Category: Amazing Creations

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Faith, Nature, Poetry, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth

Crimson Hand© Molly Lin Dutina

Across the meadow 
a maple tree reaches out a golden arm
it’s hand is crimson, but not the rest
some branches are bare
that crimson hand beckons me
someone else wrote the question
“When the leaves fall with such abandon, 
do they not know winter soon follows?"

Reading “May I have This Dance?” by Joyce Rupp, I came across this quote.

I remember sitting on an old porch in Edensburg, Pennsylvania. It was the sixth of October and the hills were radiant with color. The golds and reds of the trees swayed in the strong breeze and I sat there hurrahing the dying leaves. The thought surprised and rather appalled me: How could I love the colors of death? How could I be so callous? How could I eagerly cheer for the forest leaves as they sailed to their death when I so strongly wanted to hold onto life? I was astounded at how easily the trees let go of their treasures. I was dismayed by the stark contrast of this acceptance of death and my own tight grip on life.

Joyce Rupp – October

My brain gets a little confused over chlorophyll and leaf colors. I heard one scientist over simplify saying all the colors are there all year ’round. We just see the chlorophyll as most prominent. At that my brain is going if the green of chlorophyll is mixing with the yellow then shouldn’t the leaves look blue? Arghh! Scientists confusing simple ol’ me.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/visit/fall-colors/science-of-fall-colors

During the growing season, chlorophyll is continually being produced and broken down and leaves appear green. As night length increases in the autumn, chlorophyll production slows down and then stops and eventually all the chlorophyll is destroyed. The carotenoids and anthocyanin that are present in the leaf are then unmasked and show their colors.

A color palette needs pigments, and there are three types that are involved in autumn color:

  • Carotenoids: Produces yellow, orange, and brown colors in such things as corn, carrots, and daffodils, as well as rutabagas, buttercups, and bananas.
  • Anthocyanin: Gives color to such familiar things as cranberries, red apples, concord grapes, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and plums. They are water soluble and appear in the watery liquid of leaf cells.
  • Chlorophyll: Gives leaves a basic green color. It is necessary for photosynthesis, the chemical reaction that enables plants to use sunlight to manufacture sugars for food.

Certain colors are characteristic of particular species:

  • Oaks: red, brown, or russet
  • Hickories: golden bronze
  • Aspen and yellow-poplar: golden yellow
  • Dogwood: purplish red
  • Beech: light tan
  • Sourwood and black tupelo: crimson
  • The color of maples leaves differ species by species:
  • Red maple: brilliant scarlet
  • Sugar maple: orange-red
  • Black maple: glowing yellow
  • Striped maple: almost colorless

That makes more sense to me, “As chlorophyll production slows down and then stops – the carotenoids and anthocyanin that are present in the leaf are then UNMASKED and show their colors.”

So in my poem I am uncertain if a red maple seen from this distance is holding the ‘hand’ of a sugar maple? Regardless the leaves are not entirely fallen, but most have. I am truly aware of winter when the leaves of the invasive honeysuckle shrubs fall. Then we are in for the worst winter can send our way. The last couple winters have been very mild. Wonder what climate change will send our way this winter?

If the folklore abut the woolly bear caterpillars is to be believed this will be a harsh winter. Time will tell!

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Faith, Journal, Just do it, Listen, Nature, Poetry, Prayer, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Traveling, Yield

Bearing Fruit

Jesus had much to say about growing plants. These lessons still apply to us today, though most of us no longer live in an agrarian culture. Read what was written in the book of John.

“I am the true Vine, and my Father is the Gardener. 2 He lops off every branch that doesn’t produce. And he prunes those branches that bear fruit for even larger crops. 3 He has already tended you by pruning you back for greater strength and usefulness by means of the commands I gave you. 4 Take care to live in me, and let me live in you. For a branch can’t produce fruit when severed from the vine. Nor can you be fruitful apart from me.

5 “Yes, I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in me and I in him shall produce a large crop of fruit. For apart from me you can’t do a thing. 6 If anyone separates from me, he is thrown away like a useless branch, withers, and is gathered into a pile with all the others and burned. 7 But if you stay in me and obey my commands, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted! 8 My true disciples produce bountiful harvests. This brings great glory to my Father.

