Category: Nature

Flower Power | Belonging

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scan_cmountain_2023-03-13-15-40-53_1

I am hanging on by the proverbial thread, but it’s almost Fri-yay! It’s crazy how all the things in life can be nonstop at times, but I am taking a moment to share a little more flower-power before I hit the hay.

Today’s card came from another Wildflower sister, Arielle W. The postcard features her macro photo of a”tiny” bee resting on a black-eyed Susan.  Her sweet message of celebration of women and appreciation for friendship is complemented by a quote from Brené Brown, one of my favorite podcasters:

Belonging doesn’t require us to change who we are; it requires us to be who we are. –Brené Brown (emphasis mine)

See ya tomorrow…

A Lesson on Rest

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Silhouette-4

A Lesson on Rest
France Archange

(TO BE USED WISELY IF TIRED OR WOUNDED OR LIVING A BUSY LIFE)

When one of his mules was wounded, my grandfather would take charcoal from a fire and put it on the wound. Then he would put the mule away by itself so it could heal and not be exposed to the elements or hard work. None of his workers could use it to carry any load. After some time without carrying any load and being put away by itself, the wound would heal… it’s okay to go away for a while.

The short prose piece above was written by France Archange, one of my former students (and current writing buddy)—now a college graduate on her way to medical school. Her “Lesson on Rest” is an appropriate way to “announce” my two-week blog break. I meet all the criteria for rest: I’m tired, a little wounded, and living a busy writing life. I think this piece can be found in her book, Unraveling. You can find more of France’s work on Instagram: @theunraveledsociety. Speaking of Instagram, I’ll still be posting “musings from my younger self,” so if you miss me, you can visit me there. 😉 Otherwise, I’ll see you in two weeks!

About the Image: The pic is from Harvest Square Preserve.  It is a variation of the photo I chose for the Week 28: Silhouette prompt for 52Frames.

Let’s Take a Trip to Canyonlands National Park

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Decisions! Decisions! Where will the road lead next? Should we stay a while longer in Utah? Or should we move along?

The postcard I received just days ago urges us to visit the Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah, so we’ll remain in Utah a little longer.

Canyonlands National Park preserves 337,598 acres of colorful canyons, mesas, buttes, fins, arches, and spires in the heart of southeast Utah’s high desert. Water and gravity have been the prime architects of this land, sculpting layers of rock into the rugged landscape you see today.

Canyonlands preserves the natural beauty and human history throughout its four districts, which are divided by the Green and Colorado rivers. While the districts share a primitive desert atmosphere, each retains its own character and offers different opportunities for exploration and adventure. –from National Park Service

The districts are Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maze, and the rivers themselves.

Canyonlands

Sky District, Canyonland National Parks, Utah Photograph by George H.H. Huey. Designed and distributed by Impact Photo Graphics.

The postcard came from Kelly C, another Wildlfowers friend, who has been traveling all over the country this year. Sadly, a super-busy season of work impeded our meeting up when she was in my “neck of the woods” earlier this year.

From the postcard back:

An afternoon thunderstorm creates a vibrant rainbow above Monument Basin and the surrounding canyons at the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park.

Despite the postal tattoos, this view is gorgeous! As you just read, the postcard features the Island of the Sky district:

The Island in the Sky sits atop a massive 1500 foot mesa, quite literally an Island in the Sky. Twenty miles (32.2 km) of paved roads lead to many of the most spectacular views in Canyon Country. From these lofty viewpoints visitors can often see over 100 miles (161 km) in any given direction, resulting in panoramic views that encompass thousands of square miles of canyon country. –from Discover Moab

Read more about the park by visiting the Canyonlands Natural History Association site. For more breathtaking views of the park, click here >>> Canyonlands National Park Flickr.

Are you ready for another trip? Or should we stay put for a while?

Let’s Take a Trip to Bryce Canyon National Park

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This week has left me a bit dispirited and in need of a good road trip, so we’re leaving Virginia and traveling straight across the country to Utah.

Why Utah? Bryce Canyon National Park. Ohhhh, you thought the Grand Canyon was the only canyon worth seeing in the US of A? Well, the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon will make your jaw drop! 

What are hoodoos? Simply put, a type of rock formation, but since I am sure that answer does not suffice:

Hoodoos are tall skinny spires of rock that protrude from the bottom of arid basins and “broken” lands. Hoodoos are most commonly found in the High Plateaus region of the Colorado Plateau and in the Badlands regions of the Northern Great Plains. Hoodoos, which may range from 1.5 to 45 metres (4.9 to 147.6 ft), typically consist of relatively soft rock topped by harder, less easily eroded stone that protects each column from the elements. They generally form within sedimentary rock and volcanic rock formations.  –from Hoodoo: What is a Hoodoo? Read more about how hoodoos are formed by clicking the link.

