Remember Brody the flour covered dog? He got a date to prom!
This is that very long legged hound, if you recall from previous post!
Here is Ellie in her gown
And with her proud parents!
I was hoping the poppies I bought would bloom before we departed. The first one was orange and I hooray-ed! The second one was yellow and I was delighted!
And yes, spring warmth has finally arrived complete with humidity and emerging ferns!
I bought one fern in 1985. We have shared so many ferns off of the original plant. I have given the root away to friends and now we have them growing nicely at this our third and likely final house!!
Suitcases are packed. Laundry is done. Ride to airport arranged. Cannot believe it is finally time to go! We deliver Lucky to Lizzie tomorrow. Our house sitters are all set up. Woo-Hoo! Happy 52+ wedding anniversary to us!!
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.
Psalm 118:1 NIV
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever.
Psalm 136:1 NIV
And let His people say Amen! And let the Robert Dutina family say Amen! Let all God’s people say Amen!
When you read this we are packing to go to Maui tomorrow! I am stunned writing these details. 🙂
When Bob asked me years ago if I wanted to move to New Mexico where Dan and Betty lived. I considered for a bit, then I decided I would miss my maple trees too much! This year the bumper crop of maple seeds have some of the trees hanging low and looking burdened. If was difficult, but I finally got this photo to show you! The opening photo shows the empty stems. Photo below shows both if you look closely.
Heavy with seeds, but to the right empty stems!
There was an old song Nat King Cole used to sing about the falling leaves. That melody was encouraging me to write about the maple seeds as I gathered the words and phrases. You can tell I lost the phrasing from the song, but hopefully captured the ideas!
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.
At Wal-Mart I can buy a sack of dried meal-worms. The bluebirds absolutely love them. He is more bashful than she is. They come right to the window to get the food. She looks in and seems to check in with me. I tell her hello. He steals a bite and flies to the tree.
Sadly the starlings have found the feeder. If I am sitting here writing and the starlings arrive all I need do is tap the window and they take flight in fear. Yesterday I filled it for the bluebirds at about 11:00 AM. This morning it was totally empty. I know good and well those bluebirds could not have emptied that so quickly! I looked about on the ground to see if a mammal had tipped and tried to empty it. There were no worms on the ground. It was only a couple minutes before the starlings came by again. Grrr.
Now considered one of the worst nuisance birds in this country, Old World starlings were purposely introduced to Central Park, New York City in 1890 by a well-meaning but misguided man. The original 60 pairs that were released rapidly multiplied. Soon after, the American starling population exploded, and the species spread rapidly throughout the entire U.S. and much of Canada. Starlings are known to compete with, displace, and kill many native birds and their young. Starlings are now considered an invasive species and are despised by ecologists, birder enthusiasts, and business owners alike. So, yeah. They live here now.
Starlings are known to compete with, displace, and kill many native birds and their young. Starlings are considered an invasive species and are despised by ecologists, birder enthusiasts, business owners, and homeowners alike.
So I suppose I will fill it only an inch or two on mornings I am writing. The bluebirds and I can enjoy each other’s company.
Speaking of mornings!! It has been rainy and gloomy for several days here. Temperatures dropped back into the forties and we all felt as if winter had returned. The sky cleared over night and this morning dawned glorious. The sky is that brilliant blue with the newly unfurled leaves looking fresh and tender. By August they will appear tough and worn out!
Last evening we watched a video on You Tube about driving the road to Hana on Maui. Bob woke up this morning ready to take on the curves and the long drive, seeing waterfalls and tropical plants. (I think he is mostly looking forward to the stop for fresh banana bread, he-he-he!!). Today we are starting to pack. By the time you read this we will most likely have taken the helicopter tour over Volcanoes National Park on Hawaii. I have difficulty imagining what that will even be like!
I suppose the bluebirds and starlings will have to fend for themselves then. Our trusty house-sitter Kathy will not be asked to fill the feeder!
Consider the birds of the air, some of them are invasive pests!! DO not be like them. Unless of course you are able to perform their murmurations. That is the only good thing I can say about starlings.
