Month: January 2018

Happy not to be a Heron

| Flower Roberts

Sometimes the strangest things inspire prayer.

I had one of these moments while photographing this heron.

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I saw it fishing, so I decided to wait in the cold, to catch a photo

of the heron catching a fish.

So I waited and waited, the wind began to blow, I waited.

My hands got cold, still I waited.

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My feet began to numb, although I was not the one wading through the frigid water.

My nose got really cold…still no fish.

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I began to be grateful that God had not made me a heron.

All that time standing in cold water to get its lunch…a cold fish.

 

Fowler

FloeAlley

| Flower Roberts

Sometimes I change my name from Flower to Flow on my blog,

but this is the first time I am calling myself Floe.

We have been experiencing some unusually cold weather here in NC.

While eating breakfast, I noticed patches of ice flowing down river.

I had to bundle up fast before the sun hit it.

These ice doilies don’t last long.

If you are having trouble seeing them, look at the places in the water without reflections.

Stay warm people.

 

FLOE

 

 

Green Coffee Beans

| Flower Roberts

Have you ever seen coffee beans growing on trees?

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I had this experience recently.

My adventure started out as a trip to a new little Colombian restaurant, Orobi Cafe’,

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Orobi’ Cafe Coffee from Troutman, NC

just outside the town of  Troutman, NC.

They had large photographs of coffee trees and some small coffee trees in the cafe’.

This lead to an exciting conversation about the family growing their own coffee beans.

I was invited to come to the greenhouse to see the indoor coffee plantation.

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Lovely Maria is the grower of the non-genetically-modified Arabica bean trees.

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All her plants come from one seventeen- year-old “mama tree.”

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Arabica coffee tree

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I have been invited back to witness the days of flowering in May.

Now, I have another reason to look forward to spring.

Just in case you were wondering, yes, I came home with my own little coffee tree.

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FLOWER

 

 

The Orchid Queen

| Flower Roberts

When the Orchid Queen has a New Year’s Eve party,

all the orchids arrive in their delicate finery

to dance through the kingdom warmed under the glass.

 

Skirts of velvet or satin,

with stripes, spots or splash marks.

Each twirls through the branches to greet other beauties.

All colors so vibrant, with intricate markings.

The tiniest of orchids perched high to observe them

as colors of royalty parade through the rooms.

Showy slippers and ruffles

and streamers

and bonnets.

Spots of brilliance revolving around every tree.

What was she wearing you ask of the Queen?

She rang in Two Thousand and Eighteen in green.

Paphiopedilum venustum

FLOWER   2018