Too often we pass through each day of our lives without seeing most of the visual delights the world has to offer. I am as guilty as anyone of this. But periodically, I try to take myself by the collar and say "Bateman, wake up. Open your eyes. Hold on a second and look around." Nature has treasures to offer, if we will only pause for a moment, take a few deep breaths and smile.
Some of the most bounteous gifts come in late summer with the last flourish of flowers before fall. This is a true to life scene right beside our property where we lived in Ontario along a rural road. To call this roadside tapestry 'weeds' is a travesty. Totally uncultivated, unplanted by man; all wild plants, they would normally be titled weeds, but I think of them as meadow flowers. They are native species and they are lovely. They are pieces of nature having merit and a life of their own - goldenrod, New England asters, and milkweed.
The asters and goldenrod form a complex mural more lush and gorgeous than any Persian carpet or Jackson Pollack abstract.