sandhills pyxie-moss
Last year the sandhills pyxie-moss was blooming on January 28 and was still blooming on March 7. This year we saw only one flower on the clump on February 26, but finally, on this March 21 visit we found a full bloom! We will keep checking on it. You may remember that this miniature shrub is very rare and found only in a couple of North Carolina counties.
When our eyes are graced with wonder, the world reveals its wonders to us.
~ John O’Donohue
(Beauty: The Invisible Embrace)
It seems reasonable to believe that the more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction of our race. Wonder and humility are wholesome emotions, and they do not exist side by side with a lust for destruction.
~ Rachel Carson
(Silent Spring)
After enjoying this wonder-filled morning, a pleasant surprise was waiting for me at home in the evening. As I went to close the drapes in the living room I noticed a pretty mourning dove sitting on the edge of the birdbath on our deck. She was watching me. We made eye contact and we gazed at each other for the longest time. Tim finally went and got the camera and took this picture of her, still looking at me. Years ago, and shortly after my mother died, a pair of mourning doves used to keep me company in my garden while I was out there weeding it, but it’s been many years since I’ve had one make contact with me like this. I felt comforted.
Things have been pretty discouraging around here since Tim had his stents put in. Thankfully he seems to be doing well in cardio rehab. But my dear sister has been diagnosed with the same kind of endometrial cancer I had back in 2017, and her prognosis may not be as favorable as mine was. Also, due to osteoporosis I’ve had to give up my beloved yoga practice. I’ve replaced it with tai chi, which I am liking well enough, but I still find myself grieving for yet another loss. I was very grateful for the solace the mourning dove was offering me.
I like the idea of noticing small wonders—as you know. To balance the aches of our hearts and bodies. I am sorry for the health challenges that surround all of you. I am dealing with lower back pain and sciatica off and on and hoping it doesn’t flare up on a long visit to Portland soon which will undoubtedly involve some lifting…
Thank you, Kathy. Small wonders really do offer a balance to our aches. I’ve looked at them as distractions from pain but I like your concept of them as counterweights to it. I can sympathize with your sciatica flare-ups as I have to be very careful not to irritate that darn nerve, too. May lifting your darling granddaughter prove not to be a problem when you visit!!!
I started thinking (on the way to the mailbox) that maybe focusing on small wonders can be a distraction. And other times can be a counter weight. Perhaps it had to do with our level of consciousness. In one instance we’re just trying to escape. In the other we are allowing the joy of the present moment to come to the forefront. Maybe something like that?
Yes, I think both perspectives can be true at the same time. Those firefly moments will find us either way — if we’re trying to escape pain or if we’re trying to remain with it in the present moment. Maybe opposite sides of the same coin?
Oh I do like that—true at the same time! The way you just expressed this dissolved the duality (at least for this moment!) here. Thank you, Barbara.
Thank you, too! I have missed pondering nonduality and other awareness ideas with you, Kathy.
Beautiful spring ephemerals, Barbara. I’m right there with you in the adjustment to aging, we need to acknowledge and grieve our losses, then try to focus on the threads of goodness that we still enjoy, even as the list grows shorter by the day, esp. physically. Some days are better than others!
I just learned the other day that my brother has lymphoma, so a rocky road lies ahead. We’re hoping for remission of course, but realize it may be a limited cure. Yet another adjustment on the road of life. 🙏🏼
Thank you, Eliza. I agree with your approach to aging, concentrating on what we can still do when our bodies can’t keep up with other desired activities. I keep telling myself at least I can still walk around and see where I am going! It could be so much worse. So sorry to hear about your brother’s diagnosis and I hope the treatment will bring a remission. If I remember correctly you have a lot of siblings so I imagine he is surrounded with a lot of love and support as he faces this part of his life journey. 🙏🏼
Thank you, Barbara. We’re definitely circling our wagons! 🙏🏼
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I adore the John O’Donohue quote. Yes I say to it.
I’m sorry you’re no longer doing the yoga you liked but am also happy that you’re finding tai chi a good second choice. I’ve thought about trying it.
