Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark. George Iles

“But in children, cultivate the wonder as a foundation for facts.” An important theme to the “the wonder book” (Rachel Carson) would be this direct pathway into the unity and awe of nature:

It is important for a child to have some direct knowledge, from an early age, of lives other than human – some of the thousands upon thousands of species that, even as he does, inhabit this earth. He should be aware of them, it as creatures described in books, or as a word in a crossword puzzle, but animals living in his own world, searching for food, caring for their young, struggling to survive in the face of difficulties.
P. 134, A natural sense of wonder, Rick Van Noy

…a young person understands little about time and passing of it. They still live close to the present, looking more toward the near future. Every moment is now, and days are a stream of them we can never step in twice. The nows slip past, the future becomes present. P. 125, A Natural Sense of Wonder, Rick Van Noy

Not too much is new as we grow older, but with children we rediscover the newness and brightness we once knew…
P. 125, A natural sense of wonder, Rick Van Noy

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave an trail. Ralph Waldo Emerson

No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. C. S. Lewis

I feel strangely attracted to this tree. The brown close-grained wood, as well as the small scale-like leaves, is fragrant, and the flat over—lapping plumes make fine beds, and must stop the rain well. It would be delightful to be storm-bound beneath one of these noble, hospitable, inviting old trees, its broad sheltering arms bent down like a tent, incense rising from the fire made from its dry fallen branches, and a hearty wind chanting overhead.
P. 145, cultivating delight – the natural history of my garden, Diane Ackerman

At the end of Emerson’s life, he listed Muir among the handful of truly great men he had known. … l’ve been thinking about his passion for flowers, which he describes as “plant people … standing preaching by the wayside”…
Chapter 28: guest in the garden, cultivating delight the natural history of my garden, Diane Ackerman

One is always investing in the garden- it is a growth fund.
P. 128, cultivating delight a a natural history of my garden, Diane Ackerman

Gardeners live in the moment, but we also live in the future, and the past is always clearly in mind, too. Each flower has a history, a tale of struggle, perhaps, or disease. Each flower is planted with hope and expectation.
P. 120, cultivating delight – a natural history of my garden, Diane Ackerman