Queen Anne's Lace

We took the dog out for a soft ice cream, and had one ourselves while we were at it. The Queen Anne's Lace is at its most beautiful now; this one is growing by our mailbox. It was a beautiful evening with soft rosy light.

HOPE

Hope is with you when you believe
The earth is not a dream but living flesh,
That sight, touch and hearing do not lie,
That all things you have ever seen here
Are like a garden looked at from a gate.

You cannot enter. But you're sure it's there.
Could we but look more clearly and wisely
We might discover somewhere in the garden
A strange new flower and an unnamed star.

Some people say we should not trust our eyes.
That there is nothing, just a seeming,
These are the ones that have no hope.
They think that the moment we turn away,
The world, behind our backs, ceases to exist,
As if snatched up by the hands of thieves.

Czeslaw Milosz, 
from The World in Collected Poems (1931-2001) page 49.

This group of poems is simple and very appealing. It reminded me of the power of memory. The August project began today. I did set up outside and then paint for 30 minutes. I hope to add another 30 (I have a round timer shaped like a ladybug) minutes each day in August for memory poems modeled on these. His poems were written in 1943 in dark times in Poland, during the war. I am sure it made these early memories more powerful.

And we watched the setting sun across the highway as we ate our ice cream. Good night!