The
further away from young childhood I get, the more I appreciate the world around
me. I’ve always loved nature, but my
first passion as a little girl was for the ocean. Mountains were okay, but I was a beach
kid. I dreamed of living in a house
overlooking the water, surrounded day and night by the sound of ocean waves.
Along with the beach,
I adored cats large and small
and the bright cheer of
wild poppies and sunflowers.
I
still love the ocean, cats, poppies and sunflowers, but as I became a teenager,
the soaring uplift of mountains, the solemn beauty of a redwood grove, and the
utter peace of a meadow started taking hold of my consciousness.
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| What are YOU looking at? |
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| Still at the beach... |
Each passing year has broadened my
awareness. And with that has come
increased appreciation of other treasures, such as the saucy confidence of a
blue jay, the shy wildness of wolves, and less showy plants, such as lupine,
trillium and avalanche lilies. I'm enchanted by the shambling gait of a moose, a plump woodchuck, and a raccoon, sleepily blinking at me from the crook of a tree branch.
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My bro is a little camera shy.
Is this my good side? |
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| Dahlia garden |
I’m
sharing some of my photographs in today’s post, but I don’t always take
pictures. A lot of the time I just want
to enjoy the experience, instead of recording it. The manuscript I sent to Heartwarming a few
weeks ago is about a photographer who ALWAYS takes pictures. The camera has become a barrier between Logan
and people, so it was fun making him look around more, instead of constantly framing the world through a camera view finder.
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| Dahlia garden |
As
a gardener, my appreciation has also grown for things less wild. Ornamental maple trees are a splendid
addition to yards. Wild rhododendrons
are lovely, but so are domestic rhodies.
I’ve always been fond of irises, but for some reason I used to mentally
group dahlias with zinnias and daisies, which I really like, but didn’t find
particularly fascinating. When I started
noticing them more closely (the variety is amazing), I was told dahlias bulbs have to be dug up in the fall
and replanted in places with cold winters.
That wasn’t going to happen. Now
I often vacation in areas where dahlias bulbs stay in the ground year-round and range from
small daisy-like blossoms to huge flowers heads, six or more inches
across.
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From a county fair. I don't remember
if these got a prize,
but I think they deserved one. |
I
have to admit that one of the intriguing things about dahlias are how
passionate dahlia gardeners are about them.
The number of dahlia entries at the county fairs I’ve visited are just
one expression of that passion--they must represent over half of the cut
flower entries.
Dahlia gardens are
interesting as well, and with my passion for writing in more natural settings, I’ve
found several. Most gardens in temperate climes
seem to have some variety of dahlia blooming from spring through mid-autumn,
along with other flowers, which is a good thing since county fairs don’t all
come at the same time.
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| Dahlia garden |
I’m
thinking about dahlias right now because I’m on vacation and plan to attend yet
another county fair today, camera in hand.
I expect to see dahlias, art, animals (my mother loved goats, so I
always spend extra time with the goats) and people selling their products or
services, along with 4H displays and a myriad of other things. A fair doesn’t have to be big and fancy for
me to enjoy…just full of people who love what they’re doing.
I
hope everyone is getting to do something they love this summer.
Callie
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| A different view of the Seattle Space Needle |
Callie, I think you and I could be friends. I love all the things you do. If I was mega rich and could afford more than one house, I'd have one in the mountains and at the beach :) I grew up in a beach town until I was 13 and still miss it.
ReplyDeleteI think we could be friends, too! When I was a teen we'd vacation in a mountain cabin with a huge sleeping porch. Waking up to the scent of pine and bear brush, with a talkative jay overhead was heavenly. The sleeping bag would be covered with bits of pine cone thrown down by squirrels. I loved it. So definitely, a mountain home and beach home would be wonderful, along with one in the desert and....
DeleteThanks for all the wonderful images in your post. I'm so grateful for all the gardeners in my neighborhood and the people selling flowers at farmer's market. They give me so much all summer and fall. Your post is a great reminder of what surrounds me.
ReplyDeleteI love farmer's markets! Finally got some great corn on the cob--it hadn't sweetened that much before. My neighbors are a wonderful inspiration for my own garden, which has been a little neglected this year because of due dates.
DeleteThank you for the wonderful photos and the dose of beauty this morning. I've grown to appreciate dahlias as well. Pansies are another I didn't particularly like as a child, but now they're one of my favorite flowers.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you like the pictures. I keep meaning to post some of my work on my Facebook page. Digital cameras have changed things a lot. I have over twenty thousand photos and need to do a better job of organizing them. Funny thing, though I love pansies (also violas/Johnny jump ups) too, I don't have any pics of them. Your comment will prompt me to remedy that oversight!
DeleteI love dahlias! My mom used to plant them with zinnias. :-) And I'd love to have a mountain home and a beach one!
ReplyDeleteI wrote a comment earlier and it seems to have disappeared...must be the gremlins in my computer. Dahlias are amazing. I'm constantly surprised by the variety. And the smaller, simple ones are just as beautiful as the huge blossoms.
DeleteI actually still have the "blueprint" of the beach house I designed as a kid. It was quite grand, and totally impractical!
I like to hear water like ocean, river or rain. I also like mountains and miss seeing the snow-capped ones in Washington and Oregon. But the desert has its own beauty.
ReplyDeleteI have a number of CDs with nature sounds. One of my favorites is of a stream with the sounds of birds. I know how you feel about the mountains. When I lived on the east coast, which has its own beauty, I really missed the craggy peaks of mountains on the western half of the continent. The desert, too. I used to drive across country quite often, most often on I-40, and loved the areas through the southwest.
DeleteI love both the beach and the mountains. We were at the beach the evening of July 4th. It was late, a few people were out, and we watched as fireworks went off up and down the coast. Too cool! We're campers also, and I love hearing the sway swish of trees in the wind.
ReplyDeleteYour 4th sounds perfect! We watched fireworks in a parking lot. There's something about a forest that reaches inside--strength and age and the abundance of life. But as Roz said above, deserts are also beautiful. I wouldn't want to choose between the wonderful places on this earth, they are all precious.
DeleteWonderful pictures!
ReplyDeleteThanks. My dad took pictures constantly, so it must be genetic. At least that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!
DeleteGorgeous photos! I am like you... I try to appreciate all the little things around me. It makes me feel peaceful and more positive about life. We have had a quiet summer but since we live along the coast we get to 'vacation at home' a lot. Recently we've seen dolphins, otters and sea lions on our walks by the ocean and it always amazes me!
ReplyDeleteI would still LOVE to have a home along the coast. Walking on the beach or on a coastal trail is so peaceful, a great time for thinking. Recently I was able to hike in the redwoods and it has the same positive, healing feel. Glad you like the pictures, photography is one of my passions.
DeleteWonderful post, Callie, and a great reminder that wherever we live, we are surrounded by the beauty of nature. I was able to get to Labrador this summer, just returned as a matter of fact. Being out in the wild recharges my batteries and while at my northern cabin I get to renew friendships with the gray jays and boreal chickadees. This is the first summer I've tried growing dahlias in northern Maine and I must say, they're beautiful, just like your photos!
ReplyDelete