It’s unfortunate that people of the world aren’t collectively getting together, being appreciative that it’s quite miraculous that we are here at all… having much compassion for each other and for the whole of life.
One sees others through eyes of (learned) distance, and this distance keeps one limited, apart from true communion, and in a fragmentation that is unreal and of ignorance. To perceive with deep intelligence requires depth of insight, true poise, and profound caring.
Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 
Indeed! ❤️✨
Yes, M.T., too much friction and fragmentation in the world.
Amen Brother! 🙏
Quite miraculous that we are here at all. Well said, Tom!
Thanks, Wynne. Yes, there are so many miraculous events that we take for granted and ignore every day.
We humans are a sorry lot sometimes Tom and it seems our appreciation of Earth and nature is one day a year, on Earth Day, instead of being appreciative on an everyday basis. I Googled “Severum” – that’s a beautiful fish you have Tom – is this one of your new ones? You got up close and personal with him/her for sure!
No, it’s not a new one… an old one. Yes, Linda, humans aren’t taking care of our delicate Earth well at all. So many take nature for granted and drive huge gas-guzzling vehicles without considering the environmental impact whatsoever. People weren’t taught to be sensitive and caring; they were taught to “fit in” and exploit.
Tornadoes, probably largely due to mankind’s pollution, hit just a little bit north of me. 430 homes were damaged; some wiped out completely. I was without the internet for a few days because the internet provider’s town had no electricity. Lots of hail damage too. My wife’s car got hail damage.
People only care about themselves unfortunately and now we have tornadoes before tornado season, erratic temperature swings, not even from one day to the next, but in the course of a single day. I’d like to return to the good old days of predictable weather, the kind of weather I’d see when I looked out the window longingly while at work or at school wishing I was outside enjoying it. The so-called “golden years” are not what I expected them to be at all. I’m sorry to hear that the tornadoes were that close to you. Thankfully you didn’t lose power for your tropical fish or the birds. Do you have a portable generator should you lose power in cold temps? The picture I saw online of an eight-inch misshapen hail was just incredible. It was as large as the hand that was holding it. That was from Kankakee, Illinois. The Indiana tornado damage looked like our three tornadoes we had last Friday in the western part of our state.
I have a portable generator, but i also have a nice-size kerosene heater that will be my current portable emergency heater should i need to have heat. The generator is heavy and, after having had pancreatitis, i am hesitant to try to move it outdoors to be used.
Winds today were insanely high. My car door almost broke my arm because of the high velocity wind.
That’s good that you have the portable emergency heater as well. You’ll have to see if you can get a flat dolly to cart the generator from the garage to where you set it up until you’re fully healed from your surgery. When I did all my landscaping I bought a dolly that was convertible to horizontal dolly to carry all my heavy landscape items from the car to the backyard – in those days we didn’t have Lowe’s or Home Depot delivering to your door. I bought an instant-on generator in 2022 because even four years ago, I decided the weather was getting too erratic and Winter worried me as to frozen pipe damage. In a widespread outage, a hotel room can’t be found – most people have family, but I do not. So I find comfort in that, however, I’d rather the power stays on, so I’m not the only one in the neighborhood with power.
The winds were insane and at Detroit Metro Airport, the highest wind gusts were clocked at 72 mph. The weatherman said hurricane-force winds begin at 74 mph. I heard some loud noises in the backyard, but was happy to find no shingles gone and nothing amiss. We are getting another bout of high winds tomorrow, with possible tornadic activity – I hope that is not on your weather agenda.
50 mph winds for Sunday… and snow for Sunday night. 🙄
Where does it all end Tom? We have the same and I’m sure the same time frame – the highest winds after 8:00 a.m., plus a severe storm at midnight or beyond. Another night of staying up until the wee hours of the morning as I have a lot of old, large trees around.
The texture and eye are amazing!
Thank you, Marcela! Keep taking your fantastic pictures!