Month: July 2025

The Star for Me

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The world’s original entertainers
were surely the animals,
who are, by nature, first-class acrobats.
Hummingbirds hover,
butterflies dip and dance,
bees dive into deep-cupped trumpets of mandevilla,
roly-polies curl into perfect balls
and tumble across my grandson’s palm.
Even the box turtle he found last week
performed the turtle trick,
tucking itself into its shell.
But the star for me is the nuthatch,
that small bird who defies expectations,
the only bird in the wide backyard
who tips tail-up, head-down at the feeder
as he snatches sunflower seeds.
Watch how easily he perches facing the ground,
looking at lunch from a different angle,
coming at it upside-down.
Of course, he probably considers his stance
right-side-up.
Maybe he wonders
why the other birds are heads-up.
Or for that matter, why I watch him
with my feet on the ground.
When I was much younger,
I could stand on my head.
Even now, I could try to defy expectations myself,
but something tells me it would be wise
to leave the acrobatics
to the nuthatch.
-kh-

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:


Shadow of the week:

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Text and photos © Karyn Henley 2025. All rights reserved.

Flitting Among the Petunias

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The butterfly was so small—
with yellow wings—
a sulfur, I think it’s called.
It looked so happy flitting
among the petunias,
a bright spot dipping and swishing
into the pink and purple.
The cat watched,
fascinated.
But being a cat,
she was unable to simply watch
and swatted at it,
brought it down.
It fluttered,
tried to rise,
but was no match for the cat’s paw
and jaw,
for the cat lapped it up,
that fluttery, dusty, yellow-winged thing,
and swallowed it down
in one gulp.
After all,
the butterfly was so small.
-kh-

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:


Shadow of the week:

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.

Text and photos © Karyn Henley 2025. All rights reserved.

What If You Were the Wind?

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What if you were the wind
flowing ‘round the world
in a whirl of hot and cold,
bold enough to blow a house down,
then a day later,
shy of the sky,
whispery, shushing, hiding,
slyly slipping around trees.
What if you roared through mountain passes,
lapped at ocean waves,
played havoc with sand,
then ran out of gusts
to sigh and sway,
breezy,
sneezy,
tousling the grain in the field,
then nosing through a bubble wand
and tossing the bubble,
twirling and swirling it,
until it arced into a yard down the street.
What if you were that bubble
flickering soapy red and green and yellow
as you rolled on the breeze
and laughed at the neighbor who looked up
just as you floated by
dipping, bobbing, and pop!
What if you were the neighbor
who looked up just in time
to see the bubble pop,
and you stopped
to smile awhile.
Oh, but you are the wind,
the bubble,
the neighbor.
At least you were
for these past few minutes.
-kh-

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the week:

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.

Text and photos © Karyn Henley 2025. All rights reserved.

The Key

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A tiny gold plastic key
small as a thumbnail
lay under a lightpost
in a bookstore parking lot.
My grandson found it,
examined it,
wondered what it might unlock.
A fairy’s door?
A toad’s treasure chest?
A bird’s garden gate?
Maybe.
One thing for sure:
it unlocked
his imagination.

-kh-

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:


Shadow of the week:

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.

Text and photos © Karyn Henley 2025. All rights reserved.