The Sigh of Silence

 

Half of the leaves have fallen, half have yet to fall. Leaves underfoot, leaves overhead. I’m surrounded by beauty.

 

“And then there crept

A little noiseless noise among the leaves,

Born of the very sigh that silence heaves.”

John Keats

 

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

 

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Text and photos © 2021 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Turning Toward Day

 

“There is a budding morrow in midnight.”

John Keats, To Homer –

 

The world is going through a long, difficult night. But heads up, eyes looking ahead – there’s a time when night will turn toward day and, even though it’s still dark, light will begin to return.

Nurture peace. Cultivate kindness. 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 © 2020 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

A Misty, Mellow Season

 

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run.

John Keats, “To Autumn” –

 

May you find a mellow path through this season and rest in the fruitfulness around and within you.

Nurture peace. Cultivate kindness. 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 © 2019 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

The Poetry of Earth

 

“The poetry of earth is never dead:

When all the birds are faint with the hot sun,

And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run

From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead;

That is the Grasshopper’s – he takes the lead

In summer luxury, – he has never done

With his delights; for when tired out with fun

He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed.”

John Keats

“On the Grasshopper and Cricket”

 

My young grandson and I spend time each week listening to the summer hummers and buzzers in the trees and the grass – cicadas, grasshoppers, bees. Take a moment to listen to the sounds of summer – bugs, birds, water splashing from a garden hose, children at play, even the whir of an air conditioner. Let the sounds of summer refresh your spirit. Nurture peace. Cultivate kindness. 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 © 2019 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

I Have Loved

 

“I have loved the principle of beauty in all things.”

John Keats

 

Look for the beauty in all things. Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week – a rhododendron bud waiting for spring:

Shadow of the Week:

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Text and photos © 2019 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

How Autumn Conspires with the Sun

 

“To Autumn”

Seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness!

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;

To bend with apples the mossed cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For summer has o’erbrimmed their clammy cells.

– John Keats –

 

May you journey through autumn with your heart open wide to its bounty. Pay attention. Nurture peace, cultivate loving 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.

For my posts on life, faith, and the mystery we call God, link here.

 

Text and photos © 2017 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.