To Stop, To Breathe, To Listen

Spring is passing as quickly as it came and everyday I panic that I'm missing it, that I'm not paying close enough attention, that this is the last time there will ever be this spring, this flower, this sky, this particular green grass thriving once again through the cracks in the sidewalk, the little bits of ground between the bricks on the patio and my back door.

I worry about all this and then I worry about the worrying and then spring is gone, gone, gone away, just like the moment calling me to stop, to breathe, to listen.  The only thing that helps is grabbing my camera on my way out the door and taking time to notice the flowers, to lean in to this very second, before it's too late.

+++++++++++++++++++++

What lovely bit of new life are you noticing this spring?  Let's gather up the goodness of this season before it passes.  Show us what's blooming wherever you live and your images will remind us that everything we need is always right here, right now, in this one perfect moment.

Comments

[Mod Girl]

Green grass with the softness of baby birds.

http://modobjectathome.blogspot.com/2009/04/soft.html

[Toni | DailyVignette]

In honor of today, Earth Day 2009:

http://dailyvignette.com/2009/04/22/renewal/

Although not quite in bloom yet, still beautiful:

http://dailyvignette.com/2009/04/21/lilac-love/

[Sue Henry]

http://suehenryphotography.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/uncurling/

http://suehenryphotography.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/beauty/

http://suehenryphotography.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/1020/

http://suehenryphotography.wordpress.com/2009/03/21/and-dances-with-the-daffodils/

[Melissa]

This tree started out like this...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mollymelly/3313689933/
and now looks like this...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mollymelly/3440029764/

Happy Earth Day 2009!

[sandra]

color and more color.....it's everywhere right now :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/myinspiredheart/3464906271/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/myinspiredheart/3464740293/

[Martha]

photo in honor of Earth Day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14756941@N08/3464009049/

[spread your wings]

this time of year is fascinating to me

http://www.flickr.com/photos/autumnsun/3459215591/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/autumnsun/3455331507/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/autumnsun/3456149652/

[Liz W]

So much beautiful spring action here in Georgia!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ewhitaker/3341930991/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ewhitaker/3367236452/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ewhitaker/3411014966/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ewhitaker/3315462502/

[erin vey]

I drive past this tree every day. It makes me happy. Yesterday I decided to walk down the road and spend some time with it. Now, it makes me even happier.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinvey/3463853490/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinvey/3463877338/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinvey/3463704115/in/photostream/

[Heather]

I would post photos, but too busy mourning the fact that it SNOWED LAST NIGHT.

*sob*

:)

[Wayfaring Wanderer]

Getting back to nature is how I am enjoying spring too!

~WW
http://www.wayfaringwanderer.com/2009/04/gentry-creek-falls.html

[Kelly]

I've had to learn to let go this spring, to be okay with not capturing every moment, every blossom, every play of light. It's like giving myself permission to *live*, instead of constantly chasing the image, storing my treasure in something more eternal than what I can hold onto here.

Here is this morning's capture - shot early so that I can finish what I need to finish before my midwife appt. this afternoon - http://kellysphotographyblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/108365-april-mornings-sparkle.html

[Jen]

I know what you mean. I ran out of film this morning before I could get one more shot. But here are a few:

http://americana.visualblogging.com/galleries/11454_1807447140/68593

[GayleV]

I have really been trying to stop, breathe, and listen to all the beautiful things around me this spring. Here are a few of my recent favorites.

http://momandcamera.blogspot.com/2009/04/trees-are-blooming-and-bees-are-buzzing.html
http://momandcamera.blogspot.com/2009/04/in-color.html

[Andrea]

Living in New Mexico has meant a much earlier Spring than when we were living in Vermont! And I will gladly take it. I love feeling alive again.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sgtandmrshub/3388390731/

-Andrea

[Kristin]

Spring has been quite lovely this year! Today, though, its in the 40s and cold! Brrrr.... I have gotten lots of spring blooms photographed to capture the warmth of the season.

www.flickr.com/photos/khrystyn22

www.hellosweetworld.wordpress.com

[Tracy]

I know what you mean. I'm so busy that I feel like I'm missing out too! Here's a capture from a brief walk the other day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31417716@N00/3464971115/

[Anna/NotAnna]

We are in high caterpiller season in NC. My oldest is a great friend of all little crawlies, so we occasionally keep a couple in a jar for a few hours. She goes all out with the amenities and is showing her little sister the ways of the callerpitter whisperer...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31866449@N04/3451012143/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31866449@N04/3451039485/

[Kristen]

I just love your posts, I read your blog everyday. You inspire me...

http://beatyfamilyof4.blogspot.com/2009/04/beauty-in-every-day.html

[summer]

the sun has only just come out here so it has felt like Spring has been slowly creeping up rather than bursting out like it has in the past. I don't have any nature shots but I took this one of my daughter yesterday that to me screams of spring in my rainy city.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sufferingsummer/3463285847/

[Charlane]

spring is magic for me because I love all of the little details - the unfurling and uncurling.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/charlaneg/3449648115/

[HappyHourMom]

I have been greeting these new flowers for the last few mornings as I water them on my front porch.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/happyhourmom/3466017006/

Good Morning Mother Earth!

[Elizabeth Harper]

My new way of telling time....

http://giftsofthejourney.wordpress.com/2009/04/22/telling-time-with-dandelion-clocks/

[s]

These little beauties made me feel so happy when I spotted them. Winter really IS coming to an end!


http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandis_art/3465250809/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandis_art/3466065818/

[Mariella]

I have been finding myself pausing a lot, embracing and soaking it all in -- so fantastic!! xoxo, ~ M.

