GARDENING | LIVING WITH AND IN NATURE

The Everyday Blessings of Nature

(This is Singapore — if only we notice)

My balcony garden in Dover, Singapore — photo by flaleman, 2024

The blessings of nature. With my family down there in beautiful Indonesia and me home in Singapore, I have been living the life of a single man lately, spending most of my time either at work, or walking, bicycling, writing, and relating with the natural world in my environment.

Bougainvillea, now in full blossom — photo by flaleman, Dover, Singapore, 2024

Here are some of the blessings of nature I experienced, all in just one week (unless otherwise indicated, all photos taken with my Galaxy Note 8).

✔ The white-breasted waterhen (amaurornis phoenicurus) I befriended in the gardens of the Google campus just west of the small but most remarkable Labrador Nature Reserve, in Alexandra (Queenstown), where I work. First she started running towards me each time I passed by on my midday walk, as if happy at the sudden prospect of meeting an old friend.

Pinpin walking towards me, while still keeping an eye on what happens on the surface of the pond — image by flaleman, Alexandra, Singapore, 2024