Tag: green

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #907 – The Peace of Wild Things

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The Peace of Wild Things

BY WENDELL BERRY

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
It is always a draw to me as to where we find peace in our story. May you find some today!
 
monos en theos † jas L

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #897 – Aqua-eyed Dragonfly

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It has been kind of slim pickin’s around the grounds. Between the heat, a stomach bug and a few rounds with the black dog, I have not found much at which to aim my Nikon. I did have this young (I say young because of it’s size and the dare me attitude of a teenager) dragonfly to sit and pose for a few frames. Beats working for a living. ††† monos en theos…jas L

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #893- Green eating green

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“To be astonished is one of the surest ways of not growing old too quickly”

SIDONIE-GABRIELLE COLETTE

I perhaps in a vain attempt to stay young, am astonished every time I open files of images any bug, flower or object of mother nature. Maybe it is the little boy in me but I am wowed with the beauty that exists in small things.

I know that bugs give some of us the yuck factor, but I am always amazed.

Stay young or die trying!…monos en theos…..james L work

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #889 – Trying to find ways to work in the Heat

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The East Texas heat has been, well it has been oppressive to say the least. Nonetheless, it can drive one to feeling a lesser man when I pass road construction crews on the way to starbucks for an iced coffee, and I try not to complain of the repetious hammering of roofing crews disrupting the beat in my earphones. So I really busted my arse to do some photo work with some fresh flowers (in a vase, in the air conditioned house) to produce (play) with an image in photoshop. It was fun but my pleather recliner did make me sweat a tad, but at least I found a way to work in the heat. Maybe I should wear a tool belt for all my photoshop tools, they are so hard to find and carry about. Can a hard hat be far behind. One needs to be cautious of those stray falling petals. Life can be so hard…….monos en theos †† james

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #888 – Young Katydid in the green

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Oh brother is it HOT. Dog days of summer and all that. Did get out and walk the dogs early this morning it was a nice 72 degrees. Now my mercury sets at 105 in the shade, and I don’t even want to know what the humidity is. This desert boy is dying in this damp heat. In West Texas, we always got to say it was a dry heat. It was true, you could go for the shade and it was very comfortable even in the high 90’s.

In addition to the damp heat,  the difference of East Texas culture gets to me. In dry heat, men wore long sleeves and pants. Not so here. I have almost bolted and run at the number of middle age, out of shape men that think nothing of strolling the aisles of the grocery store without a shirt on.

And I thought the heat and humidity was bad, but that is enough to make you run for the air conditioned comfort of home and draw the shades.

I digress, I did manage to find this young katydid out in the heat amongst the honeysuckle. He was shirtless, but looked good none the less……monos en theos †††james

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #885 – The Heart is on the Vine !

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I am stuck on a leaf kick. But hey you work with what falls on your heart.

“The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart.”    Helen Keller

Wear your heart where it grows! Monos en theos †† james

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #883 – The simple pleasure of a leaf !

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“Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain.”      Henry David Thoreau

I am still getting used to the color green that dominates our landscape. I have just been in Denison TX for a little over a year. In that span of one year we have darn near had as much rain as I saw in 20 years of  West Texas.
 It brightened my day when I found some leaves that sported a bit of a warmer color.
 It is pouring again today. My rain gauge shows 2″ so far. Somedays I do so miss the desert.
monos en theos † james

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #847…Hints of Red

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Having moved from Southwest Texas to North Central Texas, we really went from one extreme to another. We moved almost as far from one corner of the state to the other. From the Rio to the Red.

One of the pleasures has been the actual slow approach of fall. We seem to really have a fall. Well. as much as one could expect in Texas. Southwest Texas always seemed like to shift from hot to a week or two of comfortable coolness and then wham, a “blue norther” would blow in and every leaf went from green to dead.

I am relaxing with the slowness of North Central Texas. We are closer to East Texas and people just move at a slower pace. I have a theory that it has a little to do with how mother nature moves. I think the people, like the leaves, grow to reflect that movement.

So, I am enjoying the slowness of the coming of Winter and getting to rest in the reassurance of slow change.  Green to red is much nicer than green to dead. I trust that it works with humans as well as leaves!

None the less, I am getting the fireplace ready for use…†…monos en theos…jim

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #843 – As the Sun Sets…

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Just as the sun sets to the west for rest.

So am I

I will be taking a respite from posting for a fortnight.

I know, BALDERDASH you scream!

You will survive, as will I.

Happy trails to you until we meet again…monos en theos…†…jim