9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Live within my love. 10 When you obey me you are living in my love, just as I obey my Father and live in his love. 11 I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your cup of joy will overflow!

John 15:1-11 TLB

Vine and branches also applies to shrubs and branches. Once while driving the Natchez Trace we came to rest area/ tourist information center that had these shrubs growing along the sidewalk. I was enchanted, especially since purple is my favorite color! (The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 444-mile recreational road and scenic drive through three states. It roughly follows the “Old Natchez Trace,” a historic travel corridor used by American Indians, “Kaintucks,” European settlers, slave traders, soldiers, and future presidents. Today, people can enjoy a scenic drive as well as hiking, biking, horseback riding, and camping along the Parkway.)

Aren’t those berries lovely?

More recently, while on retreat at the Convent of the Transfiguration Spirituality Center I found the shrubs once again. (Photograph above)

I cut one branch. The shrubs were loaded with berries. I knew in a just a few weeks the frost would make everything less lovely. One branch would not destroy the future of the shrub.

Holding the lovely branch, I pondered the fact that Jesus is the Vine and I am just a branch. The shrubs I encountered were producing a bountiful harvest of berries. I, too, want to stay close to my Savior and produce a crop to His glory. These berries are attached with tiny, rather fragile stems.

Then a poem emerged:

So many lovely purple spheres
bespangled tendrils almost
to the ground
delight to my eyes
firm to the touch
but barely affixed
you roll down the spine of my book
making me giggle

Living water flow in me
American beauty bush
Fruit of dark purple
Not in line with liturgical colors
yet gift to me.  ©Molly Lin Dutina

Eventually I took the branch into the library of the Center and placed it on paper so it would not mar the furniture. The retreat was just for a day or two.

Before I departed I disposed of the cut branch, a clear reminder to cling to Christ and stay connected.

Curled leaves, withering branch cut off from the shrub.

The memory of that berry rolling down the spine of my book still makes me giggle. Isn’t it amazing how tiny things can bring us joy if we are willing to slow down and look for them? May your day bring you splendid surprises.

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Beagle, Challenge, Faith, Just do it, Nature, Thanks

Beauty by Sister Joan

Joan Chittister is a well known Benedictine nun and author of a tremendous amount of books. Over many years she has inspired me to grow deeper with Christ. I get a weekly newsletter from her ministry. Here is a quote from a recent newsletter and a link should you want to read the entire article for yourself. Much of what they put in the newsletter is taken from her books.

Because of beauty

Confucius may have said it best: “Everything has beauty,” he taught, “but not everyone sees it.” Seeing it, the spiritual person knows, is the task of a lifetime. It is also the reward of a lifetime well-lived, lived in balance, lived from the inside out as well as from the outside in.

CONTINUE READING AT https://mailchi.mp/benetvision.org/doubt-is-the-mother-of-conviction-751773?e=b2069f7462

Open your eyes to the beauty around you today. This morning was my turn to walk the dog. It was the coldest morning this season. Just meant time to get out my winter coat, and gloves, etc. Had to stop to capture this leaf for you.

After the many days of glorious yellow, red and gold leaves raining down upon us this frosted outline was too lovely to not admire!

Watch for treasures in plain sight. They truly are all around you!

Posted on in Aging, Amazing Creations, Faith, Traveling

Holmes County, Ohio

If you have never visited Holmes County, Ohio there are some fun things to do and learn. Though located in nearby Tuscarawas County, we always make a stop at Warther’s to get our knives sharpened or purchase a new one!

Ernest “Mooney” Warther was born on October 30th, 1885 in an old, one room school house in Dover, Ohio. The youngest boy of five children, Ernest learned at a young age the value of hard work. After his father passed away when Ernest was just three years old, times were tough for the Warther family, with young mother Anna, five children, twenty cents, and a cow. Upon turning five, Ernest began his first job as the local cow herder, taking cows to pasture for a penny a piece and earning him the nickname that would stay for the rest of his life, “Mooney.”

