I believe these to all be mosses. Brilliant greens against the dry old leaves and litter of the forest floor; living color shining as filtered light dances down through new leaves tossing in the wind.
“He makes me lie down in green pastures…He restores my soul”, a long ago shepherd boy said.
While not a pasture, looking at these simple plants slowly forming soft colonies and feeling their gentle cushion as I tread gently on some was amazingly restorative. I am so grateful for small wonders!
As I was involved with food for the dinner table, there was a shout from hubby, “Pheasant!” Our food was forgotten as I found the camera, careful not to startle our feathered friends at their dinner.
The color and markings were extraordinary. Pheasant is a rare sighting here.
Taking photos through window glass certainly reduces clarity and focus is difficult. If you click on the first photo, you will be able to see the wonderful markings more clearly.
Information on the Ring-necked Pheasant can be found here.
April seemed determined to linger on and on. She seemed sullen this year. Finally, on a clear day, the cleanup from February’s gift of ice was done and the overwhelming piles of broken limbs and down trees were gone. In the last moments of that very long day we had to decide where to dispose of the last of the pine logs. The crazy result is our new rustic bench.
You can’t tell from the photo, but it has been carefully placed among viburnum and dogwood to the back and sides. Ferns grow near and groundcover will fill in. In time, it will just be part of the growing forest floor. For added charm, I found another chunk of pine log for a plant table. I will post another photo when the “room” is more decorated!
I was sad that the tree, which already had considerable size over 40 years ago, was so damaged in the storm. But as I have found through the years, once removed, it is hard to really remember a tree for so much new fills the eye. The young dogwoods are just coming into bloom now and will become that new and different focal point on the hillside.
April did bring fresh greens and early wonder-full bloom. Bluebells, Bleeding hearts, Violets, Trollius and Vincas followed Jonquils and Lenten Roses.
And then, an almost spiteful ending came with pounding, relentless rain drowning the grounds and roads. After days and nights of storm, it was such a relief to change the calendar page on a sunny day and enjoy the beauty of lingering raindrops on growing leaves
The afternoon was spent keeping appointments. Then clouds came again and rain poured through sunlight. We were driving home, rounded a corner, came out of the woods and were startled by the beauty so poorly captured by camera. 
Rainbows! In them I see all the promises of compassion – grace and mercy – for the storms of life. I love them! Have you seen a rainbow lately?
The House Wrens have returned to the magnolia tree and sing the morning open.
I’ve been opening the genealogy files again and stirring memories. Holidays and holydays always stir them as well. I think my first awareness of extended family came at my Grandparents anniversary party. I was one of the youngest of their twelve grandchildren.
Anna was six years older that her beloved August. There is a story that her family wanted her to marry his older brother, but she preferred to wait on August. Such a good choice! They had 60 years together.
Before the rain which turned on the greening, and before yesterday’s blast of winter cold and snow, the wild ginger folded out, like heart-felt love letters from God.
Perfect for this time when I think on His perfect Love Letter, Jesus.
An early spring morning with hyacinth and coffee is such a lovely gift.
“Delectable”, “luscious” are used to describe Lenten Roses in Seeing Flowers by Teri Dunn Chace with photography by Robert Llewellyn. Exquisitely complex comes to me.
Nourished in shade and deep composting tree litter, they are shy blooms rarely lifting their heads to gaze back at you. 
To see their beauty requires determination and the humility to bend low or even kneel in the woodsy damp round them. 
I’m sitting in the coffee shop surrounded by human bloomings and thinking about the passing of time and people and how difficult it can be to see the exquisite beauty of each person. How difficult it can be to lift my own head to look into the eyes of others. In the Book of Malachi, these lovely words are found, “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings;” 
I think about how hard it can be to lift my face to the Sun of righteousness Who has healing in His wings so that I might then serve others with humility.
The journey is a grand adventure, The reward to see exquisitely complex beauty is before me.
Do you find it easy to find the amazing beauty in others? I know I have often walked by without even noticing.
After the Williamsburg and Smithfield delights, we returned to winter white. While I waited for the melt I gave into the lure of catalogs. Not that I planned to garden this year, but the ground is calling me.
Through the light snow loom piles of brush waiting for me and then our best tree guys to get things in order but I thought it might not hurt to look… and a couple of days later, the sun was warming and signs of spring beckoned to me.
And I found that the bambi-ites having wrecked havoc on azaleas, rhododendron and blueberries this winter, now march through the garden just outside the kitchen door and drink the birdbath dry. (My most creative efforts to keep them from the bird feeder failed.) They had eaten tiny shoots of new growth daylilies and tried out the iris leaves. There was quite a mess from stomping about. You may not be able to tell, but this is deer print.
Out came the jug of “go away bambi-ites“; battle has been engaged with the sprayer.
That said, the last days of March were glorious making the yard clean-up rather joyous. My chore list for the house gathered more dust as I worked through the hours picking up sticks, stacking wood, raking debris and enjoying signs of new life. I hope spring has shown up in your neighborhood!
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I have a family member who hates to talk about the weather. Certainly it is a boring topic this year. Snow, wintry mix, ice, freezing rain, wind, rain… March continues roaring about but spring is beating in the heart of the earth. We were blessed to go to Williamsburg last week. One of our favorite small places there is the Botanical Gardens. We roamed and sat in warmth for hours, listening.
One day, we took the ferry from Jamestown to the lovely town of Smithfield. The other month Cathy at Morning Musings wrote about bronze sculptures. This is my sole attempt to follow her lead – hubby and George Washington.
In her post last Monday, she quoted Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, so this one is for Cathy. The sculptor, George Lundeen, portrays the author writing that very poem.
There are seven stops to view these marvelous works. All are historical figures except one.
This is “The Valentine Couple”. 
So sweet. You can click on the photos to enlarge them and see the amazing detail.
It is cold here at home and of course the forecast is for snow tomorrow. I’m listening, I know the earth is sheltering buds and blooms and green. For now, I’ll enjoy the memory of these Lenten Roses.