Faith
is the instructor.
We need no other.Guess what I am,
he says in his
incomparably lovelyyoung-man voice.
Because I love the world,
I think of grass,I think of leaves
and the bold sun,
I think of the rushesin the black marshes
just coming back
from under the pure whiteand now finally melting
stubs of snow.
Whatever we know or don’t knowleads us to say;
Teacher, what do you mean?
But faith is still there, and silent.Then he who owns
the incomparable voice
suddenly flows upwardand out of the room
and I follow,
obedient and happy.Of course I am thinking
the Lord was once young
and will never in fact be old.And who else could this be, who goes off
down the green path
carrying his sandals, and singing?
“Spring” ~ by Mary Oliver
Lagniappe 
What a lovely, joy-inspiring sight!
That’s what I hoped people would see, Ann. I’m glad you did!
Faith is such an inscrutable concept. Can people have faith in faith? Can they have faith in reason? Can they reason their way to faith? It’s easy to have faith that the wildflowers will return each spring.
Well, there is that huisache that seems a little slow to return, but I have faith it will be back next year, or the next. As for your questions, they made me smile; they reminded me of a question I asked some time back — can a shadow have a shadow?
If you can figure out how to hear the sound of one hand clapping you’ll no doubt be able to answer that question.
That is beautiful writing by Mary Oliver, Linda, and a lovely, joyous photo from you.
Mary Oliver’s always a good choice for a holy day, or for any ordinary day, for that matter. I’m glad you enjoyed the image and her words.
I’ve been reading Mary Oliver’s book, “Upstream,” Linda, and really enjoying it. –Curt
I’ve always enjoyed her poetry, but I was even more taken by Upstream, if that’s possible. It doesn’t surprise me that you’ve enjoyed it, too. She’s quite the writer, even in prose.
Yes she is, Linda. And I found that her skipping school and slipping off to the woods with a bag of books to be quite appealing.
We know how to choose our role models!
Yes. I started out with Natty Bumpo, Robinhood, and Tarzan. Less literary, perhaps, but outdoorsy.
Also, Happy Easter from Peggy and me!
And to you two!
What a lovely Easter spread. Thank you and Happy Easter.
Easter lilies always make me sneeze, but these have no ill effects that I know of — and they smell better, too! Happy Easter to you!
Absolutely glorious. And Mary Oliver too – what a feast!
I know you’re a fan of her writing. I thought this was perfect for the day. Happy Easter!
So lovely, Linda. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Becky. I hope your day is equally lovely, and filled with color.
A lovely poem to accompany a beautiful sea of color. It is an exquisite photograph.
So far, this is the only field of mixed flowers I’ve found this year, but I was glad to be able to feature it today. I’m sure there will be more, with a little more time for the flowers to develop, and for me to find them.
Lovely meadow photograph and poem
Thanks, Derrick. I thought they paired well, although I’ve learned to keep my shoes on in fields like that!
These flower colours are a dream! Thank you Linda.
I hope folks will click on the photo to view the full-size image, it’s gorgeous.
Bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, coreopsis of two kinds, and toadflax — with just very few wine cups mixed in. Glorious, indeed!
Oooh, thanks for all the names. Wine cups! –a visual feast with wine cups. Delightful!
Happy Easter Linda!
A blessed Easter to you, Nancy! The world is waking up, in many ways!
Happy Easter, Linda!
Happy Easter to you, GP. We have a few clouds, but they’re not stopping the sunrise.
Beautiful scene and poetry. That field makes me wonder what the Impressionists could’ve painted, of they’d been hanging around Paris, TX.
Paris, Texas does have an Eiffel Tower of its own, so they could have painted that. It does have a cowboy hat on top which might not have been as humorous to them as it is to us. Your thoughts of the Impressionists is apropos. I started thinking about the same crew when I got out among the flowers, and my next post on The Task at Hand is going to be related.
great picture of the bluebonnets, coreopsis, and indian paintbrush. the paintbrush and evening primrose have just exploded out here. so pretty. I was in your neck of the woods yesterday in Kemah. husband’s youngest full brother turning 60 (and not happy about it), there was a party (outdoors).
