Sunday, December 06, 2009

Seeds

Seeds and berries are Mama Gaia's storage system to keep the means of getting Spring started again preserved through the cold months of the Winter sleep. Below are White Wood Aster seed heads and Winterberries in Ballard Park.



These things always remind me of the old harvest hymn, "We Plough the Fields and Scatter", especially the first verse:
We plow the fields, and scatter the good seed on the land,
But it is fed and watered by God’s almighty hand;
He sends the snow in winter, the warmth to swell the grain,
The breezes and the sunshine, and soft refreshing rain.
This describes so well the cyclical nature of the growth process, with the swelling of the grain in the Spring, growing and coming to fruition in Summer, the harvest in Autumn, and rest in Winter. Here's the original hymn.


Of course, if you're a child of the '60s you probably recognize the words but remember a different tune to them. John-Michael Tebelak used the old hymn in his musical Godspell, and his collaborator Stephen Schwarz set the words to haunting, evocative new music.


Hmmm... Sometimes a simple picture can take me to some far-flung places!

Photos & text © 2009 by A. Roy Hilbinger

7 comments:

  1. Roy I got to come by more regularly! Had a friend visit for a couple of days and then had to recuperate from the friend for a few days...

    come by I have something for you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. ...beautiful pictures as well! I love both of them. As always, great choice of music. You're nature's disc jockey!

    ReplyDelete
  3. p.s. I loved the beauty in your previous post, and i really enjoyed your Friends post...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Learn to save your own seeds from the plants you love most in your own garden or park. Find detailed seed saving instructions on the website of this 20 year-old non-profit dedicated to teaching gardeners how to save seeds: http://www.seedsave.org/issi/issi_904.html

    ReplyDelete
  5. You old hippy you! I want a pair of stripey trousers now! Lovely seeds and berries.

    ReplyDelete
  6. feagin is stumped, can you identify the tree pictured on the mouse december 1st?

    love the aster heads!!

    ReplyDelete