Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above.

"Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above."

Henry Van Dyke 

Photo: An abundance of Pasqueflowers bloom on a forest fire burn that occurred several years ago, Greyrock in the background; March 31, 2012

How strange and wonderful is our home, our earth!

 

"How strange and wonderful is our home, our earth, with its swirling vaporous atmosphere, its flowing and frozen liquids . . . To see our world as a space traveler might see it, for the first time, through Venusian eyes or Martian antennae, how utterly rich and wild it would seem, how far beyond the power of the craziest, spaced-out, acid-headed imagination, even a god's, even God's, to conjure up from nothing.

 

Yet some among us have the nerve, the insolence, the brass, the gall to whine about the limitations of our earthbound fate and yearn for some more perfect world beyond the sky. We are none of us good enough for the sweet earth we have, and yet we dream of heaven."

 

Edward Abbey

 

Photo: Lichen rocks and snowy peaks, Battle Mountain, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, March 30, 2012

As for the earth, she is beside herself with sprouts and so happy.

 

"As for the earth, she is beside herself with sprouts and so happy."

Emily Carr

British Columbian painter

Photo: Pasqueflowers in last light, Lory State Park, CO, March 26, 2012

The happy plants long for us to love them.

 

"Every morning, arising from the death of sleep, the happy plants and all our fellow . . . creatures great and small, and even the rocks, seemed to be shouting, 'Awake, awake, rejoice, rejoice, come love us and join in our song.  Come!  Come!' "

The Contemplative John Muir, p. 125

Photo: Yellow Violet "faces," Lory State Park, CO, March 28, 2012.  If you want to check out my new book, "The Contemplative John Muir," go here.http://www.lulu.com/shop/stephen-hatch/the-contemplative-john-muir/paperback/product-18858846.html

Pasqueflowers teach us sacred introversion

 

Pasqueflowers are truly a welcome sight when they first appear in the foothills during late March, for they indicate the arrival of Spring.  Pushing their purple, tulip-like blooms through the brown expanse of a winter meadow before any other plants appear - and long before even their own leaves venture forth, pasqueflowers evoke courage, stamina and beauty.  

Several adaptations allow these members of the buttercup family to appear so early in the season.  A hollow stem enables each flower to concentrate its own metabolic heat, thereby helping warm the plant during the chill of a March day.  In addition, thick, fuzzy hairs help conserve added heat when winds would suck it all away.  Whenever clouds arrive or the sun begins to set, each flower closes its petals - crocus-like - thereby providing added warmth and creating protection against the sudden rain and snow so typical of early Spring. Finally, pasqueflower blooms have a tendency to follow the sun throughout the day, thus contributing additional heat, making them an attractive shelter for a whole host of insects.

Mirroring our own inner life, pasqueflowers teach us to bloom courageously even when everything around us seems dead, wintry, and devoid of inspiration.  They also instruct us to concentrate our spiritual creativity and energy rather than dissipate ourselves across a welter of external distractions.  Embodying an introversion that puts each of us in touch with the Divine Sun, pasqueflowers offer important lessons that can offer an important antidote to the hectic busyness of our life in society.

Photo: A pasqueflower glows in last light, Lory State Park, CO, March 19, 2012

The natural and common is more truly marvelous and mysterious than the so-called supernatural.

"The natural and common is more truly marvelous and mysterious than the so-called supernatural.  Indeed most of the miracles we hear of are infinitely less wonderful than the commonest of natural phenomena, when fairly seen."

The Contemplative John Muir, p. 257

Photo: Yellow Violet, Lory State Park, CO, March 26, 2012.  If you are interested in my new book, "The Contemplative John Muir," go to http://www.lulu.com/shop/stephen-hatch/the-contemplative-john-muir/paperback/product-18858846.html .

Society is like a bland paste that is constantly stirred, thus rendering the crystallization of individual character more difficult.

"Many come to the mountains for the very purpose of escaping from bondage. There are ropes enough in civilization.  It seems one of the gravest faults of civilized life that uniformity prevents separate development.  The body politic, though at best like a family or composite plant, is beaten into a kind of paste and constantly stirred, thus rendering perfect crystallization of individual character difficult or next to impossible; one is developed only in a special direction like a tree that receives sunshine only on one side."

