What was it that Frost said doesn’t love a wall?
Certainly not this flowering bush from the neighbor’s backyard.
#notcomplaining
Wandering Blooms
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Tag Archives: nature
Summer Snowball
Grandma always called these snowball bushes, but I think they’re also referred to as hydrangeas.
Regardless, they’re really pretty. 🙂
Critter Love
That Lucas, he love him some critters.
Husk
It caught my eye as we were walking the other day.
A husk.
Kevin kicked it.
It was empty and brittle.
Yeah, I was a little grossed out.
It was pretty big, bigger than a quarter. A bug…
A shed skin.
Something crawled out of there.
And it made me think…
How often have I felt like that?
A shell of myself.
Numb.
All the color drained from my world.
It’s been a while,
but I have been a husk of myself before.
And most people probably didn’t even know.
Because I was smiling. And laughing. And singing.
As usual.
I was a great faker, the real me shrunk up so small inside.
So weak. So scared.
Maybe I needed to be there in order to get here.
Maybe I needed to experience the husk to appreciate the whole.
Translucency
Yes, this morning, I actually got a picture of one of our resident hummingbirds!!!
The main male and female were fighting over the feeder.
I kept seeing them blur by the windows, and when I paid closer attention, I saw the male sitting on a tree branch watching while the female came to the feeder, hovered around a bit and then started to sip. Then, the male flew down very close and fast, chasing the female off.
They did this over and over, the chase swirling through the sky into the neighbor’s backyard and back.
I went over to the window and stood, phone in hand with the camera app open, and when the female came to hover, I snapped as fast as I could.
I got two pretty good pictures, but they’re not nearly as clear and focused as I would like…
Look at her wings, though! They’re flapping so fast, they look almost see-through, strikingly translucent.
Awesome!!
Hummingbird Update :)
It’s been a week, and the feeder’s down halfway — not bad, considering how tiny those sweet hummers are. 🙂
The ones we have, like in Ringgold several years ago, are Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds.
A male is clearly dominating the feeder. We can tell it’s a he by his red chest.
He usually sits on a branch of one of the trees in the back of our yard waiting and doing fly-bys on the other hummers who come up.
It’s almost impossible to pick him out until he moves and then we can track him. While he’s seated, though, he’s almost completely camouflaged, at least from this distance.
And there’s another most prominent female. She, like all female Red-Throated Hummingbirds, does not have a red throat at all. She’s mostly gray.
Both the male and the female have been very curious about us, taking time to hover to the side of the feeder in between sips, just looking in at us.
The other day, when I opened the curtain in the morning, the male was at the feeder. Instead of flying off like I would’ve anticipated, he hovered over to the center of the picture window, checking me out. It made me feel like an animal in a zoo he was visiting…a little Twilight Zone-ish.
I hope that they’ll get comfortable enough to let me take some pictures soon. 🙂
Hummers, season 2
About three years ago, we bought our very first hummingbird feeder. It was an awesome experience!
(You can read about it here and see a video and pictures here.)
We moved later that year, and didn’t really have a place or the motivation to try it again at the new place.
Well, now we have a new new place. 😛 And it’s a perfect place for a hummingbird feeder.
I still had the feeder and the nectar concentrate, so this morning, I searched through box after box to find them.
And now, we wait!
#soexcited
7/1/11 UPDATE: The very next morning, we were sitting in the den and noticed that old, familiar blur of wings. Yes! A hummingbird!!! Since then, we’ve seen at least five or six different ones enjoying the nectar. Yay!!
New House … Deck Art!
This is one of the most unusual features of our new home. 🙂
I’m not sure if the deck was built around the actual tree or just the retained tree stump, but I like to imagine the former and wish it were still so. Can you imagine the shade? We wouldn’t even need to invest in an umbrella.
It reminds me of Odysseus’ bed, with a great olive tree for a post.
The trunk is slowly deteriorating. Mushrooms are growing up its side. I’m not sure if that’s weeds or new growth sprouting there.
But still, it speaks to me.
You can see more of the deck from the other side here and pictures of the den here.
Branching Out
Branch out, stretch and grow.
But don’t forget where your roots are.They’re heavy at first, those roots,
holding you back, weighing you down
when you’re thin and wispy,
when you just want to soar.One day, though, that same heavy
will seem security, anchor, bedrock,
your wisp thickened and hard,
your soar stunted and scared.So branch out, yes, stretch and grow.
But don’t forget where your roots are.©2011 Jo Hawke
A View of Downtown
This is one of the hanging baskets along Main Street, just down from the new Dan River Art Works gallery. In the background is, I believe, the old Hotel Danville.