A Nature Walk Is Perfect for Starting the Day — Part 2

Snapshots from morning walk around an urban complex

A lush carpet of oxalis, photobombed by blue ageratums [All photos are by the writer]

If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.
— Frances Hodgson Burnett

I live in one of India’s most polluted cities, a dusty jungle of concrete doused in heavy smog almost throughout the year.

But it doesn’t matter much. For I’m a naturalist.

Persian lilac in bloom

A bougainvillea making good use of an yet to flourish royal poinciana

I know what my soul seeks, and I trust my eyes and nose to always seek out the verdant and fragrant among the carnival of dust.

A pop of pink oxalis blooms

A carpet of moss

Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.
— E.B.White

A flaming glorybower doing its thing

Ripening rosehips

A big advantage of springtime in a tropical climate like ours is that rainbows burst out defiantly from any available nook and cranny.

A luminous canna leaf unfurling

Magic! by the concrete, performed by Dahlberg daisies

Spring by the roadside — a medley of dandelion, amaranthus, verbena

Excellent chaos

But beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.

So it’s imperative that one must actively seek out the tonic for graying souls on offer all around.

A stunning false bird of paradise

A morning glory vining away

Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself.
— Henry David Thoreau

A gorgeous Heliconia

A robust bougainvillea invaded by Cuscuta reflexa, a golden parasitic vine

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting — over and over announcing your place in the family of things.
— Mary Oliver

A close up of Dahlberg daisies

A long shot of a Persian lilac, with its golden fruits and lilac blossoms

A pretty mulberry bough

Nature is an ompnipresent confidant, ever ready to welcome the tired human in its blissful embrace.

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.
— John Muir

A flamboyant ornamental grass (bunny’s tail?)

My wish is to stay always like this, living quietly in a corner of nature.
— Claude Monet

Hope you enjoyed these photos captured during a morning stroll. Here’s Part 1 of the series —

A nature walk is perfect for starting the day — Part 1