Half a Life

If you truly love Nature, you will find beauty everywhere.  

~ Vincent Van Gogh

The flower stood proud at Lottie’s feet quivering at the edge of the freshly mowed lawn. The sun was beating down on her shoulders and she knew her skin would soon be golden. She licked her lips tasting the remnants of lemonade her mother had made for her.

She could hear the children in her neighbours garden squeal with delight as they jumped over the garden sprinkler in their swimming costumes. As Lottie brushed her bare toes over the soft petals she captured the moment in her mind’s eye. This was what summer felt like.

But as she crouched down to pick up the red flower she noticed it was withering away. Was it the heat? Or was it just coming to end of its life? She pulled off the thin scarf shading her face from the sun and ran her hand over her smooth head. Lottie wanted this little red flower, the name of which she didn’t know, but somehow she knew she wouldn’t take it back inside with her. Instead a smile formed on her lips knowing that she wasn’t the only one anymore.

About the photo: In trying to capture all that is perfect, we sometimes forget that damaged has its own beauty. Following the heatwave in September 2011, this flower is half dead but yet it manages to express that it has lived a full life.

Sweet Pea

The rain thundered down on the skylight in her bedroom and it frightened her. Carole had never grown out of it: the fear that crippled her every time she heard thunder. Patrick used to tease her about it and she hated him for it, but at least he was there then. Now she was alone.

At some point during that night she fell into a deep slumber and she rose with dawn. Putting the kettle on, she made herself a cup of tea wrapping her dressing gown tightly around her. She stood sipping from her mug at the French doors looking at the garden Patrick had once tended too. It was now overgrown and wild. But something caught her eye.

She found something for her feet and gently opened the glass doors. Water seeped up from the grass into her slippers but she wasn’t aware. She carried on walking into the thick undergrowth until she found what she was looking for. There it was amidst the wild flower - a Sweet Pea. So precious - it looked tranquil in the still of the morning, the rain from last night still on its petals. Carole bent down towards the flower and smelled its sweet aroma and smiled. Because she knew now that Patrick was still with her.

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.  
~ Albert Einstein

About the photo: I took this photo to capture the freshness of the flower with the morning dew still covering it. It was shot in Ronda, Spain in December 2010.