nature – Page 13 – twenty-one words

Self-transcendence

February 25, 2016May 15, 2022Posted in anxiety, favourite quotes, nature, on writing, reading, Running, solace, staying humble, staying true, UncategorizedTagged meditation, nature, running2 Comments

If you are ever in need of an answer or feel a little lost in this great big world, go out there and hit the trails. Leave the Garmin at home and just get out there and be. Connect with nature. Listen to the whispers of breeze in the trees or the ramblings of the nearby stream. Eventually, you will find what you are looking for and perhaps, in time, you will find yourself as well.

The words I’ve quoted above come from the blog So what? I run.
(Read the whole post here.)
For me, they apply whether I’m walking or running.

Through the gate …

Because of my knee injury, it’s all about walking for me right now.
And I’m okay with that.

Past the vineyards …

It’s all about the connection with the world around me:
it’s vital.
It’s healing.

Past the reeds swaying in the wind …

And in the spirit of the quote above,
I’m posting today some photos from one of my favourite walks.

Past the hanging tyre …

You don’t need phones or apps or pedometers or fitbits.
You just need time to look,
to listen,
to breathe.

Stop and smell the roses

November 9, 2015May 26, 2022Posted in gratitude, moments of beauty, native flowers, nature, solace, spring, staying humble, staying true, What I love about ...Tagged gratitude, moments of beauty, nature8 Comments

Native plants and vegetation are my passion.
(We all know that.)
So you won’t be surprised when I say I haven’t always been the hugest fan of roses.
They’re not native to Australia.
Sometimes they seem overblown to me, and showy — blowsy, even.

But once a year, the rose bushes outside a library I visit frequently put on quite a show.

Somehow, these roses please even my curmudgeonly spirit.

They are, simply, quite lovely.

They bring joy, not just into my day …

but into my very soul.

I think I’m slowly joining the rose-lover’s world …

Late spring

November 5, 2015May 26, 2022Posted in native flowers, nature, solace, South Australia, spring, staying humble, staying true, What I love about ...Tagged nature, solace, spring3 Comments

In late October, I went for another bushwalk.
In blossom were fan flowers:

muntries:

and those papery, daisy-like flowers, the common everlastings:

I encountered other inhabitants of the area, too —
many of them.

It was mid-morning — grazing time, I think, before the sun gets too hot.
I don’t like disturbing roos:
when threatened, they can be aggressive, especially if they are guarding joeys.
And besides, I’m aware that I’m on their territory, not vice versa.
So I stepped away and left them happily to it …

… Do you think it’s comfortable in that pouch?
It doesn’t look it to me!

(Wordless) gratitude

October 26, 2015May 26, 2022Posted in gratitude, native coastal vegetation, native flowers, nature, South Australia, staying humble, staying true, WinterTagged gratitude, meditation, nature, solace, wordless1 Comment

Variable groundsel on the dunes at Taperoo 19 July 2014 3.06 pm — Variable groundsel on the dunes
19 July 2014
3.06 pm

Deception

October 22, 2015May 26, 2022Posted in Australian bush, nature, South Australia, spring, staying humble, staying true, What I love about ...Tagged joy, nature, spring7 Comments

On one of my favourite bike rides,
I pass an empty field outside a GP clinic.
Most of the year, it’s just a bare field with long, uncut grass.
But in spring, it changes.

Such deceptive beauty!
These flowers, heralding from South Africa,
are considered weeds here.
They’ve spread far and wide, pushing out our own native flowers.

It’s hard not to admire them, though —
their abandoned spread;
their cheerful, bright colours …

… and their faces uplifted to the sun.

Spring joy

October 19, 2015May 26, 2022Posted in Australian bush, birds, native coastal vegetation, native flowers, nature, solace, South Australia, spring, staying humble, staying true, What I love about ...Tagged birds, nature, solace2 Comments

I took a walk through the bush again in late September.
Skinks rustled through the undergrowth.
Whistlers burbled; shrike thrushes sang; blue fairy-wrens and fantails darted about.
And there were wild flowers everywhere, including common fringe-myrtles;

Common fringe-myrtle (calytrix tetragona)

paper flowers;

Paper-flower (thomasia petalocalyx)

smooth rice-flowers;

Smooth riceflower (pimelea glauca)

and grevilleas.

Spider-flower (grevillea lavandulacea)

Every month brings a new season in the bush.
Every month brings a new, different kind of joy.

Abundance

October 5, 2015May 26, 2022Posted in a thought, Australian bush, life, nature, staying humble, staying true, What I love about ..., WinterTagged nature, solace1 Comment

My garden originally had several patches of arum lilies.
Also called calla lilies, these flowers are sometimes thought to symbolise death. They’re considered a toxic weed in South Australia, so I ended up reducing my lilies to one small, protected patch.

They spring up during the mid-winter rains, when the grass is long and wet and green, and the soil damp and crumbly — reminding me not of death, but of life.
Of growth.
Of abundance.

I’m happy to let them grow in that small patch, ready for picking and putting in a vase — tall, elegant and lush.

Life cycle

September 28, 2015May 26, 2022Posted in Australian bush, native coastal vegetation, nature, solace, Uncategorized, What I love about ..., WinterTagged bush, nature, Winter1 Comment

One of my favourite native plants is the grasstree.
In the last few weeks, walking through the bush,
I’ve glimpsed grasstrees at all stages of their life cycle.

Some were growing and establishing themselves: