Thursday, August 4, 2011

Simple Pleasures: Wildflowers and Sunsets

I used to see the tops of trees when I looked out on our bedroom balcony. A couple of years ago, the owner was forced to cut them down. My view then became the houses across the street. So imagine my surprise, when we returned from Nepal several weeks ago to find that one of the houses was being demolished.

Sadly, not even one of the huge palm trees was spared. Everything was completely flattened and now my view is that of an empty lot. When you are missing green and trees and all things that bloom, that empty lot is not a very pretty sight.

In a desert country, in the summer, with blazing heat, every day beauty isn't just sitting there staring me in the face. I have to seek beauty in the unlikeliest of places.

Although all the plants on my balcony died, I still continue to water hoping that life will spring forth again. My garden helpers are the doves who bring a little wildflower seed when they visit.

I am happy for the green and tiny flowers that bloom. Mary from Mary's Meanderings mentioned that my wildflower looked like purslane which is actually edible.

The other night, I could see the sky changing color as the sun began to set so I ran to the balcony and this is what I saw!

I realized that when the house was there, it was blocking my view! Now on a clear day, I can see a sunset in all its glory!

And that's a beautiful thing!

It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all. (Laura Ingalls Wilder - American Author of children's fiction based on her own youth in the American Midwest. 1867-1957)

For more simple pleasures, visit Dayle at A Collection of This and That.

Project Simple Pleasures2

Have a great day! Friendship blessings, Tammy

43 comments:

Karen @ Pieces of Contentment said...

Good on you Tammy for choosing to find the beauty around you. I have had several months in northern India during summer, the scene look similar. Makes me appreciate afresh the treasures of our beautiful local area in Australia.

Kathleen said...

A sunset is such a treat, I love to see them. I hope you enjoy many more of these before any building work takes place, kathleen.

Candy said...

Nice to see some little wild flowers. Our drought has everything burned up. Life has been busy and my little bear brain...like Winnie the Pooh...just can only take so much. I have missed blogging and I too, think of those around the world. Makes me feel special that little old me crossed your mind recently. I too love trees and green but to be open to change and it's own beauty is a special thing. Beautiful sunset.
Blessings ;-)

Angela Richardson said...

Beauty is all around, we just need to look for it. it reminds me of WW1 when from all the devastation in the trenches the Flanders poppies grew. They needed the ground to be broken up to grow and flower so giving the fields of red and the poppies that are so much a part of Remembrance here.

Draffin Bears said...

Hi Tammy,

Change is often not nice, but how neat that you can now see the wonderful sunset.
May the plants continue to bloom out on the deck and wishing you a wonderful weekend

Hugs
Carolyn

Sheila R said...

Tammy,

It is so good to try to find the beauty... good for you! Thank you for prayers and hugs from across the world regarding my husband's health issues. It means a lot!! His aunt is currently getting infusion treatments but didn't start until she had already gotten to 11% breathing. So it will never go back up but at least it will help her with a gradually decline.

We found out that our kiddos are the highest carrier of the disease but will not get it, but they have increased risks of lung and liver diseases.

Wishing you a wonderful week.

Hugs, Sheila

Dawn said...

ahh!!! a new view! what a lovely unexpected gift!

hooksandyarns said...

Your new view is just beautiful. :)

SusanLotus said...

Fortunately, you can watch the sunset now, so it ended well after all. It feels strangely enough with a new outlook than the one you are used to...
Have great thursday evening!

Sam said...

Hi Tammy, I like how you think, that sunset certainly is a wonderful gift.xSam

Linda said...

Oh I love Laura Ingalls Wilder so much, and that quote is one of my favorites. Thanks for sharing it - it's so sweet and true! :)

I love how you have found the good in the change before you with the house gone, and the clear view of the sunsets. Marvelous.

Hope you're having a blessed end to the week.
Linda

Marilyn said...

such a lovely post Tammy...and what a gorgeous sunset...it is the "little" things that bring the big....

Gayle said...

Oh so happy for you to able to see the sunset!

Doniene said...

Lovely - oh that we could always remember to look for the pleasant in all situations.

Blessings

Lisa'sLettersandLace said...

Sometimes we don't have to seek out the beauty we crave. This beauty was given directly to you as a gift. God knows what we need and when we need it!
Blessings, Lisa

LuLu Kellogg said...

What a gorgeous sunset Tammy.

Here's to wishing you a beautiful day!
Love,
LuLu~*xoxo

Heather - The Good Life said...

Beautiful sunset and a great new view. I like your quote. I'm currently reading "Little House in the Big Woods" by LIW to my son. :-)

It's Just Dottie said...

Amazing and so are you!!!
Thank you for your comments.
They lift me up.

Smiles,Dottie

erin's art and gardens said...

this reminds me of something i read one time....can't remember who said it...

"the barn burned down and now i can see the moon".

Nikki (Sarah) said...

your new view is great....and when we went away and came home...the plants had died and like you...I kept watering them hoping they would revive. Amazingly some did so keep up the watering...

Anonymous said...

Reminds me of a famous quote by Mizuta Masahide:

"Barn's burnt down --
now
I can see the moon."

Beautiful sunset and I love that the birds bring you wildflower seeds, Tammy!

Hugs,
Zuzu

Susan said...

Tammy, you are so right. Great minds DO think alike. ha! How wonderful you have chosen to see the good in the demolished house, instead of the negative. Now you get to see the sunsets in full, glorious color. Good for you and your indominable spirit. Susan

Teresa said...

Tammy, that little wildflower does in fact look like an edible plant we call beldroega (weird name, I know... even for us!) and it can have a whole bunch of uses--I've used it on soup, it is quite good!
It's wonderful to look at things positively :) it makes the less nice things so much nicer and brightens our days!
Have a wonderful bunch of sunsets! xxx

Anonymous said...

How nice that you now can see the sunset :) And what a sunset! Beautiful :) /Limar

Hearts Turned said...

What a beautiful view--and point of view--you have, dear friend! I always love the things you share...there IS beauty all around us...the real trick is to take the time to notice it. As you do.

Wishing you a lovely day, Tammy!

Julie

ShabbyChicShaz said...

Love your new sunset view, just fabulous. Thanks for your lovely comment on my blog. I don't know what my furbabies would make of lizard season, I suppose it would be me that had a problem with it, lol. I keep my atcs in a printers tray, you can see it here http://theshabbychicbohemian.blogspot.com/2011/02/printers-tray-up.html
but I need more space so looking for new display ideas. Loving the music on your blog by the way. Have a great day Tammy, love Sharon x

Nellie's Cozy Place said...

Hi Tammy,
Nice to meet you hear in blogland. Yes, I am sure your son would probably like this on top of pancakes especially with whip cream!! If he likes fruit................

Your purslane is pretty as the cute lil dove.
Love.... doves!! That sunset is amazing, what a beautiful sight, and thought it was interesting what you said about the house blocking your view of it all those years,
cause I had a similiar situation about 7 yrs or so ago. We had 3 hurricanes in a row, one every 2 weeks in Florida about 7 years ago.
The first one did a lot of outside damage to our yard. We had a vacant lot next door to us and a tornado touched down, and twisted the tops of all the pine trees off, and threw them in our backyard. It truly looked like a war zone. We had trees on our house and across our screened porch so they had to bring a bob cat in to remove our side woods and get the trees off the house, and to get rid of all the debri. Now we had been nestled in the woods for about 29 yrs., so when they took out our side yard it was shocking, but then a few days later we found out that someone had bought the vacant lot, well, to make a long story short, they began clearing it right away, and it took a few days, on the 2nd day I had to go to the bank, and when I came back I could see our home from a major street for the first time, it made me cry,
and I just felt naked..........and I was asking the Lord, what is this feeling, and the words violated came to me, and I thought that's it, I do feel violated, then the next evening I happened to walk out on our porch and saw the most magnificient sunset you can imagine, and it was like a reminder that God never takes away more than He puts back, and that sunset was such a blessing cause as you say, those woods had been blocking my vision of that for years, as well as a nice breeze,
and nice new neighbors................
God is good!!
Blessings, Nellie

Pearlin J said...