One fateful day, taking the cows out, Mooney found a rusty pocketknife in the dirt. This old knife would ultimately change the course of Mooney’s life forever as the young boy began whittling sticks, fence-posts, and anything else he could get his hands on. Because times were tough and money was short, Mooney would only finish the second grade and would eventually lie about his age at 14 to work at the American Sheet and Tin Company which was one of the local steel mills. Falling in love with the railroad and steam engines as a teenager, Mooney found his focus for carving, which became his hobby. When he was not working at the mill, he was carving. If he was not carving he was with his wife Frieda, his own five children, and their neighborhood friends. Mooney’s journey is one that is remarkable, with one man creating sixty-four scaled and working representations of steam history. His carvings were created between 1905 and 1971, between the ages of 20 and 86.

https://thewarthermuseum.com/meet-our-family
Beautiful knives await you!

There is a museum of the carvings works of Mooney Warther. See the locomotive photo above. Well worth your time when you visit there! Just amazing that he made those things without lasers or any technology of our time.

There are only about 10 miles between the two locations. The fifth generation of Ernest “Mooney”, David Warther, has opened a new shop and his own museum.

David began carving full-time at age 29, and in 1993 he opened a carving exhibit in the nearby village of Sugarcreek which is considered a tourist enclave in the heart of Ohio’s Amish country. David found himself carving every day amidst interested visitors and groups from bus tours as well as the local schools.

In 2008 David Warther Carvings was established as an IRS recognized 501c3 non-profit organization and in 2013 the carvings were moved to the new 10,000 sq. ft.exhibit building known as David Warther Carvings Exhibit and Gift Shop. David’s carving studio has been incorporated into this new building, where he shows visitors his special techniques and complete workshop of hand tools.

David’s evenings are devoted to his family and to a musical instrument parts business he started years ago. In addition he has become an expert in knowing the laws and regulations regarding the buying, selling and gifting of estate elephant tusks and ivory carvings in the US.

David’s inborn interest and natural carving ability has resulted in an art collection that is highly educational in its conveyance of human history and progress. Of his creative abilities, David believes the words apply when Christ said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). 

We did not make the time to visit his shop and museum this time. Gives us a destination for next time!!

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Book quotes, Faith, Nature, Thanks

Ponder This Quote

Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don’t claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent.

Jalaluddin Rumi

(I had to look this up to be certain this is the work of Rumi the poet I am familiar with. Indeed, it is the same man. Never before saw the first name attached. Go figure.)

Made a retreat at Convent of the Transfiguration recently. As I left the last service Saturday evening it was almost dark. As I walked from one building to another, movement caught my eye. From behind the ‘chapel’ and over its roof a flock of birds flew. And then there were more and more of them. I stood in awe for several minutes. When I got back to my room I wrote,

"And billowing over the roof of the church
Comes tens, no twenties,
No, countless birds
Occasional chirp or call
But mostly just flying in formation
Over the roof into the sky with a swirl
Seemingly hundreds in the dusk murmuration." Molly L Dutina

This wonder which I have seen in other autumn skies was never this up-close or so personally touching before. Had I exited the convent earlier or a few moments later I would have missed it entirely.

Rumi wrote, “Feel the artistry moving through and be silent.” Truly this was holy artistry from the hand of the LORD on high.

Should you want more information about murmurations in the United States see https://birdwatchingpro.com/where-to-see-starling-murmuration-in-the-usa/#The_Fascinating_Science_Behind_Starling_Murmurations

These formations are not limited to the USA. Watch the evening sky and I pray you get to see one for yourself!

Here is a short film of a massive murmuration

If you watch to the end, you can sigh and say, “And then they are gone!”

Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord from the heavens;
    praise him in the heights above.

Wild animals and all cattle,
    small creatures and flying birds,

Psalm 148:1, 10 NIV

Yes, LORD, with all of creation we praise You. Thank you for this blessing. You know I do not appreciate starlings when they empty our feeders in a matter of minutes, yet they do fill Your sky with wonder when they form their murmurations. Thank you for letting me see this one up close and share it with my reader friends. You are the King of all glory. Amen.

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Beagle, Faith, Nature, Thanks, Worship

Paw Paw Tree

When we lived on Siesta Drive we had a pawpaw tree in the back yard. I never once saw fruit on it, but the unfolding leaves were dramatic!! Sadly I did not get a photo.

And yes, there are two acceptable spellings.

We were walking recently at the Cincinnati Nature Center. We took a trail we do not usually take. As we were wandering along I remembered there had recently been a guided walk showing participants native fruits. As we walked amidst the pawpaw trees, sadly I thought,”Huh, I have never ever seen a Pawpaw fruit in the wild.”

