Noticing…

September 4, 2015September 6, 20154 Comments

Today I spent time with a friend in the forest, along the creek, and at the trickling falls. It is always nice to be with someone who notices the same way I do: with a still child-like sense of wonder and appreciation for the simple things in nature.

While the photo above looks like an abstract, can you spy the critter hiding out down there under the water?

(You can click on the picture to make it bigger if you are the curious type!)

Pond skaters skating on the sky.

Whirligigs are always entertaining to watch (if not a bit difficult to capture with camera).

Saponins make for the best bubbles and swirls along the churning creeks.

Yes, the signs are few but clearly here.

We have seem a lot of changes around these parts lately (fall leaves being the least of them), but the wonder and noticing never cease.

Are you taking time to notice little things?

I hope so.

~ Dawn

Web Walk

July 13, 201512 Comments

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Saturday morning I woke early and noticing the misty morning I decided to walk out into the calm before the household woke up.

Truth be told, spider webs drew me out. When the foggy dew beads up on the fine silk of the webs there is just something magical about it. (Even if the spider does not think so. I imagine it to be quite annoying to them, but it evaporates soon enough.)

Spending time getting up close with these little architects gives me an appreciation for the struggles faced during the day and how getting the work done, over and over, day after day, is just part of life.

And things don’t always work as planned. The moth above flew right into this web as I was snapping the photo. Just as quickly it fluttered free and the spider, who had sprung into action a little too late, returned to waiting patiently for the next opportunity to come along.

Sometimes getting wrapped up in the big picture feels heavy and unbearable. Sometimes it feels like there is no purpose, no light. But then I take a slow, purposeful walk around the yard, down the trail, at the seashore and I see the little things that make up this big world, and I know it is not my place to know everything, not my job to solve all of the problems, not my knowing everything that will make it all better. Sometimes it is just the noticing, the acknowledging, and the caring that make it all make sense.

If you are like me, and wonder about just how those droplets manage to form on spider silk, you might like to read this.

Thanks for taking a web walk with me and pondering things big and small.

~ Dawn

Finding

May 18, 2015May 18, 201510 Comments

The other day I made a quick stop at a local trail to see if I could find the beginnings of pink lady slipper or blue-bead lily greens. I know where they grow in this particular area but in the past I have only spotted them after they are in flower. Since learning more about wildflowers is one of my current nature goals, I want to try to track their growth from the first shoot all the way to flower and beyond.

I did not find the greens I was looking for but I found things I did not set out to find.

I spotted the first sign of the false lily-of-the-valley flower.

Then while practically laying on the ground to get a picture of those i saw a little growth coming from a cutting. I am still in need of time to investigate this one but the colors and shape were fascinating.

As I walked I found myself looking down, in search of those particular greens I set out to find, but instead found a whole host of other growth and development; sure signs of spring I may have missed otherwise.