The Use of Flowers

The Use of Flowers
Mary Hewitt
1799-1888

God might have bade the earth bring forth

        Enough for great and small,
The oak-tree and the cedar-tree,
        Without a flower at all.
We might have had enough, enough
        For every want of ours,
For luxury, medicine, and toil,
        And yet have had no flowers.

Then wherefore, wherefore were they made,

        All dyed with rainbow light,
All fashioned with supremest grace,
        Upspringing day and night: --
Springing in valleys green and low,
        And on the mountains high,
And in the silent wilderness
        Where no man passes by?

From:  The Gardener’s Book of Poems and Poesies.  Compiled by Cary O. Yager.  ©1996 by Contemporary Books, Inc. Two Prudential Plaza, Chicago, Illinois 60601-6790.

 

Stars

If I had to navigate by the stars I’d be lost . . . all the time.  I marvel at people who can look to the night time sky and see, name and recite the history of the constellations.  Sometimes I can find the big dipper.  Sometimes.

Stars in general are cool.  I learned that the only star in the good old Milk Way is the sun.  So all the sparkle in the night sky comes from (to quote George Lucas) “a galaxy far, far, away.” Wow.

Remember I love to use my imagination.  I wonder if planets around those stars have our sun in their constellations.

A bright star is closer to us than a star that doesn’t shine as bright.  I know, duh.  But a star shines uniformly in all directions so, imagination again, think of all the galaxies that can see Polaris (the North Star), and that use it for their navigation.  Now that sounds like a good story idea.

I read two great books while researching this blog.  I always put my sources at the end of the blog but I have to recommend one here.  Janice Van Cleave’s Constellations for Every Kid.  (John Wiley and Sons, ©1997, Janice Van Cleave).   It was very informative and it had all 88 recognized constellations, when and where in the sky they appear. 

Another fun thing I discovered, there is an observatory on top of the library in a town near mine.  The telescope takes pictures that are posted on their website.  (www.pewaukeeastro.com)  They also have public presentations once a month.  Maybe they can help me find the big dipper.

Pack out what you pack in.

Sources:

Janice Van Cleave’s Constellations for Every Kid, John Wiley and Sons, © 1997, Janice Van Cleave.

Explore the Solar System – Earth and Earth’s Moon © 2011 World Books, Inc., Chicago, IL 60601

Yes this is the moon.  It was too early for the stars to shine. 

Access

There’s talk of paving a popular bike trail near my home.  Right now the trail is lined with pea gravel.  It’s nice to ride on if you have a trail bike – one with wide knobby tires.  But not everybody does.  Paving the trail will make it easier for those with only road bikes – ones with skinny sleek tires.

It would also make the trail more accessible to those with limited mobility.  People who use wheelchairs and walkers need access to the great outdoors just like anyone else.

Bugline Trail
Just outside Menomonee Falls, WI.

Providing paved trails is important but I’m not advocating paving all trails.  The Seven Bridges trail is fastly becoming one of my favorites but I would not insist on putting in ramps and paving all the trails there.  Not only would it be expensive but it would also take away from the beauty of the trail.  Paving the trail near my house wouldn’t do that.

Folks who use wheelchairs and walkers do have choices, limited as they may be, to enjoy God’s creation.  It takes some research and planning but it can be done.  Look for beginner, level trails, call and ask a ranger if the state park you are visiting has paved trails.  Many of the bike trails in the area are paved.  Check with local bike shops to find a level trail.  Yes, I’m asking you to stay away from the web here.  Talking to people who use the trail gives you a more accurate assessment of that trail.  City parks are more apt to have paved trails.  Call your parks department to find out.

Everyone should have access to nature and all should enjoy its quiet simplicity. 

Pack out what you pack in.

The Innocent Spring

The Innocent Spring

Edith Sitwell
1887-1964

In the great gardens, after bright spring rain,

We find sweet innocence come once again,
White periwinkles, little pensionnaires,
With muslin gowns and shy and candid airs.

That under saint-blue skies, with gold stars sown,

Hide their sweet innocence by spring winds blown,
From zephyr libertines that like Richelieu
And d’Orsay their gold-spangled kisses blew;

And lilies of the valley whose buds blonde and tight

Seem curls of little school-children that light
The priests’ procession, when on some saint’s day
Along the country paths they make their way;

Forget-me-nots, whose eyes of childish blue,

Gold-starred like heaven, speak of love still true;
And all the flowers that we call “dear heart,”
Who say their prayers like children, then depart

Into the dark.  Amid the dew’s bright beams

The summer airs, like Weber waltzes, fall
Round the first rose who, flushed with her youth, seems
Like a young Princess dressed for her first ball.

Who knows what beauty ripens from dark mould

After the sad wind and the winter’s cold? –
But a small wind sighed, colder than the rose
Blooming in desolation, “No one knows.”

 

From:  The Gardener’s Book of Poems and Poesies, Compiled by Cary O. Yager, © 1996 by Contemporary Books, Inc.  Two Prudential Plaza, Chicago, IL 60601

Moon

When the moon is out I’m usually sleeping or without my camera on a morning walk, but I got these shots late in October.  The moon is just as fascinating as the sun.  More so in many ways.

We always see the same side when we see the moon in the sky.  The moon’s shine comes from the sun reflecting its light off it.  

The phases we see the moon go through occur when the moon is orbiting around the earth.  The earth is what blocks the sun’s light from reflecting off the moon.  So as the earth and moon rotate around the sun and each other we see different phases of the moon. 

From a photographers point of view the full moon is the best and maybe the easiest to photograph but every different phase has its own beauty.  The brightness of a full moon to the darkness of a new moon.  Each makes the nighttime sky different every night.  I would not have thought of that.

Pack out what you pack in.

Sources:

Explore the Solar System, Earth and Earth’s Moon, © 2011 World Book, Inc.  Chicago, Il 60601, www.worldbookonline.com

World Book’s Solar System and Space Exploration Library, Earth and Earth’s Moon, Second edition, ©2007, World Book, Inc. A Scott Fetzer Company, Chicago, IL

Rangers

I always stop at the ranger station when I hike in a state park.  Sadly, budget cuts don’t allow for enough rangers to man all stations all the time.  There are four reasons why it’s important for me to talk to a ranger before I go for a hike.

Reason number four – I need to buy a parking pass.  I don’t visit the state parks enough to make an annual pass pay for itself and I never have the correct change to purchase a parking pass at the self-pay station.

Reason number three – The rangers know the trail conditions on that day.  I do a lot of hiking in the winter.  Trail conditions change daily sometimes hourly.

taken on Butler Lake trail

One sunny, warm February day I drove up to the Kettle Moraine State Park – Northern Unit.  I wanted to hike the Parnell trail.  The ranger told me that trail was icy.  I didn’t bring my cleats so the ranger recommended the Butler Lake trail.  It was a wonderful hike.  I made a point to thank her for that suggestion.

Reason number two – It’s good to let somebody know where you’re hiking.  I often make last minute decisions to go hiking and my cell stays in the car.  The point of the hike is to get away.  Luckily, I’ve never had anything bad happen on a hike but it’s good to know that somebody knows where I am in case anything does.

Reason number one for stopping in at a ranger’s station when I visit a state park -  Heated Bathrooms.

Pack out what you pack in.

To Meadows

To Meadows

Robert Herrick
1591-1674

Ye have been fresh and green,

            Ye have been filled with flowers;
And ye the walks have been
            Where maids have spent their hours.

 You have beheld how they

With wicker arks did come,

To kiss and bear away

The richer cowslips home.

 Ye’ve heard them sweetly sing,

And seen them in a round;

Each virgin, like a spring,

With honeysuckles crowned.

But now, we see none here

Whose silvery feet did tread,

And with disheveled hair

Adorned this smoother mead.

