May 13th I posted about Hard Frost damage to our Yellow Poplar tree
Just look at it now!
And the young Ginkgo tree that looked as if it was near death, Now restored …
Restore us, LORD God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
Psalm 80:19 (NIV 2011)
And remembered seeing this once before, but could not place it.
Can you guess what it is?
Lovely, but what is it?
Red clover, used by farmers to fix or replenish nitrogen in the soil! And it is pretty, too! Then I remembered, we saw this on our trip around the country last year. Here is more information about the uses for red clover https://gardenandhappy.com/red-clover-plant-one-of-the-most-beneficial-nitrogen-depositors-ever/
Keep your eyes peeled for those Treasures in Plain Sght!
I was headed downstairs the other day. I saw something on the carpet at the base of the stairs. I figured it was a piece of glitter or a shiny piece off my jeans pocket. When I got to the landing I bent to pick it up. Was very startled to wind up picking up a lightning bug. It was no longer moving, but still glowing. Must have come in on the bottom of a shoe, I mused, and then floods of memories.
I have fond memories from childhood of hunting and catching lightning bugs. First we would pound holes into the lid of a jar. (Lids were metal then before plastics took over manufacturing and metal became rare.) We would capture the bugs in our hand and then put them in a mayonnaise jar. Yep, a glass jar we were allowed to run around with! The more you caught the harder it was to get it in the jar without releasing the others or squashing it in an effort to close the lid quickly. If I was particularly lucky, I was allowed to keep the jar in my bedroom over night. Nothing quite like the magic of falling asleep to blinking fireflies!
This year in mid-spring when I saw one in the daytime on the window screen I couldn’t wait to tell Bob. He said he had seen one, too. The first brood was in early May, but they never last long. Now in Mid-June we are in the type that live about 2 months.
Amusing that we see these in the middle of the night. (No, I have not ‘stayed out late’ and tried to catch any in years.) Bob and I both wear Fitbit step counters. They also monitor our sleep. He says that sometimes when I roll over in the night mine lights up. Or if he gets up and returns to bed his lights up. Says it is like having giant fireflies in the bedroom.
As a real child, growing up allowed to explore the natural world as far as our yard and one or two others, some kid (probably one of the boys from down the street that we played “War” with), taught me that if you step on a lightning bug on the sidewalk and smear it, it will glow. Turns out we were triggering the chemical reaction that the bugs produced in life to create their bio-luminescence. If you want more information click on this link: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/group/fireflies/
So thank you little beetle for bringing me such joy for my entire lifetime. I was amazed when nephews and nieces visited from California and they had never seen fireflies.
We took a walk at the Nature Center June 12. Absolutely gorgeous weather! Cool, not too humid and sunny.
At one pond pond this red wing black bird was singing for all it was worth. Bob took this video for me. What a delight!
Bachelor Buttons reseeded themselves again and have been gigantic this year of mild weather. In the yard recently I captured a shot of this guy.
As I type this I can hear his honeybee cousin out the open window on the same group of flowers!
I think the heat and rain have about finished the poppies. And then, they keep blooming! I may try to thin them and move them about when they go dormant. Then again, I hesitate for fear I will damage or kill one!
Planted this cheery yellow perennial a couple years ago. It is flourishing this spring. Would have to go out to the garden and get the tag to know it’s name. I keep forgetting it. I can use it in cut flower arrangements as long as it keeps access to the sun.
Purple Salvia and Lemondrop Oenothera – no wonder I can’t remember it!
PREVIEW OF COMING ATTRACTIONS: Bob has hidden some sunflower plants just next to the poppies. Perhaps we will have groups of birds at the window in those sunflowers if the deer do not eat off the flower heads before they bloom!
There is a trail we often walk at Harsha Lake, which we have always called East Fork Lake. It is truly our favorite trail though there are few wildflowers there. Recently we noticed a tree had fallen across the stream. We commented how sad it was that this tree would mess up the photos we take trying to capture the changes in the water.
We returned to our trail a few weeks later and wow was I surprised! This pandemic struggle has been very difficult for me emotionally. I guess I am what is referred to as a melancholic depressive. I want to be an optimist, but I am more like Eeyore!
So there is the fallen tree. Sprouting leaves now in the sun and sudden heat of 80 degrees, constantly watered by the stream.
