Joanne Mason Photography

Ritva’s challenge this week is “Quiet Moments.” We all need moments of quiet reflection, meditation. For me, this always means nature. As in the above featured image. (Greenwich’s Bruce Park in the Spring). What could be more tranquil than sitting under such glorious spring colors at the side of a quiet lake? Tranquility is important.

The quieter you become, the more you can hear.
– Ram Dass

Like contemplating an early morning in the Blue Ridge, when the hills are draped in the white softness of the clouds.

The contemplative and quiet joy of nature is often reflected in music. Such as the opening movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 – “The Pastoral Symphony” – Describing “The feelings of joy upon arriving in the country.” Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/track/0pJ8Do8Bw0m3s1YfWpwY0v

In the Southwest, one becomes enveloped by the silence of the high desert.
As in this scene of the Painted Desert.

Or in the quiet nature of the New England Autumn.

And,

And the quiet restfulness of a New England Cemetery.

And, finally, lines from Mary Oliver’s,”The Summer Day.”

I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?

Thanks to Ritva for the inspiring challenge this week.