Happy Valentine's Day!

 

"Daffodils"

"I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils; 

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretch'd in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

William Wordsworth - 1804

Gulf Fritillary

Gulf Fritillary
2009

A Butterfly Lights Beside Us

A butterfly lights beside us, like a sunbeam...
and for a brief moment it's glory
and beauty belong to our world...
but then it flies on again, and although
we wish it could have stayed,
we are so thankful to have seen it at all.

Author Unknown

Garden Cats

Bob is the outdoor cat. A rescue. Black and white with bright green eyes, pink nose and lips, he rules the yard. He is the sweetest, most lovingest cat. Here, he knows he looks good. Posed just right, he grabs the camera's attention....until he realizes that I'm there. Immediately, Bob jumps over and strolls over to be stroked and petted.

Bob loves to help Linda garden. Chipmunk and vole control is his number one job. Well, after perusing the boundary, of course. And darting after butterflies. And napping on the warm bricks.

Meet Linda and Andy. Andy is the indoor cat. He is a ragdoll (rescued) who is quite shy and jumpy. This is the only decent shot after 100 frames. The mere sight of a stranger with a camera frightens him. Taken with my zoom lens it isn't the best but it'll have to do until another day. When the camera was away he sidled up for a pet, allowing all manner of cooing and baby talk while being combed. Andy The Indoor Cat and Bob The Outdoor Cat are not friends.

Bob loves his iron bench. Getting him to stretch out and enjoy the sunshine HERE was impossible. Above, he is getting a treat which only made him jump off and come to us for more.

I adore cats but cannot have one. There are many I love vicariously through your blogs and now there's Andy and Bob in the mix. Here's a fun poem I found about cats.

Catalogue
by Rosalie Moore

Cats sleep fat and walk thin.
Cats, when they sleep, slump;
When they wake, pull in -
And where the plump's been
There's skin.
Cats walk thin

Cats wait in a lump
Jump in a streak.
Cats, when they jump, are sleek
As a grape slipping its skin -
They have technique.
Oh, cats don't creak.
They sneak.

Cats sleep fat.
They spread comfort beneath them
Like a good mat,
As if they picked the place
And then sat.
You walk around one
As if he were City Hall
After that.

If male,
A cats is apt to sing upon a major scale:
This concert is for everybody, this
Is wholesale.
For a baton, he wields a tale.

(He is also found,
When happy, to resound
With an enclosed and private sound.)

A cat condenses.
He pulls in his tail to go under bridges,
And himself to go under fences.
Cats fit
In any box or kit;
And if a large pumpkin grew under one,
He could arch over it.

When everyone else is just ready to go out,
The cat is just ready to come in,
He's not where he's been.
Cats sleep fat and walk thin.

Pale Yellow

Sweet Gum Tree

Sybil Johnson

This tree's sap smells like heaven to me

Of course there are other names for this wonderful tree

But it grows so inconspicuously

And admid all of the other trees

This memory if first for me

The smell of the sap from the sweet gum tree.

Sweetgums Red

Autumn Fires

Robert Louis Stevenson

In the other gardens

And all up the vale,

From the autumn bonfires

See the smoke trail!

Pleasant summer over

And all the summer flowers,

The red fire blazes,

The grey smoke towers.

Sing a song of seasons!

Something bright in all!

Flowers in the summer,

Fires in the fall!

Humble Gratitude

It isn't often that one is rendered speechless, to tears, or experiences spontaneous, surprised laughter. Some act, some vision, music or song, painting or speech, literary genius or the perfect joke...something, or some one's actions, brings you to your knees or is so overwhelmingly unexpected that it changes you forever. It just comes to you, this thing, like a wave washing up the sand.

Twice this week it happened to me. This is one of the stories.

I was drawn to Randy J. Cole's blog merely by its name, "Random Stone." Anything having to do with stones automatically has my attention so I clicked to link to it. There, I became totally immersed in Randy's writing, poetry and art. To this day I am entertained there, or enlightened there, or amazed there. His talent for telling stories is remarkable. He draws me in every time.

Over time through comments and visits back and forth we have forged a nice relationship built on respect. I know the "why" of Random Stone and he knows the "why" of Giraffe Head Tree, the names of our blogs. Sometimes we e-mail back and forth depending on the situation.

We were doing that earlier this week. I'd asked for his permission to use one of his poems. We chatted back and forth a little and that was that. Some time passed and out of the blue comes an e-mail from Randy. In his usual humble fashion Randy said something akin to 'here's this thing you can do with it anything you like.' Not those words but that was the sentiment.

Randy J. Cole had written a poem about the Giraffe Head Tree.

I opened the attachment and was met by the poem you read above. Reading it rendered me speechless, but I laughed with glee and tears welled up in my eyes. I must have read it 50 times in a row before I could move. This gift was unexpected and absolutely perfect and oh, so timely. I created the little graphic with Randy's poem - word for word - and placed it atop a close-up of the Giraffe Head Tree's bark for everyone to see.

You know how blustery, gray, rainy days end and the sun burns through the center,melting the clouds away and a rainbow forms? That's how my soul felt as I read his poem, this gift.

Thank you, Randy J. Cole.

"Beautiful and graceful, varied and enchanting, small but approachable, butterflies lead you to the sunny side of life. And everyone deserves a little sunshine."

Jeffrey Glassberg

Summer always jazzes up the neighborhood with holiday cookouts, impromptu sunset gatherings, folks gardening and doing home maintenance. The business of summer is everywhere. People flitting about to and fro making hay while the sun shines as the birds and bees and butterflies do the same in similar fashion. Walking outside I'm always entertained by some activity. If it isn't a neighbor trundling by in their golf cart, hoards of kids hanging off heading for the pool, then it's the kaleidoscope of active colors in my gardens. The lantana is getting large now and is attracting butterflies and bees and hummingbird months. The Tiger Swallowtails always show up first, and we always see spring Monarchs. The Black Swallowtails are in abundance now, and I'm beginning to spot Buckeyes and Painted Ladies. Soon, the Giant Swallowtails should be here. Actually, I think most of the butterflies are in abundance now, but not in my garden. I need to plant some early spring flowers to attract them even earlier. Butterflies are my favorite Winged Wonders.