Like unthrifts, having spent

Your stock, and needy grown,

Ye’re left here to lament

Your poor estates, alone.

Wind Creation

Wind is a constant.  Wind moves all the time.  Sometimes it moves fast and sometimes slow.  It depends on the atmosphere and the sun above.

The sun warms the air.  That warm air rises, the cold air sinks – creating wind.  The weather guys call this feud between warm and cold air fronts.  High pressure comes in on a warm front that moves about 15 miles per hour.   Low pressure follows a cold front.  They move at 30 miles an hour or so.  Wind always moves from high pressure to low.

 
The earth’s surface creates friction with wind and the friction slows the wind down.  Prairies, deserts, and parking lots don’t create as much friction as forests, mountains, and buildings.  Mountains and high rise buildings cause wind to move up but otherwise wind moves horizontally across the earth.

Cities do funny things to wind.  The buildings and asphalt collects heat from the sun during the day.  The city releases that heat slowly at night or on a cloudy day, creating thermals or updrafts of wind.  Birds love soaring on thermals.  Watch them.

Wind can also carry things.  Dust from Africa can be the basis for a snowflake in Wisconsin.  Wind can be damaging, too.  Straight line or tornado or hurricane-force all wreaking havoc on the things humans build.  It’s important to know what’s coming so you can get out of its way.

Pack out what you pack in.

 

Sources:
            Catch the Wind Harness the Sun by Micheal J. Laduto, Storey Publishing, © 2011
            Weather! By Deborah Burns, Storey Publishing, © 2003
            The Kids book of Clouds and Sky by Frank Staub, Sterling Publishing, New York, NY, © 2003

Dogs

A dog chased me while I was riding my bike this morning.  He was in the street to chase me.  I hate it when that happens.  Luckily there were no cars on the road or the dog could have been hit.

Yes, I know these are bears and not dogs.
I don't have any pictures of dogs. 
Please send me some:)

I can’t blame the dog he was simply doing what dogs do, protecting his territory.  It was irresponsible for the dog’s owners to not train him to stay in his yard.  I didn’t hear anyone calling the dog so he was completely unsupervised in the yard.  He could’ve been hurt or worse and nobody would have known.

When I go walking in the park I’m always grateful for those dog owners who make the time to train their dogs.  Please don’t get me wrong I like dogs.  I simply wish I didn’t get chased by them.

When you come across a dog and you can’t see his owner, don’t make eye contact.  Put your hand out for him to smell.  Hopefully the owner will show up by then.  Of course, if he is barking and angry looking it’s a better idea to stand very still and do not make eye contact.

I really do like dogs but I like owners who train their dogs even more.

Pack out what you pack in.

Trees by Joyce Kilmer (1913)

 I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose lovely mouth is prest

Against the sweet earth’s flowing breast.

A tree that looks at God all day

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair.

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

 

From the book:  If trees could talk:  stories about Wisconsin Trees by R Bruce Allison, State Historical Society of Wisconsin © 2009

Wind

Wind is my least favorite weather element.  I’m not a fan of walking in wind that creates a chill factor below 10°F.  Thankfully I have enough clothes to do it safely.

Layers are the key.  On a day with single digit temperatures I put on three layers.  I wear thermals, sweatpants, and windbreaker sweatpants on the bottom.  Long sleeve t-shirt, sweatshirt and winter jacket go on the middle.  A pair of gloves and a pair of mittens over the gloves cover my hands.  Hat, scarf and a hood covers my head.  Pair of sweat socks and hiking boots belong on my feet.

It’s important of cover every part of your body.  I wear glasses and that makes covering my face a challenge.  Through trial and error, I’ve come up with a way to wrap the scarf around my face so my nose is free but my cheeks are covered. 

Walking with my back to the wind helps to keep me warm but I often do a circle trail so that means I’m going to face the wind at some point.  I try to walk the trail so I face the wind early in the walk.

The first half mile of any exercise program – running, biking, walking, and hiking – are always the coldest.  Until you heart rate goes up its just cold.  I prefer to have the wind hit my face during this time.

When I’m warm from hiking I don’t want the wind to hit my face and create a chill from cooling the sweat.  That’s the other reason I like to put the wind at my back at the end of my hike.

Of course, if you don’t like to go outside in such weather completely disregard this blog.

Pack out what you pack in.

 

Sources:

            World Book’s Library of Natural Disasters – Blizzards, © 2009

 

 

Waiting

As a nature photographer I often have to wait for the shot to be right.  Waiting is hard.  I just wait for the sun to break from the cloud or the wind to pick up so I’m not as patient as those who shot pictures of animals or birds.  They can wait for hours and still they don’t get a useable photo.  I admire those folks.

As I wrote previously my new camera is heavier than my old one.  So I’m gaining an appreciation of the weight other nature photographers lug around.  You don’t get great shots by standing five feet from a wild animal.  It takes a long telephoto lens and a good tripod.  That’s a lot of gear to haul around.

Good nature photographers (I’m getting there) also know a lot about the birds or animals they want to shot.  Knowing their habits, where they get their food and when, where they like to make their homes, all that kind of stuff.

That means a lot of research.  I usually do my research after I take my pictures.  Finding out what kind of trees or wild flowers I’ve taken pictures of.

As hard as waiting is it does have its benefits.  Whether its 5 minutes, 5 hours, 5 days or 5 years.

Full disclosure:  I wrote most of this blog while I was in line to get my driver’s license renewed.  Waiting.

Pack out what you pack in.

Colors

I’m so glad I live in a place where the seasons change.  Each season has its own beauty but autumn is my favorite.  Watching the chlorophyll drain from the leaves can be glorious.

Chlorophyll is the chemical that gives the leaf its green color.  It takes sunlight and water and makes sap for the tree to use as food.  The by-product of this is oxygen which is released through the leaves.  Photosynthesis is the science name of this complete process.

When the nights begin to cool and the days shorten.  The chlorophyll drains from the leaves.  The green color of chlorophyll is replaced by the brilliant reds, oranges, and browns of the autumn season.

Of course the glorious colors depends on the weather. A dry summer will wilt the leaves early some times without changing colors.  Wind storms in early autumn will cause the leaves to drop, before full color can be reached.

But when the conditions are right.  The colors are beyond words.

Pack out what you pack in.

 

Sources:

            Trees of the United States and Canada, World Book, Inc. Chicago, IL Anova Books Company © 2007.

            Trees are Terrific!  National Wildlife Federation, Chelsea House Publishers, © 1999

 

Truly Getting Away

I miss silence.  Don’t get me wrong I enjoy music and television and the internet but sometimes I want to turn all that stuff off and enjoy the silence.

There are lots of great places to hike within an hour drive from my house.  I’ve been to many of them but I can still hear car traffic sometimes or worse yet I can see the cars through the trees or at the top of a hill.  I go hiking to get away from all that.

Give me the wind whistling through the trees.  The sound of my boots on the trail.  Birds chirping toward the morning sun.  I love listening to unseen animals rummage through the underbrush for food.  Then running for safety as I approach.

The silence is calming.  I realize though it can also be unsettling.  So many people are so used to the noise that surrounds us everyday.  To turn all that off is weird.  At first.  Stay with it and you can learn to enjoy the silence as well as the noise.

It is important to have time away from the constant noise and bustle of life.  To spend time with nothing but your own thoughts.  That’s why I like to go hiking.

I believe the word is balance, or maybe its contentment.  I’m working toward both.  How about you?

Pack out what you pack in.

The Pond

The Pond

Deep in the woods,

where still trees
drip green moss
and mushrooms litter
the spongy earth
like fairy tents,
lies a round pond.

A long age ago

some glacier dug
and scooped this place
for a perfect pond
where wary creatures
pause to drink
and light-footed birds
walk on lily-pad
stepping stones.

What if the glacier

had not dug here?

