Word for Wednesday: Ephemeral

Most things in nature are ephemeral as things are constantly changing...the seasons, the weather, evolution, and life cycles. In Nature nothing ever stays the same. As they say "here today, gone tomorrow".


It is a good reminder that we should stop and take notice of the small wonders in this world. If we don't we may miss them. Today, I am joining Donna at Garden Walk Garden Talk for an interpretation of ephemeral for Word for Wednesday.

In the garden there are plants that have short lived blooms like the dinner plate hibiscus. It produces stunning blooms that only last a day. They begin as a bud in the morning.


Open to a prolific bloom that the pollinators visit all day long.


and then bow their heads at the end of the day.


The blooms of my Four O'clocks are even more fleeting. They say hello in late afternoon only to close by evening.


Some of my garden friends are only around for a short time. Dragonflies spend most of their lives in the larva stage (2-3 years).


Only to live in their adult stage (with wings) for a few weeks. Sadly, when we see them flying around in our gardens they are at the end of their life.


The beautiful butterflies that grace my garden in the warmer months are evanescent. Their life span is short lived in relative terms.



This is the time of year when Mother Nature is most ephemeral as the leaves quickly change their colors and then fall to the ground for the beginning of winter's slumber. This year the color seemed to appear overnight.


The dogwoods are stunning with the reds, purples, yellows and green.


The vibrant gold of the hickory trees are really providing some extra sunshine against the clear blue skies.



As one photographs nature we capture those ephemeral moments and their fleeting reality.
From a wasp daring to enter a pitcher plant;


to a hummingbird drinking nectar;


to a writing spider that captured a dragonfly.



Often times those ephemeral moments, creatures or blooms have a way of focusing our mind and putting a little balance back into our lives.

Comments

  1. Nawet jeśli coś krótko ( a wielka szkoda ) trwa, to jest piękne. Dereń w tylu kolorach jest niesamowity. Na kolibry uwielbiam patrzeć,bo u nas te malutkie ptaszki nie fruwają :-(. Pozdrawiam serdecznie

    ReplyDelete
  2. beautiful nature photos, thank you for visiting my page also, am now a follower of you!lol..looking forward to sharing and inspiring

    ReplyDelete
  3. Now that made me feel good. And I cannot get over those dragonfly photos, they are perfect. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your photos are so stunning, i wish i took them myself. The wasp on the pitcher plant and the wide angle shot of the dogwood are bewitching for me, how so beautiful. Ephemeral beauty captured through time!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Did the wasp survive? It wasn't a one way ticket, was it?

    Awesome photos! The flowers are stunning and so are the dragonflies.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I agree with everyone, very beautiful captures of fleeting moments in time. That is what I love about photography, the ability to capture a slice of life that won't be there the next day. Your have looked at the word so well from various angles. I am always intrigued by those plants with day long (or less) flowers. Especially a hibiscus, being so large and showy. It almost seems a waste of natures time and effort in a way. Too short a time to get the pollinating job done. But the grand plan is always seeped in mystery. Thanks for the wonderful post.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Stunning photos!! One of the great things about garden photography is you get to keep a snapshot of the beauty that will fade soon after.
    I, too, am wondering about the wasp..

    ReplyDelete
  8. Well said Karin and captured in incredible pictures...so many of our critters are short-lived...makes one realize we have to live each moment and try to capture as many moments as we can...

    ReplyDelete
  9. One & Indie, the wasp didn't decide to venture down into the pitcher plant although it did fly around exploring several of them.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jennifer@threedogsinagarden
    A lovely ephemeral post. I agree that it is important to take time to enjoy life's fleeting moments.

    ReplyDelete
  11. What wonderful pictures. Love the red wasp on that pitcher plant! And such a colorful dragonfly (second one)! The hibiscus has such a regal and gorgeous bloom, it seems so sad they only last one day.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

One of my favorite things about blogging is the conversation with readers. Leave a comment and let's get talking. ~Karin

Popular Posts