I noticed this weekend that the primrose seem to have finally gotten excited about blooming. I was a little farther south this weekend, and the greenthread has just exploded — white prickly poppies, too. Fun that you were in the area yesterday, although I hope someone told that 60 year old he’s just a baby! I hope you had good weather. When I left, things were cloudy but sunshine finally showed up.
Happy Easter
That field almost looks like lines on a tie-dye shirt…or beach blanket…or children getting lined up and organized for a parade
That last verse is such a strong familiar image – just perfect.
Hope your day is picture perfect
Happy Easter Monday! I like all of your images. I started trying to remember the last time I saw a tie-dyed tee, and can’t. I need to spend more time on the Strand or in surf shops, I guess. It didn’t occur to me until just now that one reason the image may be so appealing is that it’s a combination of the three primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. My earliest school memories involve those colors; they were on our kindergarten wooden chairs, and of course they were in little jars at the fingerpaint easel. Remember the smell of those paints? They’re as memorable as the scent of bluebonnets.
Seems we were the most lucky of generations. The kids now have missed so much being shut out – and even before covid school, well, it’s not what it was.
Thanks for the memories. Always a good song and always good to start the day with a song.
Oh forgot yesterday to mention Sr. Staff loved the name of this blog – I share posts all the time but he noticed the name and smiled at knowing it was Twain. He said he hadn’t heard that phrase in a long time – common in Louisiana, which is so closely tied to here
Tell him I’m grinning, and tell him my lagniappe this weekend was a personal tutorial on Thai spices and pronunciation. Let’s see how well you know your Texas. Where would I have found Pho, bait, and beer? I post about it eventually, but I’ll be you can figure it out. Pho’s common enough in Houston, but Pho/bait combo? Not so much.
Got a hunch!
I’d put a latte on you being right, too.
Thanks, Linda, for the picture and the inspiring poem, and a Happy Easter to you,
Pit
I saw over at John’s that you were out and about over the weekend. I hope it was a happy Easter, and that you enjoyed yourselves!
A field of blooming wildflowers does strengthen one’s belief that there is something good out there.
I’d say it’s proof positive — not unlike the greening up of a garden. That’s why places like Lurie are so important. People who don’t have land for gardens and who can’t find easy ways to get out of town need reminders of beauty, too.
Happy Easter, Linda — and thank you for the gift of this lovely photo and Mary’s poem!
Happy Easter Monday, Debbie! I hope you had a happy first Easter with Sully. Just don’t let him bite the ears off any chocolate rabbits that are hopping around!
The perfect marriage of words and image. I hope your Easter was lovely! I celebrated by not turning on the computer!
That sounds like a good way to celebrate. Why waste time online when there are eggs to dye and paint? Or meals to share? Little by little, normalcy is returning — even our frozen world has come back to life!
Beautiful post Linda and love the flowers. Happy Easter.
Happy Easter to you, Margaret. There’s nothing like pretty flowers to turn any day into a celebration, and these certainly made Easter even more special.
This image certainly sings for all to hear and so do the words from Mary Oliver that you chose to pair.
Well, I missed this post when a “Happy Easter” would have been appropriate but I hope that you enjoyed yours belatedly.
Actually, “Happy Easter” still is appropriate. Just as there are twelve days of Christmas, there are fifty days in the Easter season. In the Church, both holidays are seasons rather than days — although The Great Feast of the Chocolate Rabbit is blessedly only one or two days, or until the basket is empty!
It certainly still feels like a feast around here, although it’s focused on flowers rather than chocolate. Things are happening so quickly now, it’s hard to keep up; you surely know something about that.
I sure do. Having a day job does make it more difficult.
How lovely. I hope you had a good Easter.xxx
I did, Dina. I enjoyed a little travel, a good Vietnamese meal, and plenty of flowers and sunshine — a perfect day.