Jewels and Love

Erythronium americanum. Commonly referred to as the yellow Trout Lily.



Some of my favorite jewels are not necessarily of the type measured on a hardness scale.

Some of my favorite jewels are those in the plant kingdom.

When I originally embarked on a career in the natural sciences, I thought about becoming a botanist. No doubt my love of the plant kingdom would have served me well in this profession. However, I thought, that perhaps my love of plants would hinder me more than serve me in this aspect.

You see, plants for me have been an escape from the outside world and whatever ails me. I find great joy in examining the structures of a flower as well as picking up a botany book to read before falling asleep. I could never see this joy ever as work and I would not want to. I feared that if I chose this path as my profession, someday, the boundaries between work and love would be blurred. Since I hold plants as a joy, I would never want to ever see them as something I had to do. I wanted to make sure that they would always be my respite from the outside world. I wanted to make sure that plants would always stay my escape. I wanted to be selfish and reclusive. I never wanted to impose work on my love and my escape.

Scilla siberica. Commonly referred to as Siberian squill.


I do not regret my decision about not persuing botany as a profession. Although sometimes I do wonder about the paths not taken.

However, when trekking through the woods this past weekend, I found myself delighted in finding spaghnum moss growing in a bog and finding a field of skunk cabbage. In this delight, I found myself so lost in this that there was no more outside world. Nothing else existed, and most importantly, nothing else mattered.

Thus, in my decision, I have found a world where only beauty exists...



Sanguinaria canadensis. Commonly referred to as the Bloodroot.



The pictures in this post was taken during the expedition on 04/15/06. Thanks goes to Thomas for his mastery of the camera lens. Can you find the tiny jumping spider in the purple flower (Siberian squill)?