Thank you to Patti for her lovely challenge #102 –  ”A Quiet Moment”, and all your beautiful responses! We certainly need our quiet moments, and it feels so good to share.

This week I have been pondering over the impact of not knowing how our situation in general will develop. We really – don’t – know. Even if we never can know in advance how life and things will turn out… we want to have some kind of schedule and feel in control.

Somehow, over these last months, I have tried hard to accept the fact that not knowing will be the normal thing for the future. Less planning – I have decided to adapt.

 

Would you like to know your future? If your answer is yes, think again. Not knowing is the greatest life motivator. So enjoy, endure, survive each moment as it comes to you in its proper sequence, a surprise.     

– Vera Nazarian

This young lady was surprised by a happy call yesterday – getting that new job!

For many of us, June, July and August are the starters of vacation time. This year is of course without any scheduled far away travels, but small surprises usually occur in our everyday life. It could be surprising meetings, incidents, or maybe eye openers. In fact anything you feel surprise you!

I start off with a missed coffee break (Swedish ”Fika”) in the opener. We quickly had to find another place to eat our sandwiches… not sharing any!

Then – eye openers and great surprises are everywhere in nature. Last year I met this little creature – an insect looking exactly like a tiny twig – here together with a real twig. Can you tell which is which? This camouflage must be very effective!

Surprise is the greatest gift which life can grant us.     

– Boris Pasternak

But then there are surprises both negative and positive…Two days ago I found this battered 4cm butterfly dead on the garden stones. I could tell it must have been a beauty with those emerald/mother of pearl blue spots on the white wings. I wrote my colleagues in the biology group – and the answer was: Zeuzera pyrina, a blue spotted tree butterfly. A rare species where I live. The experts told me that my old apple trees could have been its home. And it might be that more of these butterflies are here. Let’s hope for a live meeting!

This is what it looks like in a fresh costume – wing span 35-75 mm.

http://www.vilkenart.se

Another big surprise – a minor shock in fact –

– was this Digitalis with a mutated top flower – a so called Peloria.

(This photo with my Samsung phone.) I had never seen one before. It reminded me of those dragon lizards running in the desert!

Have you seen these from Patti’s challenge?

Nes Felicio – The quiet has to come from within

From Hiding to Blogging– Yan is chasing sunstars

Pat, of Living Life Almost Gracefully finds quiet in the sense of gentle colors and order

Anne of Slow Shutter Speed – stunning quiet moments

The team has a special “surprise” for July. We will be hosting the theme “Seasons” for the entire month, and are announcing the sequence in advance. The schedule will be:

July 4  Amy  Summer
July 11 Tina  Spring
July 18 Patti  Autumn/Fall
July 25 A-C  Winter

Lastly – stay well, and don’t forget to use the Lens-Artists tag to easily be found in the reader!