Tag / Nature

by Janet

A Visual Story

Today’s Word of the Day Challenge was Timeless. Besides the fact that I wanted to take a break from the story – I thought that the best way to sum up the word was with an image.

I’ve been super tempted to get my camera out lately, but there’s just no scenery here in my town. My son and I were talking about that the other day. He reads a LOT, and he was telling me he read something recently that talked about planning and architecture, and how larger cities these days are being constructed not only to pack people in like sardines, but to create the illusion of imprisonment – so that people are more inclined to ‘comply’.

I think the word he used to describe today’s architecture (in cities where they are simply trying to house more people) was ‘barbaric’.

I don’t know if that’s true, but I do know that he reads a heck of a lot more than me when it comes to ideas about what is happening to society these days. And I also know that my city gets me down sometimes because all you see is concrete.

I guess what I’m getting at is that when you look at nature – the ocean, the mountains, the desert, and so on – you get a view of something that’s timeless. Nature never really ages or gets old. It may disappear, like it has (somewhat) in my city, but without human interference – I think that nature would only improve. It never needs refurbishing, or a new coat of paint – it stays beautiful all on it’s own.

I don’t know. Just something I thought of when I saw the word timeless. That being said, I found a photograph that I loved on the internet- and this is my rendition. I think it looks pretty timeless. One of the definitions I found was “having no beginning or end : eternal,” and I think that nature is about as eternal as we’ll ever get here on earth.

Anyway, if I remember correctly, I believe the actual photograph was taken in Wales – so if anyone actually recognizes it let me know. I’d be curious if you did. I need to work on my highlighting and shadows – which is why the sand, the grass, and the rocks are so basic, but I think it does the trick. It was an all day effort – and I’ve had enough.

I guess my visual story turned out to be pretty wordy here, haha! But I think I’m done. So, that’s about all for now.

Thanks for stopping by… I hope you enjoyed the illustration!

“Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness.”

Frank Gehry

by Janet

Nature’s Blueprint

Have you ever noticed that nature is perfect?

I don’t know about you, but the more I learn about the universe and everything in it—the stars, the sun and the moon, earth, nature, DNA, the human mind, our bodies, cells, nutrients, etc., etc.—the more I’m convinced that we’re missing something big.

I think that humans have been given the power to do so much more than what we do right now, we just haven’t figured out how to use it. Or somebody already did and they’re keeping it a secret. Maybe the answer is hidden in Area 51? Who knows….

So, I’m back for my series Life: From A to Z and the letter “N” for Nature.

I thought about getting into a monologue here about science, nature, and intelligent design, but that would require a lot of research and supporting literature—and I’m not about to do that while I’m on summer break. And I’ve grown tired of monologues.

What I WILL say, however, is that nature has a healing power that is beyond words. I mean, when you think about it, what a miracle that we are here on this planet—breathing, talking, thinking, feeling. Do you ever stop to think about that? I don’t very often. It’s a “life taken for granted” sort of thing and I often get stuck in the rut of forgetting how grateful I am for life.

My mind races with thoughts of what classes I’ll take next, or where I’ll go, or what I’ll buy at the grocery store…

And then I think about nature. Birds flying, bees buzzing, flowers opening, leaves falling, wind blowing… water falls cascading down the mountainside, storms, blue skies…

And I think to myself, “Damn! Nature is incredible. It is miraculous!”

Then sometimes I worry about money, and food, and my diet, and school, and whether or not my car will break down anytime soon…

And then I’ll imagine myself, sitting on my porch, and my spirit takes off… moving away from the earth… up, up, and away… looking down at little old me on the bench of my porch as I get smaller and smaller until I’m the size of a pin marking a tiny space on this huge globe we call earth. And then I’m traveling through space watching our planet shrink down to the size of a golf ball, then a marble, as my spirit floats into outer space…

And I realize how incredible it is to be human—to be one of seven billion something pinheads (no pun intended) that occupy a micro space on this amazing planet. It’s actually a great meditation practice… if I can only remember to do it. It makes me remember how small I really am (in the scheme of things) and how trivial so many of my problems really are.

Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.

Norman Cousins

About the Image

I was trying to get creative with a photograph that I took years back of some leaves on a nearby tree. After transferring the image to my iPhone, I used the Graphite app to give it the blueprint look. Then I duplicated it and did some inversion and hue changes to add the darker version. I don’t know. It’s something different. And it definitely works for my thoughts about nature!

Thank you for joining me for the letter “N” and Nature’s Blueprint. I hope you found something useful or enjoyable here!