Where would
the animals drink?

Used with permission.  From Wild Country by David L. Harrison © 1999 Wordsong Boyds Mill Press, Inc., A Highlights Company, 815 Church Street, Honesdale, PA 18431, www.davidlharrison.com

 

Dead Trees

Dead trees are just as wonderful as life ones.  Just as many animals live inside a dead tree as a live one. Its human nature to be drawn to the live tree with its branches full of leaves reaching to the sky.  Yes that is beautiful.

The dead tree has more character.  Remember I love using my imagination.  Picture what did live in the tree and what might still be making the tree its home.  Birds, squirrels, mice, bugs, and fungi all make their homes in trees.  The hard woods soften when they die.  That makes it easier for animals and bugs to burrow into.  It’s easier to make a dead tree a home.

I also find the decomposition process fascinating.  No, I’m not a coroner by trade.  We live in a disposable society.  We put stuff in the trash and don’t give another thought to it.  But there is a system in place to return every living thing back to the earth to be used by future generations.  Yes, like fossil fuels.  But also basics like fertilizer for more plants.  It really is a circle of life.

So what’s the point?  I’m not sure.  I guess to ask you to think before you just put stuff in the trash can.  Have you really used the product to its full extent?  Can you use the product in another way?  Can part or all of it be recycled?

I have two points.  Don’t bulldoze a tree just because it’s dead and no longer fits your decor.  As I said dead trees have more character.  Unless it’ll damage a nearby house let the dead tree stay.

Pack out what you pack in.

 

Sources:

            Trees are Terrific! National Wildlife Federation, Chelsea House Publishers, © 1999.

Forest Preservation

“God has cared for these trees saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods.  But he cannot save them from fools.”  John Muir’s words are just as true now as when he spoke them.  Trees are important.  I hope this blog’s been making that clear.  We need to care about all trees not just the ones in the South American rain forest.

Deforestation means any removal of trees without replanting them.  What is your house sitting on?  Was a forest destroyed so your house could be built?  Was it farm land?  Look around you.  The green is disappearing.

A perfectly manicured law is not enough.  Trees are important.  They cool the land.  They take our exhaled carbon dioxide and make it into the oxygen we inhale.  They are homes for squirrels, birds, chipmunks, and bugs.

So it’s important to plant a tree where ever and whenever you can.  Look around your lot there has to be a place where you can plant a tree.  Landscape designers can help you decide which tree you have space for.  Make sure to call the utility location service in your area before you start to dig.  Trust me it will be worth the hassle.

Pack out what you pack in.

Enchanted Forest

Enchanted Forest

Sunlight looks green,

slanting through limbs
wrapped like mummies
in green moss-rags.

No sound, no sound

but the raven calling
. . . somewhere.

Small squirrel

walks up a tree,
pauses on the first limb,
takes a good look,
listens . . .

The forest is listening,

breathing,
watching.

Is it talking?

I don’t know the words.

 

Used with permission.  From Wild Country by David L. Harrison, ©1999, Wordsong Boyds Mill Press Inc., A Highlights Company, 815 Church Street, Honesdale, PS 18431, www.davidlharrison.com

Evaporation

Water, water, water’s everywhere and sometimes there’s none to drink.  I learned a long time ago that clouds are formed through the evaporation cycle but one of the books I read had a fancy name for it.  Convection.  Ohh, impressive.

Water vapor is everywhere.  The sun warms the earth.  This creates pockets of warm moist air that rises, as it does the water vapor cools and creates the cloud.  Then the vapors get together to form droplets.  When the droplets get big enough – heavy enough – they fall toward the ground.  Rain.

Sometimes the drops freeze, becoming snow, hail or sleet.  Sometimes it doesn’t make it to the ground.  This is another fancy name, verga.

Rain collects in lakes and rivers and puddles.  Then the sun warms the earth, and the cycle continues.  Evaporation.  Cool, huh.

Nature always points me to the Master Creator.  I never would have thought of such an elegant system for recycling water on the planet.  Would you?