This tree is not upright as we are accustomed to seeing them grow. It must still be rooted though! Obviously, I have no idea how long the tree can survive. But I am going to take this image as a reminder to hope. Hope that a new day will come. Hope that until then, we are sustained by our loving Father.
Happy are those whose “delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper. “ Psalm 1: 2-3
Hebrews 12:1 reads
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us
When was the last time you threw something off? Like the covers in bed, or your coat when you entered a warm room? The author of Hebrews gives us a graphic picture of how we are to respond to hindrances in our walk with God. “Let us throw off everything that hinders!”(NIV) If you haven’t thrown off a sweater or sweatshirt lately, go do it now. Do it again thinking of all the things that keep you from your relationship with God. Throw it off!
“And the sin that so easily entangles.” Have you ever taken a walk through a field that was overgrown with shrubs and vines and plants with thorns? That’s what I think of when I read “the sin which so easily entangles.” You start off thinking “this will lead me to what I want” and soon you are up to your lower leg in tangles and sin is tripping you and tears your pants legs, sending stickers and burrs into your socks. How do you get out of the mess? Throw it off! Get back to the path trod by the great cloud of witnesses. Back to where you can run the race with perseverance. Remove yourself from the sin that so easily entangles. get prayer from your part of the Body of Christ, and refuse to go that way of entanglement again. Millions of people who lived before you chose Christ as their Way, their Truth, their Life. You can do this!
Jesus, lead me in Your paths. Help me run the race with perseverance and joy. Amen.
The Nature Conservancy has a preserve called Edge of Appalachia. It is co-owned and operated with Cincinnati Museum Center. The property is in Adams county and is one of the most biodiverse natural areas in the region. We had never been there until recently.
We hiked the Lynx Prairie Preserve Trails. (We actually missed a tiny portion as the rain began to threaten us.) I was delighted to find some flowers I had not seen before and one I see rarely.
As we entered the trail this beauty greeted us. At first I thought it might be an Indian Paint Brush. Turns out it is also known as Scarlet Painted-Cup.
Wildflowers in color by Arthur Stupka says, “The true flowers are greenish-yellow and practically concealed by vermilion or scarlet tinged upper leaves.”
WHAAAT? I am not even looking at the flower? These are the first ones we saw on this walk and I thought perhaps someone had long ago dropped a few seeds in this areas. Nope. They are wild and we proceeded to see scads of them as we walked further! They do not remind me of the same flower we saw in the Southwestern States.
This beauty got a crummy name: “Common Lousewort.” It is also known by a much nicer name, “wood-betony.” So peculiar! I think it is lovely. The flowers can be yellow, white or the red ones we saw.
The trail was 1.3 miles (three interconnecting loop trails.) Described as easy. I want to return there. Wondering if the partial loop we skipped had Lady Slipper’s? Pink, yellow or white? I’m game!
Tomorrow I will show my two FAVORITES from this hike!
So my husband has been stir crazy and when I walk into a room now and he has something to tell me he say, “oh! ooh! Call on me!” sort of like this guy
The first photo is a wild geranium. I love the little bee in the center with pollen on it’s abdomen! Here he is close up in case you missed him.
We kept seeing this and telling each other that cannot be May Apple. They are smooth and these are heavily veined. I did not get a photo, but they are called umbrella leaf and a found a photo on the web.
The first time I saw Bluets we were in the Smoky Mountains. They were lovely, tiny and so baby blue. Now I know they also grow as Narrow-leaved Bluets and can have white-to-pink or lavender flowers!
Keep your eyes open! Never know when you will see a treasure in plain sight!
Mywildflowers.com says I was looking at: Golden Ragwort! Goodness that website is MUCH faster than looking through my flower books 🙂
Family: Asteraceae (Sunflower) Height: 1 to 2 ft.Blooms: April to July Leaf Type: toothed Bloom Size:  0.75 in. (typical)Flower Description: Flat or rounded clusters, Regular blooms, 10 or more parts
I want Canada Violets in my yard to grow with my purple Wild Violets which I DO NOT consider to be a broad leaf weed, thank you very much!
I must admit I did not know to look under the petals to see if there was green there. I believe this is called Star of Bethlehem. I like the One the star pointed to!
I think this was a tree swallow, though there was a barn nearby! (Giggle, do barn swallows need to live near or within a barn?!?)
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 