the birth of bleeding hearts

"give me odorous at sunrise a garden of beautiful flowers where i can walk undisturbed.” - walt whitman

jill's zinnias

playing around with picasa and wishing i could do these zinnias justice...they are simply gorgeous. flowers make me truly happy.

From Collages

macro

i'm an incredibly inept photographer. point and click. that's me. and i usually point and click with shaky hands. for years, leo has tried to help me with the basics of taking a "good" picture, and i'll be danged if i just don't have the knack. it's become our own little joke...and after 17 years of marriage, if i take a "good" picture, leo sweetly patronizes me by saying, "you're getting better".

we own a little cannon powershot. nothing fancy, but it is an upgrade from our previous camera that was held together by masking tape after i dropped it the first time, and then died altogether on christmas eve when i dropped it for the last time. i now understand why that little wrist strap is there, although i still fail to use it.

so anyways, i was playing with the macro on my cannon last night, which is a pretty big deal for me, and these are what i came up with.

this poor bleeding heart. she's the last one to bloom, and the only one left to photograph. her color has faded, and she's starting to wilt. (can anyone identify?)

i wish i had one that wasn't held together by masking tape

referring again to my camera. because these flowers are just so darn gorgeous. (clicking on the photo and viewing large is pretty cool, however.)



oh, and while i'm posting, i want to show you this photo:



this is a planter that contained petunias last summer. i didn't bother to pull them out of the pots in november, and now they have reseeded themselves and are growing! i've never had that happen with annuals before. have any of you?

it's held together by masking tape

my camera, that is. i have a little canon powershot digital camera that i earned with my credit card points. less than a week after receiving it, i dropped it on the sidewalk and cracked the battery cover. of course, the battery cover wouldn't close tightly enough to maintain enough pressure for the batteries to power the camera...but with just enough masking tape and a little pressure from my hand, it will take pictures...(and if you click on the photos below to view them "large", they're not too bad).



bleeding heart. can you honestly think of another living thing on the planet that is more accurately named?



i have my most emotional and spiritual encounters when lilacs bloom. yes, that sounds crazy, but...i don't know. there's just something about them. tonight, when i smelled these lilacs, i literally raised my fists in the air victoriously and called out, "yes!!! thank you god!!!" then i cried like a baby and praised him for the yearly miracle.



the butterfly above and i played hide-and-seek for at least ten minutes. he was not intimidated by my presence, and happily gathered pollen while i talked to him incessantly.



i wish i could eloquently and poetically express the pure and abundant joy god's lilacs and bleeding hearts and pink dogwoods brought me this evening. but alas, i am no poet. so instead, i'll lift these lines of worship from jennifer knapp...

sing alleluia, sing alleluia
praise the father above
sing alleluia
sing alleluia, sing alleluia
for his infinite love
sing alleluia

praise to the giver of good things
merciful father, holy king
join with the angels, sing out loud
praise him who reigns above the clouds

o praise him (when the morning comes)
alleluia (for the rising sun)
o praise him (when the day is done)
alleluia (praise the Lord of love)
o praise him (alleluia)
alleluia (alleluia)

all creatures of our god and king
lift up your voice and with us sing!

hanging on

despite hard frosts this week that wiped out its brothers and sisters, this petunia is still blooming. i'm not sure how...

i love petunias. striped petunias remind me of my great-grandmother, gertrude voelker smith. very german lady. lived on germany road. she and my great-grandfather, victor, brewed their own beer in their basement. they lived on a beautiful farm, with a cozy house and traditional american red barn.

so anyways, back to the petunia...

i love that today, the day when we set our clocks back, and darkness creeps back into our schedule...that today, i found a sign of life in my own back yard.

this petunia adds a little more color to my world. and for that, i am grateful.

i'm not too handy with a camera

but i still love these pictures of my flowers!

Did you know...

The presence of flowers triggers happy emotions, heightens feelings of life satisfaction and affects social behavior in a positive manner far beyond what is normally believed, according to a recent behavioral research study conducted at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Nature provides us with a simple way to improve emotional health in a high-tech, fast-paced lifestyle.

Researchers exploring the link between flowers and life satisfaction found that:
•Flowers have an immediate effect on happiness, a universal reaction that occurs in all age groups.

•Flowers have a long-term positive effect on moods. Study participants said they felt less depressed, anxious and agitated after receiving flowers.

•Flowers make intimate connections. The presence of flowers led to increased contact with family and friends.

"Common sense tells us that flowers make us happy,” said Dr. Jeannette Haviland-Jones, professor of psychology at Rutgers and lead researcher on the study. "Now science shows us that not only do flowers make us happier than we know, they have strong positive effects on our emotional well-being.”