I can’t remember a spring I’ve loved as much as this one. I
feel soaked in its beauty all the time. And now it’s rolling into summer, and I
have to be away for the rest of June working festivals and teaching, but I’ve
decided that’s fine—I’ll find June wherever I go. Still, it’s hard to beat a
southeast Ohio
morning.
Taking this iPhone in my pocket has changed my life in many
ways. To be able to grab a visual wherever and whenever I want, with a willing
and quite fabulous wide-angle camera, is one of the most liberating things I’ve
experienced. In late July, I will have been running for three years now. That
needed an exclamation point. ! I’ve dropped most carbs, most sugar, and 24
pounds. I feel great, yearly toe
flareups notwithstanding. Lots of energy, and it seems to be going in good,
productive directions.
But the iPhone. Oh my gosh. To be able to take you along on
a run, to show you the beauty that literally brings me to my knees every day. I
cannot appreciate this landscape, these flowers, the curves of the road, the
trot of a little black dog, enough. But I can try.
The landscape she is so lush in June.
Penstemon blooms along the roadsides, more than I’ve ever
seen. The township hasn’t gotten around to mowing yet and I’m loving that.
Chicory is just coming out…can you wait? Please? Don’t mow it down. Let the
penstemon go to seed.
Verbascum, or moth mullein, is a favorite too.
The first black-eyed Susans I’ve seen anywhere, June 9. How
many photos can Chet work his way into? There’s no limit, apparently.
I find
Silphium, or cup plant, in several unexpected places. This is a native prairie
plant, which catches water in its perfoliate leaf cups. Perfoliate means the
leaf is continuous around the stem, and pierced by it. Boneset also has a
perfoliate leaf.
On this day, Liam and I get up early. He’s starting to sleep
like a teen, and only a bad dream woke him up. We decided the best therapy was
a cuddle and a run together. Of course he outdistances me the second he decides
to run at his own pace, he of the zero body fat and silky skin over bones. We
run together to the corner of our road and the county road, and then I watch
him go. It’s a Sunday morning, and we’re in church. His footfalls fade away and
I’m alone with Chet and the road and my eyes and my thoughts.
I look back at the dawn sky and wonder why I don’t look back
more often.
8 comments:
Absolutely lovely post. I would love to see your corner of the world some day.
Love it, and you do need to remember to look up @ the sky all around you. I am always amazed.
Beautiful, beauty. Yes, longest, loveliest spring ever. So good to share it with you. Love,xxoom
Oh, I'm right there with you, baby binos tucked under the knot of the windbreaker tied around my waist, and cell phone camera at the ready. I just wish I was actually running. There is so much to see, so much to share! I love how you show me things I don't know and wouldn't know to look for. Perfoliate leaf cups. Wonderful!
ahhhh, running....so good for the body, so good for the soul. thanks for sharing!
They say not to look back because something might be gaining on you. I always do -- or return by the same route to see what I missed.
Thanks JZ. I need this today.
It's a gift to live in a place that moves you to give thanks for it pretty much every day. It's a lot less wild here, but there are still wonders to discover and delight in.
Welcome to the world of iphone cam! It's handy little thing ain't it. It not only takes an image - it captures a mood. It celebrates spontaneity like nothing else.
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