Katydid

A hitchhiker who decided my finger was a good place to take a ride.

More Bunny Pictures

I took my camera on a tripod outside to take photos. I walked out the door with the big tripod and stood it up while I turned around to shut the door. This rabbit came scurrying around the corner of the house and stopped. I turned the camera on it.

This last picture shows how far away I was. About the length of a single-car garage door. My feet are just at the edge of the bottom of the photo. It took the rabbit a while to figure out that maybe I shouldn't be there.

Big Ears

The Mushroom Has Landed

On Monday, my husband noticed that a huge mushroom had appeared in the side yard. We've had an awful lot of rain this year.

He said it originally was a big round ball. Then it apparently exploded.

The mushroom was located in the same area where I'd seen mushrooms a few weeks ago. However, then there were three smaller mushrooms and not a single large one.

I find fungi to be rather fascinating in the way it grows and looks.

This is my foot (size 7) to show how big the mushroom was.

 

Yesterday, Thursday and three days later, I took this picture of the mushroom.

 

It had an almost wooden quality to it. I found it very attractive.

A Deer, a Rose, and a Bunny

Occasionally we are all faced with things that seem to make no sense.

Incidents or objects that seem to be completely unrelated.

We look and look for a connection, but we can't find it.

That's because sometimes we need to stop looking at the trees, and peer down from above at the entire forest.

 

So what do a deer, a rose, and a bunny have in common? Absolutely nothing at first glance. But they are all wonders of nature, part o the greater earth, children of the planet. They belong here - and isn't that connection enough?

Come On, Spring

I understand the groundhog yesterday predicted a short winter. Even though we are having a relatively mild winter, I am ready for green grass and brilliant colors.

 

Although there is a little beauty in the snow, too.

Both of these images are from 2008.

Watching the Storm

When I was a small girl, one of my favorite things was to sit out on the back stoop at my grandmother's house in Salem when a storm was approaching.

My grandfather would often sit with me. He'd light up a cigarette and together we'd watch the lightning as it danced across the sky.

He was not a demonstrative man, but if the thunder cracked loudly and I jumped, he would sometimes put an arm around me, and chuckle.

I still love to watch storms, but we seldom see lightning streaks anymore. We're not situated in a good spot.

However, Friday evening a storm came up and settled over Stone Coal Gap. Stone Coal Gap is a cut in the mountains, and I have a good view of it out my front door.

Capturing lightning on film has eluded me, and I have given up doing so with a camera. But I did want to try it with the video camera.

I placed the camera out on the porch and I went back in the house to watch from the safety of the glass door.

Here's 20 minutes of video distilled down to about a minute. You can hear the thunder and see a few lightning bolts. It's not a tornado or hurricane or anything spectacular like that; it's just a storm. But it brought me great memories of my grandpa.

The Black Swan - Still Here!

The black swan appears to have taken up permanent residence on the farm.



I have been told by neighbors that occasionally s/he is joined by a white swan, but I have yet to see it.



Watching him/her at the pond makes me feel calm, but sad. I believe this bird is missing a mate, and that makes me want to cry.

Eyes on Iris

The iris is one of my favorite flowers.



The yellow iris came from a deserted homestead in 1988. The place was on land my parents had recently purchased next to their farm and my mother gave me permission to dig up the flowers and move them.



The purple flowers came from my mother's collection around her home.



A line of iris separates the yard from the woods. These are generally slow to bloom, perhaps because of the lesser amount of sunlight.



I love to watch them dance in the breeze.



They make me feel calm.

Revenge of the Locust

The locust trees are in full bloom here. Every tree has blossoms hanging from each twig. I don't know that I have ever seen the locust bloom so much.

I am, of course, highly allergic.



The tree in the yard in full bloom.


A little closer look!



Even closer!



Another locust tree on the other side of the fence all decked out in white finery.



What I wouldn't give for a good hard rain to knock those blooms away! Achoo!