Faded Glory

I suppose we don't need any reminder that Summer has now reluctantly begun to make way for Autumn.  All around, the leaves are beginning to change colour, many flowers parade their final encore and the sounds are those of finality (for this year at least); the swan song is in the air.

I came across this butterfly whilst recovering a rugby ball from a flower bed.  Like the autumn leaves, its wings are fading; once glorious colours are now only shades of brown.  Yet it is still beautiful.

Having helped with a couple of funerals recently, the words of the old funeral service (which is seldom used now) came to mind:

Man that is born of woman hath but a short time to live ... He cometh up, and is cut down, like a flower; he fleeth as it were a shadow, and never continueth in one stay.  

A little bleak perhaps, but a stark reminder of not only the fragility of life but its transience also.  Not only we but all of Creation are in an inevitable Autumn, waiting patiently for that eternal Spring to come...

Poisonous Beauty

Woody Nightshade Solanum dulcamara

My better half saw this plant growing in a couple of different places in the garden.  We thought that it might be Deadly Nightshade, and a quick search on Google showed us this plant exactly, referred to in a number of different articles as Deadly Nightshade.  So that is what I thought I was dealing with.  I put on a thick pair of gloves and dug it out, put it in black bag and into the bin.  Foolishly I had some skin showing on my arms and just touching the plant brought my skin out in an itchy rash.  I mentioned all this to a couple of wise farmers on Sunday morning and they looked at me a bit quizzically.  So I went to the bookshelf afterwards and found "The Oxford Book of Wild Flowers".  It turns out that this plant is in fact "Woody Nightshade"; it is poisonous (though not as poisonous as the "Deadly" version) and is a particular danger for children, pets and farm animals who might like to eat the egg-shaped berries.  I'm fascinated at how such a pretty flower can be poisonous, though that poison (from the berries) has been used for centuries to treat various skin ailments (didn't do my skin much good) and even (in a dilution) to treat Rheumatism!

Foxglove Digitalis purpurea

In another part of the garden there is a much better known plant, the Foxglove.  I have always loved the flowers, I remember watching with delight as a child as bees scampered into the bell-shaped purple domes to emerge only to disappear once more (it didn't take much to keep me amused)!  Also known as "Dead Man's Bells" (because this is a poisonous plant too), the leaves produce a drug used to treat heart conditions.

I am ever amazed at the sheer variety and staggering depth of complexity found in Creation.  Similar to my reaction to the wonderful Gannets and Razorbills (see below), understanding more of nature brings  me closer to the One who spoke all this into being ex nihilo (out of nothing):

¹¹ Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. ¹² The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

(Genesis 1)

Great Saltee

Gannet (in front) & Razorbill (behind)

Have you ever experienced something in Creation that took your breath away?  It hasn't happened to me too often; I remember a volcanic pool in Yugoslavia (I think) that was two hundred metres deep and you could see the bottom so clearly through the depths of crystal-clear water.  Another time I remember snorkelling and chancing across a magnificent Octopus that kept changing colour.  I had the privilege once of seeing Mount Kenya emerge from the clouds, impossibly large on the horizon...  (I realise that I am now sounding like Basil Fawlty giving his "herds of Wildebeest" speech!)

Gannets' Rock

These small band of memories was joined by another on Tuesday as I was invited to join a couple of photographers as they headed out to the Saltee Islands off Kilmore Quay, Co. Wexford.  It was a beautiful day and I was simply awestruck at it all, from the boat trip to the sheer number of birds and the beauty of the Island.  It was stunning.  At one point, as I rounded a corner of rock and saw ahead of me thousands of Gannets nesting and swooping and squawking I just wanted to fall on my knees and worship - not what I was looking at, but the One who created such incredible beauty.

Gannet Chick

Admittedly the little chap above wouldn't win any beauty contests but it was just incredible to be able to get so close, a real privilege.  I felt like a special guest, invited to a place where yes I was an intruder but momentarily at least a cautiously welcomed one.  

Great Saltee Island

One of the photographers I was with told me how, when he had brought his daughter to the Island on a previous visit, she had remarked that "it felt like heaven".  

I got a little bit of that feeling too; I only know as much as what heaven will be like as the Bible tells us, but something tells me that there was at least a trace of that eternal magic ingredient here...

Annascaul Lake

Nikon F100, Nikkor 18-35 D, Fujifilm Superia 200

On our way to Dingle, my better half and navigator saw something interesting on the map so we decided to take a small detour and investigate. Despite driving on narrow, icy roads (with a severe drop down a cliff awaiting any slippery mistakes) it was definitely worth the diversion. The lake was flat-calm, the air still and cold and the scene very beautiful.

When we rounded the corner to see this scene in front of us it was a special moment. Being naturally a booky indoors type, I've gradually over recent years began to see the importance of appreciating God's creation in worship. Trying to find a good place to take the above photo from was done with a mixture of prayer, excitement and carefully placed footfalls. Looking at the picture now makes me excited, excited about God.