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Don’t compare yourself with others… be what and who you are (in wise harmony with the whole).
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[Buffalo Tree Hopper… nicely camouflaged in (of all things) a tree. They feed on the sap of flowers, vegetables, shrubs, and deciduous trees, but do little damage due to their very diminutive size.]
“Time is a tree (this life one leaf)” — E.E.Cummings. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Be an oasis of goodness and order in a world that contains a lot of conflict and darkness.
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[A land slug crawling on a white mushroom covered in dew. Slugs love moisture, such as dew in the mornings or rainy days; on dry days they often hide under logs. The slug may eat the mushroom without problems; however, that is not the case if a human would eat this mushroom. It is likely a mature form of Chlorophyllum molybdites, a mushroom that is not edible by humans. However, it sure looks rather impressive (and edible). Stick with purchasing mushrooms from the grocery store! Leave the wild mushrooms to the slugs and wild creatures of nature!]
Slow but successful! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Nonviolence, like love and true meditation, is not a mere practice. One can’t practice what is alive, heartfelt, and beyond gross methodology.
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[Male Eastern Tailed-Blue Butterfly with a flying visitor. These butterflies have approximately a one inch wingspan. These butterflies often feed on seeds and flowers of a wide variety of plants in the pea family, including clovers, beans, and wild peas.]
Peaceful friends. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Many of us take immaculate care of our overly fancy cars — filling them with top quality fuels and oils — while we guzzle sugar, starch, wine, and fatty foods like there’s no tomorrow. We must change!
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[Many flowers — like this one — are superb and healthy places for insects to get needed nourishment; there’s plenty of protein and vitamins from pollen and energy from nectar; plus the view, while eating, is often spectacular! (They don’t have to put flowers on their dining tables!)]
A beautiful and healthy place to eat! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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One can look young on the outside and be stale and old on the inside. One can be young on the inside and appear elderly on the outside.
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[This is an Acorn Weevil. They use their long snouts to drill and burrow into acorns. This one was photographed adjacent to a large oak tree. The adult female weevil bores a tiny hole in the immature acorn to lay her eggs, which then hatch into legless grubs. In the fall, the grubs bore holes through the shells from the inside to emerge into the soil where they may live for a year or two before maturing into adults. So these insects are frequently boring… like a lot of politicians these days!]
Boring like our politicians! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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A deceitful, twisted, distorted mind, unfortunately, does not perceive the truth. An honest, direct, undistorted mind runs parallel with the truth.
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[Wild Fox Grape vine; this particular plant is dazed and confused!]
Foolish and confused! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Don’t be a second-hand copy… inquire about the whole of life independently.
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[Close-up of a Widow Dragonfly resting. The young nymphs reside underwater and feed on small aquatic insects and fish. Adults like to hang on grasses and twigs of pondside shrubbery.]
Widow Dragonfly (1). Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Widow Dragonfly (2). Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Widow Dragonfly (3). Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Perhaps, in a quantum oriented, holistic cosmos… the web of time need not always be based merely on limited, standard patterns based on sequential cause and effect occurrences.
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[An Eastern Amberwing Dragonfly resting by a lake. (It’s impossible for a spider — fossilized and trapped in Baltic Amber for 50 million years — to traverse the web of time to an amber dragonfly in this day and age.)]
Touched by amber! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Affixed in timeless amber! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Grace is enjoying life and not harming it.
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[This is a pair of adult, fully grown Large Milkweed Bugs; another similar species is the one consisting of the Small Milkweed Bugs. Their food consists of Milkweed plants and their seeds. They sometimes sip nectar from the flowers of other plants in gardens and crop fields but seem to do no significant damage.]
Two together as one! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Clothes and costumes (and external pretense) don’t make the man. Compassion and integrity make the man!
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[Pearl Crescent Butterfly (light variety). The Crescent Butterflies are named for the pale crescent on the outer margin of the hindwing, beneath.]
Well dressed by any standard. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Most merely look – all their lives – through a screen of learned patterns; and guess what they exclusively see: patterns!
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[White Mushroom along a river bank. Nature’s parasol! Likely Chlorophyllum molybdites; you don’t want to eat this parasol… unless you like getting lots of vomiting and nausea!]
Garden Umbrella! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Photographing out in nature is so exhilarating and joyful for me… that I oftentimes feel the equivalent of being at Disney World (minus the mosquitoes and poison ivy, of course)! There, it truly seems to me, actually are so many splendid miracles of nature that – even if Tinker Bell miraculously showed up – there couldn’t be much more of an explosion of real miracles! When I was in kindergarten and grade school, they’d say: “Tom’s not here… he’s outdoors looking for bugs and small creatures.” Retired and in my sixties, they say: “Tom’s not here… he’s outdoors looking for bugs and small creatures.”
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[This is a Swallowtail mimic… a magnificent butterfly in its own right, a brushfooted butterfly known as the Red-spotted Purple, resting on some Queen Anne’s Lace. They like to hang around rivers. This one was in a wooded area along a river. Around it are flying little Midge flies (some of which have a rather Tinker Bell appearance). Unlike at Disney World, one did not have to pay any entrance fees or stand in long lines.]
