Monday, June 29, 2009

Nature Can Be Sooo Cruel- Wishbones



BTW,
ALL birds have WISHBONES so Mr. Heron has been caught in a lie...
but then again can we really blame him for trying to save his NECK?

I have been thinking about dead animals lately mostly due to my personal experience of running over a beautiful 5 ft. black snake sunning himself on the road the other day. I thought he was a patched crack in the road and at the last second realized that I was running over a snake with my mammoth vehicle. Ouuuuchhhhhh! Oh the misery of meeting your end while blissfully sunning yourself. I thought about stopping, but then what? Rush him to the vet? Is there a place to take these poor suffering snakes? I thought about perhaps just moving him off the road but was afraid that he would bite me if still alive. I screamed and cried all the way to my Core Class which is where I was headed in the first place. I hoped there was a chance that I had missed his vital organs and that after some rest he would be fine. But I am sure animals don't recover from these things and he probably slinked off into the grass to die. Wow, nature can be so cruel!
The next time I went to Core Class I drove very observantly and with my music a bit less blaring. Being AWARE I decided would be the best way I could make it up to that poor snake. Then as I was driving home after class wouldn't you know it but there walking lazily down the middle of the road was a big old snapping turtle. She was huge and dirty and really had no clue of the impending danger she was in. Here was my chance to make up for hitting Mr. Snakey, but how? I had no idea about the dexterity of snapping turtles and whether they were capable of whipping around and snapping you. So at that point I was not sure if my desire to help her was greater then my fear of her. There was also the chance that I would end up as "Road Kill" myself if I didn't do something quick being that it was late and we were on a very curvy country road. I tried to nudge her with my foot, but she would not budge. I yelled at her to move but she just looked at me. I lifted her tail end with my foot which made her really mad and her head began to jut in and out of her shell furiously, each jut ending with a snapping sound. After hearing those SNAPS I determined that I would try to move her without picking her up. I returned to my truck to retrieve something, anything that I could move her with. At this point I really did not want to touch her. I could just picture myself in Emergency holding my detached finger with all the hospital staff berating me that everyone knows you don't pick-up a snapping turtle, especially one big enough to bite your finger off. So as I returned to my vehicle I suppose I was hoping to find a "Snapping Turtle Removal Kit" in the trunk. I did find a cardboard box there but determined I would have to lift her into it which defeated the no touch option. I searched the back and front seats and all I found was my daughters sweater. Alas that would have to do. As I returned to Mrs. Snapper I could not believe what I was about to do. Somehow I thought screaming may help so I began screaming at the top of my lungs as I picked her up with my daughter's sweater wrapped around my hands. Now what? I was in the middle of the road sceaming and holding a big old snapping turtle with her head jutting in and out violently snapping at me and I could not decide which side to put her on? The lake was on one side but I believe she was heading away from the lake to lay her eggs so I put here down there in the brush. I drove away hoping I hadn't done more harm then good. It truely is amazing how all these wild creatures survive and thrive year after year despite us humans. Nature can be cruel but it can also be quite amazing.
BTW, I never did tell my daughter that I used her sweater to lift a big, old stinky snapping turtle...and I probably never will.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Nature Can Be Sooo Cruel- Get Off My Log!


One day as I was out meandering on the trail I spied Mr. Heron on a log(I now call it his log) along the shoreline. There were trees and brush between the trail and the water so I tried to get closer to him and perhaps get a picture. I found a little trail leading to the lake through the brush and as I got closer I realized that Mr. Heron was sharing the log with a loon. I wondered how that came about and who was there first. Was this some sort of stand-off I had come upon? So now I really wanted to get a shot of the two of them. I was almost crawling now below the brush line hoping I would not be detected. However, Mr. Heron being the shy sort spotted me in no time and flew away with a few flaps of his powerful wings. Disappointed, I then turned to the log in hopes of getting a pic of Mr. Loon but alas he was gone also. I left without any pictures however thinking back I really should have taken a picture of that log. Darn!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Dawn's Blushing Skies


Oh would you go meandering,
Upon this trail beside this lake,
That I may gaze into your eyes,
As you behold Dawn's blushing skies?

Oh would you go meandering,
Meandering, meandering,
Oh would you go meandering,
Meandering with me?
Excerpt from my poem "The Meandering Trail"

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Trail Tales #1- Fish On Her Bones

The water can be mirror like in the early morning. The reflections of the sun, clouds, treeline and houses in the water got me wondering about what the birds flying overhead might think about when seeing their image below. Do you think they are checking themselves out?

