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Don’t be afraid about being labelled with the stigma that you are different. Be different; even a superb red lily was given a stigma (and pollen)!
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[A red lily flower with some stigma and pollen. Even a red lily has been stigmatized!]
Even a Lily has been stigmatized! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Enjoy the small and simple things in life… for they are large and more than sufficient!
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[The Eastern Chipmunk has pouched cheeks that are used to carry food. Chipmunks spend a large portion of their waking hours gathering and storing food for the winter. They are very vocal. Thank goodness, this very cute one wasn’t named Alvin and didn’t sing!]
Thank goodness… this cute little fell’r isn’t named Alvin! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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If trees had faces and could talk… they’d likely say:
Please don’t cut us down so much; please plant more of us; please take better care of Mother Earth; please see that we’re all connected and exist in many branches of life!
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[Forests are indeed “the lungs of the Earth,” absorbing carbon dioxide and pollutants from the atmosphere and releasing oxygen that human beings and nearly all animal forms need. And forests’ influence goes beyond that simple, amazing process: We also know that they play a critical role in managing the climate, air quality, and rainfall patterns — in ways we are just beginning to understand. Even though they have huge environmental value, over half of the world’s forests have been lost due to deforestation. What’s worse, we’re cutting them down at greater rates each year to plant crops, graze livestock and generate income from timber and other forest products. We can change to use less lumber, less paper, and plant more; it is “doable”!]
“Calling all tree huggers… I need a hug!” Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Being motivated and ambitious is rather meaningless if one is ambitious merely for selfish reasons that don’t truly help others and life. Feel.
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[This is a the nymph stage of the Green Stink Bug. The adult insects are fully green. They have needle-like mouth parts that feed on the juices of plants. Both adults and nymphs have large sized stink glands on the bottom side of the thorax. They discharge large amounts of a foul-smelling liquid when disturbed. This one bolted quickly away into the underbrush. I even wondered if I had gotten good shots of it! Fast indeed!]
This one took off fast -first up and then down – into the underbrush like lightning! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
A very elusive and fast running bug! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Don’t just look through the screen of what you’ve been taught! Perceive!
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[Green Lacewing insect resting on a blade of grass. They like to inhabit meadows and forest edges. They eat small insects, such as aphids and nymphs of scale insects and their kin. They lay their eggs on the bottom of leaves; the eggs hang from long silk-like stalks.]
Blending in with the foliage keeps you alive!… Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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It’s easy to conform and to blindly follow rigid patterns; it’s arduous to think for yourself and not merely follow the beaten path.
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[Ladybugs – Lady Beetles – as both adults and larvae prey on aphids (plant destroying insect pests) in open habitats. They hibernate, usually in groups, in the winter. The one pictured is one of the more rare species.]
Ladybug surveying the landscape from a good vantage point. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Even when you get “old,” stay young on the inside; it’s the only way to be! (So many adults lose their child-like wonder and deep inquisitiveness as they age… and they turn to stone on the inside. It needn’t be that way!)
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[Top photo: Young Praying Mantis wandering near a creek in our area, in the age-old quest for nourishing prey. It has a splendid eye pattern! Below that is a photo of a young Praying Mantis preserved as a fossil; it is trapped in Baltic Amber; it was trapped in the sap (which hardened into amber) around 50 million years ago! (To give a little perspective, at around 50 million years ago, our human ancestors were around the size of chipmunks or squirrels… and probably would relish a meal of a tasty mantis.) So it’s a very old Mantis… even though it actually appears to be very young. (It’s your real essence that counts… not what you “appear” to be!) 😉 ]
Young Praying Mantis searching for its next meal. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Young Praying Mantis fossil (in Baltic Amber). 50 million years is a long time to stay in one position! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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In the interim between two sets of thoughts, a natural, effortless silence can exist (which may bring insight and wisdom)!
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[This is a Pearl Crescent Butterfly. These seem to always be around in the spring and summer at a particular prairie section that is adjacent to thick woods and a bend in a creek in our area. It is especially fond of butterfly weed or orange milkweed flowers. Spring butterflies are usually darker than summer generations.]
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Between the two wings is the treasure pearl! … Pearl Crescent Butterfly … Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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The distance between what you want and what you are, psychologically, is (additionally) what you are.
