Have Courage

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” ~Anais Nin

She stood alone, watching the clouds move across the sky,

Glorying in the feel of the wind in her hair, the sun on her face.

A trio of ravens flew by, their ink darkness, a contrasting punctuation in the light.



The path beyond the gate stretched ahead of her, calling her to explore.

A breath, almost a sigh, blew past her lips.

Words and thoughts crowding into her throat and stuck by the lack of someone to speak the words to.

Live a life dictated and confined by your fears and you will find you have a life that is small in scope, lacking in joy. It may be a fine life, it may even be satisfying, but it will not be large.

Our time on earth is so short, barely a moment – that to spend it locked into a small box with our fears seems to be such a sad waste.

Sometimes we must do the hardest thing, defy the rules, break the bonds of our tribe to find joy and happiness, to live the fullest life. 



Your visit & comments are appreciated.

Photography & prose by Terry Rowe.

You can see my art work or photographs at www.terryrowe.photography, any photographs in my bog are available for purchase.

A Watery World (Lilypons Water Gardens)

Lilypons Water Gardens History

In 1917 G. Leicester Thomas, Sr., a Frederick county landowner and entrepreneur, turned his goldfish and waterlily hobby into a business, Three Springs Fisheries. The business successful and in 1925 Leicester expanded and purchased the current 250-acre tract of land that is Lilypons Water Gardens.

Five years later, the first Three Springs Fisheries catalog was mailed with great success. By 1935, the U.S. Postal Service decided that a post office must be established to handle the mail order parcels...and the post office needed a name.

Leicester's favorite operatic diva, Lily Pons, was then at the height of her career. So a place full of lily ponds was named after Lily Pons, the graceful opera star. Lily's publicity staff agreed, but the U.S. Postal Services wanted one word-thus Lilypons, Maryland became the new post office. On June 20, 1936, the post office was dedicated to Lily Pons. Miss Pons was present for the event, which was celebrated with much pomp and circumstance.

In 1978, Charles B. Thomas, as president, changed the name of the company to Lilypons Water Gardens, reflecting a focus on water gardening. In 1997, Charles' four daughters became the fourth generation of Thomas' to own Lilypons Water Gardens. Margaret Thomas Koogle, Charles' oldest daughter presides as president, continuing Lilypons' mission to be the source for water gardening.
~Source: http://www.lilypons.com/history


The lotus flower grows in muddy water, rising and blooming above the murk to achieve to beauty, symbolizing enlightenment.

Lotus Bud. The stage of growth the lotus flower is in represents a different stage of enlightenment. A closed lotus flower represents the time before enlightenment.

 Lotus flower, fully open. A lotus flower fully bloomed and open represents full enlightenment and self-awareness.

Photographs by Terry Rowe.

Your visit and comments are appreciated.

You can see my art work or photographs at www.terryrowe.photography, any photographs in my bog are available for purchase.

Two Prayers for Sunday

Divine Beloved. Please change me into someone who trusts
that the best outcome to this situation is already chosen. 

Change me into someone who relaxes and lets go.

 

 

Change me, Divine Beloved, into One who wishes to genuinely
let You take the lead. 

Let me know true surrender, openness, and acceptance. 

Take over my actions, so I know when to act, and when to pause.

 

Prayers courtesy of Tosha Silver, from the book "Change Me Prayers." Photograph, "God's Light," by Terry Rowe.

Your visit and comments are appreciated.

You can see my art work or photographs at www.terryrowe.photography, any photographs in my bog are available for purchase.

Reality

 

The roses are spent, the petals dry and brittle. 

 

Even so, I keep them. 

 

Roses may die, but feelings and dreams do not. The roses are a reminder of beauty that was, a dream still wished for.

 

The cost of not following your heart, is spending the rest of your life wishing you had.

Your visit and comments are appreciated.

You can see my art work or photographs at www.terryrowe.photography, any photographs in my bog are available for purchase.

Make a Wish

Make a wish,

Whisper it to the wind,

Dare to dream.

When I was a child one of my friends told me that if I wished really hard, and blew the seeds off a dandelion, that those seeds would carry my wish to faeries who would work very hard to make my wish come true.

Make a wish,

Breathe your heart's desire to a thousand faery wings.

I have to confess that I still, all grown-up and seemingly learned, make wishes, and still blow those dandelion seeds into the wind.

Make a wish,

Send it flying,

Twirling with your breath into the blue beyond.

Most wishes eventually come true, the ones that haven't come true just haven't come true yet. The Universe doesn't always deliver on demand.


I do believe, still believe, that wishes can come true. And sometimes, that belief, is big enough for me to rise up and face another day when nothing seems to quite be going my way.

What do you wish for?





Please feel free to share this blog with others. 

You can see my art work or photographs at www.terryrowe.photography. I hope you will consider acquiring one of my photographs for your personal enjoyment or as a gift. 

If you are on Facebook, you can find me at tART - Photography & Art by Terry Rowe, https://www.facebook.com/tarrowe. 

Your visit and comments are appreciated.

The Second Quarter of 2015, A Sampler of Photographs

I'm working on my fifth year of a 365 photography project. Every day, I make a photograph.

A photograph a day, marks the year, the passage of time - a kind of visual diary.

Today marks the end of the second quarter of the year...half-way through 2015.

April, May, and June have been the quarter of spring. Spring, when the earth awakens from the cold dark winter, and growth is expected, demanded. Spring appears to be a gentle unfolding, but it is a hard, sometimes brutal process.

