Nightime Nicotiana

Coming home at night, the sensor floodlight flashes on. I park my car under a hemlock tree and walk toward the front door and the white garden.

I didn't leave the front light on, so i'm walking into dimness--starlight/moonlight above; floodlight behind me.

The white flowers of the white garden dance in the dark, and then i smell the heady fragrance of Nicotiana. "Ahhh," i say to the night sky.

During the day, Nicotiana isn't much of a flower to look at. It's a bit lanky with single trumpet flowers seeming to cluster at the top but then the stalk stretches up so there's a flower every inch or two. Since the leaves, stem, and flowers are sticky to the touch, i leave it alone.

When we close our eyes to meditate, it can seem a bit dark in there. And maybe it seems like there's not much to "see." As we focus on the sensations of the body or the sounds around us, we may relax into calmness, even if only for a few seconds. "Ahhh."