“Beauty is a promise dressing the ordinary in splendor,
twisting the light to splash our hearts with smiles.”
Dartwill Aquila
“We must lift our eyes beyond the circumstances of our surroundings
and see the gift of possibilities in the outstretched hand of the future.”
Dartwill Aquila
“Beauty is a promise of adventure
on the tide of light rolling over the horizon of our ambitions.”
Dartwill Aquila
A garden troll by the Swiss artist Barbara Suter
Nirati is the goddess of weeds. She says that many of what humans call weeds are nature’s favorite children. She also told me what nature calls humans, but as I’m a gentleman, I won’t repeat what she said.
(Picture and text from System Humanity by Joel Miller)
This ”weed” has many common names such as Fireweed and Willowherb and is related to the sunflower family. It is usually portrayed in its flowering form, but beautifies its surroundings in every stage of its existence. Every part can by used from its roots to its silk-like seed capsules, which, by the way, can be woven into the most exquisite (but commercially impractical) cloth.
Fireweed is a pioneer species, often the first to colonize impoverished areas preparing the way for other vegetation. The early plant can enhance salads and the mature stem can be pealed and eaten raw. Besides being a rich souce of vitamins A and C it possesses extensive medical applications for both internal disorders and on open sores.
Its leaves are fascinating because the veins do not end at the leaf edge, but loop back in a circular fashion. No other plant exhibits this pattern. Fireweed seems to be a special gift to nature.
(See tomorrow’s Nirati on Weeds!)
Perhaps it’s just as well that you glance at beauty and continue on your way. If you stop and allow it to sink into your soul, it can excite your heart. Your blood may start to sing in harmony with its hypnotic dance. Before you know it, life’s secrets will light up corners of your being and you will fear exploding with gratitude.
“Beware of beauty. It can overdose your soul with nourishment.”
Dartwill Aquila
The blueberry leaves seem obsessed with celebrating the passion of life as winter approaches. Or are they thanking the white moss that supports them so well. The sun, moved by their intensity, breaks through a cloud, caresses them with warmth and kisses them with light.
“Life rewards its champions with beauty. Beauty thanks life with joy.”
Dartwill Aquila
“Communication is the art of placing a star from the speaker into the heaven of the listener.”
Dartwill Aquila
DAWN (by Paul Laurence Dunbar)
An angel, robed in spotless white,
Bent down and kissed the sleeping Night.
Night woke to blush; the sprite was gone.
Men saw the blush and called it Dawn.
Racists have no God.
If they did, they couldn’t be racists.
God is for everyone.
Even atheists know that.
So who is this god the racists believe in?
An old-fashion mythological deity who plays favorites
and then messes everything up.
The racist is out of time, out of touch
and spiritually feeble.
Luckily for them, God is forgiving and merciful.
Most of the time.
“The differences between people are the spices in a stew of similarity.”
Dartwill Aquila
System Humanity 