Photo Journal

Last Dance of Spring

And since all this loveliness can not be Heaven, I know in my heart it is June.

Abba Louisa Goold Woolson

These little gifts of spring

green leaf and flower gold

 

Purple spikes and tall grass

I often pass -

until today

when my feet were slow,

and white blossoms

filled my quiet heart

with the grace of a season;

departing.

What an unusual spring we had. Fires in the north making the skies hazy and defusing the sunlight, very little rain, a mix of really hot and surprisingly cold days, and, at least where I live, an unusual abundance of wildlife.

I’ve had a little running injury this spring (now nearly healed) that slowed me down a bit and, in a way, I’m grateful. It gave me a chance to go on longer walks with my camera and take closeups of flowering and budding things. Even with the drier conditions, spring did not disappoint. I was especially drawn to the wild growing things, like the vine twisting over the road at the beginning of this post, the tall grass flowering in an empty lot, or the black-eyed susan and daisy, growing by the guardrails. I think I love them for their tenacity; their beauty rising even in unfavorable conditions.

I hope you had a wonderful week and had a chance to mark the summer solstice in some way on Wednesday, even if just in an acknowledgement that it happened. As I’m writing this, I just realized that there are a couple of you that actually are on the other side of the planet, heading into winter. Either way, seasons are changing. I’m happy you’re here with me! Thank you for your time and attention.

See you next week!

An Abundance of Seagulls

Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake.

Wallace Stevens

Seagulls flying over the lake, circling and calling.

Video of Seagulls circling over the lake in the early morning of June 9, 2023

Seagulls landing and fighting on the big flat rock where they all want to stand.

So many seagulls, more than I’ve ever seen here.

Why are they here? Why are they circling?

Last week I was certain they were escaping poor air in other places caused by the wildfires in Canada.

Seagulls floating on the water on a calm day, a pinkish haze in the air. I watch them, take pictures and muse.

This morning I walked down to the beach and found that hundreds of dead alewives* washed up overnight. Is this why the seagulls are here in abundance this year? Have they been tracking the alewives all this time? Or is it the wildfires? I’m not sure now. I was convinced when I took the first photos of the gulls that they were escaping bad air in other places, but today I realized there could be more to it.

I’m constantly amazed at what is happening all around me every day, under the surface. The things that birds and other animals know instinctively for their survival, that I can only guess at. Amazed by the world underneath the water, teeming with so much life that I can’t see. It fills me with curiosity and wonder. I hope it does the same for you!

*Thanks to my friend, Kat Needham, for identifying the fish for me. If you want to know more about alewives, click here.

We still do not know one thousandth of one percent of what nature has revealed to us.

Albert Einstein

Thank you so much for being here! See you next Friday.

Strange Light

People normally cut reality into compartments, and so are unable to see the interdependence of all phenomena. To see one in all and all in one is to break through the great barrier which narrows one's perception of reality.

Nhat Hanh

Wildfire (A Fragment)

Sunday morning

a pale sun climbed above the trees,

red-rimmed and cold;

so dim, you couldn’t see

your shadow.

A rumor spread -

of a fire-breathing

monster rampaging

in the north

devouring the woods,

bellowing its smoke and ash

so far and wide

that a thousand miles away

soot is falling

in the streets,

and the skies are dark

and full of poison

Wildfire Sunset

The wildfires in Canada are causing problems all over the eastern United States. I knew about them but didn’t connect them to the strange sun I saw on Sunday morning until my husband, Tom, heard a news item about the effects the fires were having all over the northeastern United States.

The skies here are fairly clear, and our air quality is not as bad as other places, but just realizing how far-reaching these things are reminds me how small this fragile world is.

I am curious about how those of you living in the eastern US are doing. Are you having problems in your area from the wildfires…send me a message or leave a comment!

Thank you for being here! See you next week.