Go touch some grass 🍃

A moment of stillness within the grass

It's a lovely Friday morning. Cool, no sign of heavy rain or (too severe) sleep deprivation. I ate toast with honey for breakfast and I was wide awake.

For the first time in forever, I decided to get out of my house to take a walk.

Nothing fancy or extravagant. Just enjoy the quiet while the sun is rising. Feel the wind—more green and less blue light.

Garden shaded in blue shadows

Every weekend, my dad and I would walk this particular route to get some exercise in. Now that I’m alone, the morning calm showed things I haven’t noticed before.

For example, I noticed how big some trees are. As large as they are, I’m not intimidated by them; far from it.

They’re friendly. They’re beautiful. They’re impressive.

Their branches twist and turn with personality. Overgrown and messy. While dangerous, I never felt like any of them would drop on me. I want to draw trees like that, bursting with character and texture.

A majestic tree

Afternoon sunlight is a white light that saturates colour, while evening sunlight is orange, sometimes red.

Morning sunlight, therefore, is in between, bright with a slightly warm tint. The world breathes when the light shines. It reminded me of the Biblical passage, Isaiah 43: 18-19.

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

Did I take this out of context? Yes, obviously. Do I know the context? No, obviously. (lol)

Having said that, there’s something euphoric about getting my first taste of sunrise. It was calming, almost heavenly in the moment.

My favourite picture

When I say I’m inspired by nature, I refer to lush scenes far away from home. Forests, woodlands populated by exotic flowers like geraniums, delphiniums, orchids.

Yet, how much do I know about the flowers twenty minutes away? Do I even look at them? Do I even know their names? They’re pretty, so why have I not noticed them until now?

It’s silly as someone who claims to ‘love the little things’. I’m quick to overlook things that aren’t immediately striking and I hope to change that.

Mini meadow

All along, I thought these little things are uninteresting as a subject matter and it showed in the pictures.

Kind of random, a bit boring, unintentional. I didn’t think the photos looked good on their own but I was proven wrong in an insipid way.

Not awed or impressed, just satisfied with everyone together. Granted, I’m not a good photographer but I never thought my subjects were extraordinary either.

These are the things that populate my every day. Perhaps familiarity dulled my sensibility but putting together this little photo-oriented newsletter made me think, ‘Yeah, it’s cute’.

From big grand gestures to small details hidden beneath the grass, nature is truly a wonderful thing, isn’t it? There’s always something new even in the old. The question is, will I notice it?