Month: August 2026

The Losing Side

| Flower Roberts

I have officially arrived at the Losing Side. When my parents were alive, there was a point when they started losing friends and relatives at an alarming rate. I could not understand how they could stand losing so many people they loved.

They did not cry about the deaths. Mom kept a supply of sympathy cards. The church ladies would call and assign a food to make for the family. Mom boiled dozens of eggs. Dad peeled them. Funeral bulletins were kept and filed.

Every week someone else moved on to the other side of life. Siblings, Sunday school class members, neighbors, and former co-workers started falling off the conveyor belt. Their world was emptying. 

I bought a handful of non-sappy sympathy cards last week. I sat down and made lists of memories of each dearly departed. I mailed these as I left the mountain to head home for a funeral. Next week, I must get back up the mountain for another.

We went to a party last night where we discussed dear friends who are gone. Mr. Flower and I gave pointers on what to do after the loss of both parents. How best to clean out sixty plus years of life from the home place. Who to call for help with appraisals or junk removal. What to do when mistakes are made on the death certificate…

If this seems morbid to you, it is because you have not yet arrived at the Losing Side. When you get there you will know it is time for those precious folks to go. Life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone.  Oh, yeah…

You will eventually not cry as the coffin goes by.

The Losing Side is just another part of this journey. When you are there, keep cards and casserole dishes at the ready. The more the better. Needing a generous supply means you have had a life full of folks you love.

Keep living and loving as long as you can.

FLOWER between funerals

Followed by Fish

| Flower Roberts

Sometimes when I walk close to the shore at Evergreen Island the fish follow me.

Stalked along shore

When I stop to look at them, they stop and look at me.

It makes me think they were raised at a fishfarm and expect me to throw food at them.

I wonder if they stalk fishermen, too?

I mean really. Look at that face!

Feed me

Habituated to humans.

FLOW

Daddy’s Apples Feed All

| Flower Roberts

I silently sit in the swing at dusk and wait for the foragers. There are always a few when the apples are ripe.

Daddy’s three apple trees.

Sometimes a lone deer comes to feast. Once, I saw an apple plop down and almost hit her below. There was a crow silently snacking above.

Deer below crow.

Groups of crows fly in to eat together. They hop up the leaning trunk and walk out the branches. They are noisy, but they do share the apples by busting them apart on the pavement.

Two crows and a rabbit.

Our rabbit from the thicket comes out to eat the scraps left by the larger animals.

The twin fawns are old enough to eat bits of apple now. They stayed quite a while one evening this weekend and then bedded down under our porch for the night.

Mama doe and twins.

This scene plays out over and over in August under my Daddy’s apple trees.


The visitor last night was not as considerate. There were scratches along the tree trunk and broken limbs hanging down and lying around on the ground.

Claw marks up the trunk

The offended limbs were bare of their apples.

Ripped off limb with no apples.

One of our bears has been back. It is not careful. It does not share with its neighbors. It hurts the tree that feeds it.

This is the cute one.

It breaks and scratches instead of hopping and picking.

Broken bare limbs.

I hope it has had its fill of apples for a bit. Our poor tree needs some TLC.

FLOWER

This Trail I Know

| Flower Roberts

The trailhead is guarded by two tall wildflowers. To the left is Joe Pye weed with heads of flowers so big it bends low under their weight. Its flowers are covered in bees.

Joe Pye Weed

The sentinel to the right is Ironweed which grows high with purple blooms making a landing pad for butterflies.

IRONWEED

Under the bridge I know where to look for the Ghost pipes to see if they have set seed. Their bent necks have straitened. Their faces are up with dark pods in the center. The pipes are now gray and withering.

Ghost pipes with pods

I look for the broken tree full of holes in the bend. This would be the perfect place to spot a busy woodpecker, a resting owl or a mama raccoon.

Holey but alive.

I know where to peek through the leaves to see my neighbors’ houses on the cliffs across the gorge. They are white, tan,  brown and round.

Stone wall standing over the gorge.

I look for the crooked tree that has twisted limbs twirling toward the sky. It is one of the lucky ones not taken down or dead from Helene.

