Following My Intuition

When I was at Amma’s Amritapuri ashram in India last fall, I took a Tai Chi class for the first time. I fell totally in love with it. My top priority on returning to Seattle was to find a Tai Chi teacher. Within a short period of time, I found Viola Brumbaugh. She was exactly the type of teacher I was looking for. I immediately enrolled in her classes, and started attending them two times a week.

My joy was short-lived though. I had returned to Seattle in mid-January and in mid-February I hurt my back doing litter pick-up without using a litter pick-up tool. I have congenital spondylolithesis and scoliosis and have had problems with my back throughout my life.

In the past when my back pain has flared, it has only lasted two or three weeks at the most. This time, month after month went by and I was still unable to stand in one place or sit for very long. Driving was and is particularly uncomfortable. There has also been more nerve involvement than I have had during previous flare ups.

About a week ago, I sensed that I had reached a point where I could start doing Tai Chi again. It seemed like the classes might even promote my healing. So on Tuesday, even though I was still have problem standing in place, sitting and driving, I returned to class!

My intuition seems to be right. I’ve been to two classes now and have had no negative side effects. If anything, I feel better! And I am so happy to be learning Tai Chi once again.

One of the fantastic things about attending the class at this time of year, is that it is held in Lincoln Park, a large beautiful park in West Seattle. In addition to the joy of participating in this blessed practice under the huge trees, being there has given me the opportunity to take more tree photos. I took close ups of the tree below on Tuesday.

After taking the pictures, I ran my hand along the trunk to see if there were any loose pieces of bark. I took home a small piece of bark and something I am calling “orange plant debris” that was hanging on the tree. If you know what it is, please tell me!

Today I looked at those items under the microscope and took more photos!

Bark

Orange plant debris

Slugs are NOT Always Slow!

A few days ago, I decided to take microscopic photos of a slug. That was the only live creature I could think of that would move slow enough to allow me to get some good shots.

I soon discovered that slugs are able to move way faster than I thought. In fact, I had to bring it back to the microscope’s field three times in order to take these photos. The pictures are not as clear as I had hoped they would be, but that’s not surprising since my subject was in motion!

Written for Senior Salon at Haddon Musings

Wordless Wednesday

(Click on individual galleries for closer view)

Weekly Photo Challenge: Narrow

This week’s Weekly Photo Challenge reminded me of a microscopic photo I took yesterday. It is a picture of an avocado but it looks a bit like a pastry to me; one with a (narrow) crust covered by a (narrow) layer of chocolate!

avocado

What’s Your Guess?

I thought it would be fun to show readers a variety of microscopic pictures I’ve been taking and see if you can identify what they are. Make a list and compare your answers with the key at the end.

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scroll down for the answers

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keep going

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Answer key

gold sari fabric
crook neck squash
blue microfiber cloth
red strawberry- the small variety
white strawberry- the small variety
Black Eyed Susan flower petal
avocado
dragon fly wing
slug

How did you do? I’d love to hear in the comments below.

I have many photos of the slug, the dragon fly and the avocado and will share them in future posts. I found the dragon fly dead on my rug but the slug was alive. I had no idea how fast slugs could move. It was pretty funny trying to get pictures of it!

Here is a photo of several of the items on this list.

Adding a New Dimension to My Blog

I’ve been very eagerly awaiting the day that I could write this post. I’m so happy that time has come!

Those of you who have been following me for a while know that it is not unusual for me to take photos of flowers, plants, trees, etc. and display them in a way where readers can get a closer and closer view. For example:

Some back story before I go on.

When I was a child I had a microscope. I loved exploring the microscopic world. A few months ago, I started thinking about that experience. It occurred to me that it would be fun to buy another microscope at some point. Perhaps it would be a retirement activity.

Then two weeks ago, I realized that I could add microscopic images to the nature closeup photos I post. I talked to a friend who is a scientist and he suggested I buy a dissecting microscope. That seemed a perfect way to meet my current goal.

The microscope arrived last week and today I received the adapter I ordered. The adapter connects my iPhone to the microscope’s eyeglass.

The photos I am about to share are of the maroon pod that you can see in the three pictures at the beginning of this post.

As I looked at the first microscopic photos I took , they seemed so flat compared to the beautiful 3 D sights I was seeing when I looked directly into the microscope. When I transferred the photos to the laptop, though, the depth was much more visible.

While this adapter will probably never allow me to get a picture that matches the level of glory I see in the microscope, they definitely relay the amazing beauty and a lot of the intricacy. I think they are beautiful.

The photos above are of the outside of the pod. Those below show what it looks like on the inside.

Welcome to my new adventure!

Wordless Wednesday

A Will to Live

In the summer of 2013, I bought a small lemon tree. There were several lemons on it when I purchased the tree and I had visions of all of the lemons that were to come. The nursery staff told me to bring the tree into the house before the temperatures dropped, so as winter neared I put it indoors. One by one, the beautiful lemons turned black and fell off. Then most of the leaves fell off. Soon there was nothing left but the trunk (if you can call something that small a trunk) and a few leaves.

Spring 2014 came and nothing happened. The same few leaves stayed on, but there were no new ones and there were no flower buds. I took the plant to a nursery to see if it was possible to save it. They instructed me to use a particular kind of fertilizer. Months later there was still no new growth. It wasn’t until late August that a few flower buds formed. The plant was still alive but it seemed too late in the season for any fruit that formed to grow to maturity.

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As it started to get cold, I once again brought the tree into the house. And again, the few small lemons that were on the tree turned black and fell off. This time the rest of the leaves fell off as well. I decided to leave the tree in the house even though it was just a stalk.

Sometime in late winter 2015, I concluded that the situation was hopeless and put the tree outside on the balcony. My plan was to compost it in the springtime. However, when springtime came and I picked up the container to take it to the compost heap, I noticed many tiny leaves were beginning to form! (Note: The big leaves at the top the photo below are from another tree.)

The lemon tree seemed determined to live. Over the next weeks, the leaves grew and a flower bud formed and then blossomed!

Once again, it produced no fruit.

Later in the year, as the weather got colder, I decided to leave the small tree outside rather than bring it into the house as had been my practice. The leaves stayed on throughout the winter of 2016. When spring came there were no buds, but the tree was definitely alive.

In late May, I decided to try something else. I made a mount out of new top soil in the back yard and planted the tree in the middle of it. Around it I planted a circle of beets, a circle of carrots and a circle of lettuce. I had the image of the vegetable plants worshiping the lemon tree.

None of the seeds even sprouted; I probably had planted them too late in the year, or maybe I didn’t water them enough. The tree developed no blossoms or flowers but over time there were more leaves.

Next spring, I will take more care in preparing the soil, and will then plant the vegetable seeds around the tree once again. I’m excited to see if my vision of the lemon tree being surrounded by an abundance of vegetable plants will become a reality.

This lemon tree seems to have a will to live. As long as that continues, I will be here to support it in any way I can!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Cherry on Top

In the empty lot behind my house there is a four-foot-high mound of yard waste. When I walked down the hill into that lot yesterday, I discovered that mound, and most of the property, is now covered by morning glory vines. I was even more surprised to see two dahlia plants coming out of the top of the mound!

Seeing the flowers reminded me of this week’s Weekly Photo Challenge: Cherry on Top. The directions: “This week, share a photo of a detail that makes a good thing even better.” The mound of yard waste is turning into compost, so that is a good thing. And seeing the dahlia plants growing from the top of the yard-waste was like seeing a cherry on top of an ice cream sundae!