Thank you, Ally. John O’Donohue is full of insightful observations. By coincidence our senior center is having an “interactive discussion” called Finding Peace with Tai Chi next week, so I’m looking forward to learning more about it.
I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your lovely photographs. My sight is going, but your photos of the small things I can see! All of the adjustments we must make growing older are difficult, and I wish us all luck with them.
Welcome to my blog, Edith! Thank you so much for your kind words — it warms my heart to know that my photographs brought you so much pleasure. I’m sorry your sight is going, that seems like it would be an especially bitter pill to swallow. Wishing you the best as you find ways to adjust.
I like Rachel Carson’s quote. And the pictures you’ve gathered are lovely. How I miss my Redbud, which never failed to announce Spring’s arrival. And I’m captivated by your mourning dove — such a gentle bird that seems to know we need its kind of comfort. I’m sorry you’ve had such a difficult spell — hang in there, and here’s hoping things are on the upswing!
Thank you, Debbie! What happened to your redbud? I’m not sure if we had many redbuds back in Connecticut, maybe I just never noticed them. There was one in the Connecticut College Arboretum with white flowers. But the purplish-pink ones are everywhere down here in North Carolina, as you say, announcing the arrival of spring. My visit with the mourning dove was just what I needed, a little boost of joy!
Morning Doves do seem to bring gentle healing comforts as we listen to their coos, watch them build their nests of tiny twigs, and learn from these birds to relax through our aging years of grieving the ebbs and flows of life. 🕊️💙
You’re so lucky to have seen your mourning doves build a nest! I do love listening to their first coos early in the spring, it is a deeply comforting sound. They’re truly good company as we navigate the ups and downs of aging gracefully. 💙
I cannot say that I’m aging gracefully. There’s more pain than not. I work each day on my body to stop the pain and to build muscle strength. I, too, keep reminding myself that I taught myself how to walk again after the hospital and how to operate machines. I have not conquered dyslexia. I hear myself saying the numbers or letters yet I can see that the typing is not doing what I say and hear. I have not conquered depression and anxiety. Every day I work through my tasks and chores as well as the emotional ups and downs. And when I can’t I allow myself to cry. I grieve grief.
My yard birds do offer some relief of entertainment. Week before last there were two sets of mourning doves falling in love in my two bare oak trees. It rained leaves for weeks! Each set of doves built a nest in each tree. As the two females walked around examining each twig for the correct shape and weight, I wondered if they were sisters.
At the same time there were three female long-tailed grackles pulling long dead grass runners to build their nests in the same two oaks. The two male long-tailed grackles are at war with one another trying to kill each other. It’s a bit frightening to watch.
This past Tuesday my first sighting of the ruby-throated hummingbird migration began. This is the fifth day that a particular male has been visiting about 7-12 times during the day. He is very handsome and the color markings are so defined. He looks like he is wearing a long hair white tie with a gray vest and dark green tuxedo jacket. His head is completely black with an iridescent red scarf around his neck. He is extremely shy of me, but will perch on the feeder comfortably. I don’t expect him to stay to live here, but I decided to name him TEXAS TUXEDO. I have spotted the second new migrating hummingbird this early afternoon.
The red-winged black birds have been migrating through for 3 weeks. Yesterday and today the starlings are migrating through.
The hummingbirds have become my favorite to watch for. They will be migrating from Mexico going further north. Some will stay to make a summer home here.
I still have not been well enough to make it to the sea wall. I do miss it. I hope to build enough muscle strength to make the drive and walk with Yorkie.
I’m glad that you were able to successfully relocate to live next to your daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren who all seem to be very good support for both you and your husband.