For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, 

it must come completely undone. 

The shell cracks, its insides come out and 

everything changes. 

To someone who doesn't understand growth, 

it would look like complete destruction. 

~ Cynthia Occelli

 Following is a sample of the photographs for April, May, and June.

"If Only You Knew"

While spring is taking over the days, I try to hold it still for a moment.

Krisna Selfies, a different kind of blooming

"Don't Stop Believing"

Bleeding Heart, back-lit by the rising sun

Wake up: This world that you dream holds nothing to fear. ~Rumi
Between the storms,

Love said to me, there is nothing that is not me. Be silent. ~Rumi
Dogwood

Cookie Fortune: Suppose you can get what you want...

"Dust Cries Out," sculpture by K Swenholt

Full Moon in Scorpio, Potomac River

Flyover, Washington, DC. B-29, Superfortress, a heavy, long-range, four-engined bomber used during World War II

A worn old suitcase, for sale in a thrift shop.

Please feel free to share this blog with others. 

You can see my art work or photographs at www.terryrowe.photography. I hope you will consider acquiring one of my photographs for your personal enjoyment or as a gift. 

If you are on Facebook, you can find me at tART - Photography & Art by Terry Rowe, https://www.facebook.com/tarrowe. 

Your visit and comments are appreciated.

Summer naps, summer dreams

After a long hot summer day,
a nap is called for, 
to escape
from the day, 
from the heat of the afternoon

Escape to dream of a cool breeze that moves 
across your skin like the thinnest of silk

And if the dreaming doesn't last, 
rise to the day 
and to hope
that dreams will come true
~ Original prose & photograph by Terry Rowe. 







Please feel free to share this blog with others. 
You can see my art work or photographs at www.terryrowe.photography. I hope you will consider acquiring one of my photographs for your personal enjoyment or as a gift. 
If you are on Facebook, you can find me at tART - Photography & Art by Terry Rowe, https://www.facebook.com/tarrowe. 
Your visit and comments are appreciated.

the Couple

The couple sitting at the corner table are so focused on each other that they exclude the world.

He leans toward her, reaches out and lightly brushes a her hair from her face.

They talk, looking into each other's eyes.

She pats his arm and touches his hand.

He takes her hand in his, still talking softly.

             Are they new lovers or have they known each other for years?

             Have they just found each other after years of searching?

They get up to leave the cafe, holding hands as they begin to walk the path back to town.

May each one of us, some day, know the sweetness of such love.

Please feel free to share this blog with others. You can see my art work or photographs at www.terryrowe.photography. I hope you will consider acquiring one of my photographs for your personal enjoyment or as a gift. Please share this blog or my website with family and friends.

If you are on Facebook, please visit my page, tART - Photography & Art by Terry Rowe, https://www.facebook.com/tarrowe. 

Thank you for visiting and viewing my work!

the muse

sometimes the muse is silent
a query for inspiration
for a voice
is met with silence
a stillness that is filled with no

all I can do is wait
wait for her to return from some distant place I cannot go

while I wait I clear out
clear my mind, sweep the dust from the corners
shake out my thoughts
gently wash my heart with tears

because I know
if my muse is missing
she's been pushed away by all the clutter of life
the unsaid words
the unshed tears
I need to clear a space for her to return

so I tidy up
get ready
and I wait




Original prose & photograph by Terry Rowe. Please feel free to share this blog with others. 

You can see my art work or photographs at www.terryrowe.photography. I hope you will consider acquiring one of my photographs for your personal enjoyment or as a gift. 

If you are on Facebook, you can find me at tART - Photography & Art by Terry Rowe, https://www.facebook.com/tarrowe. 

Your visit and comments are appreciated.

The Dream that Lingers

Waking to loss,
a sorrowing that runs a thread through the day.

The dream
lingers,
like foggy mist clinging
to the trees. 

Even as the sun struggles through the grayness.

Dreaming of the beloved, and
of a life that is not,
may not ever,
Be.
























Original prose & photograph by Terry Rowe. Please feel free to share this blog with others. 

You can see my art work or photographs at www.terryrowe.photography. I hope you will consider acquiring one of my photographs for your personal enjoyment or as a gift. 

If you are on Facebook, you can find me at tART - Photography & Art by Terry Rowe, https://www.facebook.com/tarrowe. 

Your visit and comments are appreciated.

Reading Rumi

But listen to me:
for one moment,
quit being sad.
Hear blessings dropping their blossoms
around you. God.
~ Rumi, The Essential Rumi

I want to see you.

Know your voice.

Recognize you when
you first come 'round
the corner.

Sense your scent when I come into a room
you've just left.

Know the lift of your heel,
the glide of your foot.

Become familiar with the way you purse your lips
then let them part, just the slightest bit,
when I lean in to your space and kiss you.

I want to know the joy
of how you whisper 'more.'
~ Rumi, The Essential Rumi

My sweet heart,
you have aroused my passion,
your touch has filled me
with desire,
I am no longer separate
from you,
these are precious moments,
I beseech you,
don’t let me wait.
~ Rumi, The Essential Rumi












Please feel free to share this blog with others. You can see my art work or photographs at www.terryrowe.photography. I hope you will consider acquiring one of my photographs for your personal enjoyment or as a gift. Please share this blog or my website with family and friends.

If you are on Facebook, please visit my page, tART - Photography & Art by Terry Rowe, https://www.facebook.com/tarrowe. 

Thank you for visiting and viewing my work!