Author: Donna

“Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain.”

Henry David Thoreau

 I am linking in  this Wednesday to a new meme from my NY blogger friend Donna at Garden Walk Garden Talk.  It is called Word for Wednesday and this month’s word is illumination.  When I think of illumination, I think of the word radiant.  Both conjure pictures of  bright light, colors, brillance.

As the days continue to shorten in length and we close in on those darker days of late fall, I treasure every day’s sunshine.  This weekend the sun was brilliant.  The morning light burst into the windows in back of the house and bounced off the plants.  It was as if the flowers were smiling like the dahlia above that finally is blooming.

Colors come alive now without the heat, just the light playing on the petals bringing an intensity that was washed out in the heat of summer.  The flowers seem to radiate life.  Pollinators are drawn to them as if the pollen were glistening, sparkling in the light.

The sunrises are incredible with rich hues of orange and red.  The sun sets in peaches, pinks and blues.  The full moon rises against an ink sky with a hot, white light that illuminates my garden through the cooler nights.  These are the wonders of light that catch my breath.  That fill me with gratitude.

I catch glimpses of light playing at new angles through the trees, the flowers.  I try to capture this beauty of light as it dances through the shadows. Every plant that flowers now is a blessing.  We delight in the fact that the blooms have not faded; they continue to flourish, to glow and draw our eyes all over the garden.

And they beckon me to follow suit and show my brilliance.  To shine my light, to feel liberated and unafraid; inspired to radiate. It is important that we shine our light and illuminate the darkness we may find in our lives.  I find it difficult some days to not want to stay in bed and just pull the covers over my head.  Then I see the yellow sunlight against a cool blue sky.  I feel invigorated, full of renewed energy.

 

 

 

 

As I wandered around the garden recently, I found some sights that truly radiated; captured my attention; captured the light and illuminated the late summer garden.

  This ‘Kopper King’ native hibiscus was facing away from me; illuminated by the sun.  The way the light played through it was so magnificent.  It gave the plant a completely different look.

 

 

These beautiful cyclamen were half in shadow, half in light under the trees.  Poking up through all the green and shining so brilliantly.

 

 

You can se the bright sunshine hitting the top of this plant as the face stays in shadow.  The yellow petals were so brilliant in the sun they looked like they were on fire.

 

 

The frogs love to float suspended in the water these days basking their faces in the sun.  It is as if a beacon of light is illuminating them in the dark waters of the pond.

So I am taking my cue from my garden as we move into fall.  I shine my own light as I face the sun and feel its warmth.  I am illuminated as I stand in the sunshine.   I am radiant!

 

 

 

“I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.” –  John Burroughs