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Monday, September 13, 2010

The Art of Waiting

Lots of things in life involve waiting. Waiting for a bus, waiting for a traffic light to change or waiting in line at the post office. Waiting can be annoying. But sometimes, when you are forced to wait, you are forced to look around you in ways maybe you hadn't done before. I decided to find a spot along a pond's edge and just...wait. I was curious what I would see if I just sat there quietly and waited.  


As I sat, I noticed so many dragonflies flying through the sky. I had never seen so many in the air at once before. And then, a dragonfly with beautiful black and white wings landed right in front of me:


I waited a little while longer and watched the breeze create a ripple on the surface of the pond. I sat, admiring the beautiful plants growing here like this one:


And then, I heard a quiet splash. I looked around but couldn't spot anything that would have made the sound. I waited again and looked closely. 


Can you see it? That cute little frog was checking me out, hiding so well among the vegetation in the water. 

But a few minutes later I saw another one, hiding under a water lily:

And as quickly as he popped up, he was soon gone under the lily pads and I lost sight of him (or maybe it was a her??)

I can't tell you how long I sat there, just observing life, alongside that pond. But when I finally got up, I felt so peaceful and happy to have stopped for a moment instead of rushing by. That's what life is all about right? Stop and smell the roses (or in this case, stop and watch for frogs!)

5 comments:

  1. Waiting is an art that most of us have a hard time practicing! But what rewards when you spend your waiting time quietly observing as you did.

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  2. I do not know what it is but that water plant with the purple blooms is so beautiful. Great capture of the frog. Waiting has it rewards sometimes. I love the one of it under the waterlily.

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  3. Hi Kate! I just stopped and checked your blog and found a great post that is worth the time. Eszter

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  4. Beautiful! Right now I am waiting for the moon to rise... there it is! Love the results of your waiting. ;>)

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  5. Those frogs are HUGE!!! How fun! I have a pond too, and the first few years had frogs and toads, but for some reason they don't come anymore. I think the snakes eat them! I guess snakes have to eat too; just wish they'd eat a rat or something like that instead of the frogs! The dragonflies are so amazing and fun to watch. They are usually quite accommodating when it comes to photographing too. And the pickerel rush is so pretty!! You are so right...we are always rushing from one thing to the next. How much less stressful life would be if we would just stop and wait and listen to a spell. Thanks for the great reminder.

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