Monday at the Arboretum….oh, and the BUGS!

“Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees,

then names the streets after them.”- Bill Vaughan

Today we gathered everyone up and took a trip to the Morton Arboretum in the western suburbs of Chicago. There was a special exhibition there of gynormous bugs made from wood. They were beautiful…here are some of them…

Jeff (my youngest)eats the praying mantis before it gets him! (A little photo trickery never hurt anyone, now did it?)

A bee made from wood….

Waterlillies just like the ones Monet had been inspired by…

How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower!- – – Isaac Watts “Divine Songs”

“The wonder is that we can see these trees

and not wonder more.”- Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Deep in the sun-searched growths the dragonfly…

Hangs like a blue thread loosened from the sky.”

– Dante Gabriel Rossetti “Silent Noon”

“Tree at my window, window tree,

My sash is lowered when night comes on;

But let there never be curtain drawn

Between you and me.” – Robert Frost

“As a thinker and planner, the ant is the equal of any savage race of men; as a self-educated specialist in several arts, she is the superior of any savage race of men; and in one or two high mental qualities she is above the reach of any man, savage or civilized!”– “What is Man? by Mark Twain

The spider’s touch, how exquisitely fine!

Feels at each thread, and lives along the line.

– – – Alexander Pope

my boys, Drew, Jeff & Scott

And see the peaceful trees extend
their myriad leaves in leisured dance—they bear
the weight of sky and cloud upon the fountain
of their veins.
– Kathleen Raine, Envoi

These photos were taken by my soon to be 16 year old daughter, Caroline. She wants to major in photography in college-Good call, don’tcha think?