Thoughts on death by Steve Jobs

Swamp Milkweed

     Big headline in today's newspaper about the death of Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple Computer.  As a highly successful inventor he had an interesting remark about life's final chapter.  He commented "Death is very likely the best invention of life.  All pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure, these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important."
     Pictured left is a Swamp Milkweed along side of Bassett Creek pond.  It is looking quite lovely, and even elegant in its death.  As you can see its last act is the dispersion of seeds.
     While most flower blossoms have long fallen, a late blooming wildflower was still keeping company with the milkweed during its last act of the season.

Nothing Gold Can Stay

by Robert Frost

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold,
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.