Pack out what you pack in.

Sources:

            Clouds by Trudi Strain Trueit, Franklin Watts, a division of Scholastic, Inc. © 2002.

 

 

Creator

 The beauty of nature always points me to the Master Creator.

 Psalm 148:5 “Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created.”  The God of the Universe commanded the very creation of the Earth and everything in it.  You can read Genesis for yourself if you don’t believe me.

 The book of Psalms has all sorts of poems about creation and the Creator.  Psalm 148 is a call for all things on earth to Praise the One who created them.  Yes, even the animals praise Him.  Listen to the birds in the morning.  Watch the way trees reach for the sky.  The glory of the flowers blooming all points to a Master Creator.

 He created every living thing to be unique.  Yes, every human, every animal, every plant.  We all have a unique fingerprint, no two zebras have the same stripe pattern, and no two Holstein cows have the same spot pattern.

 We can praise him in our own unique way as well.  Thanking Him for the beauty of His creation is very simple.  Close your eyes lift your face to the sky, say thank You.   See that was easy.  If you want to get long winded read all of Psalm 148.  Make it unique just like you are.

 Pack out what you pack in.

Pageantry

Pageantry

 The trees are wearing

scarlet gowns

and golden crowns

and bits of them

 are falling down.

By Anna Grossnickle Hines

 

From Pieces:  A year in poems and quilts, Greenwillow Books (an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers), © 2001 by Anna Grossnickle Hines.

www.harperchildrens.com

www.aghines.com

Age of Trees

Trees are the best part of hiking.  They take great photos.

 Have you ever seen a tree stump?  Do you look at the rings?  Each small circle around the diameter of the tree is a year of life.  A small ring means it was a hard year for the tree to grow.  It had little water or it was cold.  A thick ring means the tree had ideal conditions to grow.  Water, sun, warmth.

Without doing a formal coring you can figure out the age of a tree by giving it a hug.  Let me explain.  If you take a small boring through the tree’s trunk you get a sample of the rings without doing damage to the tree.  But only a trained arborist should try it.

Instead with a string or a measuring tape go around the trunk and determine the diameter.  Do this about three feet from the ground.  On average one inch equals one year.  Without looking at the rings you can’t be specific.

Why is a tree’s age so interesting?  Well, I find history fascinating.  I wonder about the place where the tree is and how things around the tree have changed during its life.

Was it always in a forest or did one develop around the tree?  Did a forest disappear around the tree and it was left standing?  Was there a fire or a flood?  How many animals have or do call the tree home?  All this stuff interests me.

Green space is a good thing.  Don’t let it completely disappear.

Pack out what you pack in.

Sources:

            Trees of the United States and Canada, World Book, Inc. Chicago, Anova Books Company © 2007

Cameras

Old camera

I recently upgraded my camera.  Some of the photographs on past blogs were taken with an old film camera.  I purchased that little point and shoot 35mm camera when I was in college.  (Oui that ages me)  It still takes great pictures, but the flash no longer works and it’s getting harder to find film.  So I had to break down and get a new camera.

I did a lot of research before I made a purchase.  It was important for me to find a camera with a view finder.  That took me a long time.  I played with a couple different cameras at the store before I made a decision.

New camera

These photos are taken with the new camera.  There are still features I need to figure out but that will come with time.  I did learn that my new digital camera is heavier than my old film camera.  I need to change the shoulder that I carry the camera on often.

Hiking is a great way to enjoy the beauty of nature.  Taking photographs is the best way to take that beauty home with you.  Never take a cutting from a plant.  Never ever try to bring a bug or an animal home from a hike.  Always leave the nature in the forest.  [Duh, I know but there is always that one person who will try.] Sometimes you’ll see a place to scrape your boots so you don’t bring seeds, or bugs from one forest to another.  Use them both before and after your hike.

That leads me to another saying hikers use.  Leave only footprints, take only pictures. 

Pack out what you pack in.