As Bob took various photos and the dog moseyed along sniffing the myriad scents along the trail, I noticed a rounded rock. “Hmm,” I thought,”the gravel here is rough not rounded.” I nudged it a bit with my toe, then I bent to pick it up. NOT a rock!! A pawpaw! And they really do smell like fresh bananas!

Bob captured this photo for me and for your enjoyment!

It really smelled delicious! I have had a queasy stomach so I could not bring myself to taste it, though I really wanted to! As the dog and I strolled along I carried it with us. Trying to take a photo of something else, I accidentally closed my hand over it. It had burst the skin. Yep! it was sticky. I put it on a log hoping someone else would delight to discover it. Of course, all of this lead me to look up its details when I got home!

The pawpaw plant can grow up to 12 metres (40 feet) tall and has pointed, broadly oblong, drooping leaves up to 30 cm (12 inches) long. The malodorous, purple, 5-cm (2-inch) flowers appear in spring before the leaves. The edible fruits are 8 to 18 cm (3 to 7 inches) long and resemble stubby bananas; the skin turns black as the fruit ripens. Depending on the variety, pawpaw fruits vary in size, time of ripening, and flavour.

Brittanica

The pawpaw is a patch-forming (clonal) understory tree found in well-drained, deep, fertile bottomland and hilly upland habitat, with large, simple leaves. Pawpaw fruits are the largest edible fruit indigenous to the United States. Pawpaw fruits have a sweet, custard-like flavor somewhat similar to banana, mango, and pineapple, and are commonly eaten raw, but are also used to make ice cream and baked desserts. The bark, leaves, and fruit contain the insecticidal neurotoxin, annonacin. Native Americans used the fiber of the pawpaw tree to weave ropes and nets.

Because of the lack of human propagation and the abandonment of much farmland in the Southeast during and after the Great Depression, pawpaws became extremely rare by the late 20th century, but are making a comeback. In fact, the State of Kentucky has established an experimental farm and agricultural labs in order to develop commercial varieties for international marketing. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Catawba Nation of South Carolina and North Carolina have initiated major pawpaw cultivation and experimentation programs in order to encourage Native Americans to grow the delicious fruit.

https://apalacheresearch.com/2021/06/24/the-indigenous-agriculture-of-the-americas-pawpaw-fruit/

Could it be that in my lifetime Pawpaw fruit might hit my local market? Well, after getting a whiff of the fragrance I would encourage you to purchase and taste some if you come to it in the market!

Largest edible fruit indigenous to the United States! Wow!

photo from Apalacheresearch website

Keep your eyes open for those treasures in plain sight!! Never now what you might find!!

 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:8-9 NIV
Posted on in Amazing Creations, Beagle, Faith, Humor, Memories, Thanks

Because of You

I miss the possibility of more Tony Bennett music, may he rest in peace. I suppose my mother liked this one, probably why I remember it. At times a line of a song will flit through my mind. This one did and asked me to write new lyrics. Only a three minute listen, but it might help to make sense of the new lyrics.

Because of Lucky© Molly Lin Dutina 2023

Because of you, there are shoes on my feet
Because of you I head out four times a day
Because of you plastic bags always on me now
I experience the seasons and moon phases
And bend to the ground because of you

I only live to feed and give you treats
It’s paradise when I come home 
There are toys on my floor
And I can smile when you sleep next to my bed
You are my dog, so I am glad because of you!

Because of you I bought an extension leash
Because of you I have someone near my feet
Because of you certain kibbles are in my pantry
Flea and tick tablets empty my purse every month
We pet you, you shed, the process then repeats
Cloth covered furniture because of you

Sun, rain, sleet, snow out the door always with you
Left to yourself you would run for hours free
Coming home filthy from chin to tail
Bucket bath for mud-packed paws and fur
We guard the doors because of you
Posted on in Amazing Creations, Humor, Listen, Memories, Nature

Speaking of Cicadas

If you missed my earlier post where I mentioned this cicada you can read about it by clicking the link below.

https://wordpress.com/post/treasures-in-plain-sight.org/14569

I captured this cicada that spent the morning on our driveway in the rain. I thought maybe it was dead, but not totally as the legs moved a little. I went to get a clear cup and a piece of paper. Went back outside and scooped it up.

