Category: Word for Wednesday

Posted on

Beauty

“Always remember the beauty of the garden, for there is peace.” 

Author Unknown

 

As my spring flowers bloom and fade I am reminded of the beauty around me.  Of the tattered garden strewn with fall remnants; dead leaves, seed heads and stems.  Left as cover for insects and food for birds.  The warmth of the last 2 weeks has pushed many lovely bulbs up through the mish mash of waste to shine through and show off their beautiful blossoms.

It is Word 4 Wednesday and the word I am contemplating is tracery:

  1. ornamental work consisting of ramified ribs, bars, or the like, as in the upper part of a Gothic window, in panels, screens, etc.
  2. any delicate, interlacing work of lines, threads, etc., as in carving or embroidery; network.
Hmmm…this one is a puzzler.  At first I thought how am I going to write about this.  I know, I will look for ribs and bars in my garden and how they frame the sky or the blooms.  Just look at the gorgeous crocus above.  I love the tracery within their petals.  Maybe that’s it I can find flowers with lines and patterns.  It is too early for spiderwebs another wonderful illustration for tracery.  Of course it could mean a blueprint or plan, and I could write about my veg gardens and the plans for this year.  No, none of these thrilled me, and I was drawn again to the word beauty.
My garden is rushing to life around me, too fast, a month early.  No slow lingering beauty, but a race to bloom and fade barely able to notice it.  Trying desperately to keep up with each new flower or change.  Then suddenly the weather cooled this past weekend.  It has gotten downright cold.  Now the garden looks more like a damp cold pile of debris with a few colorful booms catching the eye.  Where is the beauty now?  It is still there lurking just underneath the surface or peaking bravely through the soil to show itself despite the obstacles.
And as I look about this landscape before me, I see that my garden is not a tracery of interlocking perfect lines.  It is not in my nature to achieve this outward perfection in my garden or in me.  I love the beauty in the chaos, the disorder; the beauty that is the imperfection of nature.  Of what will be because of or despite my best efforts.

What I see before me, is a reminder that beauty shines outward only when first it starts from within.  I have strived my whole life to achieve that beauty within not realizing it has been there all along.  I was reminded of it when I came across these profound words recently.

“Beauty is not in the face; Beauty is a light in the heart.”  —Kahlil Gibran

The seed of beauty was laid a long time ago when my parents taught me to be a good person; a loving, giving person.  One I would want to be friends with.  And in my garden I see myself.  Who I am despite trying to be someone else. I have given myself and my garden over to the true me.  Beauty to me is not the perfection we all seem to think of.  It is not the airbrushed image.  It is your own style that shows your uniqueness.  And my style is a love for nature.

 

 

My soul lies within my garden.  It holds within it my peace and solace…and utterly fabulous beauty that shines outward with each new and missed bloom taken sometimes by a tragic occurrence like a freeze.  It is defined by those who visit, and have chosen my small piece of heaven to find food or shelter, or perhaps just a place to stop over as they go on to their destination.  I aways feel privileged by these visitors.  From the smallest bee to the deer that forage on my yummy garden set before them; a splendid feast.

 

Along the way I have also discovered that my garden is indeed a tracery of interlocking of threads.  Those that tie together the ecosystem within it.  They are carefully woven and I am careful not to disrupt the beautiful pattern of life they display.  And with this discovery comes the revelation of a light within my garden and me that shines bright.  The light enhances my being making me feel well and whole and at one with my garden oasis.  The world is more tolerable, kinder indeed within this web of life as it breathes deep and long.

 

“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Next up on the blog:    I’ll be updating my garden and showcasing a couple of original poems on April 2nd.  I’ve decided to change the title of these posts from Gardens Eye Verse to Gardens Eye Journal during the garden season.  I hope to show some vegetables and flowers all grown from seed by GBBD.  And soon it will be time for another Garden Book Review.  My  Simply the Best series, that ties in with Diana@Elephant’s Eye, will be highlighting a favorite native bloom in my meadow on the fourth Wednesday of the month to coincide with Wildflower Wednesday.

I hope you will join me for my weekly posts, every Tuesday, at Beautiful Wildlife Garden.  I have had some interesting vistors of late and it is always fun to see who will drop by just in time for a post.

 

Please remember, to comment click on the title of the post and the page will reload with the comments section.

 

All content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Gardens Eye View.  Any reprints or use of content or photos is by permission only.