Psst…my guess is Black-capped Chickadee. Photo by Zippy
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.
It is the source of all true art and science.
~ Albert Einstein
Unidentified Flying Object
nature
Tree Legacy
Give fools their gold, and knaves their power; let fortune’s bubbles rise and fall; who sows a field, or trains a flower, or plants a tree, is more than all.
~ John Greenleaf Whittier
Bunny hubris
As I hooped this morning, a bunny came into view. The furry beauty remained in that same spot, calmly chewing and staring into space, despite the fact that I spun and twirled nearby. And then Marcel, sensing something outside, jumped up in the window. The bunny casually glanced toward where the big white cat stared longingly, and immediately returned to her bunny business.
I’d like to emulate that self-confidence during this coming week. Me and the bunny, not overly concerned with matters outside our personal spheres.
Maple seed pods: Propagators or Helicopters?
From a small seed a mighty trunk may grow.
~ Aeschylus
And from a helicopter seed, much fun may be had.
~ Tracy
It’s time to break up, winter
You: How sick of the snow are you, Tracy?
Me: Sick enough to use a photo from February rather than go out in it today.
For Savannah
In a few minutes, I’m heading to a memorial. I’ve spent the past half-hour trying to find the words to express what I’m feeling and all I’ve managed is this:
Savannah, you are loved.
Sunday post-run portrait
Not sure when the lady beetle hopped on board, but I was happy to have its company on this gorgeous spring afternoon. It’s been a very difficult week and I welcome any overture of friendship.
It’s the little things that make happy moments, not the grand events.
Joy comes in sips, not gulps.
~ Sharon Draper
Twofer Tuesday: Cacti edition
Yesterday I went for a run on the trails. While stopping to stretch at the top of what 
Zippy and I refer to as “the slog,” I spotted a splash of bright pink off to the side of the trail. At first I thought it was a candy wrapper and as I moved closer, decided it was a painted rock. It was neither. Sitting there all by itself was a perfectly round, perfectly lovely little cactus. **
Later, as I continued running, I noticed something sticking out of my shoe. I figured it was grass that’d gotten stuck in some mud in my tread, and promptly forgot about it. 
However, when I was home and taking off my shoes, I nearly impaled myself. Not on a wad of grass, but on the spiny cactus that had hitched a ride on my shoe.
Now I remember why it’s much more fun to run on the trails than the streets.
(** I didn’t have a camera with me, but when Zippy went out to do an errand, he drove to the nearest trailhead and photographed the beauteous cactus for me.)
Snowy day
I’ve seen a fair amount of snow in my life. I grew up in Wisconsin, lived in Alaska for six years, and now live in Colorado. Snow is a known quantity. That said, I can’t remember another time I looked out the window and saw individual flakes.
This snowfall is magical.
Clematis Monday
Here’s what’s growing on around here (get it? “growing on”?)
I crack me up.
This is the largest profusion of clematis blooms ever seen on this patio,
due to the sad demise of the neighbors’ crab apple tree which hung over this corner of the patio until the tree was mortally injured in an ice storm.
This clematis plant is also blooming more than usual due to Coco not barking through the fence at the neighbors’ dogs quite as much this year.
Less barking = less trampling.
Good dog, Coco!
The next clematis isn’t blooming any more than usual, but it is alive. We feared the closest plant to it had mysteriously died this winter (along with the vinca plants)
but has recently greened up so maybe we’re witnessing a rebirth.
Well, friends, thank you for touring my patio with me.
If you care to join me, I’ll be out there in a bit with my morning coffee.