Bryce Canyon

Right-click to view larger

My Wildflowers friend, Phyllis R, sent the postcard to brighten my day, and she certainly did! As you can see, the multi-view postcard features four different images from Bryce Canyon National Park: the Amphitheater, Thors Hammer (über cool!), Agua Canyon, and Natural Bridge, shot by photographers Chet Waggener, Russ Finley, Josh P. George, and John Wagner. 

From the postcard back:

Bryce Canyon, famous for its unique geology consists of a series of horseshoe-shaped amphitheaters carved from the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in Southern Utah. The weathering force of frost-wedging and dissolving power of rainwater have shaped the colorful limestone rock of the Claron Formation into bizarre shapes including canyons, windows, fins, and spires called “hoodoos.” 

Here’s a fun fact. Bryce Canyon is not actually a canyon. As mentioned above, it is, rather, “a series of natural amphitheaters or bowls carved into the Paunsaugunt Plateau that extend 20 miles (30 km) north-to-south.” Read more here: The World’s Highest Concentration of Hoodoos.

For a more comprehensive explanation of the formations at the park, see: “The Geology of Bryce Canon.”  Or, if you just want to see spectacular pics, click the link >>> Bryce Canyon on Flickr.

Hmm…I wonder where we will go next?

Let’s Take a Trip to Shenandoah National Park

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I recently returned from a not-for-pleasure-but-super-fun trip; it was my first trip away from my usual haunts since the pandemic began. Now, I have the travel bug, but preparation for the new school year (only two weeks away), my son’s involvement in a summer bridge program as an ambassador, and hubby’s impending surgery have ruled out traveling in the immediate future. 

Fortunately, my pen friends keep my wanderlust satiated by sharing postcards from their travels, so this week we’re going to use their tourist postcards to take a few short trips to interesting places in the USA. Maybe, I’ll even find time (read: motivation and energy) to select a few photos, collect my thoughts, and share a bit about my recent trip.

Today, we go to Shenandoah National Park.

Shenandoah National Park lies astride a beautiful section of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, just 75 miles west of our nation’s capital. The scenic roadway Skyline Drive takes you through the 105 mile long park, providing more than 75 overlooks with spectacular vistas.

Five hundred miles of trails, consisting of 101 miles of the Appalachian Trail, lead visitors to waterfalls, panoramic views, protected wilderness, and preserved human history in the Shenandoah valley. — from Escape to the Blue Ridge, Shenandoah National Park. 

Shenandoah

Photo by Bill Lea. Designed and distributed by Impact Photo Graphics.

The postcard came from my pen friend, Arielle W. It features an American black bear cub [ursus americanus]. From the back of the postcard:

As you walk a trail or drive along Skyline Drive, you might meet a black bear, possibly a mother with her cub or cubs. A bear cub when born in late winter, weighs only about 8 ounnces. It is hard to believe that this cub will grow to 300-500lbs.

I appreciate Arielle’s choice of this “elusive” black bear. He is adorable, and I can look at his sweet face all day. 

She and her older son took a trip to the park, a brief respite from the “overwhelming and uncertain,” a time for them to “find joy together.” I love how nature invites us to connect and breathe and exist in ways our workaday lives does not often allow.

To escape the usual, you can find lots of beautiful pics from Shenandoah National Park by clicking the link: Shenandoah Pics on Flickr. 

Enjoy!

Snail Mail | #ThursdayTreeLove | Tree Mail!

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from LAW

Who says you can’t fit a tree in a mailbox? My pen friends certainly know how to use snail mail to share what’s growing in their parts of the world, and today I am sharing three photo postcards for your tree-loving pleasure.

My pen friend, Lori Ann W., sent the photo postcard above last October (2021) for a Love Notes prompt. On the back of her card, she wrote:

Find your way through your days knowing you are so very special and are cared about by so many!

A sweet message for a gorgeous scene! The photo was shot by one of her friends, who graciously allowed her to make postcards from the shot.

Christine B, my most prolific pen friend, sent the card below the previous October (2020) for Love Notes too.

from Christine

She wrote:

Give me just a second to remind you how important you are to so many. You have had a lot handed to you and I’m always impressed at how you handle everything.

Aww…this one brought (good) tears to my eyes.