The Contemplative John Muir, p. 211

Photo: Snowbank and ridge above Montgomery Pass, Medicine Bow Range, CO, March 16, 2012.  If you are interested in checking out my new book - "The Contemplative John Muir - go to http://www.lulu.com/shop/stephen-hatch/the-contemplative-john-muir/paperback/product-18858846.html .

We work too much and rest too little.

 

"The regular tourist, ever on the flow, is one of the most characteristic productions of the present century.  They are a most hopeful and significant sign of the times, indicating at least the beginning of our return to nature.  We work too much and rest too little.  You cannot leave your business?  Yes, but you WILL leave it.  Killed by overwork, you will end up in the hearse of the jolly undertaker."

The Contemplative John Muir, p. 213

Photo: Copeland Lake with Copeland Mountain, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, March 24, 2012. If you are interested in checking out my new book, "The Contemplative John Muir," go to

http://www.lulu.com/shop/stephen-hatch/the-contemplative-john-muir/paperback/product-18858846.html

When true simplicity is gained, to bow and to bend we shall not be ashamed.

 

When true simplicity is gained,

To bow and to bend we shall not be ashamed;

To turn, turn, will be our delight,

'Til by turning, turning, we come 'round right.

From the Shaker hymn "Simple Gifts," written by Elder Joseph Brackett in 1848 in Alfred, Maine

Photo: Snag with Comanche Peak from the West Ridge in Lory State Park, CO, March 22, 2012

The whole material world seems to be fairyland, enchanted rainbowland.

 

"The whole material world is seen to be Spirit, in life-foundation and essence.  All seems fairyland, enchanted rainbowland."

The Contemplative John Muir, p. 81.

Photo: Evening light on the east face of Long's Peak, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, March 23, 2012

Sensitivity is Sacred

Without a tender, sensitive heart, 

one could never know awe and wonder.

Photo: A tender Spring-beauty blooms in Lory State Park, CO, March 21, 2012

The landscape is like a noble human face glowing with divine peace and joy.

 

"Every day opens and closes like a flower, noiseless, effortless.  Divine peace glows on all the majestic landscape like the silent enthusiastic joy that sometimes transfigures a noble human face."

The Contemplative John Muir, p. 186

Photo: Last light glows from a pasqueflower, Lory State Park, CO, March 21, 2012.  If you are interested in obtaining a copy of my book. "The Contemplative John Muir," please go here.

I shall be beautiful while the earth lasts.

 

"I, Sarah Winnemucca, am a shell-flower, such as I wear on my dress.  My name is Thocmetony.  I am so beautiful!  Who will come and dance with me while I am so beautiful?  Oh, come and be happy with me!  I shall be beautiful while the earth lasts."

Sarah Winnemucca,

19th century Paiute activist

I love the unabashed self-confidence expressed in this statement, as well as the fact that Winnemucca connects her beauty to that of the Earth.

Photo: A pasqueflower glows in last light, Lory State Park, CO, March 21, 2012

The chance to find a pasque-flower is a right as inalienable as free speech.

 

"Wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them.  Now we face the question whether a still higher 'standard of living' is worth its cost in things natural, wild, and free.  For us . . . , the opportunity to see wild geese is more important than television, and the chance to find a pasque-flower is a right as inalienable as free speech."

Aldo Leopold, 1949

Photo: The first foothills pasqueflowers of the season!  Young Gulch, Roosevelt National Forest, CO, March 20, 2012

Behold, my brothers, the spring has come. The earth has received the embrace of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of that love!

 

"Behold, my brothers, the spring has come, 

The earth has received the embrace of the sun

And we shall soon see the results of that love!

Every seed is awakened and so has all animal life.

It is through this mysterious power that we too have our being

And we therefore yield to our neighbors . . .

The same rights as ourselves, to inhabit this land."

Sitting Bull

Hunkpapa Lakota Chief

Photo: New leaves appear on a cottonwood tree, Mary Jane Canyon, near Moab, UT, April 17, 2011