TOUS LES GOÛTS

Tous les goûts sont dans la nature.

RHODODENDRON

AZALEA II - AZALÉE II

When that the month of May
Is comen, and that I here the foules singe,
And that the floures ginnen for to springe,
Farwell my book and my devocioun!

Geoffrey Chaucer (1343 - 1400)

AZALEA - AZALÉE

AZALEA I - AZALÉE I

Whilst skies are blue and bright,
Whilst flowers are gay,
Whilst eyes that change ere night
Make glad the day.

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822)

AZALEA - AZALÉE

JARDIN EN PRINTEMPS - SPRING GARDEN

“Les parfums, les couleurs, et les sons se répondent.”

Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867)

“A bit of fragrance clings to the hand that gives flowers.”

Chinese Proverb

RAINBOW II

At the end of the rainbow
Is a country of goodness.
If we form an alliance,
Will we ever be free
To belong?

Meiling Jin

RAINBOW II

RAINBOW I

My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So was it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!

William Wordsworth (1802)

RAINBOW I

WILLOW

The willow loves the small bird,
the small bird loves the willow, too.
Because their love is mutual
the grey falcon cannot harm them.

Tsangs Dbyangs Rgya Mtsho (”Ocean of Pure Melody”)

The VIth Dalai Lama of Tibet (1683 - 1706)

VINCENT VAN GOGH (1853 - 1890): WILLOWS AT SUNSET

WATCHING GEESE

Holland Cotter write in the New York Times:

“From his terrace, the world is blue and green - mountains and trees - or almost green. Spring is on the way; the geese are back. One, then two, alight on the river, with more still invisible but close behind. Pavilion living! The only way. With the city somewhere down there, and nature everywhere up here, he watches the mist rise. River meets sky.

The calm watcher is the 4th century scholar Wang Xizhi, artist of classical calligraphy and model for living an active life in retreat. He is depicted by the painter Quian Xuan, another connoisseur of reclusion, in a 13th century handscroll.”

QUIAN XUAN: WANG XIZHI WATCHING GEESE

SNOW IN MARCH

Spring has officially started, but it is snowing - snowing - snowing. The daffodils in my garden are drooping their lovely yellow heads, and the early red tulips are hiding under a white blanket.

My patience is tried as snow keeps falling outside of the window. I need to remind myself that spring is here, the sun will shine again, and the days will get lighter, longer, warmer.

SNOW IN MARCH

ARTEMIS II

Human activites are destroying forests, draining wetlands, cementing pastures. Artemis will take revenge. She is not a gentle goddess. She sends arrows of retaliation to those who destroy nature. We would be wise to honor Artemis by taking our ecological responsibilites seriously, saving the earth for our children.

Let me sing of the Goddess
of the wild chase and the busy spindle.
An archer, a hunter, she races
through the mountain shadows
and the windy hills, drawing her bow
and loosing her arrows.
The mountains tremble,
and the forest resounds.

Homeric hymn to Artemis

ANNA LEBEDEVA - OSTROUMOVA (1871 - 1955): BIRCHES IN SPRING