Manifestations at Sunset

"The world is charged with the grandeur of God." - Gerard Manley Hopkins

I took these photos on the last evening 

of a staff retreat at Salter Path, N.C. 

Transformation was the theme. 

Praying Mantis to Mystery Flower: 10 Days

A praying mantis waits for prey on a nasturtium in the veggie garden.

I'm glad I photographed this butterfly
 because I haven't seen one since. Where are you, butterflies?

The veggie jungle

Bees of different varieties are obsessed with the flowering oregano.

The red hibiscus flowers turn into umbrellas. Rain, rain, rain -
we've been getting late day storms nearly every day.

Daylilies remain stunning.

We took a spontaneous 24-hour trip to the beach at Salter Path, N.C., 

when we got the last room available at our favorite retreat center. 

Swimming held by the waves and walking the beach is a prayer.

Beach at sunset

Beach at sunrise

Blackberry picking

A mystery flower emerges from a tall plant with iris-like leaves.
Can you identify it?

Southern Beauties - with a Maine Interlude

Imagine being a honeybee crawling on a fragrant gardenia. 

Gardenia fireworks - the shrub exploded into bloom almost overnight. 

Here we have a dramatic transition of subject, from the closeup views of a quarter-acre suburban garden to ....

the wild beauty of a rural Maine island in Casco Bay. 

 I slightly expanded the definition of backyard photos while in Maine. The bay with its changes in tides and winds and weather and sun draws me to it inexorably. It teaches me things 

that I cannot articulate. 

I try with the camera to evoke the mysterious beauty. I fail, of course, but I do not care. Life is happening according to rhythms that we cannot fathom or capture. Somehow that is a relief, a prayer.

But I am drawn to share the beautiful, and here's a bit of what I saw. 

A view from the walk to the stairs leading down to the beach.
This is one of the oldest cottages on the East End of the island.

The evening sun lights up the bay, seen from the porch of our cottage. 

High tide breaks on the ledge at the point.
How many hours (days) have I spent on this point I cannot say.  

Sunset at the wharf as seen through a lobster trap.
Lobstermen were just beginning to put in their traps for the summer. 

Twilight and eider ducks with their babies on the bay near the point. 

The beach at low tide. The rockweed has a beauty of its own,
and is home to all sorts of sea life. 

Eastern phoebes nested on the rafter of the front porch.
This phoebe alit in a lilac bush not long after fledging. 

In the miracle of modern airplane travel, I was transported reluctantly back to North Carolina. The lilies (not eaten by deer) and beginning to peak were a consolation. 

This post is the fourth in a series of "10 Days" posts featuring daily photographs from my backyard.

A Day's Beginning and End

A mystery hibiscus along the driveway has leapt into bloom. It called me back into the house to get my camera and take photos before leaving for work. The blooms are as big as my hand. The red is spectacular - deep and clear and happy.

At the end of the day, a wicked thunderstorm moved through, assaulting the earth with wind and rain. I was trapped at the exit of the gym for 15 minutes with a small crowd, watching the angry torrents and thinking of extreme weather, global warming and apocalypse. 

By the time I reached home, a magical yellow light infused the sky. Hummingbirds flew at the level of treetops in the golden light.

Grace.

Random Exotic Photos

I have been away in Florida on somewhat of an Internet-free holiday. I took lots of photographs. Too many, perhaps, because now I have to decide which ones to include in my next post. In the meantime, here are a few random photos to enjoy - photos that are not predominantly brown!

Roseate spoonbill and ibis, St. Petersburg, Fla.

Brassolaeliocattleya Momalani Rainbow 'The Gypsy'

New Year's Eve sunset, Fort DeSoto North Beach, Fla.

Nature as Bible

One of my favorite spiritual writers, Fr. Richard Rohr, has been reflecting in his daily meditations this week on our need for a new cosmology. 

"Nature itself is the primary Bible; the world “as is” is the primary locus of the sacred."

“For what can be known about God is perfectly plain, since God has made it plain: ever since God created the world, God’s everlasting power and divinity, however invisible, have been there for the mind to see in the things that God has made.” 

                                                                                                                             ~ Romans 1:19-20

My husband practices crane breathing on Pass-A-Grille Beach.