Floating on the wind,
What do I resemble?
A solitary gull
Between the heavens and the earth
-Du Fu
Photos taken at Golden Gardens in Seattle in honor of my father’s 77th birthday.
Monk in the World Guest Post: Melinda Emily Thomas
I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to our Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Abbey Program Coordinator Melinda Thomas’s reflection on her new book Elements of Being: A Spiritual Memoir in Verse. The poems started out
September 10, 2025
9 Responses
such lovely pictures – so calm and peaceful and full of gracefullness.
stunning pictures – a feeling of such peace and calm pervades my mood now after looking at this visual wonder..Sue.
It’s not the same bird I know but you feel it is one bird and it is your self and it is a journey frame to frame, a commute you simply do everyday, so naturally! Wonderful slideshow, Christine!
wonderful photographs…and what a lovely way to honor your father.
Thanks everyone, it was a transcendent evening. I want to fly too! :-)
Suz, he was 63.
SS, these were taken with my Canon 30D and a Canon IS 70-300mm macro lens. Looking forward to seeing you too. :-)
The first one AND the last one are my favorites. I know the photographer’s eye has a lot to do with the “capture” of the image but I must ask, were these taken with your 30D or with the Rebel?
Looking forward to hanging out w/you and J.
xoxo
Just lovely, Christine. *sigh*
I always add bird beads to my prayer beads because they “mediate between heaven and hearth.”
Thank you. How nice of you to honor your father…he must have been a young man when he died.
stunning photos. the last one is my favorite :-) i’m with terri – “i want to fly!!!!!”
Lovely! Birds in that liminal space transitioning between earth and heavens. I want to fly!