Faith is Believing

 

Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.  It is not enough that a thing be possible for it to be believed.  Quote by Voltaire

For we live by faith, not by sight. 

2 Corinthians 5:7 NIV

Things that Cannot be Seen

 

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched-they must be felt with the heart."

~Helen Keller

A Well-watered Garden

 

The Lord will guide you always;

he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land

and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden
like a spring whose waters never fail.

Isaiah 58:11 NIV

Patience Taught by Nature

 
 Patience Taught By Nature

By Elizabeth Barrett Browning

'O DREARY life,' we cry, ' O dreary life ! '

And still the generations of the birds
Sing through our sighing, and the flocks and herds
Serenely live while we are keeping strife
With Heaven's true purpose in us, as a knife
Against which we may struggle ! Ocean girds
Unslackened the dry land, savannah-swards
Unweary sweep, hills watch unworn, and rife
Meek leaves drop year]y from the forest-trees
To show, above, the unwasted stars that pass
In their old glory: O thou God of old,
Grant me some smaller grace than comes to these !--
But so much patience as a blade of grass
Grows by, contented through the heat and cold.     

"With Beauty before Me, May I Walk"

Beauty from a walk, simple and serene, a restful mindful beauty.

"With beauty before me, may I walk
With beauty behind me, may I walk
With beauty above me, may I walk
With beauty below me, may I walk
Wandering on the trail of beauty, may I walk"

Navajo:  Walking Meditation

Strolling the Paths of Washington Oaks

At Pellicer Creek "To Be One with Each Other"

To Be One with Each Other
by George Eliot

"What greater thing is there for two human souls
than to feel that they are joined together to strengthen
each other in all labor, to minister to each other in all sorrow,
to share with each other in all gladness,
to be one with each other in the
silent unspoken memories?"



 Mary Anne Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880), was better known by her pen name George Eliot.  She was an English novelist and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. Her novels, largely set in provincial England, are well known for their realism and psychological insight.

She used a male pen name to ensure that her works were taken seriously. Female authors published freely under their own names, but Eliot wanted to ensure that she was not seen as merely a writer of romances.

Early Morning Sunlight Washington Oaks Park

Early morning sunlight just made the gardens glisten with a golden glow.  These photos were taken on Saturday morning.  

Washington Oaks in the Shadows

  

I seldom take pictures in black and white but it is a form of photography that is considered very beautiful and where a photographer can be very creative. It has a purity of expression with many shades from darkness to light.  I particularly like trees with various sizes and bold shapes.  The reflections of light in the water is opaque and luminous. These photos were taken at Washington Oaks State Park during a walk.

Sunny Days of Winter

  

This is how winter looks at Princess Place Preserve in Flagler County.  Matanzas River is icy blue under the winter sun and the hardwood trees leaves are a golden hue. These pictures were taken in January.  The rest of the country is under snow and ice.

Artisan Trail

The Artisan Trail at Princess Preserve starts along Pellicer Creek and winds through dense woods until you reach the springs.  There is a picnic table on the fishing pier and a kayak group from Marine land made the hike even more interesting watching inexperience people paddle their boats. If it were not so expensive, I would like to do the day long trip with Marine land tour because they get to see dolphins on their adventure.

The Dalliance of the Eagles

The Road of the Eagles

 

This is the road that leads to several Eagle nests in Princess Preserve Park of Flagler County.  I saw several young eagles but I did not see any large birds.  I have visited the Eagle site several times and still have not been fortunate to see the larger adults.

Walt Whitman had never seen the bald eagle's courtship ritual called cartwheeling.  He wrote "The Dalliance of the Eagles" based on the description a friend had given him of this extraordinary display. In the poem "The Dalliance of the Eagles" he had a deeper meaning then the courtship of eagles.  It symbolizes that as humans, we are courting with death for the thrill of being and the joy of living. Most of us want something that safe living does not provide. We all want to cartwheel through life uncertain if this will be our very last moment. It gives us living in this moment. It does not mean we should go out and live dangerously, but look deeper to find that which is our deepest longing. Then chase it passionately.


THE DALLIANCE OF THE EAGLES
by Walt Whitman 1880

Skirting the river road, (my forenoon walk, my rest,)
Skyward in the air a sudden muffled sound, the dalliance of the eagles,
The rushing amorous contact high in space together,
The clinching interlocking claws, a living, fierce, gyrating wheel,
Four beating wings, two beaks, a swirling mass tight grappling,
In tumbling turning clustering loops, straight downward falling,
Till o'er the river pois'd, the twain yet one, a moment's lull,
A motionless still balance in the air, then parting, talons loosing,
Upward again on slow-firm pinions slanting, their separate diverse flight,
She hers, he his, pursuing.



Whitman is regarded as one of America’s most significant nineteenth century poets. Born on Long Island, Whitman grew up in Brooklyn and received limited formal education. His occupations during his lifetime included printer, schoolteacher, reporter, and editor.  Whitman’s self-published Leaves of Grass was inspired in part by his travels through the American frontier. As the first writer of truly American poetry, Whitman’s legacy endures and he has influenced many poets of the twentieth century.

Graham Swamp Preserve

The lake at Graham Swamp had a unusual amount of lily pads.  Alligators were lurking on the banks but the view was like a water color painting.

Sugar Mill at Bulow Plantation Ruins

The Sugar Mill ruins has a scenic walking trail a short distance from Bulow Creek.  Bulow's sugar mill, constructed of local "coquina" rock, was the largest mill in East Florida. At the boat slips, flatboats were loaded with barrels of raw sugar and molasses and floated down Bulow Creek to be shipped north. This frontier industry came to an abrupt end at the outbreak of the Second Seminole War. It is surrounded by old oak trees and native habitation of plants and animals.

"Water, Water, Everywhere"

 

In Flagler County I hiked the Betty Steflik Memorial Preserve trails. It consisted of boardwalks and rustic decks throughout the marshland and Intra Coastal canals.  The land is not dry enough to walk  so long wooden decks were constructed over the marsh and canals.

“Water, water, everywhere
And all the boards did shrink
Water, water everywhere
Nor any drop to drink.”
― Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner