Let's enjoy a May visual walk through a few of the world's gardens.

 

Pandemic Series 12 - May, 2021

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Mission: To provide poetical and thoughtful comments on life

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Enjoy a break at Kingwood Center, Mansfield, Ohio

Opening Comments from Bob

This Issue: Pictorially, the focus is on pictures I have taken over recent decades of favorite gardens, some famous and others less well-known. Frankly, the poems, The Pond and Solitude, are two I really like and the messages inherent in them. The vignette speaks to healing and change.

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Butchart Gardens, Brentwood Bay, British Columbia

Two Poems this Month

The Pond

Walking the trail,
    the familiar pond
    in its stillness appears.
A sight pondered hundreds of times.
Its majesty
    seldom changes.
Green lily pads
    float among the moss
    where mini creatures
    explore their chosen home.
A lone frog
    enjoys the never-ending feast.
The heron takes to the air,
    and peace ceases.
Moving on,
    the lesson remains.

 

 


 

Solitude

Meandering the mountain glades
    high above the endless cacophony
    becomes a passage
    to a fabled place.
The sounds of the chickadees and finches
    the occasional rat-ta-tat-tat
    of nature’s carpenters
    comfort the ears.
Far off, a fox
    slinks behind boulders
    angered by human intrusion.
Yet, two deer gaze
    merely yards away.
Fragrances of lilies
    soothes the mind.
Mother Earth
    again bestows her
    seldom appreciated gifts.

This respite
    restores sanity
    from the insanity
    far below.

 

 

 

My Walden Pond in the poem

Walk at close to 8,000 feet

Even a big higher at 8,300 feet

 

Devonport, New Zealand: Though technically not a garden, in a sense this entire resort community is a floral showplace.

Vignette this Month: Recovery is good.

An obvious statement. Surprisingly, having lived with serious pain for fifteen years takes adjustment to having it gone. Certainly, a challenge I am up for. However, the most difficult one has been dealing with the aftereffects due to the elimination of the mind altering drugs that were originally prescribed to help control the pain. Now that I have weaned off of them, I realize their impact was what created much of my personality for the last decade and a half. As one drug lost its effectiveness and a new one was assigned, each modified and impacted my thought processes. At the time and in most cases, I was oblivious to their effects. What I thought and imagined became my realities. Little did I realize that many were chemically and artificially induced. As I adjust to this new phase in life, I am relearning who I am. At 77, that is quite fascinating.

 

Schnormeier Gardens, Gambier, Ohio: Ranked as one of the top Asian gardens in the world.

Below: A winter scene at Schnormeiers'

 

Vienna Rose Garden

Melk Abbey, Austria: English stylized gardens

Recommendation

Take time to savor the beauty that surrounds you.

Please take a look at the online book and gift pages.

 

Gardens at the Salzburg city government building

Thanksgiving Point - Tulip Festival

Thanksgiving Point - Tulip Festival

Quotable Quotes

"For me, the writing life doesn't just happen when I sit at the writing desk. It is a life lived with a centering principle, and mine is this: that I will pay close attention to this world I find myself in . . . "My heart keeps open house," was the way the poet Theodore Roethke put it in a poem ..." - Julia Alvarez

"There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true." - Soren Kierkegaard

"Whether you're in the fields or working in the city, take these words of mine and reflect on them. Ask yourself, "Why was I born? What can I take with me?" Ask yourselves over and over. If you do, you'll become wise." - Ajahn Chah

Above and below: Portland Rose Garden

A Bit of Humor

A bit of laughter is healthy for the soul

FOR SALE BY OWNER...

Complete set of encyclopedia Britannica.
45 Volumes. Excellent condition.
$100 or best offer.
Reason for sale: No longer required.
Got married last weekend.
Wife knows everything.

Compliment of A Joke A Day

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Tropical Plantation, Maui

br1

Garden of Eden, Maui

 

Tai Chi Corner

Take some time to learn tai chi. Contact Bob.

 



Bob Casey
Poetical Journeys
P.O. Box 319
Midway, UT 84049

bob@poeticaljourneys.com

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