Tag: Quotes

Double Bows in the Backyard

Double rainbows looking off the back deck – September ’25

The wonder of rainbows never ceases to bring a feeling of magic and awe. These arches of dazzling color bands are one of the few remaining experiences that can cause every person to pause a moment to take them in amidst the screens and speed of the day.

Even though the photo is from September, I’ve revisited it a few times in recent weeks still appreciating what a sight it was off our back deck.

“It takes sunshine and rain to make a rainbow. There would be no rainbows without sunshine and rain.”

― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

If your days of late have been without any color or magic, feel free to visit this picture or take a copy until you happen upon your own local bows to bring back some of the wonder we need in this life.

The Magic of Books

“What an astonishing thing a book is. It’s a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you’re inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic.”

[Cosmos, Part 11: The Persistence of Memory (1980)]”

― Carl Sagan, Cosmos

The comfort of books has always been one of my favorite pleasures over the years. I have yet to find a better quote to express their value than Carl Sagan.

At the time of launching this blog, my Audible account has me clocking in at over one thousand titles and I must admit I have a large (and embarrassing) to-be-read pile on bookshelves. Books have taken me on countless adventures and allowed me to see the world through many different characters. They have also been my comfort when utterly alone in solitude.

My thoughts on some of these titles will have a presence in this blog. This is personal enjoyment, more so to challenge myself to reflect on the books I read and consider any takeaways that I find a value to revisit and consider via posts. This is a new practice for me and I look forward to whatever form it will take.

Frilly Doris Finally Bloomed

Frilly Doris barely holding her blooms in at late September 2025

Blooms started opening and things happened faster than expected! At the tail end of September, Frilly Doris’ buds started to crack open further, giving a tantalizing hint of the flowers to come.

This lovely plant is such a trooper with that slender spike holding such heavy blooms. I have been watching it bend further and further each day, wondering how it manages to not split at the base.

Frilly Doris on full display – early October 2025

And then, voila! Just like that, on the first of October she burst open, her dazzling blooms on fully display. When this girl blooms, she goes all out!

Frilly Doris on full display – early October 2025

And as icing on the cake, she has the most light and elegant citrus scent; absolutely divine.

“Where flowers bloom, so does hope – Lady Bird Johnson”

I am so happy with this orchid. It is going to be my mission to keep her going after she finishes with flowering. Interestingly different, uniquely herself, and when she blooms she lights up the room. She is my heart.