You’ve been through so much, Teri, and I admire your fortitude and determination to keep trying in spite of all the setbacks, and they have been significant. I do find crying to be a helpful release. And the birds you have a chance to observe every day are a blessing for you. I remember how much my father enjoyed watching the birds at his feeders. He was confined to a wheelchair for years and had to depend on his family to keep those feeders filled. Aging is so difficult, to keep losing mobility and dignity and all the other things the young take for granted. So we do have to learn to appreciate those small wonders wherever we can find them. I hope you have a lot of hummingbirds stay with you this year as I know they are your favorites. ♡ Cheering you on as you try to build up your muscles to make it back to the sea wall. I know how hard it can be to miss the healing energy of the ocean. *hugs*
These little Spring-y wonders are good for the soul. They stir your senses to know that the new season will bring new life … you have these pretty wildflowers, but we are still barren here. I like the Redbud and Sassafras blossoms – very pretty. Our tree blossoms won’t be out for another month. Your Mourning Dove is bringing you peace, something that brings comfort as you make adjustments to your routine and come to grips with your sister’s illness as well. I had to look up tai-chi as I’d heard of it, but did not know exactly how it was done. Good luck with learning all the moves Barbara. The year 2025 has not been kind to you, but thankfully Tim has made recovery from his stent surgery.
I like the sassafras blossoms, too. There’s a little sassafras sapling grove in the botanical garden and I’ve taken pictures of their red leaves in the fall and of wildflowers at the bases of their trunks last spring in April. On my last visit in March this year I found a patch of pretty violets at the bases. (Picture should be in my next post.) Will have to pay closer attention to what is growing down there at ground level. The color of the bark makes a lovely background to various flowers. The mourning dove timed her visit perfectly, exactly what I needed to help me feel ready to face whatever might be coming down the line. The tai chi DVD I have is for us over 60 seniors, the instructor is over 60, too, but has been doing tai chi his whole life and made adjustments in the routine. It’s been fun learning the moves!
Today at the Park I looked for “Spring Beauties” the only wildflowers I see there since we had mild weather Thursday and Friday, but nothing has appeared yet. I only see violets in the grass mostly, not at the base of trees where I could get a better photo of them. The Dove was intuitive I believe. I hope you enjoy the tai chi as much as yoga. There was a woman at the Park, around my age, who used to roller skate every day, but then she stopped as there are some rough patches in the asphalt path. She was already in her mid-60s when she was skating, then she switched to bike riding. I ran into her in the neighborhood once pushing her grandchild in a stroller and she told me she had been taking, then teaching, chair yoga at the Senior Center. I had never heard of chair yoga. Might that be an option for you as a change of pace or would that be the same as traditional yoga insofar as your osteoporosis?
I guess we all have to keep making adjustments to our activities as we age, trying to keep moving but finding ways to do it more safely. I had been doing some chair yoga but have learned that all seated postures compress the spine and are no-nos. The yoga moves that are allowed for me are all standing up, but, with no spinal twisting, toe touching, forward bends, straight leg raising, or leg circles. I had to eliminate so many moves and poses from my routine that it didn’t seem worth the trouble to modify it. But a friend read my post and sent me some osteoporosis yoga YouTube links which I am looking at. So far the standing parts look safe, but some of the floor work looks iffy. I might try the standing parts and also do the tai chi, which I am really enjoying now.
I know your love for Mourning Doves, Barbara, how beautiful to have a this angel dove from Heaven visit with you, to comfort you. To make you smile, I hope too! I hope and pray 2025 is a better year for you both moving forward, with lots of shared nature walks and moments of delights. Your spring photos are lovely!
Thank you for your lovely, kind words, Donna! Seeing the mourning dove actually made me cry, but it was cathartic and a relief to have all my feelings acknowledged. Then, feeling comforted, the smiles were able to come out again. I am looking forward to those nature walks, and many precious moments with my grandchildren, too!
Beautiful photos of beautiful details. So pretty! And a lovely moment with the mourning dove – so puffy! The Rachel Carson quote hits home, feeling like the current administration is all about lust for destruction.
Best wishes for health and healing for you and those you love.
Thank you, Karma! I thought of the current administration when I included the Rachel Carson quote, too. She must be turning in her grave. I don’t see any of our “leaders” exhibiting any indication that they experience the emotions of wonder or humility.