Daily Doodle # 19: Dandelions

Dandelions

Crayola announced that it is retiring its “dandelion” color from its crayon box to make room for a new blue.  Some creative person wrote and illustrated a graphic eulogy, which I urge you to read.  It will take only a minute.  Enjoy!

 

Dandelions: Proclamation of the Suns

Watercolor sketch of dandelions

“The Dandelion’s pallid tube
Astonishes the Grass,
And Winter instantly becomes
An infinite Alas —

The tube uplifts a signal Bud
And then a shouting Flower, —
The Proclamation of the Suns
That sepulture is o’er.”
— Emily Dickinson

O Dandelion, Rich and Haughty

Dandelions

I mowed the lawn for the first time this year, a multi-sensory experience.  I love the smell of freshly mown grass and the sound of the mower itself — both seem to be symbolic of spring and the long days of summer.

This is also the time of year when I try to dig out all of the dandelions that have rooted in the yard over the winter.  I know they are considered weeds for the determined way they take over the lawn, but I do think they are awfully pretty, too.

Lawnmower attacking dandelions

The Dandelion
by Vachel Lindsay

O dandelion, rich and haughty,
King of village flowers!
Each day is coronation time,
You have no humble hours.
I like to see you bring a troop
To beat the blue-grass spears,
To scorn the lawn-mower that would be
Like fate’s triumphant shears.
Your yellow heads are cut away,
It seems your reign is o’er.
By noon you raise a sea of stars
More golden than before.

Dandelion bouquet

 

Dandelion chain

 

Jellybean with dandelion garland

 

Watercolor sketch of dandelions

 

Walking the Color Wheel: Seattle’s Summer Yellows

“How wonderful yellow is.  It stands for the sun.”
— Vincent Van Gogh

The sunflower’s sunny face

Sunflower silhouette

Garden art: a sunflower plate on a garden gate

Orange-yellow squash blossom

Bed of yellow yarrow

Yarrow crowned with yellow

Yellow and orange blanket flowers

Yellow lily

Garden loosestrife

St. John’s wart, a popular ground cover in Seattle

Our yellow weed, the dandelion

Yellow chairs bolted to the pier overlooking Elliott Bay in downtown Seattle

Yellow chairs with ferry, Elliott Bay

Yellow chairs with ferris wheel, Seattle waterfront

Summer sweet corn on the cob

Lemons in a blue bowl

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seattle Day Trip: The Sunbelt Near Sequim

Rural scene near Sequim -- barn with Olympic Mountains

Sequim is one of my favorite destinations on the Olympic Peninsula.  It lies in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, so the weather is often sunnier than in Seattle.  I love driving along the country roads surrounding the town.  It’s still peaceful and rural. Later in summer, the lavender fields will be in bloom.  I was there on a Saturday, when the local outdoor market opened for the season.

Weathered ruin just off Hwy 101 near Sequim

Empty windows softened by moss and blossoms

Meadow with Olympic Mountains on the horizon

Dandelion-filled meadow

Old Dungeness Schoolhouse near Sequim

Barbed wire on the side of a barn

Opening day festivities (free cake!) at the Sequim Open Aire Market

Bread stall at the Sequim Market

Tempting pastries at another bakery stall

Handmade crocheted items, Sequim Market

What Nature Reveals

"Benedictine prayer is designed to enable people to realize that God is in the world around them." Joan Chittister

“Morning and evening, season by season, year after year we watch the sun rise and set, death and resurrection daily come and go, beginnings and endings follow one another without terror and without woe.  We come to realize that we are simply small parts of a continuing creation, and we take hope and comfort and perspective from that.”
     — from Wisdom Distilled from the Daily: Living the Rule of St. Benedict Today by Joan Chittister, OSB

Nature can be another catalyst for contemplation.  Here are some photos taken during my contemplative walks around the grounds of St. John’s University:

Grace upon grace . . .

Tiger lily

"The world laughs in flowers." e e cummings

"Consciousness of God is perpetual prayer." Joan Chittister, OSB

"The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Faith sees a beautiful blossom in a bulb, a lovely garden in a seed, and a giant oak in an acorn." William Arthur Ward

Dragonfly poses for backside view

Dragonfly

Natural necklace of lavender blossoms

Chipmunk in a tree

Thistle down

Reflections in the lake on my walk to Morning Prayer

Dandelion wishes

“We have to learn to be mindful that creation belongs to God and we have only been put here as its keepers.”
     — from Wisdom Distilled from the Daily by Joan Chittister, OSB

Stir-Fried Dandelions

A handful of dandelion roots gleaned from the weeding

Stir-fried dandelion roots

I found a recipe for Stir-Fried Dandelions in Plant Seed, Pull Weed by Geri Larkin.  It’s no trouble for me to forage for dandelions.  They would grow rampant in our lawn if I did not attack them each spring.  I decided to try the recipe after my first weeding session this year.

The stir-fried roots may look like worms, but they tasted delicious.  I’ll make them again.

Stir-Fried Dandelions
from Plant Seed, Pull Weed by Geri Larkin

2 – 3 handfuls of cleaned dandelion roots, sliced like tiny carrot sticks
4 Tbsp sesame oil (or Canola)
1 tsp cayenne pepper
5 cloves garlic, shopped
1 small onion, chopped into thin slices
1/4 c sesame seeds (I did not have these, so omitted them)

Steam roots until tender, about 10 minutes.  Drain and saute in the sesame oil with the garlic, onions and pepper.  Add the sesame seeds at the end, when everything is glistening and hot.

Serve over long, thin buckwheat noodles or rice or couscous.

Tomorrow's lunch!

Dandelion Wishes

Dandelion seeds dispersing

“I have to work fast when the dandelions bloom.  I left them a little too long, and mine are all wishes now…”
     — MaryJane Butters, MaryJane’s Outpost

Fallen Stars in a Sea of Grass

I’ve spent several hours over the past three days digging up dandelions from the yard.  This is a yearly battle.  And I always lose.  By summer’s end, the yard is again studded with yellow.

Perhaps I am in need of an attitude adjustment.  After all, just a few years ago, my daughter saw dandelions as golden jewels fit for a queen’s crown.

Bucket full of weeded dandelions

Like gold, the dandelion

Dandelion crown

“We almost think they are gold as we pass,
Or fallen stars in a sea of grass.”

     — John Clare, “A Rhapsody”