What they don't tell you about grief is that you will always carry with you, deep inside you. My Mom died when I was fairly young & a part of who I am, a part of my story was gone with her. Today has been hard so I spent time outside in my garden, thinking of her.

What is a poem that made you either see the world differently or awakened you to being aware of the beauty & wonder of the world?

No. No photographs today.

I remember the first time I read William Carlos Williams' poem:
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens
I dismissed it, but I began to see that it was telling me to notice those things I too often overlook. Now I'm grateful for it.

While I don't ask, 'Why do I exist?' I do think a lot about the improbability of my existence, of the existence of everything about me & am grateful for this beautiful, improbable world.

Poetry is a distillation of the essence of life. It has taught be to be present, to pay attention. As I put fresh water in my bird baths I stopped to watch ants on a rock, bees buzzing about the blooms, a tiny dragonfly land on a plant, a Tufted Titmouse bathe in one of the baths

Galileo Chini

“Human existence is so fragile a thing and exposed to such dangers that I cannot love without trembling.”
― Simone Weil

To be present enough to witness the world, to see those small hidden graces that are there for us if only we take the time to notice.

Robin on the roof

My only ambition is awe & wonder. I am driven solely by curiosity. It is something I have retained & nurtured since childhood. This is what keeps me young, gives me hope, & fills my world with beauty on a daily basis.

“I think the most important quality in a birdwatcher is a willingness to stand quietly and see what comes. Our everyday lives obscure a truth about existence - that at the heart of everything there lies a stillness and a light.”
― Lynn Thomson
(art by Charles Walter Simpson)

What is your Sunday soundtrack?
(art by S. Hee)

In school, I remember hearing teachers tell my Mom I was a 'sensitive child' & that was not a positive. It was often paired with an adjective like 'highly.' For years I thought this was a bad thing but, as I grew older, I realized it was a gift because I care about others deeply.

One of the reasons I began to love poetry was the nonsense verse of Edward Lear, born #OTD in 1812. He was also an accomplished artist whose painting of birds were used in John Gould's Birds of Europe.

Jenny Beck

While tending to my feeders, I spotted this Hairy Woodpecker in a nearby tree.

W.S. Merwin