Image #229 – Fawn Hill spring

I’m back at Fawn Hill in western North Carolina where spring has arrived. You can almost feel the land exhale in a collective sigh of relief. Today it is cool and rainy but on Saturday we had a very nice day with sun and mild temperatures. Tango and I decided to take a walk in the neighborhood.

Green grass is popping up and Potts Branch, the stream in the center of this picture, is swelling with plenty of spring rain. The old shed up the street from our house seems warmer in the spring air but is still very foreboding to me. I half expect Jud Fry to walk out. If you’ve never seen the 1955 movie Oklahoma you won’t know what I’m talking about but I can tell you that Rod Steiger made a lasting impression on an eight-year-old girl and smokehouses still give me the willies.

But I digress. This is about spring! Nature celebrates spring in many ways and humans follow suit. There are some who make bold proclamations, like these magnificent blooming trees. They are, I think, bradford pear trees. I suspect their owners hold their breath every winter, praying that an ice storm won’t take them out. They seem vulnerable on the hill crest but they are beautiful.

Lots of people enjoy the forsyth bush. And why not? Anything that screams “Yellow” with such exuberance is okay in my book.

And daffodils are always in abundance. The previous owner of our land planted quite a few around the property but they are the miniature variety and most had faded by the time I got back. Down the road a bit, however, I found this great stand. So many eager faces, they make me think of children vying to be on camera.

So many beautiful flowers at this time of year.

And a final blossom, just peaking out, was found on one of our apple trees. It holds such promise. Yum, I can already taste their fruit. ❧

April 7, 2014 1

Image #203 – Wild Blueberries

Tango and I got out to Myakka River State Park yesterday and had an excellent hike along Fox’s Low Road. Spring is definitely springing here in Florida. The oak trees have that lovely spring green color, wild flowers can be found and, as you can see from the photo, the blueberries have started to produce their fruit. From blossom to fruit is about 4-6 weeks, so these bushes will be ready to feed the birds when it is time to fly back north. What a marvel nature is. ❧

February 17, 2014 0

Image #200 – Seduction of the southern woods

Back in Florida for a spell. I managed to miss the mess that has happened along the Eastern seaboard this week. It hasn’t been a pretty picture, certainly not as pretty as this one. The Florida woods are beautiful now. It is spring here and, in the left hand corner, you can see some of that wonderful “new green” that occurs only in the spring. It is more than green…it is living color, full of promise. Rejoice! Spring is on the march! ❧

February 13, 2014 1

Image #181 – Recovering from the swirl of holidays

Back home in North Carolina after three weeks in Florida. It was a whirlwind of activity and people. I loved it all but it is good to return to the quiet of the mountains. To all whom I saw – I love you all and enjoyed every minute. To those whom I missed – forgive me. I swear someone is stealing minutes, nay, hours from my day. So I have chosen this image because it reminds me of my life: aging with deep lines and swirls but lots of color and plenty of life. Happy New Year everyone. ❧

January 13, 2014 0

Image #137 – Stalked Hairy Fairy Cup fungus

According to the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms, “The Stalked Hairy Fairy Cup is one of a number of very small, beautiful cup fungi that are covered with hairs.” Enough said? This dainty life form lives on a tree at Wayah Bald, NC — 5,000 feet up, very exposed to extremes and very beautiful. ☙

October 25, 2013 2

Image #136 – Autumn Colors

Autumn colors on Wayah Bald, North Carolina. ☙

October 24, 2013 0

Image #111 – Violet-branched coral mushroom

The blades of grass and mossy ground cover give you a sense of scale for this beautiful mushroom. It has been a wonderful season for mushrooms. New ones continue to emerge even as the days grow shorter and the nights cooler. What other treasures does North Carolina hold as the seasons change? ☙

September 18, 2013 0

Image #78 – I Hate Briars

I hate briars, brambles…thorny vines, whatever you care to call them, I hate them. This morning I spent some time working on the south 40. That’s the south 40 feet of my property not the south 40 acres. We have a bit over an acre here and there is a small peninsula of land at the south end that narrows down towards Potts Branch Road. It sits behind our tool shed and is a pleasant little spit of land. It will be even more pleasant after I get rid of the greenbrier. I attacked it heavily this a.m. because I just hate briars. I think it must stem (pardon the pun) from some bad experiences in childhood. I was always running around and prowling in the woods behind our house and I remember getting tangled up rather badly on a couple of occasions. Being a child there was that tendency to panic and try to get away from bad things quickly. Such tendencies have bad results in briar patches. I’m more cautious now, of course.

The strategy this a.m. was weaponry coupled with chemical warfare. I cut and pulled free the vines, traced them back to their origin, cut them at the root and applied a surgical squirt of weed killer. I cleared a good amount of vine, heaping it in a clearing with plans to move it to a burn pile later. There is still more to go but I feel I have made some young trees much happier. They had been pulled down by the accumulating vine and were bent nearly to the ground under the weight. Some vines climbed high into mature trees and when I was able to pull some down I was surprised to see berries. And then the guilt hit. Perhaps the vine has a purpose? My ego initially rejected such an idea but my pace slowed and I decided I would learn more before proceeding. I have cleared the area I foresee as the “path” so the brambles along the fence can be pruned more judiciously, I reasoned.

Returning to the house I went online and learned that greenbrier do indeed serve a purpose. The berries are loved by birds. They only form after the vine reaches the high trees so a lot of time and effort is spent growing that vine. I’m chagrined and a little chastened but I’m unchanged … I hate briars. I’ll find a way for all of us to live together. But the glory days are over for much of the greenbrier on the south 40. The tangled mass of intertwined brambles is gone. Sorry … well, not really. The birds are getting plenty to eat at my feeders and maybe they’ll miss the succulent greenbrier berry but I really won’t.☙

August 15, 2013 1

Image #72 – Summer’s Bounty

We are moving into late summer and nature’s bounty is feeding its children. This squirrel has followed the lead of several birds and is feasting on the berries of an as-yet-unidentified tree in my backyard. The cardinals have made several pilgrimages to these berries and they must be quite delicious. Look at the stuffed cheeks on this fellow! In coming months, years I hope to add to this bounty and give the critters what they need. Winter is coming. Those who cannot fly away must pack on the calories and the fat. Everyone has said the last few winters haven’t been too bad. But one never knows, do one? ☙

August 9, 2013 1

Image #31

Normally we think of mushrooms in soft, mossy forests. But fecundity rules — especially in the summer and these mushrooms are making a bold stand in a seemingly unforgiving landscape. Good luck to them! ☙