The Grounds and the Flowers

Each year I am blown away by the beauty of Vietnam. Pictures cannot do justice to the depth of God's creation.

The garden is in the side of the property, tended carefully, and provides many of the vegetables we eat. My favorite is the corn which you can see on the left. It's not quite ready to be harvested, though. Perhaps in a couple more weeks.

The view from the dining hall. The grass is the kind that only grows a few inches, and it is soft, perfect for walking on with bare feet.

Flowers bloom with such intensity that they almost yell at you. This bush has been full of blossoms for the past ten days.

Topiary is an art form in Vietnam, and here is a dragon almost fully formed. The plants are ficus, a tree that is notoriously difficult to grow in the U.S. but thrives in this hot and humid climate.

The chapel is where the community who works for the diocese worship every day, morning prayer and mass and evening prayer. We also have English mass here.

I was taken aback by the color in these blossoms. While the stem and leaves are small, the petals certainly aren't.

This is the view from the garden toward the back of the cathedral, a quiet place for reading or meditating.

In that garden is a high hill of rocks, and perched atop the rocks is a craggly old ficus tree. He has been there since anyone can remember, and I call him the Great-Grandfather tree.

These blossoms are paper thin and I have never seen this color before. While the petals last only a few days, they never fail to impress.

Finally, a lone plant with one single flower, but what a flower. Amid all of the greenery there is always a burst of color.