Peace

Calm

"Bathe now in the stream before you,
Wash the war-paint from your faces,
Wash the blood-stains from your fingers,
Bury your war-clubs and your weapons,
Break the red stone from this quarry,
Mould and make it into Peace-Pipes,
Take the reeds that grow beside you,
Deck them with your brightest feathers,
Smoke the calumet together"
(Gitche Manito speaking to the Nations)
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

These are a few lines from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's passionate, imploring poem, The Peace-Pipe (from The Song of Hiawatha). If you would care to read this poem in its entirety, it can be found at the Poets' Corner website.

CC #21 - Shorebirds

These pictures were taken about three weeks ago, when our visitors from Toronto were here. We went to this nearby lake. The children loved it. I pointed out the shorebirds to my little three year old granddaughter who was walking along the shore with me. "Where are they, Grandma, I can't see them, where are they," she said as she looked through the binoculars trying to find the birds.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this sandpiper is known as Yellowlegs. I'm not sure whether it's the Greater or Lesser Yellowlegs though.

This is one of the chicks we saw making its way slowly over the rocks to the water.

Here's a zoomed in photo of the same fluffy chick.


Thanks, Misty, for hosting this delightful meme. To join in the fun or view more wonderful camera critters, please click on the badge below.

Nature Notes

I feel the warm wind

on my face, it teases my hair,

enlivening, whooshing, rushing
through the trees;
the grasses and plants
at the road's edge
wave madly.

for a brief time the sun shines
in a cloudy capricious sky;
it's been this way for days.
I'm surprised to see a butterfly
fluttering; O' fleeting summer
where did you go?
ripening rose hips, and
a sapling brushed with yellow
foretells of the season just ahead.

Calliope - photo taken beginning of August

wild flowers scarce now,
the hummingbirds too
I try to imagine them
in their fall migration
their destination: Mexico.
my wishes for a safe journey
are carried by the wind.

~ april ~

Sky Watch - Clouds and Lake Reflections

"The sky is the daily bread of the eyes."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sky Watch participants
Hosted by Tom, Sandy, Klaus and Imac

Rain, Rain, Go Away

We've had so much rain lately that everything is saturated. Whenever there's a glimpse of the sun, I want to hurry out to take a picture or two just to remind myself that there really is something called "sunshine".

Wherever I step another toadstool has sprung up
(see the tiny one in the background?)

A puddled leaf

The sunlit path into the woods

Sunlight coming through the trees

By the time I arrived back at the house, the wind had picked up, and it had clouded over again.

ABC Wednesday - "F"

Flora, Fauna
Chipmunk eating the seeds

of a daisy ( sometimes an untidy garden is
a good thing)

Forest Floor

Feather

ABC Wednesday participants
Thanks, Denise, for hosting this wonderful meme.

Ruby Tuesday - Berries

and the jaunty red cap

of a Pileated Woodpecker

On this day he flew from tree to tree
stopping at the Serviceberry bush
(we call it Saskatoon here)
for a juicy treat. Here he is clinging
to one of the berry laden branches.

The same Pileated Woodpecker
on a Birch tree. His red cap and red
moustache stripe really stand out!

Ruby Tuesday is hosted by Work of the Poet.

Peace

Harmony

"If we want to reap the harvest of peace and justice in the future, we will have to sow seeds of nonviolence, here and now, in the present." ~ Mairead Corrigan-Maguire

Mairead Corrigan-Maguire and Betty Williams were co-recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize (1976). They founded the Community of Peace People, an organization established to encourage a peaceful solution to the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

CC #20 - Hummingbird

Calliope, I believe. They have a shorter bill and tail.

I've been trying all summer to get a photo of a hummingbird at a flower. They zip around so fast though! These are the ones that turned out the best, and I can see that I've left a lot of room for improvement. We have both the Rufous and Calliope staying with us during the summer. There are still a few coming to the feeders, but soon they will be leaving for their long journey south. I know they go purely by instinct, but I admire their brave little spirits.

24/08/08 Note: The flower is Larkspur.

Many thanks to our Camera Critter host, Misty Dawn. If you would like to join in the fun or view other wonderful creatures, please click on the badge below.

Sky Watch - A View

no one at home in this large nest,
an impressive sight high atop a leafless
(lifeless) poplar tree with wispy clouds
floating by in a bright blue sky.

the tree's branches stark
against the wide awake sky, reaching,
everything touching, interconnected,
sky-clouds-bird-nest-tree-earth-you-me
a memory woven by time.

<<<>>>

The idea for Sky Watch originated with Dot and has grown substantially ever since. It now has its own home - Sky Watch Friday - and is appreciated by many around the world. Our hosts are Tom, Sandy, Klaus and Imac. If you would like to join in the fun or simply view the wonderful pictures of the Sky, please follow the link.

