"mini phalaenopsis"

Budding, unfolding, full-blooming...at home in a branch of a schefflera tree.

"purple walking iris"

"purple walking iris"

"palms in rain"

"palms in rain"

"cascade"

The elegant hibiscus pours from its center like a gentle waterfall.

"washington street bougainvillea"

Just one of my favorite streets in Key West to wander with camera. 

Bougainvillea never fails to capture my attention.

"koi shade"

koi shade

water lily

pad and bloom

shadowed carp

at scorching noon

"zephyr lily"

"zephyr lily"

Also known as Zephyranthes. 

Zephyrus: god of the west wind. Anthos: flower.

"Who can open the door who does not reach for the latch?

Who can travel the miles who does not put one foot

in front of the other, all attentive to what presents itself continually?

Who will behold the inner chamber who has not observed

with admiration, even with rapture, the outer stone?

Well, there is time left --

fields everywhere invite you into them."

from Mary Oliver's West Wind

"night calls"

It was almost midnight. I received a phone call from a friend, "Get over here as soon as you can, the cereus is blooming!" I grabbed my camera and hurried to my friend's garden. The cactus was pregnant with buds and blooms. So delicate. So beautiful. Cycle of life exampled once again.

A few days later I had breakfast with another friend. We talked about my session with the night-bloomer. She was reminded of a poem by Thomas Merton.

Excerpt from Merton's Night-Flowering Cactus:

I neither show my truth nor conceal it

My innocence is described dimly

Only by divine gift

As a white cavern without explanation.

The last few lines told the story of that night:

Have you seen it? Then though my mirth has quickly ended

You live forever in its echo:

You will never be the same.

I saw. I will never be the same.



*post dedicated to Monica Dahl and Jane Worth.