Did not realize until I took these photos that the government rearranged George Washington on the newer quarters and gave him a new hairdo! This is about fifty cents worth of 2023 cicada. Not the periodic cicada that I posted about a year or so ago.

I have often wondered with the abundance of insects that cycle through the seasons where do all those wings go? I rarely see just a wing outdoors!

Can you imagine being a small bird and coming up those white dots that look like eyes?

Or these actual bug-out eyes?

Well this cicada for one is battered and shell might be dented? It was fun to day dream with you about this noisiest of bugs!

Later, I took the cicada outdoors again. I was going to slide it off the paper onto the top of the power box so Lucky would not try to eat it since it seemed to be dying. Much to my surprise, with a noisy flurry of cicada wings (even though battered) it took off into the sky! Guess it came to visit for notoriety on this blog!! Hope I did not traumatize it too much.

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Faith, Just do it, Listen, Nature, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Yield

Got Nourishment?

by r m dutina

Where do you draw nourishment for your soul? I asked Bob to take the photo above because it stirred something in me. You can see not only how the leaves are attached to the branch, but how the leaves have a nourishment system.

Walking to our garbage can storage area we have been watching the elephant ears develop and then open.

M L Dutina

Again the nourishment avenues within each leaf.

M L Dutina

Can you trace the nourishment in your soul from the river of living water flowing inside of you?

I love the photo above. If you look at the top center of the leaf you can see the rough corner of decorative stone on the house. I can only suppose that a wind storm caused the creases on the left side of the photo. Such contrast between rock and leaf.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

John 15:5 VIV

How is your connection to the LORD? Are you remaining in Him and giving way for Him to remain in you? Then the admonition, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” Nothing that lasts, nothing of eternal significance and meaning can be done separate from Him.

As you pass growing leaves or perhaps fallen colored leaves, take a moment to pause and look at the vein system. Is your path of nourishment as clearly defined? How might you deepen and improve that nourishment path?

Steve Green recorded this years ago, 2017. When I heard it for the first time it stopped me in my tracks! Two minutes of challenge. Hoping you will listen!

I am praying that you listen to what the Lord is saying to you personally. I pray you make whatever changes He wishes for you to have better nourishment for your soul and spirit. Will you?

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Book quotes, Challenge, Faith, Journal, Just do it, Listen, Nature, Poetry, Thanks

You had Me At The Title “God’s Worship”

I have always loved cello music. Try this one!

Worship in God’s service. I love it!

I have been reading You are Here by David Steindl-Rast. In Chapter 6 called The It he quotes Martin Buber, St. Augustine and Robert Frost to name a few.

What I ultimately encounter in any You, I can also encounter in any tree: Mystery. This happens, as Buber says, “through decision and grace.” Both are necessary. I must decide to open my heart wide for this experience and receive it as a gift. “All is grace,” said St. Augustine, all is Life’s gift. And Life is the story of our adventurous encounters with that “Secret,” of which, so far, we only know from Robert Frost that is “sits in the middle and knows, while “we dance in a ring and suppose.” Draw out the line of relationship into infinity and it will lead to that “Secret” – the Mystery, which we encounter in and through all that exists.

-Brother David Steindl-Rast

He ends the chapter with this comment. “What we need to relearn is to ‘kneel and admire’ in reverence and amazement.”

My body SO protests kneeling in the sense of next to my bed for prayer or at the altar for communion, but the Prayer of Manasseh in the Apocrypha helps me with the line in verse eleven: “And now I bend the knee of my heart, imploring you for your kindness.” The Prayer of Manasseh is a part of the Apocrypha, accepted by some as biblical though not necessarily accepted by all persons as biblical. I personally love this prayer.

So I bend the knee of my heart in admiration, reverence and amazement towards the creation of the Father. This is one of the chapters I was reading while sitting on the porch recently when observations and poems seemed to pour forth out of me.

Imagine if we would approach each person as mystery. We are so prone to make judgements and stereotype people this could bring a radical change in our every encounter! Instead of being exhausted by people the introvert might see meeting as an adventure? Instead of thriving off others, the extrovert might see meeting another as an unknown treasure. Just thinking on the page here.

I hope this blog helps move you towards the decision and grace to move towards life with your eyes wide open and your heart seeking Mystery. May you be blessed with abundant life.