state park jewels of nature

 

 nestled cozy hamlets

  

 

  fertile farm fields

 ancient wonderful vistas

 places to  savor the seasons

 

 

 city neighborhoods and family farms

   rolling pastures that inspired masters of paint

  

 landscapes not so unlike Van Gogh's view

 my home, my Iowa

i never really took many pictures.when my grandson was  born and my mom was ''snowbirding'' in the southwest she wanted pictures. i received  a mother's day gift of a camera i really began to photograph such variety of things and loved having a camera along as part of family gatherings or my exercise/physical therapy of walking/hiking.when mother, dealing with some major and chronic health issues , took to being at home most of the time and eventually being truly homebound in her illness. she always loved seeing  gardens and the trees and such around the city. she loved flowers. she had always raised flowers, i began to take photos of flowers to show her. i would photograph the spring flowering trees around town to share with her.over the years i brought her many pictures. some prints. mostly slide shows on tablet in electronic bright life. our last time together we looked at the hundreds of family and nature photos on my tablet.
and mom is gone now. there was still ice on the ground the day she died. it is now autumn, warm but clearly the change of another season is upon us. i see the season changing and i will be working backward here in blog where i still hold spring captures  and early summer glory to share, stored up  over the past two seasons,
beautifully, briefly the butterflies float and flit through the summer days, tomorrow to be but memory. thinking of mom ...

  

Sommerfugler

Butterflies

“Nobody sees a flower - really - it is so small it takes time - we haven't time - and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.” Georgia O'Keeffe

 

 “Life breathed spring (haiku)
spring awakening
dance of lovers
delicately wrapped in cherry blossoms” Sir Kristian Goldmund Aumann

“A flower blossoms for its own joy.”   Oscar Wilde

 “...and so many colors
I will have seen...
the menacing greys
and pine greens
the soft pink and purples
of spring
and summer blue
and so many others
without you.”Sanobar Khan







“Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine to the mind.”  Luther Burbank

 

“The flowers' beauty drew her closer to them like a magnetic force. She felt compelled to walk a little faster.” H.L. Balcomb

 “But only a person in the depths of despair neglected to look beyond winter to the spring that inevitably followed, bringing back color and life and hope.” Mary Balogh

 “Come with me into the woods where spring is
advancing, as it does, no matter what,
not being singular or particular, but one
of the forever gifts, and certainly visible.” Mary Oliver

 “I can still bring into my body the joy I felt at seeing the first trillium of spring, which seemed to be telling me, "Never give up hope, spring will come.” Jessica Stern

 “And the Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast
Rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.” Recy Bysshe Shelley

 “The world is exploding in emerald, sage, and lusty chartreuse - neon green with so much yellow in it. It is an explosive green that, if one could watch it moment by moment throughout the day, would grow in every dimension.” Amy Seidl

 “It was such a spring day as breathes into a man an ineffable yearning, a painful sweetness, a longing that makes him stand motionless, looking at the leaves or grass, and fling out his arms to embrace he knows not what.”John Galsworthy

“Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world.”  Virgil Kraft