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[Dogbane Leaf Beetles have a deep sheen of iridescence that changes as we move in relation to the insect (or by the way it moves relative to us). Dogbane Leaf Beetles feed on prairie plants, such as the Milkweed plant. Dogbane Leaf Beetles can avoid predators by giving off a foul-smelling secretion when they are touched. An insect with a very splendid sheen of metallic-like iridescence!]
A Dogbane Leaf Beetle with an iridescent sheen that not even Harley Davidson motorcycle gas-tanks are capable of! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Be careful about coming to conclusions about people and things; it may be a coming to a stagnant end psychologically!
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[Jagged Ambush Bug in a wild Yellow Daisy: They perch by day in flowers and mostly are “sit-and-wait” predators, attacking all kinds of insects, often insects that are much larger than themselves. They often even attack bees. They have powerful vice-like, mantis-like, front legs that are great for grasping.]
Patience is a virtue for a Jagged Assassin Bug in a wild Yellow Daisy Flower. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Spring emerged from the primitive, frozen cocoon and transformed into the majestic, yellow and fluttering summer!
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from E.E. Cummings:
*********Metamorphosis*********
We’ve plodded through a weird and weary time,
Called Winter by the calendar alone;
We have beheld an earth pool-deep in slime,
Image a heaven of stone.
We’ve found life hid between the folds of mire,
Sensed life in every place, heard life in tune.
The earth-shell cracks with underneath desire;
Spring crawls from the cocoon.
Her puny wings vibrant with will to grow,
She clings, expanding like an opening eye;
More large, more able, more developed, lo,
The perfect butterfly.
Yellow Swallowtail (photo 1) (The day I took these shots, I had a feeling that I should go to Perry Farm’s prairie, because I would find spectacular Yellow Swallowtail there; as soon as I arrived, there she was!) Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Yellow Swallowtail (photo 2) Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Most people — even the somewhat callous, indifferent ones — struggle and suffer so much in life that they should be admired greatly, with deep respect.
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[As are many frogs, Leopard Frogs are declining in numbers due to a combination of ecological factors: pollution, deforestation, and water acidity. These were often the formaldehyde-soaked specimens that were used for high school labs. These frogs will eat most any living thing that will fit into their mouths, including beetles, ants, flies, worms, other frogs, and even birds and garter snakes.]
Leopard Frog… in a froggish kind of place! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
. John Lennon was right: “Living is easy with eyes closed… misunderstanding all you see.”
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. [Strawberry Fields Forever. (Mushrooms in our lawn… and one of the reasons why one often dislikes to cut the grass!) Photo by Thomas Peace 2014]
Strawberry Fields Forever. (Mushrooms in our lawn… and one of the reasons why one often dislikes to cut the grass!) Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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In the rollercoaster of life, don’t let the low points ever truly get you down!
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At the height of his young career (and with evidence of his lunch endeavor in the background… and with his broadband antenna in the foreground). Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Do not despise it for being little — and seeming small — for its smallness contains a largeness.
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. (For RSS feeds to my new posts, please access them at tom8pie.wordpress.com)
Ant feeding on Milkweed plant leaf. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Ants busy communicating while on Milkweed leaf. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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We must all walk the razor’s edge path in life! It’s very difficult for all of us. Stay balanced and aware!
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May Beetle trying to keep some balance in the struggle of life! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Not: The less you care, the happier you will be. But: The more you care, the happier life and the world will be! (Anyway, you are not something truly separate from the world.)
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. [Though larvae of the Colona Moth – Haploa Colona – may, among other types of plants, feed on apple and peach trees (and I especially like peaches)… I like the moth a lot! They seem to be appearing more in northern areas (possibly due to global warming trends). The one in the photo was far from peach trees… in a natural prairie.]
(For RSS feeds to my new posts, please access them at tom8pie.wordpress.com )
The Original Stealth Bomber! (Tiger Moth, Colona Moth) Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Don’t just run from suffering and chase after pleasure like a pre-programmed robot; roll up those sleeves and truly help others.
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. (For RSS feeds to my new posts, please access them at tom8pie.wordpress.com)
Leafhopper Nymph (only around 3/16 of an inch long) with fluffy bum (which is an excess of sugar), while acting elusive on a Thistle Plant stem. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
. Go beyond the superficiality of seeing yourself as separate from the whole of life! .
