Flowers and Rocks

As I have written previously, one activity that gives me great joy is singing. I enjoy listening to choral singing, and I love to sing.  I have also written previously about my evolving photography talent and how much enjoyment that continues to provide me.  Likewise, one of the first postings on my blog was about yet another thing that I love to do: travel--and activity that I have been doing quite a bit of this summer, and one that I will do again within the next two weeks.  I will be going to San Antonio, Texas, to witness the graduation of my son Douglas from Army Medic Training.

A part of nature that I am beginning to enjoy more is flowers. Specifically, besides the pleasure I get from noticing them or stopping to smell them, I recently took an "ikebana" class.  Ikebana is japanese flower arranging, and having been exposed to it while living in Japan so many years ago, I am interested in learning more about it.  Like any other art form, it can be enjoyed on a simple level, but it can be very complex.  I would like to enjoy doing it without initially getting into its complexities and plan on taking more classes; I simply don't have the flexibility to dedicate great amounts of time to it.

Besides arranging flowers, last summer I purchased a plumeria bush/tree and planted it earlier this year.  Ever since I discovered this exquisite looking flower with an even more exquisite scent, I cannot get enough. This flower is often used in Hawaiian leis.  Each day as I make my way from the garage to the doorway of my home, I pass by this beauty and make the time to enjoy its splendor and smell its delicious scent.  I am deciding where I can plant other plumeria.

I love landscapes and really take pleasure in photographing them.  But I have always been fascinated on a micro level by rocks that are part of that landscape.  Often when I am hinking, I will look for rocks that are unusual, and at the risk of sounding a little weird, rocks that "speak" to me--that I feel I want to take with me.  I have amassed a little collection of them that I keep in the back yard and which I visit routinely to connect with them.  

I believe that God's creations have some essence or spirit to them, and extension of His love.  I believe that He organized or created this beautiful world that I inhabit, and I glory in them.  Flowers and rocks are part His love.