom1June2017
stink bug on lilac, garden
MarchFlyclosemagnolialeafCiderHillWindsorVT2June2017
March fly on magnolia leaf, Cider Hill Garden, Windsor VT

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Spring ephemerals, woodland plants, sometimes nodding or lowly, both showy and unshowy, like trilliums (Kezar Lake, Cider Hill Gardens):

And Jack in the Pulpits (Bedrock Gardens, Clark Pond Trails):

And lady slippers (Clark Pond Trails):

And others.

SessilebellwortwildoatsnoddingcreamflowercloseKezarLakeNH16May2017
Uvularia sessilifolia (aka sessile bellwort, wild oats), Kezar Lake, Sutton, NH
whitegoldthreadflowerKezarLakeNH17May2017
white flower of Coptis trifolia (goldthread), Kezar Lake, Sutton, NH
ClintoniaTomtrailCPT1June2017
Clintonia borealis (blue-bead lily) blooms, Clark Pond Trails, New London, NH
starflowersbloomsCPT1June2017
Lysimachia borealis (starflower) blooms, Clark Pond Trails, New London, NH

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As well as flowers languishing.

purplewhitemagnoliaflowersongroundBedrockGardensNH20May2017
magnolia flowers on ground, Bedrock Garden, Lee, NH
pinkpeonyflowerspentCiderHillWindsorVT2June2017
pink peony flower, Cider Hill Garden, Windsor, VT

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And then there’s the infusion of sunlight, and raindrops, and both.

“Is the spring coming?” he said. “What is it like?”…

“It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine…”

― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

darkredfrilledtulipclose31May2017
tulip, garden
waterdropletlupine30May2017
water drops in lupine leaves, garden
boulderfernsmossvinesCPT1June2017
sunlight on boulder with ferns, moss, lichen, pine needles, Clark Pond Trails, New London, NH
mysteryleavesKezarLakeNH17May2017
nascent red oak leaves, Kezar Lake, Sutton, NH
ginkgoleavesBedrockGardensNH20May2017
Ginkgo leaves and sky, Bedrock Garden, Lee, NH
StewartiacamobarktilescoloursBedrockGardensNH20May2017
Light on Stewartia tree against tiles, Bedrock Garden, Lee, NH
whitepineneedleswaterdroplets30May2017
white pine with rain, garden
anothergreenfrogredlilypadsWiggleWaggleBedrockGardensNH20May2017
frog on lily pad in sun, with leaf, Bedrock Garden, Lee, NH

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Sometimes Eden is more drab than you might expect, and in that almost (never) monotone it sings its siren song, lures us closer:

nestthatfellfromunderbridgeNRTAndover4June2017
bird nest that fell or blew from under a bridge, Northern Rail Trail, Andover, NH
tracksrailroadtiesgrassNRTAndover4June2017
disused railroad tracks and ties in grass, Northern Rail Trail, Andover, NH
metallikethreeorquestionmarkNRTAndover4June2017
A 3? A question mark? Infinity untwisted? Northern Rail Trail, Andover, NH

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Ocean Eden:

orangejellyfishbeachBlithewoldBristolRI7May2017
dead jelly fish, Blithewold Mansion, Gardens & Arboretum, Bristol, RI
iridescentshellfragmentbeachTheNarrowsNarragansettRI8May2017
iridescent shell fragment, The Narrows, Narragansett, RI
beachoceanbTheNarrowsNarragansettRI8May2017
beach with surf and sky meeting wall, The Narrows, Narragansett, RI
purpleorangerocksbeachsandTheNarrowsNarragansettRI8May2017
purple and orange rocks, The Narrows, Narragansett, RI
whelkeggcaseparkinglotEastonsBeachNewportRI6May2017
whelk egg case in parking lot, Easton’s Beach, Newport, RI

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Eden by way of juxtaposed colour and texture:

yellowpineneedlesCPT1June2017
yellow white pine needles, Clark Pond Trails, New London, NH
stiffclubmosswhitegreenCPT1June2017
stiff club moss — white and green striped, Clark Pond Trails, New London, NH
pinkcherryblossomspinkbuildingThamesStNewportRI7May2017
pink cherry blossoms, pink paint-peeling building, brick, blue, Newport, RI
euphorbiamuscari30May2017
euphorbia and muscari with crabapple blossoms, garden
shimmeringwateryellowwaterlilybudsHorseshoePondNRTAndover4June2017
shimmering water, Horseshoe Pond, Northern Rail Trail, Andover, NH
contrailblueskyKezarLakeNH18May2017
contrail in blue sky, Kezar Lake, Sutton, NH

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“It’s an ugly woods, I was saying to myself, padding along a trail where other walkers had broken ground before me. And then I found an extraordinary bouquet. Someone had bound an offering of dry seed pods, yew, lyme grass, red berries, and brown fern and laid it on the path: “nothing special,” as Buddhists say, meaning “everything.” Gathered to formality, each dry stalk proclaimed a slant, an attitude, infinite shades of neutral.
 
“All contemplative acts, silences, poems, honor the world this way. Brought together by the eye of love, a milkweed pod, a twig, allow us to see how things have been all along. A feast of being.” ― Mary Rose O’Reilley, The Barn at the End of the World: The Apprenticeship of a Quaker, Buddhist Shepherd

Yes, I used that quote before, in 31 Days of Kissing the Wounds – Day 31 – FEAST OF BEING.
 

 

 

 

 

 

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