Wowsers! This year has flown past. We attended our Grandgirl’s last volleyball club tournament yesterday. Seems we just attend her first game in elementary school – or was that middle school? Well, no matter, she actually graduates in a few weeks! She will go on to play with University of Cincinnati Clermont campus volleyball team. First though is Senior prom and graduation!
I bought a pot of Asian lilies and planted them in the front garden. A sharp wind during a rainstorm one day broke off one stem of blooms. A bird had also perched in the tree above the lilies and decorated the blossoms with its waste. Yuck. Somehow in all the Scriptures about the lilies of the field and the flowers of the earth to my knowledge that event is never mentioned! Imagine.
on kitchen counterstem broke off this front edge
By the time you read this we will have landed in Hawaii for our trip of a lifetime! Our one and only visit to the 50th State. We had planned to go in 2020 for our 50th wedding anniversary and our 50th state to visit. The pandemic cancelled that. At that time Hawaii said “You can come but you have to quarantine for 2 weeks.” We can barely afford ten days in Hawaii much less 24! So our trip is finally underway. Married 52 years now!
My mother always wanted to visit to see the flowers growing there, but she died having never been there. Her sister also lived there. I have two cousins living in Lihue, but we will not be able to see them. The commuter flight between islands is $115 per person. We plan to visit Hawaii and Maui. They live on Kauai.
I can barely believe we are actually going. I typed out our itinerary spelling (to us) bizarre names like Waikoloa, Akala, Holualoa, Punaluu. Realized I had misspelled Kilauea once I said it out loud! We are staying at Hapuna beach on Hawaii (not so bad) and Kaanapali on Maui. Monokalani and Kaihalulu are weird. It does not help that instead of trying to pronounce the names while we planned Bob just made up words with lots of vowels and syllables!!
So as long as we remember to get groceries on Maui at the airport city in Kahukui on Kaahumanu avenue, (oh my!) we ought to be fine?
Because every single thing is imported to Hawaii all the prices are high. We will likely return broke. Our daughter says to go ahead and spend!
Please pray for safe travels! Opening photo is by Michael Swiet.
The lyric below was written in 1680 or 90 by Joachim Neander. Sometimes this hymn will rise up within me as we walk and enjoy the spring in Ohio, Kentucky or Tennessee.
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise him, for he is your health and salvation!
Come, all who hear; now to his temple draw near,
join me in glad adoration.
Sung by one of my favorite artists!
How could we possibly experience spring and wonder if there is a Creator?
Listen to the song again and as you read (or sing) the lyrics, address them to the LORD!
Do you know what the opening photo is? Some even harvest these and sell them!
Bob and I love to hunt wildflowers. If you have ever searched for a particular shell at a beach you can relate. We search for Lady’s Slippers, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Larkspur, etc. We have only found Lady’s Slippers in the Smoky Mountains National Park, but the others we can find locally especially at Cincinnati Nature Center (CNC).
photo by Molly
This fellow was so lovely with the sun shining through it! Sadly the ground around it is covered with Lesser Celandine which has earned the status of invasive. The Nature Center is researching ways to eradicate it. If you look at the top edge of the log above you can see the moss blooming! Beyond those tiny filaments are daffodil leaves starting to grow blossoms for 2024.
Another Jack by Molly
One friend told us when they showed a Jack-in-the-Pulpit to a young person they had to explain what a pulpit was! A pulpit is traditionally where a preacher stands to deliver the sermon. The older pulpits sometimes had a cover over them like a roof, thus the flower resemblance. In case you are still unaware, below is a sampling of pulpits! Our church does not have a pulpit or even a lectern. The Pastor just sits on a stool and talks from there.
pulpit samples on line
When we hiked Whipple Sate Nature Preserve we saw Larkspur in many colors. We also saw them yesterday at Sycamore Park in Batavia.
We agreed that walking Sycamore was so much easier than Whipple! The dog loves the trail and was not allowed at Whipple. We like this park because it is level and even paved! We walked along the East Fork of the Little Miami river, too. The sound of the running water, spring song birds … just made me breathe deeply and thank the Lord for His blessings and refreshment!
The wild dogwoods through the other forest trees were a blessing at CNC!
