What are your feelings about the future? For me, they are like this tulip bud, full of the promise of new life and beauty that is yet to come. The challenge for us all is to be patient and wait with joyful expectation.
As with all of my other recent tulip shots, I photographed this bud in the garden of my neighbor and friend Cindy Dyer. Thanks, Cindy.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Nice shot and sentiments.
Very Nice Mike! Stay safe!
I like that, Mike, thanks for sharing promise, hope and beauty here. Much appreciated.
wait for the bud to announce the arrival of the bloom. wait for the challenge of shelter in place to carry us to a time and place where we fight the virus on our terms. a place where medical responders and first responders have a real chance to fight the virus without being overwhelmed.
Beautiful, Mike. And your sentiments as well.
Patience is certainly the most important thing for most of us just now. It’s hard, however to contemplate the inexcusable actions of others who aren’t willing to think beyond themselves and think, instead that the restrictions don’t really apply to them. My patience for them is at its end. Happily, they seem to be in the vast minority. Meanwhile, may the rest of us continue to contemplate the serenity and beauty that’s still around and within us.
I think that most of us like to do things when and how it is the most convenient for us. This current crisis is forcing us into new ways of life that are sometimes uncomfortable and inconvenient. This morning, for example, I went grocery shopping at 5:15 am, a time when I knew there would be no crowds. Although I “normally” spend a lot of time alone, I still miss being able to shake hands or give hugs–it’s the price we all pay as we try to limit the spread of the virus. Stay safe and healthy, Gary.
We’re huggers too, and that’s the hardest part, especially with immediate family. The Maori have a universal traditional greeting called a hongi in which they press their foreheads and noses together, looking each other straight in the eyes, and they are also not supposed to do that anymore. So sad!
That lower photo is stunning, Mike.
You have me a little confused, Dan. Isn’t there only one photo in this posting? 🙂
Yes there is, Mike. Viewing on my phone, your banner image sometimes looks like a separate photo. So, I’m the one who’s confused, but that’s not all that unusual.
Ah, now I understand, Dan. That reminds me that I have not updated that photo or the About Me part of my blog in years. 🙂
I only recently updated my About page. Since I retired, some of it didn’t make much sense any longer. I doubt I’ll ever change the banner image, even though Facebook tells me “you need to change your banner image to attract new customers”
You most definitely are one with nature! “Adopt the pace of nature : her secret is patience.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson. I have many refrigerator magnets that hold Benjamin’s art gallery in place. That quote is on one of them. I have moved it front and center as it is a much needed reminder these days. I have a few tulips and daffodils that are at the same stage as this lovely photo. I check their progress daily as I await the arrival of the colorful flowers that they hide. Thank-you, Mr. Mike!
It is funny that you would mention the word “patience,” because I most often attribute the “success” of my shots to patience and persistence more than to skill and equipment. It is also one of the reasons why I prefer to take photos alone. I don’t want another person’s impatience to force me to leave a subject until I am ready to do so.
Waiting. Patience. Difficult to accomplish lately. Find myself getting grumpy. I need to see a good frog. Guess I will stroll over to the neighbor’s pond. Once it warms up again I will hear the bullfrogs singing.
Here’s hoping you’ll get to see and hear that frog soon. 🙂
Joyful expectation … what a lovely phrase and title. Very nice.