Hi Tammy
So soo happy to meet you :)Yes I am a member of KTAA, not a regular though.You kind of look familiar from the photos on the side bar,( if that is you )Have you come to the evening yarn group?
You are soo right about finding beauty in the unlikeliest places, the sunset picture is beautiful, so is that little flower.

Maya Kuzman said...

Tammy, at least you can enjoy the view at sunset (a glorious one - must admit!). I can't imagine living without greens so I know how you must feel with the eye-sore in front of you.

Debbie said...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this one! This is a simple sermon to me. Had they not cut it all away, you wouldn't have had such a gorgeous sunset view.

A wonderful simple pleasure!

Kristin Bridgman said...

Beautiful! I love the simple things too. Always bringing in wildflowers from the field across from my home and putting them into old bottles. And my husband and I sit out on the porch SO much to watch the sunset.
I'm visiting from a friends blog who I happened to see on Ann Voskamps site, 1000 gifts.

Glad to have "met" you :)

GwendolynKay said...

I think we need green and blooms for our spirits. I hope you have some inside.
ta :)

Diane said...

You're so special Tammy. It's a rare person who can find such beauty in such a place. Your views of the moon are phenomenal. Blessings, Diane

Dayle ~ A Collection of Days said...

An amazing sunset, Tammy. I love your view and your attitude.

Trish said...

Oh that is a very beautiful thing indeed!
I love to watch the sunrises and sunsets.
It's a real shame you lost some palms but now you have colour you didn't see before.
God is good - especially at painting sunsets!
blessings..Trish

Susana said...

Hola y gracias por visitar mi blog. Es una puesta de sol preciosa. Un saludo.
Susana.

Barbara Neubeck said...

What a beautiful sunset and a lovely suprise.
God Bless
Barb from Australia

crafty cat corner said...

How right you are, there is beauty all around us. I noticed a dried up spider in the kitchen this morning and watched it float down onto the floor, I know this sound stupid, but I thought how lovely it was.
Lovely post
Briony
x

Garter Mademoiselle said...

Hi Tammy, when living in a country other then the one where you were born and grew up, even the smallest of things can seem foreign and cause one to miss what one used to know. It takes time to see the beauty that is around you in that new place one calls home. I know, cuz I too spent many years not really seeing what was around me, only seeing what no longer was!! But I have been able to open my eyes to my second home, love it for what it is, and enjoy all those little things around me. One of my favorites is the birds' song that greets me each and every morning. Many many birds singing together, and it is wonderful! When I am else where, I miss it, and when I start to long for it, I know that it is time to go back to my own 4 walls. :-)
That sunset looks very similar to one that we had just this week,and I too shot a few pictures of it. I have been having some computer troubles and can't get to my saved photos, but as soon as I can, I will blog about a wonderful beautiful evening. ~Debby

Anonymous said...

What an awful thing to see the neighbor building demolished while you were away. It amkes me smile to know that you can find the good in it all by finding beautiful sunsets! It really is the simple pleasures in this world that make it all worth while!!

Keep smiling, dear!!

XOXO
Renee

Kay K said...

Beautiful view of a beautiful sunset !!!

Anonymous said...

Wow...what a big contrast...everyone on here has such wonderful comments I don't know how I can add more. I guess when you live here, you learn to appreciate the beauty that we get in small doses. I enjoy the hot dustless days, the coolness of winter and the smells of Ramadan. Not much, but its something. Hope you are enjoying Ramadan.
Got my expander in yesterday. Kinda hard to eat and enjoy my food:( Still cannot get into my google account for whatever reasons so I'll be signing in as your secret admirer. LOL!

Love and blessings, Melissa

Tanna said...

You found the perfect way to find the silver lining, Tammy. That is a glorious sunset!! I hope your stash hold out in that heat so that you can stay holed up crocheting away. Your raid the pantry recipes would make me happy to be holed up in your place with some yarn, too!! Think cool and keep finding the good... blessings ~ tanna

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