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.(Milkweed Beetle and Fruit-fly on a Milkweed plant. Note how the Fruit-fly gradually moves in and feasts right adjacent to the precarious jaws (i.e., large, dangerous mandibles) of the Milkweed Beetle. The Fruit-fly’s jaws are too diminutive to successfully rasp at the Milkweed flower buds… so the Fruit-fly moves in and joins the “powerful” Milkweed Beetle… right adjacent to its “massive” jaws! Milkweed Beetles are quite “aware” for insects; in our area they sometimes roughly bang against my head – with their whole, flying bodies – to “warn” me to stay away from their precious Milkweed plants!)
Fruit-fly observing the Milkweed Beetle beginning to eat! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Fruit-fly trying to eat the Milkweed Beetle’s scraps from a distance! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Fruit-fly eating right next to the jaws of a Milkweed Beetle! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover, and a bee.
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few.
— Emily Dickinson
A clover and one bee (and revery). Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
. Life is not for scheming and conspiring; it’s for caring and giving!
It’s good to be rather blue… (if you have six legs)! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
. Each flutter of the butterfly’s wings is a true tribute to caterpillarism! Metamorphize too!
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Beyond mediocre! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. To go beyond opinions and prejudices is to perceive without contamination.
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Mid-afternoon siesta! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. Waver from blind acceptance… and you may actually discover the truth!
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It’s not polite to eat with your mouth open! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. Incongruity sees the differences… and hates and fights. Harmony sees the beautiful oneness… and loves and heals.
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Friends or foes? Horned Treehopper and Ant. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. Don’t be indifferent and shirk away from the responsibility of helping others. The pain of compassionate work is beauty!
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Mr. Conehead out for a stroll! (Coneheaded katydid, Eastern Sword-bearer Katydid) Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. The map is not the territory… and merely remaining in (and “as”) symbolic words is not truly living. Live!
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Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. Wow! Scientist’s have succeeded in creating a macro-photo of the system and intricate network of neurons composing the human brain (and the images that individual neurons contain)!
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Macro-photo of the Human Neural Network. And, as Elmer Fudd says:
“Finawee, here’s scientific pruuf dat humans are wey smarter den doze krazy wabbits and all doze udder animals!” Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. Unfurling elephant, abstract seahorse, or expanding image that is not truly separate from what the present observer’s fern-like consciousness greenly consists of?
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What U C is What U R! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. It’s easy to imitate others and to copy… and be so-called “normal”! However, to really question things and to truly think is not easy nor often admired, but it’s the only way to “be”! . .
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. (That everlasting “long and winding road” is time.)
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. “The Long And Winding Road” — The Beatles
For a diminutive insect, it’s: The Long and Winding Road… Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. Instead of the usual crass revolution of violent disruption, war, and disharmony, why can’t there be a magical revolution of affection/love?
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We were around before the time of the dinosaurs! Blue Dasher Dragonfly … photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. They are not just your thoughts and feelings; they are of all humanity and life!
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Exploration beyond what’s below! (Ant exploring flower) Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. So many have (and “are”) ideas/concepts of God or no Gods. Go beyond mere concepts and intelligently inquire (for yourself)!
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Beyond words…Lyretail Anthias … Pseudanthias squamipinnis (females are golden yellow without the elongated first dorsal ray) … photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. There are no real boundaries anywhere in the cosmos, except those invented and perceived by thought!
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All r 1…Sempervivums sedums… Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. The teacher is the teaching; the criminal is the crime; the nurse is the healing; the woodpecker is the wood pecking; the arthropod is the blossoming.
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Be open minded… not just closed! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. The placid lake reflected his motionless mind… and the two, together, were one and the same.
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The stillness can sometimes reflect the whole! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Water Striders … insects that walk and “skate” on water! … photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. One instant of bigheartedness is brighter than a million instances of disingenuous indifference.
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Bountiful love… Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. A man without a warm, caring heart is like a musician without thumbs!
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Warmth deep beyond the center! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. i am he
. as you are he
. as you are me
. and we are all together
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. — John Lennon lyrics
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. (Sometimes, great words of wisdom can occur in a seemingly jumbled mess. Most of us were miseducated to think that we are separate from each other. Not enough of us look with real unity, compassion, and wisdom in our hearts… but, rather, see through thick walls of separation.)
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Swimming, Smiling, Egghead … (Puffer Fish) … photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. True poetic insight is graceful because its sensitivity crosses boundaries and perceives all as one.
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Don’t count your chickens… — photo by Thomas Peace 2014
… before they hatch! —– (Robin Fledglings) … photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. The pointing finger isn’t the moon, and symbolic thoughts aren’t the realities. Go beyond the pointer!
