To see the World in a Grain of Sand,
and a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
and Eternity in an hour.
So wrote William Blake in 'Auguries of Innocence'. Now there was a man who could see the miracles all around him if ever I saw one.
George (Transit Notes - see my Blog List) did a lovely post a couple of days ago about life's little miracles, which are all around us - the pattern on a butterflies wing, the cobweb..........
I posted a photograph of the gall on a wild rose stem, saying we called them 'pincushions' when we were children. Well, we were not so far wrong as Stuart Dunlop has kindly pointed out (Donegal Wildlife - see my Blog List) - quote:
'Your gall is the Robin's Pincushion' gall caused by a tiny (3mm) wasp 'Diplolepis Rosae'. The wasp larva alters the bud growth to form a series of chambers that it lives and feeds inside.' Stuart goes on to say that it is not harmful to the rose and that it increases biodiversity. If you want to read the full account go onto my comments for the day when I posted the pincushion.
Well, with these two small miracles in mind I put my camera into digital mode and took it with me when Tess and I had our walk this afternoon. On the way round I snapped anything small and miraculous that caught my eye. I have posted the photographs here. I think maybe we tend to see the larger things - the beauty of the tree rather than the individual leaf, so to speak. So here are a few tiny miracles on which to feast your eyes.
Left to right from the top:
Lichen on a stone.
Rose hips in ivy on a wall.
Remains of a stalk of cow parsley.
Stones under water in the beck.
An old pine cone.
Bark on a dead tree stump.