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.
Flow
I am always careful when I use a shovel.
I have friends in low places.
I dug up this little critter while planting my amaryllis bulbs out in the garden.
Too big for a worm . Tiny eyes, gray back, pink belly and a sharp tail.
It is a worm snake, Carphophis amoenus.
Its name does not come from looking like a worm.
It comes from the fact that it eats worms.
It did not like the sunshine and kept hiding its head in my fingers.
It finally calmed down and posed for some photos.
I was amazed when it swung its head around and looked me in the eye.
Careful with those shovels. You never know who you will meet underground.
Flow
One of my flying friends chose to build her nest in a precarious place.
I noticed the mud on the concrete first. Then little scraps of moss and grass.
I wanted to tell her this was not a great place, but she was very determined.
I placed a metal plate on the deck above her nest, so we would avoid that spot when we blew off the leaves and pollen.
I also knew that the beam her nest is on is in line with drips from the roof. That is where I set out my houseplants when it rains. I guess a bucket will go there now. Can’t let our nest of mud get wet!
Yesterday, I climbed a ladder while the parents were absent.
I held my camera over my head hoping to photograph eggs. Then I saw something tiny move.
Yes folks, I am a grandma again.
So I spent my Earth Day doing what we all should be doing, helping Mother Nature.
HAPPY EARTH DAY
Grandma Flow
We spent a magical day with a fun friend on Grandfather Mountain.
Our picnic spot had a view of the whole world.
We then visited with a sweet bear who posed like a pro.
We spied a pair of otters napping.
This rescued Bald Eagle seems relaxed in its new home.
There were few elk resting among the trees.
The museum had a wildflower exhibit that was a work of art.
My favorite part was the mile-high swinging bridge.
I just love our mountains!
Flower on the Move
I have tried to save him from himself.
Nothing I have done has worked for long.
The interventions were merely distractions.
Nature has hard-wired him to fight his mirror image.
He thinks it’s another suitor for his mate.
He thinks it’s an invader in his space.
All the while his mate is ignored and his territory is neglected.
He has been fooled by an image.
Fake is Real.
He cannot fight the fixed action pattern in his little brain,
like a twelve year old boy playing Fortnite.
How do we save him from himself?
How do we get him back?
Poor little Mr. Blue.
I am sorry for you.
But go away and leave me be.
Your sickness is robbing me of peace and sleep.
I live here, too.
Blue bird be gone!
My pity won’t save you.
Flower
If you walk in the woods with me, plan on walking alone.
While you are getting your heart rate up, I will be bending down to examine red berries.
You will jump over this log, but I will stop to admire a fungi castle on top, among a forest of moss.
You will be looking strait ahead , but I will look down to watch a woolly worm wiggle across my path.
You will quickly round this curve in the trail, I will pause to wave at a big old rock that is smiling at me.
You will loudly stroll by these stones, but I know a troll lives here, so I will I tiptoe past quietly.
You will avoid muddy spots , but I will closely to examine them for prints of the claws of my other friends.
When you see this tree, you will frown at this hole in the trunk,
but I will smile because I know that it is a door to a fairy’s home.
So you go on ahead,
I will be behind you
enjoying all the wonders that you missed as you hurried past.
FLOW (Moseying through the Mountains)
It’s hard for me to leave tasks unfinished.
Since I am never finished, I rarely voluntarily stop working.
Sometimes a family intervention is needed.
This weekend I was forced to stop weeding, washing and writing
to travel up river by boat with the kayaks piled onto the front.
We have been wanting to do this for years.
There are side channels of the river that can only be reached by canoes and kayaks.
We anchored the boat and paddled under bridges
and through leaning trees to explore two of these protected areas.
I was pleased to see that nesting boxes and platforms had been erected for bird habitats.
The turtles, fish and snake I saw seemed undisturbed by my floating by.
I felt this was not only a haven for them, but also for me.
Maybe it’s time for FLOWER to get back to biology?
I returned home wet, tired and hungry…but with a new attitude.
Let’s call it water therapy.
FLOW
I have been watching in amazement this morning as
a mama squirrel has been relocating her babies to a different tree
BEFORE the storm hits.
How does she know?
I have watched her carry three little ones high up into a new tree.
She has taken the same route each time, across the gravel, down the steps,
through the fern garden, across the lawn and up to the top of the tree.
What has told her that her home was not safe?
Was it a crick-cracking sound during the wind gusts?
Why this morning? Not much is going on here.
What does she know that I do not?
We shall see. If a tree falls during the storm,
I bet it will have an empty squirrel’s nest among its branches.
Nature knows.
FLO
This life lesson started out with a lost lens cap.
It fell out of my pocket in the woods.
Now it’s fall here.
So if I don’t find it soon, it will be covered with leaves.
There are no paths in my woods.
I meander around without much notice of my location.
These are my woods. I can’t get lost, but a lens cap can.
I felt obliged to go look for it. It would be easier to find a needle in a haystack.
I took my camera, as usual.
I was looking for a round, dark, man-made object.
Here are my pictures from the search.
Round, dark, man-made objects. Blah!
Today, I went into my woods looking for nothing.
I found everything!
Moss, mushrooms, fairy houses, lichens…
and (NO LIE) the lens cap.
Open mind… Open eyes…
See everything while looking for nothing.
Go with the FLOW.
floweralley 