The postcard features a dead ponderosa tree on the bank of Lake Mary in Flagstaff, Arizona. Christine told me Flagstaff has the largest standing ponderosa forest in the country. How cool is that?!

from Karolyn

Finally, these “tree feet” were sent to me by Karolyn for a Photographic Postcard swap on swap-bot. It was sent 6+ years ago, so it has been sitting in my “to be blogged” box an embarrassingly long time.

Karolyn, who’s from Missouri, captured the tree when she visited the North Shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota. She found this tree clinging to the rock alongside a waterfall.

All three photo postcards capture the timeless beauty of trees–one tree glowing in the sunset; one dead but standing tall with its evergreen friends; and one with deep, strong roots crawling along a waterfall. Gorgeous sights with beautiful lessons and messages I would have missed if it weren’t for cameras and snail mail.

Snail Mail Quick Tip: Tree mail is easy-peasy to send. Is there an interesting tree along the path you walk, jog, or drive regularly? Is there a favorite tree in your garden? Did you find a tree that took your breath away while you were in a park or on a nature trail? Trees are–thankfully-everywhere, so that makes sending trees a cinch: Just take a shot, have it printed at your local photo printer (even Walmart and Walgreens print postcards onsite), write a note, and send it on its way to make a mailbox and a human happy.

I am joining Parul Thakur for #ThursdayTreeLove every second and fourth Thursday of the month. If you would like to play along, post a picture of a tree on your blog and link it back to her latest #treelove post.

NPM | Black and White | Joyful, Faithful, Patient

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butterfly joyful in hope

For this third week of National Photography Month (NPM), I am sharing some of the monochrome photo inspiration “cards” I made during Sheila D’s September 2021 Creative Gathering. I divided the month of creativity into thirds—days 1-10, abstract photo art; days 11-20, doodle art; days 21-30 black and white photography. The common thread was scripture. I shared one of the photos for a #ThursdayTreeLove in January.

In light of the recent racial violence committed by one individual against Black citizens in Buffalo, New York, I am sharing images that feature Bible verses that can provide solace and hope. I will not comment (much?) on them. Sometimes the world is so absolutely crazy that I am convinced we need only the voice of God. Everything else is just…noise.

 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. –Romans 12:12

NPM | 52 Frames | Long Exposure | Walking Meditation

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52Frames Week 12 Long Exposure

Walking Meditation
Thích Nhất Hạnh

Take my hand.
We will walk.
We will only walk.

We will enjoy our walk
without thinking of arriving anywhere.

Walk peacefully.
Walk happily.
Our walk is a peace walk.
Our walk is a happiness walk.

Then we learn
that there is no peace walk;
that peace is the walk;
that there is no happiness walk;
that happiness is the walk.

We walk for ourselves.
We walk for everyone
always hand in hand.

Walk and touch peace every moment.
Walk and touch happiness every moment.

Each step brings a fresh breeze.
Each step makes a flower bloom under our feet.

Kiss the Earth with your feet.
Print on Earth your love and happiness.

Earth will be safe
when we feel in us enough safety.

About the Image: The photo above, like the one shared Monday, is from Green Mountain Nature Preserve. This one was for the 52Frames Week 12 challenge, “Long Exposure.” I have some work to do with long exposure, but I love this scene. I hope you find some time to walk and mediate this weekend!

NPM | 52Frames | #ThursdayTreeLove | Leading Lines

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52Frames Week 17

The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper. —Eden Phillpotts

Why am I awake at 1:00 a.m. trying to pass a [technically] Friday post off as #ThursdayTreeLove? Because my time was not my own at all this week, so I am snatching a moment when I can.

The guys and I went to Harvest Square Preserve, a Land Trust near our home, because I wanted to get this shot for the 52Frames Week 17 prompt, “Leading Lines.” This lush scene was everything I expected, but then, we received a bonus! We saw a rabbit that we are convinced is one of the rabbits we rescued and released a couple of summers ago. Unlike other bunnies that hippity-hop away as quickly as possible, he hung around a bit for us, just kind of watching and waiting, maybe building up the courage to “say” hello.

I’d shot the scene above a few times before, so I decided to edit the 52Frames submission. I like how the edit accentuates the lines that pull us into the image and onto the walking trail.

It’s late spring. The trees are bursting and there’s so much to explore.

I am joining Parul Thakur for #ThursdayTreeLove every second and fourth Thursday of the month. If you would like to play along, post a picture of a tree on your blog and link it back to her latest #treelove post.