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Don’t get lost in the details! …. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. An ordinary mind will see things as being stale and humdrum; a profound mind will perceive things as being majestic and wonderful!
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There’s fungus among us! … cup fungi … photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. To observe directly without deluding oneself with false images and beliefs is rare in this world… and is wisdom in action.
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Open wide, far beyond common, limited awareness! … photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. Awareness and compassion are priceless gifts for a consciousness to be, and with them comes great responsibility!
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Hungry fledglings and a late bloomer… photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. Happy Mother’s Day! And let’s all especially wish a happy Mother’s Day to Mother Earth too. She is all we have, and we all need to take better care of her (by recycling, using green energy, and planting more trees and such), not neglecting her. We can’t (as many foolish scientists suggest) leave home to go to another planet when things get bad here; some scientists are suggesting the wrong things; we have to wake up and treat her much better! Mother Earth is not at all separate from all true, good mothers!
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. Excerpt of a Navajo Native American Song (which, as a song of wisdom, occurs within my book):
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Song of the Earth
All is beautiful,
All is beautiful…All is beautiful, indeed.
Now the Mother Earth, and the Father Sky… Meeting, joining one another,
Helpmates ever, they.
All is beautiful… All is beautiful… All is beautiful, indeed.
Sisnajinni, Tsodsichl,
Meeting, joining one another,
Helpmates ever, they.
All is beautiful… All is beautiful… All is beautiful, indeed.
Now Doko-oslid and Depenitsa… Meeting, joining one another,
Helpmates ever, they.
All is beautiful… All is beautiful… All is beautiful, indeed.
And the night of darkness… And the dawn of light… Meeting, joining one another… Helpmates ever, they.
All is beautiful…All is beautiful… All is beautiful, indeed.
Now Hastyeyalli and Hastyehogan… Meeting, joining one another,
Helpmates ever, they.
All is beautiful… All is beautiful… All is beautiful, indeed.
And the white corn and the yellow corn… Meeting, joining one another,
Helpmates ever, they.
All is beautiful… All is beautiful… All is beautiful, indeed.
And the corn-pollen and the Ripener… Meeting, joining one another,
Helpmates ever, they.
All is beautiful… All is beautiful… All is beautiful, indeed.
Life-that-never-passeth,
Happiness-of-all-things… Meeting, joining one another,
Helpmates ever, they.
All is beautiful… All is beautiful… All is beautiful, indeed.
Now all is beautiful,
All is beautiful,
All is beautiful, indeed.
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Happy Mother’s Day to all good mothers and to our good Mother Earth! … photo by Thomas Peace 2014
. . . . . . I don’t hug trees, but I do hug grandmothers, grandfathers, children, and the multiply handicapped! . .
“We don’t want hugs; we want sun, water, and nutrients!” … photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. First thing in the morning, many birds sprightly sing to the joy of the new day, returning sun, and the exhilaration of being and sharing! 🙂 Namaste!
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“You two don’t ever sing to the sun in the morning. Are you atheists?” … photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. You might think she’s ugly… but she has tied a little webbing — on her rear leg to the cement — to remind herself not to leave any time soon… and (though rather emaciated and hungry) she is not moving; so she is a very caring and good mother. That, my friends, is beautiful!
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. (Fishing Spiders get quite large. Some, legs included, can be over 3 inches long. Some can dive underwater to catch prey, or they catch prey near the surface of the water, even minnows. It is unusual for spiders to eat vertebrates, but these do! Females guard their eggs sacs for quite a long time… often over a month, not eating while doing so. The one below was on cement on the bank of a river. It was rather strange about how i came upon it. While at home, i had a premonition that if i went to the river bank… i’d see an unusually nice, large spider there. I grabbed a camera and walked to the river bank; as i approached the bank, the spider could be seen from quite a distance and one realized immediately that that was what the intimation was about. It didn’t budge while i took shots; then i politely left it with its highly precious orb.)
Dolomedes tenebrosus (Fishing Spider) with her egg sac … photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. Carry too many thoughts about “how things are” with you… and you won’t ever actually see where you are going!
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The center of attention… photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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. In compassion, there is no separate “you” and “I”!
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Who’s zoomin’ who? … (Saltwater Tang Fish, Blue Tang) photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Close-up photo of Ellen DeGeneres in Finding Nemo…
Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 