Tag: NaBloPoMo2019

Sunflowers in the Cosmos!

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When I viewed the A New Moon Rises: Views from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera exhibit at the Huntsville Museum of Art in June, I was literally “over the moon” to find sunflowers on the moon!

What? You didn’t know there were sunflowers on the moon? Well, there are!

I shared photos from the exhibit in July, but withheld photographs of one of the craters because, although I didn’t have a date in mind, I knew I wanted to share the crater during “Sunflower Week.”

A Very Young Crater

Obviously, this is not really a sunflower; it is actually a “very young crater.” This is one of the images captured with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC):

Spectacular ejecta surround this very young impact crater about 1,400 meters (4,600 feet) across. Since there are no superimposed impact craters on the ejecta, and the delicate lacy impact spray is still preserved near the rim, this crater formed very recently, perhaps sometime in the past few thousand years.  –from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

Isn’t it amazing how very much the crater looks like a sunflower? If you can’t see it, here’s a sunflower edit I did a year and a half ago that might help:

Finding a sunflower on the moon reminded me of the sunspot postcard Love Noter Arielle W sent, which also resembled a sunflower. [It was featured in a blogpost a couple of years ago].

Detail of a Sunspot. Big Bear Solar Observatory, New Jersey Institute of Technology.

These lunar and solar “sunflowers” underscore the reason sunflowers are so meaningful to me. They’re not just bright yellow blooms that look like the sun; they are my constant reminder of the Creator and His Sovereignty. If He can give us sunflowers in outer space, and if He can sustain every single atom and keep order in the Universe, then certainly I can trust Him to be faithful over every single thing that concerns me.

We’ve reached the end of NaBloPoMo 2019 and Sunflower Week 2019. I’m ever grateful to you, my readers, for tolerating my daily posts (and ramblings). I have many more sunflowers, stacks of postcards and other beautiful things to share, but they will have to wait, of course. Life is going to be super-busy with end-of-semester madness and holiday planning, but I’ll be sure to check in a couple of times a week.

Until next time…Have joy!

Sunflowers and Copycats

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“Sunflowers in a Vase.” Watercolor by Sheila D.

Imitation is the sincerest [form] of flattery. –Charles Caleb Colton

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, my artist/blogging friend Sheila Delgado should be tickled pink over the art Christine B and I created in the style of one of her specialities–“sunflowers in a vase.”

Last year, Christine B sent me a sunflower watercolor she “borrowed” Sheila’s style to complete. I included it in a blog post last November with many other sunflower postcards, but here it is again:

“Sunflowers in a Vase.” Watercolor by Christine B.

Days after the post, I received a Sheila D original watercolor of sunflowers in a vase [above]! Needless to say I was thrilled! I was so pleased to have another sunflower watercolor that it remained [with Christine’s] in my prayer and mediation space. So, a few months ago, when I began to include art/doodling as part of my daily routine and after seeing it every day, I played around with imitating Sheila’s sunflowers in a vase. This is one result:

“Sunflowers in a Vase.” Pen and Pencil by Me!

Thankfully, my sunflowers have improved a bit since my summer doodle [I’ll share some next month]. Like all my drawings, I used ink and colored pencils. I haven’t been brave enough to attempt this with the watercolor pencils, but I will make an effort over the longer holiday break.

I read somewhere that beginning artists learn by imitating the styles of other artists. Even though I’m a long way from being that kind of artist, I enjoy testing my [minimal] skills from time to time by “copying” the artwork of others.

So…thank you, Sheila, for giving me sunflowers…and another subject to doodle. 😉

“The Sun Hath Shed Its Kindly Light” | A Thanksgiving Poem

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“A Thanksgiving Poem”
Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)

The sun hath shed its kindly light,
Our harvesting is gladly o’er
Our fields have felt no killing blight,
Our bins are filled with goodly store.

From pestilence, fire, flood, and sword
We have been spared by thy decree,
And now with humble hearts, O Lord,
We come to pay our thanks to thee.

We feel that had our merits been
The measure of thy gifts to us,
We erring children, born of sin,
Might not now be rejoicing thus.

No deed of our hath brought us grace;
When thou were nigh our sight was dull,
We hid in trembling from thy face,
But thou, O God, wert merciful.

Thy mighty hand o’er all the land
Hath still been open to bestow
Those blessings which our wants demand
From heaven, whence all blessings flow.

Thou hast, with ever watchful eye,
Looked down on us with holy care,
And from thy storehouse in the sky
Hast scattered plenty everywhere.

Then lift we up our songs of praise
To thee, O Father, good and kind;
To thee we consecrate our days;
Be thine the temple of each mind.

With incense sweet our thanks ascend;
Before thy works our powers pall;
Though we should strive years without end,
We could not thank thee for them all.

happy Thanksgiving!

