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This is a beautiful time of year, and Nature’s artistry is everywhere. Look for it wherever you are – it can be found in places you may not expect. Be sure to look not just at the majestic, but also at the diminutive…because sometimes the most stunning beauty can be found in the tiny. Wishing you a fall full of wonder.
Not just fun, finding awe is good for your wellbeing, too.
You may have discovered, as I have, that, often, the best gifts are surprises…and free. Nature is generous in its gift-giving, and we were recently gifted the experience of witnessing a caterpillar affix itself to our house’s siding, form a chrysalis, and – amazingly – emerge from that chrysalis! What luck to be present to see that newly-hatched butterfly working on unfurling its wings.
Continue reading “Haiku: Pre-Flight Check”
Perhaps the most beautiful and friendly mantis I’ve had the privilege of meeting to date was this one. She (just a guess, but my gut feel) made me view these amazing creatures differently, question my previous notions about them, and left me completely in awe of them. She was magical.
Continue reading “Haiku: First Contact (Mantid Series #3)”
There seem to be morning glories everywhere I look: on fences, climbing up rock faces, intertwined with other greenery. They possess the kind of beauty that is both ordinary and extraordinary at the same time – if you didn’t take the time to look at the blooms and see that they’re all different, you might just dismiss them as blue vining weeds. You might not see that some contain small insects, others are dusted with pollen, and still others have been sprinkled with raindrops. Fortunately, you and I know to see what crosses our visual paths. I hope you soak in the beauty…and there are many more to yet to be discovered!
The elderberry harvest was phenomenal this year; there were many more productive bushes, providing a bounty of elderflowers (from which an ethereally delightful wine was made), followed by more berries, than I’ve seen in the past. When I went out to collect a last few clusters for syrup before the berries overripened, I almost didn’t notice the mantid patrolling the bush…and you can see why.
Continue reading “Haiku: Guardian Of The Elderberries (Mantid Series #1)”
Life can be hard if you’re a very tiny frog. I found this diminutive one near a puddle on the edge of the driveway. It jumped away from me as I walked near it, through a grassy area turned into marsh by recent rainfall. I think I may have seen it the other day – something leapt in the grass in the same area – but concluded that it was probably a large grasshopper. I wasn’t convinced, though.
This tiny frog could jump astonishingly high, flinging itself away so violently in its efforts to escape that it flipped itself over more than once. Fortunately, it landed in thick, wet, grass and I was able to very gently capture it for a very quick photo (I am an experienced frog catcher, having spent a good portion of my youth practicing the skill – lol!).
Interestingly, this frog seems to have a cleft in its upper “lip” area that looks (at least externally) similar to a human cleft palate. Whether the deformity was congenital or due to injury, the little creature seemed otherwise healthy. I returned it to the grassy edge and wished it luck…because with all of the obstacles to living its life – even in the country – it needs it.
Did you figure out the “two lives” reference in the title? From Vocabulary.com: “the word amphibian comes from the Greek word amphibios, which means ‘to live a double life'”, referring to the fact that amphibians live their early lives in water, then, later, on land.
Read more about why frogs are important: https://phys.org/news/2017-05-frogs.html