We went for a walk to see if the lily pads were flourishing. They were not and they probably wont unless the Center replants them. That is not likely to happen as they are planting plants that grow locally and these are really old plants that the Krippendorf family planted years ago.
There were lovely blue dragonflies (perhaps blue dashers?) darting around the pond. Then one perched (lower left corner) and I snapped a photo. Look in the background (upper right corner) at the large bullfrog on the floating log!
So was the bullfrog hoping for dragonfly for lunch? This one was certainly too far away.
Just love those front legs. Toes/fingers look as if he is praying for lunch!
Turtles on the other end of log could not care less! Keep watching for hidden treasure and amusements along your journey 🙂
Burritos in the trees
Like large Chipotle made
Perched winter mourning doves.
Nah - not the right numbering, but similar idea.
Maybe I will just stick to my forms. Nope, I will keep trying to learn something new! Good for an old person to do!
Praise Him and highly exalt Him forever!! Enjoy the photos! If you click on each photo you can see more detail!
Cincinnati Nature Center
Sunset over fern valley
Early Morning Fishermen
Have you checked your dandelions today?
Click to find the Heron on Harsha Lake, April 19th
April 21
butterfly bush and pussy willow
(The heron was right of the two large trees, showing white amongst the twiggy branches.)
Yes, we had inches of snow yesterday morning! Likely there will be tree leaf damage. No broken trees around us that we have heard or seen. When the leaves are out like this the wet snow can cause so much damage! The sun is out, blue sky shining and the birds seem to be shaking their feathers in disgust. Hopefully this was winter’s last hurrah, though they are saying one more night of freezing temperatures!
Dews and storms of snow, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all for ever. Ice and cold, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all for ever. Frost and snow, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all for ever. Nights and days, bless the Lord; bless and exalt him above all for ever. Light and darkness, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all for ever. Lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all for ever. Let the earth bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all for ever. Mountains and little hills, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all for ever. All things which grow upon the earth, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all for ever. - Apocrypha Prayer of Azariah 46-54
Regardless of the weather, I will praise Him and highly exalt Him forever!! This morning, 21-4-22, we have another 1-1/2 inches of snow. Yesterday it melted before noon.
Not meaning to offend anyone, but if the Spirit and the bride say come, then certainly might we bathe in the free gift of the water of life?
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
Revelation 22:17 NIV
Drench me, Lord, come and flow. Wash, renew, and overflow. Show me how to soak then splash Rest and float in Your life-giving bath.
Let anyone who wishes take (REV 22:17) Let anyone? – so unlike human ways! Let anyone who wishes – even those who just wish Let anyone? What are we to make of this holy declaration?
Come one and all, old or small Drink from the provision of the Manger King. All heaven says to you, “Come, freely have this gift, the water of life from Jesus Christ.”
Why do we so often choose to remain parched?
Choices to be made here! Examples of spiritual truth in nature! What will your decision be?
I was in the living room chair watching the news when the light seemed to change outdoors. I looked out the window and was wowed. I am always fascinated with the creation. God did not have to make it so diverse and He did not have to share it with us. Daily there are things to marvel at. The photos below could not quite capture the intensity of the stormy looking sky.
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.
Under the bird song
Below the raucous calls of mating
Rhythm of tree frog
Melody of spring peepers
Ah breathe in spring
Through your ears
Hmmmmm they seem to say
This is lovely
Exhale on their melody
Inhale during the chorus
Slow your breathing
Tempo of April
There are pauses
In their score
Wait for next stanza
Focus here now
Find your center
Cadence does not vary
Catch the next bar
Tame frantic monkey mind
Bring all to peace
Lower your shoulders
Tiny amphibian power
Tames futile mind race
7:27 and song seems to cease
I listen and recall
I have this power within
Enter center down silence
Direct me Lord
On cusp of next breath I am led
Spring rains
wind thunder
fragrant hyacinths
hillside purple with flowers
demure trout lilies quickly go to seed.
Forsythia blooms
lilac buds opening
pussy willow full blown
soon to send out leaves
Twisty willow branch from florist
rooted in the arrangement and sent out one leaf!
hope to nurture it and plant it outside
February Primrose is pot bound now
ready to live in the garden
I’m pot bound in homemaker duties
Lord help me enter
Your center-down silence
and glory in praising You
even in activities of the mundane
Oh fragrant April morning
gusty hyacinth perfume
raindrops glisten on garden border fence
Symphony of bird song
sidewalk littered with night crawlers
Insistent bird cries, “Awake! Spring is here. Now."
I praise You in the work You have given me
in this part of Garden Earth.
It is a treat to see a Pileated in the back yard. It is unusual to see two at a time. Three Pileateds equal a huge event! We have lived here 15 years and never seen them courting and dancing tree to tree, wing displays, calls and all! Perhaps they were simply defending their territory? We may never know. It was exciting for us! There was no time to set up a video camera on a tripod. Besides, that would have sent them off to some other part of the woods. Robert Dutina shot the video while I just ooh-ed and aah-ed!
Facts from Wikipedia: “Adults are 16 to 19 in long, span 26 to 30 in across the wings, and weigh 8.8 to 14.1 oz, with an average weight of 11 oz. Each wing measures 8.4 to 10.0 in , the tail measures 5.5 to 6.9 in, the bill is 1.6 to 2.4 in.”
I swear, from the kitchen or bedroom window they look like small chickens compared to the black capped chickadee or sparrow! Here is a shot out our bedroom window one winter.
At times when I hear them call I think of the zoo or a jungle somewhere!
Ears and eyes alert! Never know when you will happen upon a treasure! Hoping there are some at our new address!!
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
According to https://www.best-poems.net/algernon_charles_swinburne/index.html he was a popular English poet and writer. His life was 5 April 1837 – 10 April 1909 and evidently he wrote about many off color topics, but I like his phrase about spring. Wikipedia says: “Swinburne was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1903 to 1907 and again in 1909.”
For winter’s rains and ruins are over,
And all the season of snows and sins;
The days dividing lover and lover,
The light that loses, the night that wins;
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten,
And in green underwood and cover
Blossom by blossom the spring begins.
Chorus by Algernon Charles Swinburne
Here are some of the images of ‘blossom by blossom’ from our neighborhood!
Certainly a favorite of early pollinators!
I thought it was barberry, but it is not. Neighbor’s shrub. He is Nepal, so I do not know identification.
Old, untended crab apple.Oh, so fragrant in the evening especially!
Thanks, Lucky, for continuing to get me outside and looking for those treasures in plain sight!
