Telling the Truth

connecting the dots of my life

Tag: Beauty

December 31, 2017

facing east

facing east
the red cardinal shines
in sun-kissed feathers

No, this isn’t the cardinal I saw this morning outside my kitchen window. But it’s close enough. One of the most beautiful sights ever on a cold winter day in the Northeast. Though not a discreet disguise for the faint of heart. Nonetheless, looking ahead to the New Year, I want to be counted in the red cardinal category. Bold, beautiful and facing into the rising sun.

Here’s wishing you a Happy New Year of unexpected joy and peace.

Elouise♥

© Elouise Renich Fraser, 31 December 2017
Photo taken by Mary Anne Borge, found at thenaturalweb.org

5 Comments
December 28, 2017

my icicle

winter chill
creeps through sunlit air –
icicle sparkles

There’s only one icicle. It hangs outside my bathroom window. Lonely? Maybe. Definitely an outlier, since we haven’t had a decent ice storm yet, and our gutters are almost clean.

So there it hangs, too cold to melt, though it shrinks a bit every day. Yesterday we had another deep freeze day—with more on the way.

So what’s a lone icicle to do? Nothing. Just hang there and let the sun do its work—casting rainbow colors, glistening, showing off flaws that look like the work of a master sculptor. No dripping. Just hanging there, shrinking a bit every day. Disappearing.

I don’t often emote over icicles hanging from our gutters. They’re usually growing longer by the day, sometimes too heavy to let nature take its course. So D grabs an old ax handle we keep by the front door, throws open the windows, and whacks them to the ground.

But not this little baby. It’s there just for me. A mirror of sorts. I’m too cold to melt quickly. I’m shrinking a bit every day. And it seems I’m going nowhere for now. So there’s nothing to do but hang there in all my glory, catching and reflecting every little gleam of light that comes my way.

I had a small epiphany this week. I’ve heard a lot in the last years about just ‘being’ instead of ‘doing.’ A wonderfully freeing concept–until you can’t ‘do’ so much anymore. Yet God wants me to show up every day. Just as I am. No more and no less.

So what does it mean for me to show up right now? Sometimes the most obvious things escape me. But this week I finally got it. I show up by writing! It’s so simple. I don’t have to write something in particular, but whatever comes to mind as I hang there just under the gutter. Cold, shiny, changing every day, ready to reflect rainbow colors or nothing more than the morning sky and clouds.

© Elouise Renich Fraser, 28 December 2017
Photo taken by me with my iPad – sunrise, 26 December 2017

8 Comments
December 27, 2017

ripe seed pods

ripe seed pods hang clumped
soak in early winter sun —
shadows creep

© Elouise Renich Fraser, 27 December 2017
Photo by DAFraser, Longwood Gardens, December 2017

2 Comments
December 21, 2017

A Christmas Card for You | Photos

A few days ago D and I took an eagerly anticipated day off to visit Longwood Gardens. The theme for this year was a French Christmas. Classy and elegant. The pond photo at the top, taken in the conservatory, makes the statement boldly and creatively. Those are thousands of cranberries and green apples floating in the pond. The light buff in the center foreground would be walnuts painted gold!

Directly behind the pond, you  can see three wreaths hanging just outside the conservatory’s formal parlor. Here’s the central wreath, followed by a photo of the Christmas tree in the parlor. The wreath contains cranberries, green apples, small shiny ornamental balls and sprayed bronze leaves.

Turning around, we head back into the central Conservatory atrium decorated with poinsettia trees and plants, and a few grapefruit trees with their own decorations hanging heavy.

We also checked out the Children’s Garden, where we found a clever tribute to French style sitting atop a gargoyle-like spitting fountain! It’s paired here with an elegant French-inspired Christmas tree ornament.

In the Palm Room we found a lovely orchid Christmas tree with tiny white lights, clear beaded ornaments and shiny silver globes reflecting their surroundings. Then we headed for the children’s trees, decorated by children from area schools. The example below is particularly exuberant, a nice contrast to the more sedate yet glamorous orchid tree.

Finally, would you believe a succulent Christmas tree? The second photo shows some detail. A spectacular feat of design and innovative construction.

