“Wonder is where it starts, and though wonder is also where it ends, this is no futile path. Whether admiring a patch of moss, a crystal, flower, or golden beetle, a sky full of clouds, a sea with the serene, vast sigh of its swells, or a butterfly wing with its arrangement of crystalline ribs, contours, and the vibrant bezel of its edges, the diverse scripts and ornamentations of its markings, and the infinite, sweet, delightfully inspired transitions and shadings of its colors — whenever I experience part of nature, whether with my eyes or another of the five senses, whenever I feel drawn in, enchanted, opening myself momentarily to its existence and epiphanies, that very moment allows me to forget the avaricious, blind world of human need, and rather than thinking or issuing orders, rather than acquiring or exploiting, fighting or organizing, all I do in that moment is “wonder,” like Goethe, and not only does this wonderment establish my brotherhood with him, other poets, and sages, it also makes me a brother to those wondrous things I behold and experience as the living world: butterflies and moths, beetles, clouds, rivers and mountains, because while wandering down the path of wonder, I briefly escape the world of separation and enter the world of unity.” Herman Hesse
I read this Herman Hesse quote on The Marginalian. And when I did, except for the reference to Goethe, because I’m only familiar with a small amount of his work, it explains exactly how I feel, and have tired to write about myself, when I’m looking as the smallest things and beings that live and grow and exist on the farm and in the woods where I walk.
Maria – This is an oak gall.
Oh Thank you Jill, I’ve never seen one and had no idea how to try and identify it. So it is a pod of sorts for wasp eggs. I know what they look like on the tall plants that grow in the pasture, but its interesting how they come in in all differnt forms. I found one that was bigger and broken is half, that’s how I knew there was something inside that looked like seeds. guess they were wasp eggs. You’ve opened a whole new world to me Jill. :)
I love the sense of wonder! As I look at the hazy sky the zinnias and cosmos stand tall in the intense heat. Birds gathering at the birdbaths for their morning chat and hummingbirds dart around the feeders. The dogs nap in the shade of the locust tree and the busyness fades into the haze and life on our little farm is just where it needs to be.
Oh so beautifully written Josie, I feel like I was on your little farm this morning.