[Diane Schuller]

Spring is barely here yet since the snow is mostly melted (though it is snowing today). Our spring is VERY short but I don't panic, I just anticipate anxiously for its arrival and then savour it for the very short time it is here. Since we have nothing yet blooming or budding, not even grass, I'll have to share one of my spring photos from last year. It's what we do up here :) Enjoy

HAPPY EARTH DAY!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27458974@N00/3465723970/

[mrs. e]

Spring at last.
http://erickfam.blogspot.com/2009/04/at-last.html

[Georgia]

stunning macro shot with wonderful color!

here is my bloom—also a macro.
i think it's called a scilia?
http://itsjusthowiseethings.blogspot.com/2009/04/macro-monday.html

[Elaina Avalos]

The apple trees in my Grandma's yard are now in bloom:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/elainamarie/3466259756/

[Heather]

"to lean in to this very second" --never a more apt way to describe the very moment before you.... lovely words
This spring seems to be unfolding ever so slowly. Here are my favorite tulips just after the rain...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/heather_kennedy/3465858958/

[Lisa Ceaser]

I couldn't have said it better myself. Everything seems to go by so quickly these days.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/star8278/3461542352/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/star8278/3460704479/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/star8278/3461501456/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/star8278/3460680211/

[Marcie]

I know exactly what you mean. Blink - and spring will be behind us. I had to go out in the rain yesterday..afraid I might miss THIS moment:
http://www.marciescudderphotography.com/index.php?showimage=757

[Sarah]

Shyly delurking...
Here's a blog entry full of pics of Spring in bloom in our lovey Pacific NW...

http://sarahmfreeman2.blogspot.com/2009/04/spring-morning.html

[Alejandra]

Beautiful post.

Here's my contribution:
http://fotografias-fotografias.blogspot.com/2009/03/spring-fever.html

[Karyn]

It's been good lately.

These little baby birds in my friends door wreath
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kayak57/3465884306/in/set-72157614913285577/

and I LOVE these wildflowers
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kayak57/3455925073

more than the bluebonnets (shhh, don't tell the Texans)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kayak57/3446942241

[brittany]

in florida, spring is about going to the beach on a nice day for five minutes without having to put on sunblock!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sivyerfamily/3454253234/

[shelli - mama of letters]

This is an easy one! I've got lots of flower pics right now. :-)


http://www.mamaofletters.com/Site/The_Focal_Point/Entries/2009/4/21_Wild_Flower.html

[Kathleen O./ko2008]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ko2008/3386347578/in/set-72157615736375487/

Happy Spring! Happy Earth Day!

[Gayle]

I love this post, Jen!

http://planetmfiles.com/2009/04/22/whats-blooming/

[Belinda]

I'm really looking forward to looking at everyone's visions of spring, but for the time being here is mine. Nothing fancy, practically straight out of camera apart from resizing in P/S and all taken in my back garden.

http://selfsufficiencygirl.blogspot.com/2009/04/summation-of-my-spring-so-far.html

(non-squished version: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3525/3465950983_596c97baa8_b.jpg)

[Belinda]

Sorry, the link to the larger image was wrong due to a misplaced bracket:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3525/3465950983_596c97baa8_b.jpg

[Crystal]

azaleas in memphis

http://www.flickr.com/photos/krstlchik/3408296274/

[Alicia]

Just wrote about Spring yesterday...

http://aliandsethinthecity.blogspot.com/2009/04/all-of-sudden-day.html

[Puna]

I loved going through these photos. They are so beautiful! Such inspiration!

Here's mine of the same bloom taken over a period of a couple of weeks. I've been "obsessed" with my tree.

http://lifesignatures.wordpress.com/2009/04/22/time-passages/

[hi kooky]

Spring - how I love ya.

http://hikooky.blogspot.com/2009/04/close.html

[Kacey]

Earlier this month my husband and I had a breakfast shootout, enjoying the early spring scene while sipping our morning coffee.

http://www.wineonthekeyboard.com/2009/04/05/breakfast-shootout/

[Beatriz Kim]

Spring came early in the San Francisco Bay Area. Right now it's in the 80's and it feels more like summer. But I took a few shots before spring vanished.

This picture is actually a bush, but I took a close up and now it looks like wildflowers.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/artbybeatriz/3464287513/in/set-72157617070698549/

This is the tree right below my patio. I love watching how it changes with the seasons.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/artbybeatriz/3465103484/in/set-72157617070659713/

These dragon snaps are a nostalgic reminder of the days when I lived on a flower farm.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/artbybeatriz/3465103186/in/set-72157617070659713/

Thank you for this post. Sometimes I need a reminder to look at the small joys in my life!

[Jen]

Rhubarb!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/enniferj8/3460883091/

[Liz]

I took a stroll in our local arboretum over the weekend, it was the first day that really looked and felt like Spring around here. Plus, it was a three-day weekend - bonus!

http://inventingliz.blogspot.com/2009/04/bonus-day.html

A few things were not quite blooming, but I caught one gorgeous blossom:

http://inventingliz.blogspot.com/2009/04/blossom.html

Enjoy!

[Puna]

I just looked through all the photos again - with a glass of wine - and I'm so glad to be surrounded by so much beauty! Happy spring!