Photographs are wonderful. In the dead of winter I can “see” a peony. On a hot, humid day in early summer I can cool off by reviewing last winter’s photographs of an icy stream.

But—and I often remind myself of this fact—photographs are not reality! The moment that is reality is so precious. The huge bouquet of peonies I picked this morning sit here on the table right in front of me. They are undeniable! The light so delicate and changing as morning wakens, the stamens jiggling with each movement, the subtle yellows and pinks of the petals, the ant crawling across its recently moved world.

I love the way the flowers age, moment by moment, finally dropping petals and pollen and the ruby colored seed capsules swelling on the stem that is left.

It occurs to me that so much of my appreciation for flowers comes from my mother who loved to grow them—nothing fancy but always so deeply appreciated.  As children there were few things as special as surprising her with a freshly picked Sunday summer bouquet. I think flowers were a reminder to her of how full of glory our lives were.

This photograph, by the way, is straight out of my iPhone. I am amazed. What a tool it can be, especially to quickly write a note (i.e. text!) and spontaneously send a photograph. Very powerful communications. I hope you too can enjoy these moments and share them with others you love.

 

11 Jun This entry was published on June 11, 2014 at 11:57 am. It’s filed under Flowers, John Snell, People, Photograph, Summer, Vermont and tagged iPhone, peony, text. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.