Image # 107 – Broken-Hearted Tree
Image #105 – Tall trees and yellow flowers
A peaceful image for a day carries so much sorrow – 9/11/2013.
Image #104 – Tulip Poplar?
This beautiful blossom was one of many on a very tall tree. A friend told me it was a tulip poplar but the flower does not match any in my reference sources. Perhaps a reader can help me out?
Image #103 – Swallowtail on Ironweed
New York Ironweed hosts a swallowtail butterfly. The Ironweed can grow up to 6 feet in height and is found in wet meadows, of which there are many this year. ☙
Image #100 – Growing Up is Hard (9/6)
My feeders are overwhelmed with fledglings, young birds trying to learn the intricacy of living. They remind me so much of young toddlers. Watching a toddler get command of his or her legs is not much different than watching a young bird learn how to use his wings. They fly in and hover by the feeders, unsure how to make the final approach, often missing the landing perch again and again. Once they do find the perch they begin to eat and are reluctant to leave. They do not yet comprehend the dangers in life and the need to flee. This little fellow above is a perfect example. All the other birds flew away when I walked onto the porch, but not this guy. I was able to walk up to feeder and get within a few feet of this young finch and snap this picture. He never moved. I have literally watched fledglings fall asleep on the the feeder, their beak in the trough like a toddler asleep in his oatmeal. It’s dear and entertaining. I wish them luck but know that many won’t make it. But, then again, that is true of us all. ☙
Image #99 – Changes
Joe-Pye Weed and Ironweed against a backdrop of mountain blue sky and newly mown field. They are making hay in the mountains, a sure sign of the changing seasons. Wildflowers are popping up everywhere including the ubiquitous harbinger of autumn, the goldenrod. But Joe-Pye and Ironweed are new to this Florida girl. How lovely they are. ☙
#97 – A Parasol for a Warm Day
Still in Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest — land of giant, ancient trees that pre-date the very existence of this wonderful land we call home. Tucked under a crevice, near some ivy and not far from a bubbling brook the delicate and exquisite parasol mushroom presents itself…for a day, a week? The blink of an eye when you stop and look at the trees around you. But does that diminish its beauty? Not at all. As a wise person once observed, “It’s not how much time you have but what you do with it.” ☙
Image #96 – Old Friends
Ancient trees at the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest have intertwined over the years, even capturing a boulder in their embrace.☙
Note: You can always double-click on the image to see a full-sized version.
Image #95 – “If a tree falls in a forest …. “
“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is present to hear it, does it make a sound?” — or something like that. It is a phrase I first recall hearing when I was in college. Some kind of existential, metaphysical stuff. Forgive me, I’m not good with this. Of course it makes a sound! How endeared we humans are with the concept that our own existence makes the sound…our experiencing the moment makes it be. Pish posh.
When the tree that was once attached to this stump fell in the forest that is now the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest it made a sound. I am very sure of that.☙
Image #94 – Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest
“I think that I shall never see/A poem as lovely as a tree”. They are verses from my childhood. The poetry of Joyce Kilmer, or at least his poem “Trees”, was a mainstay of my youth. Last week I had the good fortune to visit a forest that is named in his honor. The Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest is tucked away in the very corner of western North Carolina. It has some of the last virgin forest growth on the east coast.
It is, simply, magnificent.
From the website:
A walk through Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest is a journey back in time through a magnificent forest with towering trees as old as 400 years. Some enormous yellow-poplars are over 20 feet in circumference and stand 100 feet tall. The floor is carpeted with a garden of wildflowers, ferns, and moss-covered logs from fallen giants.
The only way to see the impressive memorial forest is on foot. The figure-eight Joyce Kilmer National Recreation Trail covers 2 miles and has two loops: the 1¼-mile lower loop passes the Joyce Kilmer Memorial plaque, and the upper ¾-mile loop swings through Poplar Cove, a grove of the largest trees.
We enjoyed the full two-mile hike and look forward to returning. It is the kind of place that will never be the same, no matter how often you visit. Even Tango was amazed. 
For the next couple of blogs I will share images from the Kilmer Forest. Not all of its wonders are gigantic. Many are small and captivating. All are wonderful.☙
Alice's WanderLand 