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Audubon Society Field Guides

My Mom recently gave my daughter a couple of Audubon Society Field Guides(Wild Flowers Eastern Region and North American Trees). She was quickly drawn to the wildflowers book as it is full of colourful photos of flowers of every colour including pink which is her favorite. There are so many flowers on the trail and it is amazing how this one little book holds the key to unlocking the mystery to each one of them. The field guide has arranged the flower photos according to colour and then has a corresponding description, habitat and comments page. We decided that we would pick one flower each during our walk and then go home to learn more about the flowers in her guide. My daughter picked what looked like a common daisy and I chose a bulb like flower that is very abundant along the side of the trail these days. As we were flipping though the Audubon Field Guide we came across many similar looking flowers and really needed to check the shape of the leaf and read the description before settling on what we hoped was the correct identity for each or our wildflowers. We then set out to draw the flowers we had picked learning even more about each flower as we attempted to put it's likeness on the paper. For instance the Oxeye Daisy's petals are almost blunt at the end and not rounded. The flower of the Bladder Campion is emerging from within the bulb which will eventually reveal the entire flower leaving the bulb shape in tact. It was a fun and educational way to spend an hour or so after school. Thanks for the books Mom.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Portrait of Mr. Heron

I tried my hand at a little sketching today. I have not sketched in 25 years. I have doodled mind you(note my other blog) but sitting down to attempt to draw Mr. Heron is another thing. I was intrigued by Mr. Heron's neck, the way he curves it and tucks it just so as a resting place for his proud plumed head. I wanted to colour him in but with out the proper supplies I scanned my sketch into a paint program and coloured him on my computer adding the moon and title as well.
I recently found the quote below. It speaks about adventure in a gentler way then most quotes on the subject. No need to risk life and limb it seems as adventure is all around us. We just need to go looking for it once and a while. It may even be as close as that pencil and paper sitting unused in your drawer.
"A man practices the art of adventure when he breaks the chain of routine and renews his life through reading new books, traveling to new places, making new friends, taking up new hobbies and adopting new veiw points"- Wilfred Peterson

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Monet Heron


These are my first and favorite photos of Mr. Heron. I had just spent my early morning taking pictures of the sunrise and was meandering home at 6:00 am when I realized I was about to pass the pond where Mr. Heron sometimes fishes. I decided to turn my camera back on just in case I lucked into seeing him. With that thought Mr. Heron flew up from the cattails along the edge of the pond where I was walking. I had obviously startled him as he had me and I began to furiously snap away without thought or time to focus or even aim. The blurring action of my unsteady hand together with the early days light and the lilly pond setting all brought to mind a painting Monet may have painted if by chance he had happened upon this pond that day instead of me.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Heron Mates

This was the first time in a month that I had seen Mr. and Mrs. Heron together. Lately I had only seen Mr. Heron fishing alone in his various favorite spots(wading in the pond, balanced on a log in the lake, at the foot of the waterfalls and on a dock). Truth is I was beginning to get worried about Mrs. Heron so I was excited and relieved when the mates flew passed me and circled the lower end of the lake near the Point where this picture was taken. They then flew back towards the middle of the lake and separated with each of them landing on docks directly across the lake from one another. Their amazing wing span carried them this entire distance in what seemed to be less then a minutes time.
Oh would you go meandering...
Upon this trail beside this lake
To awe at the inspiring sight
Of Heron mates in boundless flight?

Oh would you go meandering...
Meandering...meandering,
Oh would you go meandering...
Meandering with me?
Excerpt from my poem "The Meandering Trail"

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Twilight Hours


Oh would you go meandering...
Upon this trail beside this lake
To share the Twilight Hours wonder
As Day awakens from it's slumber?

Oh would you go meandering...
Meandering...meandering,
Oh would you go meandering...
Meandering with me?
Excerpt from my poem "The Meandering Trail"

Monday, June 1, 2009

The Meandering Trail


Rules and Regulations-
x No Rushing is Permitted
(Rushers may be sentenced to time sitting along the waters edge
practicing deep belly breathing until the urge to rush has subsided)
x No watches or time keeping devices permitted
(all such devices will be confiscated and used as fishing lures)


Permitted Modes of Transportation By Foot -
sauntering, wandering aimlessly,
kicking up dirt, dragging your feet,
crawling, walking on all fours,
walking on your hands, walking while holding hands,
walking backwards, walking in circles,
bounding joyfully, running with glee,
skipping, cartwheeling, piggybacking.

Permitted Modes of Transportation Other -
horseback, wheelchair, stroller,
bicycle, tricycle, wheel barrow,
crosscountry skis, snowshoes, stilts,
child's sled, dog sled, one horse open sleigh.


Suggested Mode of Transportation -
wandering aimlessly kicking up dirt and holding hands while piggybacking in circles.


Suggested Activities -
picking flowers, taking time to smell the flowers,
skipping stones, skipping work,
chasing butterflies, chasing your kids,
bird watching, bird calling,
catching bullfrogs, leap frogging,
emptying your mind, contemplative thought.

Keep on Meandering...meandering.....meandering......meandering.....
Now say it again but slowwww-errrrrrrrrrr
(Like this meeeeee-aaaaaan-derrrrrr-inggggg)
You may now enter The Meandering Trail,
KEEP ON MEANDERING...


Excerpt from my poem "The Meandering Trail"