~
“Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends.
The lunatic, the lover and the poet
Are of imagination all compact:
One sees more devils than vast hell can hold,
That is, the madman: the lover, all as frantic,
Sees Helen’s beauty in a brow of Egypt:
The poet’s eye, in fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;
And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen
Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name.”
.
William Shakespeare
~
~
“if something is there, you can only see it with your eyes open,
but if it isn’t there, you can see it just as well
with your eyes closed.
That’s why imaginary things are often easier to see
than real ones.”
.
Norton Juster
~
~
“Nothing is lost. . .Everything is transformed.”
.
Michael Ende
~
~
Photos by Woodland Gnome 2016
Gloriosa superba
.
Blossom I
Blossom II
Blossom III
Blossom IV
Blossom V
Blossom VI
Blossom VII
Blossom VIII
Forest Garden 
Delightful post. Kinda counteracts fear and despair even for a few moments. Now if you see them every day…
Anything which can counteract despair for even a few minutes, in these times, is a blessing. Thank you for inspiring me to go back to this page again. I posted that while my sister in law was in hospice, and she left us later that week. Shakespeare spoke to me then, and speaks to us still- Love to you, Carl, and what happiness the day can bring ❤ ❤ ❤
I understand. My mother diagnosed cancer suddenly lasted 6 weeks kept her home and I trained as her hospice nurse. The rose bush she loved stopped blooming. Then father and I decided to move to North Carolina three years later and another rose blossomed !.We took that rose with us.
So glad you brought your mother’s favorite rose with you. Our loved ones are with us always. I hope you and your father are happily settled now in North Carolina, and have planted a garden of your own. ❤ ❤ ❤ You do understand- so difficult when our loved ones are suffering, and wondering how to help-
Beautiful photos!
Thank you, Lori ❤ I bought the tuber as an afterthought and planted it about a month ago. These unusual flowers always surprise me when they pop out! Such exquisite beauty grows from something which looks like a skinny carrot!