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Snowy puffs floated in the air creating an ethereal sight along the McMullen Creek Trail.  I could see them drifting down from high above the trees.  Initially, I thought they were seeds from the Tulip Poplars (Liriodendron tulipifera)—one of the tallest of the native American hardwoods which is not actually a poplar but a member of the Magnolia family.  But Tulip Poplar seeds don’t look like soft white puffs of down.  Ah well, it’s warm and breezy May, the month of fragrant Magnolia blossoms and new life bursting forth here in the south.

Further along the trail, sparkling fairy wings arced gracefully up and into the wood.  Hundreds and hundreds of fluttering wings lifted off from an old, decaying tree trunk rising forth into nature’s cycle to serve their unique purpose.  Here is my little pastel sketch of the tree trunk.

Witnessing these happenings in nature always leave me humbled and wondering about my own unique purpose.  What is my participation in this grand cycle of life?  Shall I always dwell in the land of safety or shall I be bold?  “Think.  Dig deeper,” I tell myself.  Yet artist, Marc Chagall, in one of his many quotes, says “If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing.”  So, maybe too much thinking is not good.  More quotes by Marc Chagall:  “Great art picks up where nature ends.” and  “The dignity of the artist lies in his duty of keeping awake the sense of wonder in the world.”