Slithering branches

I know where the ferns dance in the breeze under the leaning tree. The deer like it here as well.

Fern glade

Sometimes I meet horses here. I always step aside to greet them. This one’s name is Scout. He is sweet and beautiful. She made us guess his age. He is 26!

Scout and his loving mama from Temnessee.

I know this trail. I know it well. It makes my heart sing.

FLOW

Silver Under Glass

| Flower Roberts

I took off the silver brooches from the pin collage display I made for my mom. They tarnished over time. (See link below)

Three sets and a turtle pin.

I did not want to just stick these in a drawer, so I purchased a display cabinet and put all the Native American pieces in it. That way we can wear them and return them easily.

One display and out of the way.

Our Aunt Ethel was known for her interesting jewelry. I am glad that the family collection is where it can be seen.

Several of these pieces are signed. Most are just lovely and timeless.

Safe in Gran’s china cabinet.

FLOWER

Mama’s Pin Collage

Bass Beds Near Shore

| Flower Roberts

Bass spawn later at higher elevations because of cooler water in spring. I took these photos in July.

Light circles near shore are two bass beds

 The female visits a bed to lay several thousand eggs and then she leaves.
The male guards the eggs and fans them to keep them clean and oxygenated.

Bass bed guarded by male

After the eggs hatch, the male protects the fry for another week or two.

Male bass still on duty

I look for these in my favorite lake every summer. Bass beds are a good sign.

Bass Lake

FLOW

Palmer and his Queen

| Flower Roberts

My friend Lucy’s husband is a plant whisperer. I gave Palmer a cutting from my Queen of the Night. His is now way bigger than mine and always has more blooms.

I am proud of my little Queen surviving up here on the mountain. It’s cooler here. There is more wind and rain.

I was thinking she was doing great until Palmer and Lucy sent me photos. I am trying not to be green with envy, but good grief. My Queen doesn’t even have buds yet.

Palmer and his Queen of the Night

Here is Palmer beside his Queen. It has had three nights of blooming. Lucy stayed up and took photos for me. Wow could they be any whiter?

Cereus blooms
The Queens face

I will patiently await buds and blooms from my acclimating baby on the mountain. Until then, enjoy these crazy beautiful blooms from my flatlander friends.

Cereus bloom

FLOWERLESS

Judy of Automatic Gardener asked what fertilizer he uses. Here is a photo.

Palmer says he uses Flower Fuel the most.

Northern Tooth Fungus

| Flower Roberts

I always look for stands of Northern Tooth Fungus on this tree in late summer. This tree is beside a trail I walk frequently. I was happy to spot two sections of Climacodon septentrionalis this week.

Northern Tooth Fungus

Their presence is not a good sign for the health of the tree. It has had a wide gash in its trunk for many years. There have been years when the fungus lived entirely inside the wound.

Climacodon septentionalis

These section are growing at the bottom of one gash and the top of another. They layer over top of each other like stacked fans. The teeth on the lower side increase the surface area for spore production.

Teeth

I tried out several new mushroom identification apps to see how well each identified it. Neither app got it right. When I switched magnification of the same photo one gave three different answers.

Northern Tooth Fungus

I have never foraged for mushrooms. It is too easy to be wrong. I take only photos in the wild.

FLOWER

American Indian Ghost Pipes

| Flower Roberts

I was thrilled to find this stand of Monotropa uniflora on a hike this morning. The great find was that this sgroup still had the brown seed pods from last year behind it.

Fresh stand of flowers with old seed pods behind.

This group is freshly emerged so its flowers are still bowed. As the flower matures and gets pollinated its face turns upward. I plan to check these again in a week or so.

Indian Ghost Pipe flowers

Indian Ghost Pipes are non-photosynthetic plants that partner with a fungus to take food from surrounding tree roots. These relationships make it both symbiotic and parasitic second-handedly.

Monotropa uniflora

The entire plant looks waxy and translucent. This dappled light was perfect to show its opalescence. The blooms have normal flower parts; petals, stamen and a pistil. These are hard to distinguish because they are small and all the same color.

Lovely find in the forest.

FLOWER