For all my wonderful visitors and followers, I wish you a blessed Christmas, and a New Year of personal peace and contentment. Plus time to enjoy small things that make all the difference.

I’ll continue posting as I’m able in the next week — with time off for family, friends, and self-reflection.

Elouise♥

© Elouise Renich Fraser, 21 December 2017
Photos taken by DAFraser at Longwood Gardens

14 Comments
December 15, 2017

sitting alone

sitting alone
in her outdoor living room
lost in memories

Is she resting? Waiting for someone? The sun looks warm, and the park grounds are inviting. She seems lost in thought, sitting there in the sun. What stories might she tell me? Or we could just sit there silently, basking in memories and resting. Perhaps smiling at each other  from time to time. Listening to the birds and watching passersby. There’s room for one at least one more person on that park bench. Two are better than one, aren’t they?

© Elouise Renich Fraser, 15 December 2017
Painting found at pinterest.com
Painting by Morteza Katozian, Iranian Artist

13 Comments
December 10, 2017

the morning after first snow

snow cones perched
on back porch rail posts
reach for blue sky

yew decked out
with thick white icing
bows gracefully

oak leaves lie hidden
beneath heavy white carpet
glistening in sun

I sit behind glass
basking in wonderland
this fine Sunday morn

I took the photo with my iPad – not quite as spectacular as the real thing, but good enough. I’m enjoying an Emily Dickinson Sunday morning in Nature’s cathedral—as seen from my kitchen window, with the heat turned up.

© Elouise Renich Fraser, 11 Dec 2017
Photo taken by me from my kitchen window

4 Comments
December 9, 2017

breathless air

breathless air hangs
beneath steel-gray sky —
birds take cover

That’s what I saw outside our kitchen window this morning. Not the little bird, but the calm before a snow storm making its way up the East Coast. Right now the first flakes are coming down steadily. And I’m going into hibernation mode!

© Elouise Renich Fraser, 9 December 2017
Photo found at pinterest.com

5 Comments
November 20, 2017

morning’s first sunlight

A particular slant
of morning’s first sunlight
bathes the towering oak
setting fall leaves on fire
beneath a deep blue sky

Most mornings I look out our bedroom window to see what’s going on in the sky. The largest tree on our backyard horizon is an old, magnificent oak. The leaves are lovely; they don’t, however, produce the best fall foliage unless the light is just right.

For the past few weeks, early morning sun has transformed brownish oak leaves into a stunning display that lasts for a few minutes and is gone. This morning the sky cooperated with a crystal-clear, almost cobalt blue background. A great beginning to a special day, which happens to be my 74th birthday!

© Elouise Renich Fraser, 20 November 2017
Photo found at shutterstock.com
Daily Prompt: Particular

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November 16, 2017

Fleeting reminders | Photos

God our Savior,
hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas,
You formed the mountains by your power,
having armed yourself with strength;
You stilled the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
and the turmoil of the nations.
The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
Where morning dawns, where evening fades,
You call forth songs of joy.

Psalm 65: 5b – 8 (New International Version)

Psalm 65 lifted my weary eyes and spirit this morning. Below are photos that remind me of the seasonal wonders our Creator has woven into the fabric of this earth. Which includes each one of us, precious and vulnerable. D took the photos at Longwood Gardens in late October.


 




Where morning dawns, where evening fades,
You call forth songs of joy.

© Elouise Renich Fraser, 16 November 2017
Photos taken by DAFraser on 27 October 2017 at Longwood Gardens

9 Comments
November 8, 2017

shades of dusk

cleansing water sweeps
sands of time with burning gold
dust dropped from heaven

***

I was just looking through some photos, getting ready to shut down for the night, and this haiku happened. I love dusk, when everything holds its breath, and the sky comes close to earth with no sound but waves washing onto the beach. The photo reminds me of my childhood and teenage years in Savannah, Georgia, and the old wooden pier at the Tybee Island Beach–though this one is a bit more substantial.

© Elouise Renich Fraser, 8 November 2017
Photo found at pixabay.com

13 Comments