ABC Wednesday

"E" for Eagle

Photo taken July 20/08
Central Interior Lake
British Columbia, Canada

"My songs rise..., as an eagle to the sun."
~Victor Hugo

ABC Wednesday Round 3 Participants
Hosted by Mrs. Nesbitt's Place

Wordless Wednesday - Silken Seeds

Wordless Wednesday participants

Nature Notes

A rainy day-

Saw three deer grazing in a logged off area adjacent to the highway on the way home from the city.

In the evening a Downy Woodpecker pecked on the corner of the house. He wasn't exactly welcome, and I had to shoo him away.

With the window open in my computer room, I heard all kinds of bird sounds. Also, heard "plop, plop, plop". At first I thought it was hail coming down until I looked closer and saw the Birch tree cones. And there was Squirrel at the very top working his way through the branches and cutting the cones which then landed at the base of the tree. Wow, that's a sure sign that Autumn is on the way when Squirrel begins harvesting and hoarding food for the winter (shh, I don't want to say the "w" word too loudly yet).

Woodland Plants - Ruby Tuesday

I'm noticing lots of subtle changes in the forest these days as autumn approaches. Most of the summer flowers are gone, and in their place are the berries and seeds. The forest floor is punctuated with the colour Red.

One flower that is still blooming here
and there is the Paintbrush

And then there are the berries of the Dwarf Dogwood
or aptly named Bunchberry.

More and more Rose hips are appearing, and there's
also the distinct scent of "jam" in the air when I
walk the forest trail now.

Many thanks to The Teach at Work of the Poet for hosting the Ruby Tuesday meme. To participate, please follow the link.

CC #19 - Close to Home

(Please scroll down if you wish to view PhotoHunt)

All the forest animals and birds are busy foraging for food.

Tap, tap, tap
I took these pictures of two Pileated Woodpeckers ten days
ago when I spotted them outside by the back deck. I had to
be so careful not to let them see or hear me as they are very
shy and would have flown away immediately. How do you
open a window quietly? I did it during the tapping.

A close-up of one of them digging for ants.

These last four pictures were taken on Friday

I'm seeing lots of little birds now flitting in and out of the trees,
after the berries, seeds of the weeds and flowers or insects.

The Northern Flicker is here as well; sometimes I have
come upon them on the ground grubbing for ants. This one
detected me and flew down the hill to perch on this birch
tree, still very cautious.

The chipmunk was so much fun to watch as I sat at the
picnic table. He was having a great time in the Saskatoon
berry bush,

his cheeks bulging with ripe berries.

Many thanks to Misty Dawn for hosting this meme. To join in or view other wonderful Camera Critters, please click on the badge.

PhotoHunt: Colorful

Sunlit leaves of an ornamental cherry tree.

PhotoHunt participants

Sky Watch - Evening

"Excuse me while I kiss the sky"
~ Jimi Hendrix

The sky and trees at 20:30 on Tuesday evening
as seen from the east window, upstairs.

As the sun slowly descends in the west,
the poplar and spruce trees are bathed
in its last golden rays of the day.

Then ten minutes later,
just as I was about to close the curtains
a rainbow appeared in the darkening sky,
an encore to the evening's performance.

Sunset: 20:51


Many thanks to Sky Watch Friday team members, Tom, Sandy, Klaus and Imac. To join in the fun or to view wonderful skies from around the world, please follow the link.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday participants

Rosy, Red Currants

from the garden

Little granddaughters helping their Mom
pick red currants for making jam

Ruby Tuesday! Many thanks to The Teach at Work of the Poet for hosting this meme. To participate, please follow the link.

A Windy Day

A Bald Eagle, his feathers ruffled by the wind, surveys the choppy waters of the lake and then casts a wary glance in the direction of the people on the beach.

Our son and his family (visiting from Toronto) with my husband. We had so much fun with our little granddaughters (ages 3 & 4). They loved exploring the beach - watching the birds through the binoculars, finding pretty stones, collecting reeds, picking up ants, running and telling Grandma about their discoveries.

Little Bird Says

Company coming, company coming,

Excitement, excitement,
Children arriving, children arriving!

Our son and his family will soon be here so I will be away from my computer for a few days. Have a great week, everybody.

Placid River Scenes

Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!
Earth has not anything to show more fair.
~ William Wordsworth
Composed on Westminster Bridge, Sept. 3 - 1802

William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
English Poet

My river is not the Thames in London, England, yet the feelings expressed in this beautiful poem are universal and timeless and could very well depict what I saw on a recent still morning (except, of course, for the city scene). "A sight so touching in its majesty"

CC #17 - Red-winged Blackbird

Sighting in a marshy spot at the road's edge

The Red-winged Blackbird is found
throughout B.C. during the summer
in these thick marsh land bulrushes.

I have never seen them before,
but I think these are the immature birds.
They have those beautiful stripes
all the way down the front.

I'd appreciate knowing for certain if I've identified
these small birds correctly.

Many thanks to our host, Misty Dawn. To join in the fun or to view the wonderful camera critter pictures, please click on the badge below.

Clouds