Journal – Photos and thoughts on gratitude

I’ve been rather busy and frankly a bit more melancholy than usual recently, but no worries, I’m feeling so much better now. I have a tendency to be a bit of hermit and keep to myself in general, so this is nothing unusual. Please pardon me for not posting as much recently.

This morning I had an enormous sense of gratitude for all the things in my life. There are so many things to be thankful of. I sent my thanks specifically to the food that I had eaten the night before that was within me. It seemed as if I received and answer from the food as if it was a great pleasure for it to be within me as well, the gratitude felt wonderful.

There is a saying in Zen that, “The one who bows and the one who is bowed to are both by nature empty.” It is very hard to explain but deep gratitude and thankfulness seems to travel both ways and perhaps our food experiences life through our experiences.

After eating food recently at our favorite Indian restaurant I noticed a new art object nearby. I had to take this picture of it:

I like the design but I’ve never seen an eagle looking anything like that perched on a pole. Sometimes around here you see cormorants spreading their wings on top of poles to dry them out, but the wings are bent a little and droopy. I haven’t observed eagles that much though, so who knows…

Maybe, just maybe, the eagle is supposed to be in flight, swooping straight upwards at high velocity. Or maybe this is a depiction of the bird in flight that is somehow oriented vertically using artistic license. (One would think the birds head should be oriented in the direction of travel then.) Or perhaps the birds wings have stiffened from rigor mortis or the corn starch used in taxidermy… LOL, just kidding, I’m really not trying to be an art critic and mean no disrespect towards any symbols where the pose originated.

The fish on the pole are really well done. The way the patterns are on them make me think the fish has eggs inside:

I’m not sure who did the art and was kind of in a hurry and didn’t look for details, but I think it is really wonderful that the city had it done and put it in the pubic area for viewing.

This morning I enjoyed looking out at the rock roses growing outside the window. This time of year they open up when the sun hits them and stay blooming a really long time. There are so many flowers it looks very nice:

Another view of the petunias with the rock roses in the background:

Here’s and update on the potatoes. I need to keep adding more soil until I get these bags filled up. The plants are growing out the top and seem to be doing better this year.

I have another five bags of potatoes like these started in the backyard too. I think it is going be really easy to harvest them in the fall. I might even get some new potatoes soon.

Additionally, the corn, carrots and beans are coming along nicely. The lettuce is not growing as well as it did last year, maybe it needs some better soil or something. The raspberries are green but may soon turn red for a first crop, the blackberries and in full bloom and looking really good. Asparagus is doing fine and might be ready for a first harvest next year.

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Thanks for reading! I always value your support and comments. The pictures were taken by me with my Galaxy S9+ with some modifications done in the digital darkroom using GIMP and Google Photos.