Andy called me outside to witness the sunrise this morning, but by the time I put on some clothes and shoes, I missed the best of it.  I saw it out the window, but did not get the picture. Here is what I did get. The foreground is about as good as it gets in an RV parking lot.

We have been sitting in one place long enough for me to remember what day of the week it is. (That’s tough when you are retired!) I decided that we should drive up to Ocala for the Friends meeting. They are not an official meeting, but a small group that worships in the home of Larry and Ellie.  We went there a few years ago and enjoyed the fellowship.

We got to the house about 15 minutes before eleven.  There were no other cars in the driveway, but we have learned in the past that many Quakers get there a minute or two late.  I was smitten with the flowers as soon as I got out of the car.  They are seven or ten feet tall!  The orange and yellow was electric in the morning sun and dappled shade!  I started taking pictures of the blossoms.

Perhaps I should have called ahead.  Sometimes home worship groups can vary their time and place of meeting.  We rang the bell and Larry answered the door. They had children, grandchildren, and a great grandson visiting.  Everyone else had gone to the park.  Uh oh. He insisted that we come in and wait while he went to the park to get them so I went back outside to take more pictures of the flowers.

The more pictures I took, the more excited I became.  “Each one has its own personality!” Andy was not so moved.  “Look at the sun through this one!” I didn’t even elicit a grunt.  Andy thought we should leave so as not to inconvenience the family. He finally convinced me just when the family returned. Ellie told us that on the fourth first day, other members of the group to go the Gainesville meeting.

It did turn into a meeting, but not a silent worship we Quakers are accustomed to.  We sat around the table with three generations of Claytons and talked. At noon, Ellie and her daughter-in-law visiting from Texas got up and made lunch.  Then we sat for another hour telling stories and simply chatting. At first we felt a bit awkward, but they continually told us how happy they were that we came and what a pleasure it was to see us. By the time we left, we really believed it.

Larry mentioned that he is 89 and a Korean War vet.  He and Andy talked about being in the military.

Their son Paul keeps his sailboat on the Neuse River and gave me his blog address. http://www.neuseriversailors.com/ We got to talk about boating.

Ellie also works diligently on her blog about William Blake.  She showed me her library of books by and about him.  I confess ignorance here, so I looked him up when I got home. William Blake (1757 to 1827) was an English poet, artist, and engraver. I love Wikipedia! I did not find out how Ellie came to study him. Her blog is William Blake: Religion and Psychology.

As I said, it was not a Quaker meeting, but was a delightful visit.

And, oh the cosmos!  That was my spiritual awakening this morning. These were so tall that I wasn’t sure they were cosmos.  The ones I grew in my garden were only two or tree feet high, and pink. I had to coin a new word for the experience: photogasm. I couldn’t find it in Merriam Webster, so it is my word. Then I decided the word should be florigasm and coined that one too. You don’t need to credit me if you decide to use either of them in a sentence.

How many flower pictures can you stand to look at in one sitting?

Here is the underside of a cosmos.  Who knew?

This butterfly on a cosmos might be my favorite picture.

Bee on a cosmos is my best bee-and-flower shot yet.

The cosmos in the shade were a deeper orange.

This cosmos was so high in the sky I had to use a lot of zoom to take its portrait.

I probably could have stayed there for hours and taken a picture of each bloom.