About the image: The flowers in today’s post came from my Love Notes pal,  Arielle W. The image is a reproduction of a woodcut by Claire Emery. I have fallen in love with her work. To see more of her woodcuts, check out her website: Emery Art.

From the Shadows…Into the Light

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I did not come to photography looking for magic. I came looking for a way to speak my pain. In the process of finding images to portray my darkness, I passed through the shadows into light. Now, I am one of photography’s many lovers, devoted to the art of seeing and revealing. […] There’s something holy about this work, something healing about this search for light. Like the pilgrim’s journey, it’s heaven all the way.

–Jan Phillips, God Is at Eye Level

Someone I loved once gave me
a box full of darkness.

It took me years to understand
that this, too, was a gift.

–Mary Oliver, “The Uses of Sorrow”

Through a casual Facebook post featuring some of her favorite books, my pen friend Connie F, introduced me to Jan Phillip’s book, God Is at Eye Level [Thanks, Connie!]. With Amazon [birthday] gift card in hand [Thanks, Tee!], I ordered the book and two others on creative and contemplative photography. 

The photograph of the wilted sunflower is the result of an exercise in God Is at Eye Level that invites readers to use an entire [pretend] 24-exposure roll of film to explore one strong emotion. It is my attempt to capture the tension between the darkness that walks with me as I deal with grief and trauma and the light I feel I need to project.  

But I am learning, day by day, there is value in darkness, particularly if we are using it to move toward Light.

In the quote above, Phillips underscores the usefulness of darkness, its role in our creativity and healing. Darkness is a “gift,” a necessary part of process; therefore, it’s critical that we face the darkness, wrestle with it, deal, so that we might emerge whole, or maybe not as fractured. Running away from it—creating some inauthentic happy place—only imprisons us. The operative word is emerge. Eventually, we “pass through” darkness and into the fullness of Light.

“Sun, Flower of My Heart”

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One of the items I’m patiently waiting to check off my “bucket list” is a visit to one of those huge sunflower fields that goes on for acres and acres and acres. My guys and I happened upon a small one here in Northern Alabama a couple of summers ago, but I’m looking forward to “losing my mind” in a “goes on forever” field of sunshine. The fields of Tuscany are the dream, but that will take $$$ and careful planning. I learned recently that there’s a sunflower field in Autaugaville, Alabama, just a few hours away, so it is on the summer-to-go list.

Until then, I visit sunflower fields through YouTube videos, photographs, and postcards. I received one such postcard from my Love Notes pal, Trang K, a few months ago. The gorgeous field of sunflowers of Door County, Wisconsin brightened my mailbox and my heart.

A field of sunflowers bloom on a traditional small family farm in northern Door County. The landscape is rich in stunning beauty with orchard lined roads, quaint villages, and miles of picturesque shoreline. Artwork: Derivative work based on an original photograph by Christopher Arndt.

As you can see, Trang “planted” a twinkling tulip in the field and wrote a sweet note with a nod to the memory of  my sister Lori, who loved tulips:

Amidst the sunflower fields of your heart, there are always tulips to be found.

Let your spirit glow and dance. Let your soul swoon and soar. Be one with the Sun, flower of your heart.

Isn’t that a beautiful message? It still warms my heart.

Note: Yesterday’s blog post strangely went “missing” for a few hours, so maybe you missed it. If so, click the previous post and check out Lori-Anne C’s stunning sunflower work. Even though the scan isn’t great, you will not regret it. 🙂

You’re Entitled to You!

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Some of the most exquisite sunflower postcards in my collection were made by Love Noter Lori-Anne C. The intricate details of her paint and ink cards always fascinate me. The card she designed for International Women’s Day 2019 did not disappoint.

“Better the Balance, Better the World.” Art by Lori-Anne C.

I did not miss her message about balance:

If you have the power to make someone happy, do it. The world needs more of that. Know that the “someone” can be you!

I’ve noticed [lately] that women, in particular, must be constantly reminded to take care of themselves. All my life, I’ve watched women put their needs and desires on the back burner while they pretty much served up every part of themselves to everyone else. We extol the virtues of sacrificial mothers and wives as if martyrdom is necessarily their calling, as if any attention to self makes them less selfless–or, worse, selfish.

Some of us are wired for such giving of ourselves, but just in case you have convinced yourself that everyone is entitled to all of you and all of your time, let me be clear: It’s not selfish to put on hold for a moment all the things and all the people vying for every bit of you. It is imperative that you pour some of your time and energy into yourself–to do something that makes you happy, that frees you, that heals you, or makes you giddy.

You can’t help others with only bits and scraps. You have to be balanced and whole–well, healthy–to help others, and you won’t be if you’re only serving others.

So go on. Plan to do something just for you–even if that means doing absolutely nothing.

The world around you is not going to fall apart if you take a little better care of yourself.  –S.C. Lourie, Butterflies and Pebbles.