Happiness is a nice day with nature. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Don’t neglect the real beauty in life! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
That’s part of an abandoned old farm tractor to the right. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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If you happen to have a handicap, don’t “feel handicapped” or feel ashamed; everyone is handicapped!
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[This is not a bee! Many people mistakenly think that they are bees. This is a Hover Fly… a Drone Fly. Like bees, they can get pollen and nectar from flowers… but they have no stingers… nor do they have the sophisticated social networks like bees have.]
A non-bee! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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The intensity of wisdom is in the insightful, (compassionate) moment of now!
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[This is the beautiful Orchard Orbweaver Spider. They are very beneficial, as they eat many insect pests, such as flies and grasshoppers. They are harmless… their bite cannot penetrate human skin. Sometimes they undergo parasitism by a wasp larva which attaches externally at the junction of the cephalothorax and the abdomen. These spiders are excellent weavers of intricate webs!]
Orchard Spider… master weaver of webs (Photo 1) taken by Thomas Peace 2014
Orchard Spider… master weaver of webs. (Photo 2) taken by Thomas Peace 2014
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When looking at, and smelling, a red rose (without those mundane, learned separations)… one’s consciousness is red and full of life’s fragrance.
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[Sweat Bee, Subfamily Nomiinae, exploring rose flowers.]
Growing together as one. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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It’s dangerous to perceive life directly and to observe without false (though supposedly secure) images; but it’s even more dangerous to wander as one who is secondhand, unperceptive, and blind!
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[Illinois wildflower seedpods… Japanese Lanterns…]
Festival time in the prairies! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Life involves suffering that all of us share and are engaged in (as one); curtail it – don’t increase it – in others.
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[This insect is a Japanese Beetle. They are known for destroying a lot of food crops and garden foliage. Farmers and gardeners tend to deeply despise them. They were particularly bad a few years ago. Back then, there were so many in our area that — even while driving your car for a short while — dozens of them would splatter onto your windshield! They are becoming less of a nuisance due to pesticides and an increase in the types of birds that eat them. The one photographed looks rather impressive… for such a despised nuisance!]
Beautiful Pest! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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When the thoughts of ego seem to sever themselves off from the other thoughts (and from the whole of life) then illusory conflict and limited space begins.
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[This butterfly is a Red Admiral. It is using its proboscis to suck nourishing nectar from the pink Cone Flower. Butterflies can only suck up fluids. They do have salivary glands. They don’t have saliva tubes in the proboscis but they can eject a drop of saliva to help dissolve more solid food.]
A probing and effective proboscis! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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An insect’s priorities don’t include understanding the whole. Go beyond an arthropodan mentality!
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[This butterfly is an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on a Buttonbush tree. Buttonbush flowers attract many nectar loving insects. Eating sweet nectar is one of their priorities.]
A Tiger among in the dense jungle! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Perception sees the details and the whole.
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[A reddish grasshopper on some tall wild grass. Grasshopper feet are definitely goat-like! Look (now, before reading on) carefully at the photograph. Do you see anything unusual about the grasshopper? Look very closely… note that on the hopper’s right hind leg there is a tiny hitchhiker… (a parasitic tick); the leg joint is a spot where the hitchhiker can get through the “armor.” (Though grasshopper invaders wouldn’t want a human, I’m glad I used repellent!)] 😉
Reddish Grasshopper… Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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Excellence in perception expresses itself as heartfelt compassion.
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[This small butterfly is a Tawny-edged Skipper. It’s a male. The caterpillars of these butterflies are speckled with maroon, brown, or tan. They feed on grasses.]
Tawny-edged Skipper contemplating his next move. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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In a big way, no thoughts and feelings are merely yours; they are of all life and humanity. Use them but not for domination over the weak.
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[This is a Crab Spider with its victim… a Drone Fly. Crab Spiders, as you can see, are aptly named! They are very crab-like in appearance! They have the chameleon-like ability to change to the color of the flower that they are in; then they patiently wait for the prey to arrive. (Earlier posts of mine show yellow ones in yellow flowers.) Once I saw one in a white flower that was colored yellow and brown… and thought: “Wow… this little guy has it all wrong.” Upon closer examination, it was observed to be in the process of pursuing and eating Leather-wing insects that were mating and that happened to be yellow and brown in coloration! So, instead of the flower… the spider turned itself into the color of the insects during their mating season! Naturally, a mating Leather-wing will seek out another Leather-wing to mate with; the Crab Spider was not foolish after all!]
Like a lion with her kill. Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
Before you pick garden flowers and place them in an indoor vase… look closely to be sure that no Crab Spiders reside in them! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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There are no separate pieces to the universal puzzle… once you see the whole.
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[Queen Anne’s Lace, or Wild Carrot… Daucus Carota. (The universal whole… unfolding out of the folds.)]
The whole… unfolding out of the folds! Photo by Thomas Peace 2014
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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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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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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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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
. 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
Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 