Are you making time to slow down, listen to the natural world around you or nearby? Do you only lament your feeling of being dried up or make an effort to renew your connection with the Source of Life? I hope you will make an effort to do just that this week!
The Virginia Bluebells at Sycamore park were well past their prime. Bob bought me a Bluebell at the Nature Center plant sale. It looks pitiful in the back garden right now. Praying it will rebound and bless us next year with flowers! Just saw that something is eating holes in the leaves. Uh oh!
Take a walk this week and look for treasures in plain sight!
My dear man walking the trail at CNC
The opening photo was take of worm casings. Evidently very rich for your garden!
It was a quiet, cloudy morning
Stillness embracing early morn
Then I heard a creaking of the siding
A tossing of the saplings
Turned to bending of the decades old trees
As a ‘mighty rushing wind’ passed through
And almost as quickly the trees returned to stillness
A few moments later another gust came
It seemed determined to be a steady blowing
Rain came flying past my window
The wind became a gentle breeze
The music of raindrops overtook the wind
And May 1st was declared by the heavens
The wind, the rain, it all stopped as suddenly as it began
Bird song is heard again
Strange yellow/gray sky as sun rises higher
Wrestling with the spring weather front
Newly emerged maple leaves
Soft in coloring cling to their branch in the breeze
Help me cling to You, Jesus my source of life
Bob says the ones that did not roll over with the account change need to be seen by all! Hoep you are not too confused by these shenanigans.
Ash Cave is part of Hocking Hills State Park and Forest. I posted earlier this year about our vacation there. The plaque on the trail to the cave reads in part:
Ash Cave, Ohio’s largest stone recess, stretches 700 feet across and rises 90 feet high.
The rock shelter was created when ground water percolating through the sandstone eroded away the formation’s weaker middle layer, undercutting the resistant top layer which forms the ceiling of the “cave.” The water dissolves away the cement which holds individual grains of sand together. Seasonal freezing and thawing causes expansion and contraction which further loosen the particles and on rare occasion, blocks of stone, until they break off. The falls also contributes to the slow erosive process.
Historic Marker
Now examine this photo from Bean Hollow State Beach in California.
Bean Hollow State Beach California
Sometimes sights in nature remind me of other natural things I have seen. Granted, the pebbles found in the rocks at the beach were more interesting that the hollows at Hocking Hills, but both transported me to praise God’s work in the wonders of nature.
The eroded wall was right behind me in this photo
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; 2 for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.
Psalm 24:1-2 NIV
“Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens… When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?”
Joy is the transformation of our suffering, not the escape of all we have to face.
Mark Nepo
This post has had difficult showing up. I changed the type of WordPress account and some things did not transfer so easily. So If you have read this already, forgive me! Or enjoy the flowers once more.
May Apple struggles with dead leaf
This quote and this May Apple spoke to me. I also saw a trillium struggling with a dead leaf. Will I embrace these images and know that my suffering too can be transformed? Will I grasp that I do not have to escape all I have to face?
We took a walk at Eastfork state park. Then within a day or two we walked Whipple Nature Preserve. We had been there 2 years ago, during the pandemic. Wow! We were in older bodies now. Because of partial muscle tear in my rightshoulder I could only use my walking stick with my left hand/arm. The hike was more difficult than we remembered, but when we got to the Betony Poppies it was well worth it!
Betony Poppies (yellow) and Large-Flowered Trillium (white)
The poppies covered many places on the hillside. At one point my phone got too hot next to my hiking body. This Brigadoon-like photo resulted.
Yes, it was a magical place!
How many other hillsides are covered with flowers and wonders that we never see? We are blessed to find these. I bask in their beauty. I had been feeling drained and empty. This helped fill my well again!
We saw “Nodding Trillium” which another hiker told us is supposed to bloom white. Yet here, it is blooming red!
Yes, the bloom is under the leaf! photo by r m dutina
Back to the quote above, we both were aching by the time we returned to the car. We promised we would skip one half of the trail next time… walk the branch to the left at the fork and then come back that way after we see flowers.
And oh, there were flowers! The trout lily had already bloomed. They have a special place in our hearts as at our last house they absolutely covered the hillside. The other flowers made up for missing the trout lilies! Violets in yellow, white, confederate, and purple wood violets or blue if you prefer!
photo by r m dutina
squaw root by r m dutina
As said on TV, “But wait! There’s more!!”