Cloudy Days and Sunflowers

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Alcohol Ink Sunflower, Made by Christine B.

I’ve been receiving sunflower cards all year, and there are many I have yet to share on the blog, so I’ve decided to end NaBloPoMo 2019 with Sunflower Week.

This is the perfect day to begin, since I ended my last Sunflower Week exactly a year ago.

The card above was made by Love Noter Christine B, my most prolific pen friend. She seems to always know when to send a sunflower, when I need a reminder of Light. This one came right at the beginning of the academic year as I was navigating a lot of stuff.

A couple of weeks before receiving Christine’s sunflowers, another pen friend, Eileen V, tagged me in a Facebook post about sunflower behavior on cloudy days. Whereas sunflowers turn toward the sun when it is shining bright, the poster, Jodi H, announced–skeptically–that sunflowers turn toward each other to share their energy when there is no sun.

Jodi went on:

Now, let’s apply this reflection to our lives. Many people become low-spirited, and the most vulnerable ones, sometimes become depressed. How about following the example of the beautiful sunflowers, i.e., supporting and empowering each other.

This is a beautiful thought and it creates a moving image, but it is not accurate. Sunflowers do not turn toward each other on cloudy days. Instead, they face the direction of the sun regardless.

See these “sciencey” articles for more information:

There is truth in the idea that we don’t have to walk through dark moments alone. We can turn to our loved ones and friends for energy and light when we face difficulties. And we can be sure to make ourselves available to help others as they go through their own challenges.

Whenever I receive a sunflower, it serves as a reminder to “face the Sun.” It is also a gift, an offering of strength and light.

The Brave Rabbit and the Hungry Wolf

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“The Gray Wolf,” Endangered Species. Photo by Tom Brakefield for Impact Photographics. Dedicated to the preservation of nature.

I received the “gray wolf” postcard above for Love Notes 29.1. At first, I was so focused on the message that I did not see the rabbit the wolf is pursuing!

I know this is how things work in the animal kingdom, but this is a poor, defenseless bunny! 😩

The first prompt was, “Don’t be afraid to…,” so Kasey, my partner, shared three bits of advice:

Don’t be afraid to:

  • Step out of your comfort zone. Oh, the possibilities abound! How will you ever know if you don’t try?
  • Stop and smell the roses. Life is too short to not make the most out of it.
  • Take the road less traveled. Who knows? It could be the best one you’ve taken yet!

I’m not sure why Kasey chose this card for the prompt, but I’ve come up with an explanation that satisfies my need to have the bunny survive the ordeal.

Maybe, the little rabbit went out into the world to conquer his fears. He “stepped out of his comfort zone” and took “the road less traveled.” He knew there would be dangers and tests along the path, but he “stopped to smell the roses” anyway. That’s what creatures do when they live outside of fear.

You see? This isn’t the end of the rabbit’s story; this is just one part of the journey. The struggle heightens his awareness and pushes him to develop strategies and tools to avoid such pitfalls in the future.

The little rabbit will have a fuller, deeper life because he faced his fears!

As for the wolf…he found something else to snack on. 😉

From postcard back: The Gray Wolf (canis lupis) mates for life and lives in packs of family members and relatives. The strongest male is the leader of the pack and all the members help to care for the young. The pack will work together on a hunt by chasing down its victim or driving it to circle back to the waiting pack. They can gallop and bound over short distances at speeds of more than 30 mph, and if they cannot capture their prey, they will abandon the attempt.

#ThursdayTreeLove | A Study in Contrast

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One of the trees I enjoy watching from season to season is the dogwood that sits in the middle of the tree-filled field in the center of “my part” of campus. Year after year, I gaze out my window and watch the tree transform–from summer to autumn, winter to spring.

The tree is gorgeous in all seasons. It has a predictable beauty that can become commonplace to some, but the shape of the tree and the lonely bench that rests beneath its branches always manage to draw my eye.

Many focus on the dogwood’s beauty in spring. They typically point to the the milky blossoms and the illustration of the Crucifixion of Christ the tree provides. For me, the dogwood is just as arresting in autumn. The red-orange blossoms with a hint of gold create a breathtaking scene.

Although I’m convinced these photographs fail to adequately capture the tree’s stunning beauty, I thought you might appreciate the contrast.

I’ll make a note to photograph the tree during the winter and summer for a more complete study of the changes.

The black and white versions of the photographs underscore the seasonal differences of the tree.

Obviously, we’re going to see changes in nature as the seasons transition. I’m [still] awed by those changes–not only for the visual appeal but for what they teach us about our Creator, about His consistency, constancy, and character.

I’m linking up with with Dawn of The Day After in the Festival of Leaves photo challenge. I’m also a week early for the Parul Thakur’s bi-monthly #ThursdayTreeLove because I have a different post planned for next Thursday. No matter. Every day is tree love in my world.