There's Lots To Chew On About Apples

SWEET or bitter, its forebearer playing a prominent role in a biblical story about creation, the unblemished and apparently carefully selected rosy red apple somehow fell to the ground unbitten.

I was taught “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” and although I’m not sure that's true, there's much to chew on about this famous fruit as I get to its core in an earlier post HERE.

It's no wonder that Apple is the clever name of choice for a multinational corporation specializing in electronics such as the iPhone that could be resting in your hand right now. Nor is it surprising that a well-polished apple was once the gift students gave their teachers to show appreciation.

Because healthy soil is needed to transform seeds into deliciously edible fruit and since the environment is the most pressing issue of our time, link up and learn about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report.

For more West Coast reflections or to leave a comment, see my photographic journal and latest scribbler at UNDER MY UMBRELLA.

Laughter's The Best Prescription & It's Free

The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter. - Mark Twain

A NOTE taped to the front door made me laugh when I came home from shopping and realized I'd forgotten my keys. My husband wrote it. He hasn't lost his wit despite dealing with health issues. Life is unpredictable ... of that we can be sure. We count on the sun coming up every morning but the day can hold surprises and not all of them are nice. Life can rob us of many things but hopefully not our humour. It's no joke that a tickled funny bone can see us through. The smiling Buddha (below) sitting in a garden and the note got me thinking about infectious giggles and big belly laughs.

Even the stuck kite (below) seemed comical later during my walk.

These spring flowers (below) seemed to be in on a joke of their own. It's as if the buds were saying, "See ... we fooled you ... you thought we were gone but here we are again ... uncrinkled and good as new."

This post is linked to signs, signs.

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Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms

Tethered To A Cloud

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18

I ONCE WAS A bud so new there was nothing of "me" to contemplate. Although I couldn't put my earliest moments into words, they're stored in my memories somehow. Perhaps I was still tethered to the "unseen" as an infant, an intangible place beyond the realm of ticking clocks. This eternal place, as impossible to grasp as a cloud, came up at the funeral of former first lady Barbara Bush who lived a full and generous life. Sights and sounds, hot and cold, kindness and meanness were rudimentary senses in the first weeks of her life as they are for us all. Now, after ninety-two years, she is beyond such concerns. While she rests in peace, her positive influence will remain and grow like a flower in the "seen" world of circling seasons.

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Flowers In Winter

"Where flowers bloom so does hope." - Lady Bird Johnson

"Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor conflicts," said Sigmund Freud. Although that is likely correct, they inspire emotions. The cut and painted flowers brought the hope of spring and warmth to a home I visited recently. Meanwhile, icicle flowers (above) were quietly forming, as they often do in February outside my own home, reminding me it's still chilly. Expecting snow to knock at my door at any moment, I was instead surprised when a bountiful hand-delivered bouquet of flowers came calling.

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Autumn Creeping

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." George Eliot

MOTHER NATURE is sweeping away summer and like Eliot I'm loving it. Petals are scrambling, leaves are drooping, crumbling, swirling in gusts of wind, sliding down slippery wet roads into sewers never to be seen again.

The Virginia Creeper is the first vine to transform and has the brightest blush.

A plant called burning bush is stiff competition when it comes to colour.

Bedding plants such as winter pansies, marked by butterfly wings, are replacing summer blooms.

Warm browns are softening daisies past their prime.

Stunning shades of orange are beginning to cover the ground.

Pumpkins have crept onto our doorsteps and now appear everywhere.

It's an opportunity to get creative painting or carving.

Most pumpkins are orange but this ghostly white one (below) is truly a star.

Current fires in California make it all too easy to imagine life if there were no rain seeping through the veins of a parched earth after an overly hot summer. But would I love a forever-autumn and follow it around the globe like Eliot ... not likely. I'm glad southwest BC experiences all seasons to a moderate degree, although even here weather seems more extreme nowadays.

Greenery can still be found along sandy trails ... rainfall is just beginning. Earth's tilt and rotation as it circles the sun and its location to the sun are the reasons for the seasons. As a wonderstruck resident of a precisely balanced spinning top I can only hope such remarkable synchronicity never stops.

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Chiming In To Make Things Better

"Live for moments you can't put into words," chimed an ornament adjacent to a railway track at Crescent Beach.

The wise advice, meant to inspire, was likely put there by locals wanting to create a serene space for passersby.

The wind-chime decoration dangling from an ornate garden arbor was barely audible as tanks with chemicals and loaded coal cars groaned and hissed, snaking along the track.

The long chain of containers blocked vehicles and walkers from going in and out of the seaside community, a real concern should there be an emergency.

It might take years for activists to convince people in power to reroute the track but meanwhile a thoughtful neighbor with an artistic touch provided seating.

Hand painted panels brought a splash of colour to the chairs. In a world filled with tragic events someone, more often than not, is trying to prevent disaster, beautify, bring comfort and make things better practically or creatively.

Able to cross the track after some twenty minutes, I spotted a strange creature holding a guitar. What could be cozier than a giant moss-covered teddy bear? This unique interpretation of wildlife wasn't alone.

A beaver drummer and bird songstress (below) completed a patriotic Canadian band. Since there was no explanation as to why the soundless musicians were there, I assumed their motionless parade was designed to delight onlookers with wordless moments and, like the train, was just passing through.

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Wishful Thinking

A LOCAL NURSERY'S sign read: "1 part soil, 2 parts water, 3 parts wishful thinking".

This "gardener's recipe" is a bit like life's recipe for turning desires into reality. But although things do seem to evolve by themselves, more watering and less wishful thinking might produce better results.

Wishful thinking is a comfort but we all know it's the digging, weeding and quenching of the soil that keeps growth lush. I've seen plants turn to dust in rainless summers when water restrictions come into play. The season seems to produce less showers and more forest fires nowadays in BC. So far, the southwest coastal corner where one expects more rain remains green with many roadside flowers to bury my nose into during my walks. I can't help wishing smell-o-vision was available for these recent shots.

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This post is for OUR WORLD and also SIGNS, SIGNS.

Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms

The Same Yet Different

BLADES OF GRASS look alike, although each strand is unique upon closer inspection. There's an endless supply of originals, from grains of sand on the beach to stars in the sky. Without the benefit of microscopic eyes here are some dissimilar duplicates I recently spied at a distance with my camera.

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