Graceful Change - Non-climbing Clematis, Missoula, Montana

 “All human nature vigorously resists grace because grace changes us and change is painful.” -Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964), from The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor

Still Water Lily Pads - Placid Lake, Montana

"....I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water...."

-from The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry

(Listen here - even repeatedly, as I did! - to the author read this dose of utter loveliness and calm. I try not to gush, but Wendell Berry is SO gush-worthy...)

Water Lilies - Placid Lake, Montana

"....Fair beds they seem’d of water-lily flakes

Clustering entrancingly in beryl lakes...."

-Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889), from "A Vision of the Mermaids"