Cable Bridge – This is exactly what it looked like as we were walking across this old cable bridge. On the other side it was completely dark at the end of the bridge, the forest was so thick. It was a bit spooky as we neared the end of the bridge and our eyes did not adjust to the darkness until you actually walked into the forest.
This bridge is part of the North Country National Scenic Trail, if you wanted to, you can walk this trail that goes from New York to North Dakota. That would be quite the hike.
Can You See the Light – as I am walking in the forest the Light is trying to get my attention ever so softly. Peaking around the trees, flashing in my eyes every now and then. As if it is trying to get my attention, but I just keep on going.
How about now, the Light says, do you see me?
As I squint looking in the direction of the light beams dancing amongst the leaves.
But I turn my head and keep walking.
How about Now? I stop and look and am amazed at all the beams of light, as if like arms reaching out towards me. The Light begins to warm the forest with bright beautiful light. But I have an agenda, I have to keep walking to get to the end of the trail.
How About NOW
I stop in my tracks as I cannot stop looking at this beautiful Light reaching out to all of nature around me and warming my heart. Yes, I see the Light, I feel the Light. The end of the trail is right here. I don’t have to keep searching. 💕😉
Oh What a Tangled – Do you remember the rest of the quote?
But nature isn’t tangled, these spiders seem to know what they are doing.
Oh what a tangled web we weave/When first we practice to deceive’ means that when you lie or act dishonestly you are initiating problems and a domino structure of complications which eventually run out of control.
One has to be careful walking through the forest, especially this time of year. The webs are everywhere and can be deceiving, all pretty and shinny. But understanding the Light and where it comes from, It can protect you from entering the webs they weave.
Wide Eyed Look which is referred to as Doe Eyes, literally in this case. 🙂
Well, this one does not have doe eyes, she has been hanging around with the deer. Just one turkey, the fawns are having fun running around trying to figure out what this bird is though.
Floral Art by Design, flowers are so amazing in their details when you look really close at them. They are all so different but are designed with such intricate details that serve a purpose that insures their propagation, by attracting pollinators.
I am not sure what this flower is, but I would guess its name might be similar to corn. Because up close it looks like miniature corn cobs in the center of this vibrant orange flower.
I Was Waiting For Them this morning. Every morning about 4 groups of geese fly over head towards the east. This first photo shows the sun is just coming up as they fly over, so you can see the sun light on the front of their wings. I have not seen geese all summer but come September they do this fly over everyday, I am not sure where they are going and in the evening they fly back towards the west.
They start about 7:30 am, when the sun is just coming up and by the 3rd group that fly’s over, it gets a little brighter and the sky starts turning into a beautiful blue instead of gray.
Until We Meet Again – to the Ruby Throated Hummingbirds in my yard this year. I have made a note on my calendar, for the first time this year, I have not seen these beautiful little birds. I believe they started their long journey south. They have been all over my fall flowers and feeders throughout August and now they are gone.
So here are some of my best photos during 2021 of the Ruby Throated Hummingbirds. Safe travels.
August is Coming to an End and depending on what part of the country you live in, cooler weather and warm colors are on our doorsteps. I have not seen any geese flying over all summer and now, at the end of August they fly East every morning. I went out this morning to take a few photos of them, but I was not out there early enough. I will have some photos by the end of the week though. 🙂
The Light of Life, He has a way of reminding us that we are the Light of Him. Even when we are surrounded by darkness, as I was when I was walking through the forest of no name.
The forest was dark as I made my way along the river bank, when all of a sudden, just up ahead, sunlight was shining through the trees, as if a spot light was only shining on these beautiful ferns. A reminder of who we are, vibrant, radiant all that we are, a Light to Others as He is to Us
Sunsets Are Coming Back, the smoke has been clearing in the sky around my area so the sunset are becoming colorful again. I love a sunset when there are some clouds along with. Gives it a little more texture and depth.
I mentioned awhile ago about my brother out in Montana next to the fire called, Yaak Fire. He said it is down to a smolder, but still burning and creeping across the land. So they have not been given the all clear yet, I hope they get more rain and it goes out completely.
On this particular night, I walked down to the pond, knowing there would be a reflection in the water of the clouds all lit up as the sun dropped below the horizon.
The Snow Shoe Hare Snowshoe hares have an interesting adaptation that helps protect them against predators. Depending on the season, their fur can be a different color. During the winter, snowshoe hares are white, which helps them blend in with the snow. When the seasons change to spring and summer, snowshoe hares turn a reddish-brown. This color helps them camouflage with dirt and rocks.
Not every part of the snowshoe hare changes color throughout the year. An important identification trick is to look at a snowshoe hare’s ears. The tips of the ears are always black no matter the season.
