I have trouble staying inside, even in winter. A ceiling is stifling and walls are confining.
I have to get out just a bit to breathe and regain balance.
Of course, I take my camera. Here are some scenes from my latest foray into the forest.
There is a lot to find in a forest.
FLOW
Nature is my school. My latest teacher is a heron.
Two of its favorite fishing spots are within sight of my desk.
Both locations have a downed tree lying in shallow water.
The heron balances on the trunks and stares into the water.
It is poised as though it is meditating or doing yoga.
Its movements are slow and deliberate.
It is focused on only the water. No wasted movement or attention.
It seems to be doing one thing and only one thing.
In reality it is doing two things.
Balancing and fishing.
Maintaining balance is required first.
Balance is required.
Balance is first.
Balance.
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Nature will help me.
I am calm and focused under the sky.
I am happy with my little friends.
The silence is soothing. The sounds are music.
My heart blooms with the flowers and flies with the birds.
Nature will heal me.
It was here before me and will remain when I am gone.
I am a part of something so much bigger.
I am a tiny part. In my place. Being me.
Where I belong in the universe.
It knows me because I know it.
FLOW
Nature is my teacher. I listen to its lessons.
My garden has been telling me things I need to know.
Maybe you need to know these things, too.
Things do not have to be perfect to be beautiful.(Glad with pink spot)
Share your harvest with your friends. (Eaten poppy seeds)
Just because it is not what you expected, does not mean it is not good. (Should be purple)
Sometimes you will need some support to stay up. (Climbing okra) Hang on!
Do not give up on things. ( I was going to take this hydrangea out for not blooming)
Not all queens wear crowns. (Sovereign Queen daylily) and Shrub Queen
“Pests” can be adorable. Love them instead of killing them. (Baby grasshoppers)
Some friends can pick your favorite flowers for you because they know your heart.
Even when you don’t feel it, there is still some magic nearby. (Fairy garden growing without the fairies) I miss my magic.
One little thing can make a big difference. (This is a Passion fruit from my Blue Crown Hybrid Passion vine. I first saw it in Italy covered in its gorgeous blooms and orange fruits. To see it in my yard is a thrill.)
Everyone needs at least two bunnies. (Barley and Charlotte)
Waiting for a sign is worth it.
I have been waiting for the Eagle for years. Yesterday, he came to me. (Thanks Linda)
Peace is with me.
All I have to do is listen.
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Cliff Swallows build their nests under the bridge near our home.
They form huge colonies which swoop and tweet as your ride under them.
I love watching their activities from below.
It is all new construction this year. The old nests were cleared during bridge maintenance over the winter.
The Cliff Swallows carry mud pellets in their beaks and spit them onto the vertical surfaces.
The pair work together to construct a cup and close it in. The result looks like a jug on its side.
Each nest may have as many as one thousand pellets in it. That’s 500 pellets of mud and grass per bird.
Get some mud in your mouth, mix in some grass, fly to your chosen site, carefully spit out the pellet, repeat…
I am so glad I am not a Cliff Swallow.
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It started with bird seed. You wanted to watch the pretty birds.
All that extra food attracted a raccoon, a ground hog and a chipmunk.
All three uninvited guests feasted, grew fat and multiplied.
Now the raccoon family needs to eat my trash.
One of the ground hogs wants to nest in my seawall.
There are chipmunks digging tunnels everywhere. ( I love my tiny friends, holes and all.)
Then came the feral cat to eat the chipmunks that ate the birdseed.
You did not want all these uninvited guests, only the pretty birds,
so you put out poison.
Some of the chipmunks ate the poison which made them thirsty
so they came and drowned in my fish ponds.
I check the ponds each morning so our koi won’t get poisoned as well.
NOW something big is dead under YOUR pier.
Did the cat eat a chipmunk that ate your poison?
What got thirsty after your poison and went under there to drink and die?
Is it one of your ground hogs or raccoons?
Is it you?
It’s okay. The black angels of death are here to clean up your mess.
These birds aren’t so pretty.
Where will your poison go now?
Furious FLOW
I have learned to be an observer.
I pause and examine things closely.
This pond looks empty at first glance.
The noisy nights have let me know that things are happening.
I pause and ponder and bend down to look into the empty pond.
The green water is dotted with specks.
Some specks have heads and tails.
There is wiggling and swimming going on in that empty pond.
It is teeming with life.
Watch it. Wait for it. Let it be and see what evolves.
Just because you don’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
Look closer.
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It climbs up on our deck and looks in the windows.
It knows where to find me. I am at my desk every morning.
It comes to visit.
I have never fed it or put out food.
That is not nature’s way.
It watches me work and poses for my camera.
Sometimes angels have fur instead of feathers.
Sometimes they climb instead of fly.
God will always be in nature.
That’s where I find him.
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This is a thistle species, not sure which Cirsium it is.
They are usually purple here in North Carolina.
I had to get a closer look at this crimson beauty, but don’t touch!
I doubt anything can eat these leaves.
By looking at the seeds flying off the top, there will be more in this field for years to come.
Mean, but beautiful.
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