For LoJardinier

Here Bella is harvesting--and learning about--the fruits of the Chinese dogwood, a popular ornamental tree in Portland. I explained that the fruits grow up in the trees--these are just ones that have fallen to the ground. We could see some of them still hanging from the branches. She was entranced by them. We came home, checked the internet to be sure it is OK to eat them, and then tasted a couple. Bland and mealy. Maybe if we could have reached some of those up high in the branches, they might have been tastier than the ones we picked up off the ground.

This Blip is for LoJardinier, whose new Blip journal and year-old blog celebrate his delight in the plants that surround him in the Languedoc region of southern France. His attention to the botany as well as the human culture of wildflowers and weeds has opened my eyes, and as I watch Bella discover the world around her, I see that she has that same joy that I see and read in him.

I am very grateful for the hearts, stars, and comments on Margie's hands and on Cannon Beach. Thank you. I love being here--here meaning on this planet so full of wonders and beings, and also on this website where people are wonderfully articulate in their support of each other and their admiration for each other's words and images. No comments necessary. Just a moment of pleasure and a memory, perhaps, of when we were all close to the earth and alert to everything we saw there.