The hind legs of a snowshoe hare are noticeably larger, and have more fur and larger toes than those of other rabbits or hares. These adaptations provide additional surface area and support for walking on snow. The hind legs are what give the hare its common name.
I never did get a photo of this rabbit last winter when it was all white. I saw it a few times, but only when it moved, they have excellent camouflage. I took this photo below early this spring when its feet are still white as it makes the change over to brown.
Now this one is a cotton tail Rabbit below, there is a difference between a hare and a rabbit. Mostly the hare is quite a bit larger and not as tame. Hence so much harder to get a photo of.
Shooting For the Moon, This weekend was perfect weather for sitting outside in the evening and watch the moon travel across the sky. Mosquitos tried to make a comeback early in the evening, but then the wind picked up and they did not have a chance after that. This time of year I love to go outside at night to take photo’s of our beautiful planets above, come winter, the cameras don’t do well at night, nor do I.
Trying to get a crisp clear photo of the moon is just a little difficult with a regular camera. I use a 600 mm lens and it does pretty well. But when you think of how much space is between my lens and the moon, I am in awe at what I see every time.
When you photograph something outside of our atmosphere, there is a fair amount of air between you and the subject. The thickness of Earth’s atmosphere is approximately 300 miles, with most of the dense air in the lower altitudes (obviously). Light is transmitted from the sun (or stars) or reflected from the moon (and planets) and it travels through the vacuum of space until it reaches earth. Once it arrives in the atmosphere, all your sharpness bets are off.
Then add some motion like clouds rolling in and trees blowing in the wind. I am just grateful that earth has a protective shield around it that gives us air to breath and protects us from the harshness of outer space. It is mind boggling to me sometimes to sit here and look up into the heavens at night and just wonder how big it really is and how small we really are.
This shot looks like the moon is on fire and rolling across the clouds to me.
What Day is It – Varietay Friday, Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Stay cool, it is warm in my neck of the woods. Enjoy the Great Outdoors if You Can. 💕
Orange is the Color of Autumn, this is my first sighting of the Monarch Butterfly this year, it is late in the season, so I am surprised to see it but thankful I got to see at least one this year. Early this spring I saw a few butterfly’s or moths and their wings were pretty scraped up from the long flight up here. But this one looks pretty healthy.
I hope he makes the long journey to its winter home. It is written in their design, from the moment they are alive, to go to the same place, even though some have never been there before. They just know.
Before Migration Begins,  Ruby-throated Hummingbirds double their weight from 3 grams to over 6 grams prior to departing. They don’t stay pudgy for long, though. In northward migrations, it’s not uncommon for a hummingbird to weigh around 2.5 grams when it reaches U.S. shores!
Each year, hummingbirds embark on two migrations – one north and one south. These migratory journeys, which can span hundreds or thousands of miles, require immense preparation and a shocking amount of energy from these small birds – the smallest in the world.Â
In the fall hummingbirds can set out as early as late July and the last stragglers will cross the southern U.S. border by late October. It’s this amazing cycle of hummingbird migration that can also bring a sudden swarm of activity to your hummingbird feeders. If you have a well-maintained hummingbird feeder, expect plenty of new visitors as they try to boost their energy before the next stage of their journey.
I am taking lots of photographs of them right now before they leave. I look forward to seeing them again next year.
Bumble Bee Bumble Bee, Oh How You Help My Garden Grow;
I Can See How Hard You Work, for You Are Covered in Sparkling Yellow Snow ——- No wait, that doesn’t sound right.
You Are Covered in Yellow Pollen Snow ; Alright I am not a poet for sure, I could not think what rhymes with grow.
Feel free to add some suggestions below, WAIT, that rhymes,
Bumble Bee Bumble Bee, Oh How You Help My Garden Grow, I See How Hard You Work From All the Pollen on You in the Photo Below. Whew, I think Daryl Madden or Mr. Ohh might have a few ideas as well. 😊
Young Eagle Stopped By today, I have not seen many eagles this year. Only on occasion when they fly by and sometimes stop and hang out in a tree for a little bit. This one here just glided right in, he was so far away, I wasn’t sure what it was at first.
So I got the big camera lens out and that is when I realized it is a young Eagle. I never get tired of seeing them.
So I thought I would share some of my favorite Eagle photos below.
Nature Speaks to Us, I spend a lot of time outdoors, sometimes just listening to the sounds of creation around me. Now I have a lot of ringing in my ears, sometimes it is really bad, but it is always there. It never really goes away. When I am outside, I get distracted very easy. I begin to notice everything from the leaves rustling in the trees, the butterflies going from flower to flower.
The sights and sounds of nature, begins to replace the ringing in my ears. For a few moments in time I can tune out the constant noise in my ears and I can feel the calmness that nature provides. I can see and hear a beautiful symphony of soft spoken words, from the sounds of birds singing and seeing the beautiful colors of the butterflies as they go by.
