The Potter's Wheel

How to start this but to simply start writing and let my thoughts flow like water. Life seems to be out of control right now. Clearly in my soul I feel the deep working of God or Spirit. The Greatest Potter Of All Time has thrown my clay on a wheel and begun shaping me anew.



Just one second is all it took. One second, one misstep, one fall, one table - one day. God had had enough of us - me and hubs - and I believe one day God decided two of Her creations needed a massive re-do.




Massive re-dos take a lot of time and energy. I'm exhausted. I do not see the Giraffe Head Tree anymore. The passion for photography went on the back burner. Clever words left my brain and the blog suffered, sputtered and nearly died.




The desire to hear music faded but seems to be coming back as I stumble along this process. Journaling with pen and paper has been almost manic, as has "nesting," the act of finding and placing loved objects too long not seen.






However tiny the start of my personal Spring, a blooming is beginning to occur. I think I'm going to be okay, but I'm already a changed person in a very good way. A recent trip to Indiana to visit family we visited Spring Mill State Park, had a wonderful lunch and enjoyed a lovely stroll through the primitive village, the source of these photos. This trip was the first time in months I've actually taken semi-creative photos. It felt good.





The beautiful park was filled with flowing water. Honest-to-goodness babbling brooks, quick running streams where children played, small rapids lifted leaves into the air like little boats. The water, mosses, trees, laughing children were all a balm to my soul. I'll be back blogging more regularly but right now I'm going through a growth spurt. Please talk among yourselves and I'll be back later.

Huntsville Botanical Garden

Carroll and I recently met at Huntsville Botanical Garden for bonding and lunch. After lunch we strolled through the various gardens. Lordy, it was hot so we headed for the shade gardens which were filled with various trilliums and ferns, native azaleas and hydrangeas. And mosquitoes. Still, we persevered and got some good photos.

Some were fun to play with in black & white.
















The above photo is what these beauties look like planted in mass. There were yellow ones and these rusty red ones and some ... white ones, I believe.



We have no idea what this red flower is but it was planted in abundance without any signage. A low shrub with red flowers poking through the foliage. That seemed to be common - no signage. Hence my lack of identification here on my blog. I'm no Harvey Cotton.


However beautiful the flowers were I fell in love with the Frog Buddha in their gift shop. Is he cute, or what? So Zen. Ommmm.........................

Nesting

A pair of House Finches raised their four babies in my hanging fern. The babies have hatched and flown away but the sweet nest remains, albeit a little worse for wear. Mostly, we used the garage entrance while they were raising the family. Watering the ferns would panic them and they would fly to a nearby tree, nervously chattering among themselves. Over time they grew used to my presence. I miss listening to mom and dad and the peeping of the babies.

I am finding this area houses a great many songbirds due to the dense tree cover and the drainage creek that flows behind the house. A Yellow Breasted Chat - which I've never seen before and was only vaguely familiar with - collided with my sliding glass door last week. I hear many warblers and sparrow varieties, along with thrasher and thrush and others. The Eastern Towhee family are constant companions. Cedar Waxwings trill non-stop, and there are many bird songs I have yet to identify. It's a constant source of amazement, the music that plays outside day and night.

Down the road in a drainage creek lives a rather large snapping turtle. Rabbits, chipmunks and squirrels keep me entertained. Smaller hawks surprise me from time to time. I've heard owls but not seen them, seen bats but not heard them. The presence of so much wildlife is comforting to me.

Spring Flowers

Flowers for you, Bo. Not as pretty as your image, but when I spied these precious little pink and white flowers at the base of a sycamore tree I couldn't help but capture their happy expressions. Now I wish I'd gotten more of the tree as well!

Historic Fort Fisher

The scent of musket fire remains in the air, and if you listen hard you can hear cannon fire, screams of soldiers, orders being barked, horses neighing. Fort Fisher is a National Historic Civil War Landmark found on a slim finger of land below Wilmington, North Carolina.




A boardwalk takes you through the wetlands. A relatively short walk, the boardwalk takes you around the earthen bunkers, through the salt marsh and beneath towering live oaks.

It is very quiet.

Ocean-going vessels can be seen traveling to the Atlantic where once a great battle raged.

Besides our talking the only sounds were of wind and birds.

A great place for reflection.

Wind-swept live oaks.

My favorite trees.

Fort Fisher has a marvelous website. For more information go here.