One Touch of Nature

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One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.

~ William Shakespeare

Care less for your harvest than for how it is shared and your life will have meaning and your heart will have peace.
~ Kent Nerburn





If carrots got you drunk, rabbits would be messed-up.
~ Mitch Hedberg





I have my own views about Nature's methods, though I feel that it is rather like a beetle giving his opinions upon the Milky Way.
~ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle





The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.
~ Ernest Hemingway





And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
~ Anais Nin





There is something beautiful about all scars of whatever nature. A scar means the hurt is over, the wound is closed and healed, done with.
~ Harry Crews


 


All nature's creatures join to express nature's purpose. Somewhere in their mounting and mating, rutting and butting is the very secret of nature itself.
~ Graham Swift

And now, without further delay, here are the Posts of the Week. The icon below is yours for the taking if if your blog post is named as a POTW.

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READERS' CHOICE

Recommended by: Joeh
I Am a Tangle
by Therese
at You're Doing it Wrong

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PHINE PHOTOGRAPHY

Avenue de l'Opéra
by Daryl
at Through My Eyes

Hay and the Dragonfly
by Daniel
at The Pixel Collective

Texas Rat Snake
by TexWisGirl
at The Run*A*Round Ranch Report

The Painted Sky
by Leah
at The Goat's Lunch Pail

A Time of Quiet Joy
by Kerri
at A Little Piece of Me


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YOU'LL LAUGH

Focus Group Barbie
by Kerry
at Ed and Reub

Lunchbox Love
by Amy
at She Writes

A GOOD READ

The Tree
by Sandi
at Holding Patterns

August 15, 1969
by Cloudia
at Comfort Spiral

instincts, i got them
by Brian
at WaystationOne

Forty is the New Seventy
by Bone
at If You Only Read One Blog This Year

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CREATIVE FUN

Ingenuity
by Solarity
at Living With the Sun


JUST PLAIN GOOD

How Did You Change Your World?
by Rosaria
at Notes, Tales and Observations

 
A Little Hard Work
by Kat
at Seeking Sanity


What is a Friend? 
by Linda
at Ye Olde Crones Gazette

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Please drop by their blogs for a visit and leave a kind comment if you have the time. Also, please feel free to add your own choices (for any blog except this one) for a specific blog post in the comments section below, where others can see them.

Thank you

Texture

"The full measure of a man is not to be found in the man himself, but in the colors and textures that come alive in others because of him."
~ Albert Schweitzer

"The past becomes a texture, an ambiance to our present."
~ Paul Scott

“I search for the realness, the real feeling of a subject, all the texture around it. I always want to see the third dimension of something. I want to come alive with the object.”
~ Andrew Wyeth

“Small moments accumulate and transform the texture of our days”
~ Steven Monaco

"Little moments can have a feeling and a texture that is very real."
~ Ralph Fiennes

“You can feel surfaces, you can feel textures, you can feel dynamics and momentum.”
~ Tom Anderson

Wonders of Winter

These photos were taken a couple of weeks ago down near Frank's place. Come wander and wonder with me. And please remember to click on each image to enlarge.

I wonder what snapped this branch from the tree. Was it old age? A heavy bird? Too much icy snow? Wind? Perhaps it snapped when a kidlet decided to swing on it. Maybe it's just lying there waiting for someone to take its photo.

I wonder how long it was after this moment when Benny decided to turn around and find a warmer surface for his paws - like a comfy lap. Chances are good that he was already on his way home by the time the camera left my eye. I also wonder if anyone else noticed how Benny's shadow looks like a penguin. I hadn't, but my observant sister did and pointed it out to me. Hi, Andi!

I wonder how a place can look so icy cold and yet so golden warm at the same time. This late-day sun always brings a warmth to even the most frigid of days.

I wonder how we're going to manage to walk this path. The creek overflowed one rainy day in January which flooded the walkway. Freezing cold weather turned it solid and slippery. Somewhere under this ice is the usual paved path but we might not see it again until spring.

I wonder if anybody actually tries to sit here now that the flood and ensuing ice have made this bench seat almost flush with its surface.

I wonder when this jovial face appeared along the creek's shoreline, and just what is it laughing at?

I wonder how long these plants will rest here watching the creek flow by, and how long until they absorb enough strength from the sunlight to give forth new growth.

I wonder what made these tiny tracks on the snowy banks of the creek. It has a tail, which almost makes it look like a string of dangling Christmas decorations.

I wonder if its descent into water is a clue. A small aquatic rodent - must be a muskrat. Google images confirmed that.

I wonder if this place will ever come alive again with wild flowers and tall grasses, shorebirds like Herons and the elusive Kingfisher and the sweet smell of cedars. Of course it will. It will just take time, and I'm learning to be very patient.

Please join me for more winter images in a few days.