Living Gold

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

Live thy Life,

Young and old,

Like yon oak,

Bright in spring,

Living gold;

Summer-rich

Then; and then

Autumn-changed

Soberer-hued

Gold again.

All his leaves

Fall’n at length,

Look, he stands,

Trunk and bough

Naked strength.

– Alfred, Lord Tennyson –

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week – flags at the zoo:

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An Eden Summer

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“The times are dark but never too dark for

An Eden Summer, this flower-rich creation.”

– Elizabeth Jennings –

“English Wild Flowers”

Nurture peace. Cultivate kindness. Carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

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Warm, Brooding Days

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“The warm, brooding days are full of life and thoughts of life to come,

ripening seeds with next summer in them

or a hundred summers.”

– John Muir

Brood has a double meaning. It means to ponder, to think deeply. It also means protecting and preparing as a hen does when she sits on her eggs or keeps her young under her wings. So the warm days of summer are for ripening fruit and “brooding” seeds. As autumn approaches, “warm, brooding days” can also be a time of thinking deeply about life.

So keep planting seeds of peace and kindness wherever you go. Brood over those seeds, for they are “full of life and thoughts of life to come.” They hold next summer in them. They hold a hundred summers. They hold the future.

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.

For my longer posts on the art of noticing, link here.

A Soft Sea

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“A soft sea washed around the house,

A sea of summer air . . .”

– Emily Dickinson –

Breathe deeply of this soft sea. Breathe out heaviness, breathe in buoyancy.

Nourish peace, cultivate loving kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week – porch beams shadow each other:

The 2 Most Beautiful Words of Henry James

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“Summer afternoon – summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”

– Henry James, quoted in Edith Wharton’s A Backward Glance –

What are your two most beautiful words? I’m partial to Henry James’s two this week, having enjoyed long, lazy afternoons for the past few days on vacation at a lake in Texas. Hot outdoors, cool and air-conditioned indoors, visiting with family and friends, eating ice cream mid-afternoon. Summer afternoon.

I wish you a vacation that frees you from the usual daily stresses this summer.

Nourish peace, cultivate loving kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week – blooming hibiscus: