• HOME
  • Books & Publications
  • Talks & Workshops
  • Meet Carol
  • Contact: Media & Booksellers

ONLY A SNAPSHOT - NO NEAT ROWS

7/5/2010

0 Comments

 
Picture
The prairie-visit season has begun in earnest.  Before the 1st group came, I walked the driveway rehearsing the wildflower names while getting a visual impression of the view.  I urged the flowers and grasses to look their best, much like a parent encourages her son to dress and play well for his piano recital.  And if the child makes the inevitable mistake, mom remembers a time when she saw or heard him play the piece without a flaw. 

     Nature cannot be spruced up.  This garden started with scattered seed, which brought forth flowers in their own time—years after we had all but given up hope.  Now they have spread, not in neat rows of coordinated colors, or by type, like tulips in the Keukenhof in Holland—just as they will, far and wide.  The birds, the breeze, and passing animals have all had an unplanned part.  The rains come or they pass us by.  Temperatures rise and fall.  Light on the flowers may be full sun or diffuse gray, day after day.  I wish everyone could come during early morning and evening when light is most gentle, bringing out rich color rather than during harsh afternoon sun in mid-summer under which most visitors witness the prairie.

     Before we began this project, I saw a few pictures of wildflower yards.  The flowers grew haphazardly—lacking all order or symmetry.  I was not impressed and now I fear that the garden loving folks who come will be similarly unimpressed.  I’d like people to see the land like I’ve seen it, at various times of day, in the rain, at first light or right after the prairie burn.  Like that child at the piano, the duration of the recital piece is too short—it reveals too little of his overall beauty.

     The best I can offer is a snapshot—one point in time--and share pictures in a book so folks can walk with me through the seasons.  For me that first snapshot was not love-at-first-sight.  But it pried open my eyes and ears and heart to let beauty slowly seep in. 


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    ALL NATURE SINGS  
    A Spiritual Journey of Place
    by Carol J. Rottman

    Join Carol's Mailing List

    Categories

    All
    9/11
    A Cup Of Cold Water
    Advent
    Beaver
    Butterfly Weed
    Children
    Climate Change
    Color-blindness
    Compass Plant
    Controlled Burn
    Creation Care
    Creative Non-fiction
    Cygnets
    Days Pass
    Detail
    Eagle
    Easter
    E.B. White
    Family
    Friends
    Frogs
    Garden Watch
    Giving
    Goldfinch
    Good Friday
    Grandchildren
    Home
    Home And Habitat
    House Plants
    Ice Storm
    IN-DOOR PLANTS
    Indoor Plants
    Inspiration
    Lent
    Life Continues
    Loss
    March In Michigan
    MID-WEST WINTER
    Milkweed
    Nature Notes
    Nature Watch
    Newspapers
    New Year
    NEW YEAR\\OUR HOPE
    Raspberry Bushes
    Sandhill Crains
    Simplify
    Snapping Turtles
    Snow Scenes
    Special Days
    Spider Web
    Starvation
    Sunrise
    Survival
    Swans
    Switch Grass
    Tall Grasses
    Thunder
    Travel
    Turtles
    Weather
    Wildflower
    Wild Life
    Winter
    Winter Beauty

    Archives

    April 2016
    March 2016
    March 2014
    June 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    October 2011
    August 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.