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A mind that merely clings from one experience to another in order to be happy is, unfortunately, a rather infantile, impoverished state of affairs; it need not be that way.
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[Poison Ivy leaf cluster in the fall.]
Not a good thing to walk through! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Hugging trees is great. But hugging the elderly and those with handicaps is even better!
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[This is a batch of Chicken of the Woods mushroom with little, winged-insects upon it. When I was out in the woods, photographing, I spotted this beauty from a quite a distance. One then thought: “Of course, it’s such a treasure, that it will be surrounded by my arch-enemy… poison ivy!” Upon approaching the Chicken of the Woods, I then observed that it was, indeed, surrounded by many patches of poison ivy. I carefully took each step towards the Chicken of the Woods, with extreme caution and deliberation. It was unreal; it was like walking through a puzzle (or working on a computer game)! Patches of poison ivy where everywhere! When I finally got to my prize, there was (of course) a big, tall plant of poison ivy right in front of it. I had to bend, with my camera, to get a decent shot. Getting out of the area was equally difficult; each step was a precarious, carefully calculated maneuver toward attaining freedom and safety! When I finally got home, I washed up using a special anti-poison ivy cleaning soap. I didn’t get any rashes! Whew!]
Chicken of the Woods surrounded by my arch enemy… poison ivy. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Each one of us, if we are at all honest, is (in many ways) beautiful… and each one of us has elements of bad and ugly habits.
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[This fall foliage is beautiful. It is an old friend… whom I try to avoid, however. This is a batch of Poison Ivy. Sometimes, just being in the woods near it (even though I know what it looks like and avoid it) is enough to give me terrible, endless rashes. This year, my arthroscopic knee surgery was delayed… due to a case of Poison Ivy rash. I once received information about how a man encountered a woman carrying a batch of it; she was a teacher… and wanted “pretty leaves” to share with her classroom!]
Beauty and the Beast all wrapped up into one. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Avoid the pitfalls in life if you are lucky… and relax and grow with nature!
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[Trees that have enmeshed themselves upon this planet. In the foreground is lots of poison ivy. Just being near it sometimes gives me rashes. Poison ivy seems to have an endless vendetta against vegetarians, such as myself! This year, it caused my arthroscopic knee surgery to be delayed by two weeks. Enjoy the photo!]
Let’s take the overpass! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 