Shooting stars and squirrel corn!
I cannot seem to find just one name for this trillium. I have always called it Wake-Robin but online seems to call it ToadShade.
Photo by r m dutina
I left some flower photos out. We were drenched in beauty by the time we hiked back to the car. The reason I wanted to return to this hike was the Virginia Bluebells. One hiker told us they were about finished. I had almost given up hope of reaching them and Poof! There they were!
photo by r m dutina. Good thing he captured this. I was so delighted to see them, but also so tired that I never took a picture!
I am writing this on Tuesday after the Sunday hike. Yep, I am still sore and aching. Will I do it again next year? I will, with God’s help!!
The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
Psalm 24:1 KJV
photo by r m dutina
It seems as if this tree next to where we parked is saying,”Good job, guys! High five!”
Many things occur in our neighborhood that are accompanied with sounds and noise. When I am writing the blog (preferable on Monday and Tuesday mornings) I pray, play music and try to tune out all the distractions. Today was no different.
Except, there was this clunk. Then later another clunk. Then two clunks in a row. The sounds were not rhythmic like a worker. Finally, I could not take it and had to go try to find the source of the distracting disturbance. What was causing this commotion?
I went outside. Okay the Royce fertilizer guy was down the street, but not making the noise I kept hearing. Nothing to the left of our house. Nothing else to the right.
I went out back. No workers there that I could detect. The trees have filled out so it is a bit harder to see the other houses. I went into the master bathroom. When I came back to the kitchen there was the sound. A Robin at the sliding glass door!
Earlier we had seen robins on the deck which is unusual. They seemed huge and likely were just puffed against the wind and chill. April 24 and 33 degrees! Go figure! One in particular seemed to be liking the rungs under the black metal porch side table. I noticed piles of gooey waste from that bird. Rinsed them off with glasses of water.
Now Lucky wanted in on the act. I told her to chase the birds off. Instead she decided to roll her ear in the most recent pile of waste. I moved the sliding screen door. I moved the lace curtain thinking perhaps she was seeing a “rival” in the door – her reflection. I put plastic planters upside down in front of the door and brought the water hose over the railing. Back to writing.
Thump. Thump. Really? I went to the door declaring, “I need cat!” and called “Here kitty, kitty.” No response though there had been an orange tabby in the yard recently.
I moved the sliding screen over the door where I thought the bird was knocking. This time I left the dog out on the deck. Of all the places in this wooded area, why our deck? Oh well. Those birds should go next door. That neighbor has a sliding glass door, too. She has a deck and no pets!
Do you know the center verse of the Bible? (These are facts that Christians like to collect.) I think the center verse is no accident as it has kept me from many troubles.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in man.
Psalm 118:8. Another version reads “than to put confidence in mortals.” Take refuge in the LORD. Not the ones about you who you can see and hear, but who will die. The Almighty LORD, King over angel armies, He is to be our refuge.
The photo above was from online. It reminds me! We are going to make the trip of a lifetime (at least for us). When our 50th wedding anniversary rolled around we had planned to go to visit our 50th state. That was when the pandemic hit. Hawaii basically said, “You can come here, but you must quarantine for 2 weeks before you travel about.” My response was I can barely afford 2 weeks in Hawaii, much less a month!” So we put off our trip. Bob was really liking the idea of our 50th state and our 50th anniversary 😦
So this year we will celebrate our 53rd wedding anniversary and visit our 50th state! We have consulted our Hawaii experts the Cookseys. We have met several times with a travel agent. Bob is trying to overcome his discomfort about being on an island (or two) totally surrounded by water. We want to see the flowers, helicopter over the volcanoes, see rainbows, enjoy the tropics, birds, jungle plants, etc. Bob plans to eat lots of seafood. I think pineapple sounds delicious. I am even thinking about taking a vacation from writing the blog. Yikes, (Can she do that?)
We have a dog sitter. A house sitter. And by the time we return we might actually be broke! Our daughter says to go ahead and spend. We just might on this trip!
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 