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Wednesday, June 11, 2008

after




After days of fits and outbursts
from sky to ground . . .



















. . . light softened into evening,
and I was healed,



I adjusted . . .

. . . as if an angry word had never been spoken.
The torn tree still lies in sawed pieces. The honeybees still swarm around their hive in the fallen limb. The leaves on the standing remnant bend in the breeze.

I bend with nature, I submit - holding on, like a spider on a blade of grass.


19 comments:

Sharon said...

"as if an angry word had never been spoken.".....beautiful and serene, as are your photos.

I'm glad that almost everything is returning to normal.... hopefully the bees will adjust too, and that all anger heals so beautifully!

Anet said...

I know exactly how you feel Ruth. The days following the storms my nerves were rattled, I craved peaceful nature, poetry and calmness. Love your photos! They really helped with the healing.
Thanks:)

André Lemay said...

These are amazing pictures. So peaceful.

Loring Wirbel said...

OK, bear with me, I have two conflicting images:

There's a huge scar about halfway up Pikes Peak where strip mining was conducted about 80 years ago. It now features strips of orange and green like some new kind of tiger, thanks to the healing hand of nature and a lot of human beings' restorative works. This scar might almost heal.

But then I was reading some of the journals of Lewis and Clark last night, drinking in their descriptions of the huge winter migrations of buffalo and pronghorn and elk herds in the tens of thousands. The buffalo has returned to the prairie, thankfully, but we'll probably never see the herds return again, unless humans turn the high plains into a massive refuge. There's a permanent scar.

Both of these bring back the story of the farmer putting in a fence who heard his son exchange hateful words with his mother. He dragged the boy outside and had him drive two 60d nails into a virgin post. Then he used his claw hammer to pull them out.
"Driving in the nails is hatred," the father said. "Your apology pulls the nails out. The scars in the wood stay. They don't go away."

I'm not sure what that says about the scars nature and people make - new blossoms are like apologies, but the damage stays. Then again, a century of forest management has taught us if you don't have forest fires, the forest gets sick. Only devastation bring resurrection.

I don't know what the hell this all means, but I know your photographs always set my mind racing!

Bob Johnson said...

Great shots, love the Sunlight falling to the ground, very soothing, nice way to end the story through images.

Amy said...

Lovely shots! I feel bad for the bees. Honeybees are having a hard enough time as it is with the colony collapse syndrome. And now your bees have lost their tree to a storm, poor things! Let's hope they relocate. Perhaps there's a beekeeper in the area who could offer some advice?

Gwen Buchanan said...

So elegant.................... I don't know what to say.. so lovely...

Ruth, I'm just enthralled!!!

Ruth said...

Sharon and Amy, I keep hoping to not see the bees by the fallen tree, that they'll be led away by a Queen. Amy, good idea to talk with a beekeeper. I wonder if we have any at the University . . .

+ + +

Anet, it's been unnerving to say the least. I'm glad you're finding ways to get the peace back.

+ + +

André and Gwen, thank you so much.

+ + +

Bob, of course you like the sun falling! :D Always the sky watcher. I love it.

+ + +

Loring, what a comment you wrote. Thank you. For me it means watching Nature, listening. I know nothing.

sandy said...

Wow Ruth, the photos, the writing, what went on with the storms!

you made it beautiful through your photos.

s

Ruth said...

Thank you, Auntie Sandy.

Ginnie Hart said...

You are the poet amongst us...in more ways than one....

Ruth said...

Thank you, Boots. Happy Birthday!!!!!

VioletSky said...

The calm after the storm. Lovely shots. Beautiful words to go with the photos.

Mrs. SwedeHart said...

I know this is completely unrelated, but I was wondering if you have any pictures of butterflies that I could use to create some marketing materials for a program I want to start at my school. P cubed (Peek Performance Peer) = metamorphosis is going to be the trademark, with a nice butterfly wing and a blue sky with puffy clouds foating in the background. Any ideas?

sandy said...

hahahah....Auntie Sandy indeed....

hehe.

I hope all is well with you and Don...

Andromeda Jazmon said...

Beautiful photos. So glad to see the tree didn't do more damage and you are all safe and healing. It was great you had all those strong men right there to help clean up after the storm! The bees will find another home I am sure.

Ruth said...

Thank you, Sanna.

+++ +++

SwedeHart, let me see what I can find! I'd be honored.

+++ +++

Thanks, we're doing fine, Sandy.

+++ +++

Cloudscome, we'll see if the bees need coaxing, or if the Queen will naturally lead them to a new home.

Mrs. SwedeHart said...

Oh, thank you:D And, that post is amazing from today! What a surreal image at the top. You're hair looks different in this picture- curly?

Ruth said...

Yes, I didn't straighten it that day. :)

Please email me at ruth.mowry@gmail.com, and I'll see what I can send you of butterflies, ok?