Life of Rice - Harvest Time

Always been wanting to contribute to this community by submitting to a contest about nature stuff, and now is the time! Now or never! Hehehehe. Since after reading they will declare a "Christmas break" I had to find something simple and easy yet amazingly natural subject for a start.

So I chose this Topic for my ENTRY in this last competition before the Christmas break. :)

"The Life of Rice Plants - The Moment of Harvest"

Why rice plants you ask? The images and video's you see were the same rice plants that grew together with me while I was practicing my golf at the range. Golf ranges in Taiwan especially where I practiced were surrounded with rice fields all around the range.

So as I come to practice my swing I get to also see the plants grow little by little... slowly yet surely.

As the sunny days come by the field looks magnificently bright green and having each plant almost the same height as the other with thousands upon thousand of rice plants... it looks really nice and refreshing. Especially with the wind it seems the rice plants as a whole seems to look delighted and enjoying being at the moment. The wind makes the rice plants leaves move in sync and it makes it look like they are joyfully dancing in waves. Funny thing to imagine while I am swinging my clubs... kinda silly but its so very pure and honest.

After practice as I exit out I walk towards the plants to take a closer look. And man... they are really growing very healthy. Not a single plant looks sick and there is so much wind movement that there is not much space for pests to intervene. As a group the rice plants looks like they are in perfect sync with one another and has a very positive vibe to it.

I guess this is what the "Amazing" part of nature is really all about. I can sense it... the rice plants individually they just are another grass plant. However when I see thousands of thousands of the same plant in perfect unison, in line, same species, same color, same height... it gives off a collective vibe that there is presence in the moment. I can sense it... but cannot really explain or prove it. I just know its there.... and its pretty freakin AMAZING actually. :)

I had to take photos to show the details and I had to also take some video's to show how they look and feel as a collective. All this experience with some golf practice.... Perfect. What a good moment to be in.

Its also funny one day when I came for another round of golf practice I noticed that the rice plants were all harvested and all that remained was.... emptiness... like a bald spot on earth... hollow. The energy that once was was not noticeable anymore.... Sad even. Its funny how I felt like this for a rice plant. But nevertheless they have lived an great life of being Rice. The ones who are going to eat them will feel just as good as they were... lucky them. I hope the rice I eat has been processed like the ones I grew up together during my golf practice. :)

Writing this makes me think its kinda dumb to put feelings in rice plants... hahahahaha. But when you see them grow from beginning all the way to the end harvest... it seems like it also creates a tiny but apparent emotional bond with the plants.

A giff animation showing the transition of the rice plants.

Thanks for checking out my post. I hope to share more experiences of what I see and worth sharing in life and in work. :) Cheers~

Set the Tone!!!~~

*** By the way - Below is a picture taken when there the farmer is taking a break and when the fields are being left alone and not taken care of.... the entire place gets engulfed with grass and weed. Its really amazing how nature just takes it right over... it became just a field of grass and weed!! Crazy! :)

from another angle