A leaf of Swiss Chard
I find it easy to lose track of reality lately. So easy to become trapped in the part of our collective human insanity that shows up on the computer screen when just outside my window is the real world. Not that the immense human suffering we’ve created is not painful—it is—but most of it is also not natural.
Witch Hazel, the yellow flowers opening this week, alongside the fat buds for next Spring’s leaves and the even fatter seed pods which will ripen and burst open over the next year.
As the sun dips on our horizon and much of our world shrinks back toward winter, I find it useful to remember that this is all part of the cycle of life.
A ripening pod of Milkweed seed ready to life!
Note: The leaves of the American Chestnut (top) are miraculous this time of year, in fact, any time of year really because it is a species that has been devastated by blight since the early 1900s. These leaves grace a one of two trees growing in our yard, seeded from a local survivor tree. Perhaps there is a lesson or two there for we humans?
Maybe it is as simple blowing up our TVs as John Prine sang about in his song, “Spanish Pipedream?”
Still Learning To See 
What a wise post, John–but then you’re a curator of wisdom 🙂 I listened to the Prine song, and let’s not just blow up the TV’s, but “throw away the papers”! You inspire me to be more disciplined in just turning all of the tech off–which is a choice each of us can make.
Love the milkweed pod!
Hi John,
The American Chestnut leaves aren’t showing up here. Our neighbor, Kendra Collins , is the New England Regional Science Coordinator for the American Chestnut Foundation and might be interested in your tree, if the two of you are not already in communication.
Also, a Seth Godin blog post on Cable News which validates thoughts you might having, given your link to the John Prine song.
Happy Day!
Kelley
On Tue, Oct 18, 2016 at 9:16 AM, Still Learning To See wrote:
> John Snell posted: ” I find it easy to lose track of reality lately. So > easy to become trapped in the part of our collective human insanity that > shows up on the computer screen when just outside my window is the real > world. Not that the immense human suffering we’ve creat” >
John,
I love your closeups.
I wish I had your eye and your camera to capture the amazing variety of fungi that are popping up around our property.
So much to explore and savor.
Dale
John,
Glad to see your out and about. I explore the Owyhee’s every week or so. In fact we will be doing some off roading this Saturday around Murphy. Keep the beautiful pics coming.
Fred.
irfred@cableone .net