When I focus on all of these things, it pushes the noise away.
It reminds me of this song;
I can see clearly now the rain is gone I can see all obstacles in my way Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind. It’s gonna be a bright (bright) Bright (bright) sunshiny day
Amazing Are The Wings that Fly – Sometimes to really see nature, one has to become one with nature. I have never seen a dragonfly’s wings quite like these. I was watching this one particular dragon fly land on this same rock over and over. Finally realizing it was sunning itself on this rock and as I would step closer to it for a photo it would fly away.
So I figured I need to lay down in the grass with my camera and just sit still. This dragonfly was between me and the sun and what a surprise it was to see the sun reflecting in its wings when I looked at the photos later. I did not see this as I was laying there watching it. What a view from their level. You can see my video; A Walk With Nature in My Back Yard Here.
I remember the days as a child, when laying in the grass was so much fun. I never worried about all the bugs and critters back then. I usually avoid doing that now because the thought of wood ticks and spiders. But I thought, just do it. I surprised myself on the results with this beautiful creature.
Rock Camouflage, In nature, some animals are built with the perfect camouflage to blend in with their surroundings. Which helps to avoid becoming something else’s snack. This particular dragon fly is one of those animals. Those transparent wings really throws me off, you can see the rocks right through them.
Full Moon and Black Bears, what excitement I had last week starting on Tuesday. This is my first encounter of being this close to Black Bears and they payed me a visit in our yard 3 nights in a row. At first I only saw the young bear when I looked out my cabin window. I thought how cool, it looks like a nice little black bear. But than all of a sudden, Mama bear came out of the woods and I believe my heart skipped a beat, she is just beautiful. The hair rises on my arm just writing about it. (video below)
When we were kids, my siblings and I, our grandfather would ask, ” Who wants to go to the dump?”, one of my most favorite childhood memories. Why you might ask?, we went there to watch the bears come out in the evenings. We did not have movie theaters back then. That was our weekend entertainment and that is where I begin my journey of the love for wild life, from my Grandfather.
I have only seen a couple bears over the last few years. I was beginning to lose hope that I may never see another one. From loss of habitat and food for the animals. So you can guess my delight when I was sitting at the table by the window and saw these two beautiful creatures walk out of the woods.
They were checking out my bird feeders which were pretty much empty, but it kept them entertained for a short while. I slipped out the side door of my cabin to take some photos that would be a little clearer than through the window and then I just stood there and watched them until they wandered back into the woods.
I set up my trail camera for the next night and they came back, actually they visited for 3 nights. I have made a two part video that I will be putting on my You Tube Channel as well.
Some of this video was taken with a trail camera. You can see the full screen version on my You Tube channel by clicking here; The American Black Bear by Sandra J
After the Sun Comes Up , Oh how the garden sparkled this morning. There was a heavy fog early this morning and as the sun was rising and the fog started to disappear, I went out to look at my garden. The water droplets left behind were shimmering and sparkling to my eyes delight. How I love sparkles, the light of the world shinning for our eyes to see, creating a sea of dancing lights that is sure to lighten ones heart first thing in the morning. At least for me.
The sunlight is casting shadows behind the droplets of water, these almost look like tiny little light bulbs lit up in green.
These are water droplets on my cabbage plant leaves.
To Go in Search Of is a synonym for looking up. Which I am doing all the time. Sometimes we get so focused on just looking a few feet in front of us or what is in our hands, we forget to look up. To go in search of the Light. It is every where, it is stunning at times to see the Light shine through objects, nature.
It gives a new perspective on what I am looking at, with the light shinning through the leaves, I see every vein, the heart beat of the leaves in front of me. With a sparkle of light at the tip of one leaf below, as if it is saying, ” Now you see me”.
A Few of the Newbies Here, This first photo is some type of moth, its wings look a little tattered, probably from the long flight to get here. Ya know, I hate it when people accuse me of lolly gagging, When I am quite clearly dilly dallying today with my photos. 🙂
My niece posted that phrase and I thought it was funny, I do tend to dilly dally and I like it. 🙂
This one here below actually has the prettiest color blue wings when it is flying. But it moves pretty fast, so I could not get a good shot, but I think its antenna’s look pretty cool.
Red Breasted Grosbeak stopped by for a visit this week.
And of course, the hummingbird is buzzing by me every day now. You can always here them coming towards you before you see them.
Nature in its Smallest Form, in the broadest sense, is the natural, physical, material world of Creation. It is often taken to mean the “natural environment” or wilderness, wild animals, rocks, forest, and in general those things that have not been substantially altered by human intervention, or which persist despite human intervention.
Nature; the Natural Beauty of life.
I don’t see rainbows very often and this one came out late in the evening after a little rain we were having, right before sunset.
