I feel love.
29 May 2012 1 Comment
in freedom, Friends Tags: Bloggers, Cancer, friends, love, Sisters
“Let’s all sing ‘I feel love’ by Donna Summer as we drift off to sleep, counting our blessings. Count! Sing! I demand it!!” (Violet Veronica White, October 4, 1966 – May 29, 2012)
She lifts; she soars
Inspired
24 May 2012 2 Comments
in Flowers, Nature, Photography Tags: flowers, gardenia, inspired, love
Gardenia, Opened Wide
That’s all, just inspired.
Enjoy THIS sweet day!
Friends, Old and New, Red-Eyed and True Blue
15 May 2012 3 Comments
in Animals, Birds, Friends, Nature, Photography Tags: bird watching, bluebirds, deer, friends, hawks, home, nature, nests, photography, robins, song bird
Carolina Chickadee Chick
Carolina Chickadee Nest in Bluebird House
My original backyard bluebird house remains prime real estate for my winged friends. The chickadees fledged early but remain nearby, and less than a day after I cleaned out their nest, that hovering pair bluebirds began building theirs, but now a pair of Carolina wrens have taken an interest in the house. I have since put up two other bluebird houses, but they all want the same one. Whoever lays her eggs first wins. Meanwhile, I also put a house with a 1 1/8″ hole just for the chickadees. In just a few months, my one bird house has flourished into a community.
Newly built Eastern Bluebird Nest
Mrs. Robin has a nest nearby too; she bathed her egg-plump belly in my bird bath:
Expectant Friend, Mrs. Robin, After a Bath
Mr. Robin, Also Bathing Nearby
The friendly House Finches not only bathe but also frequent my feeder most days:
House Finch, Reliable Friend
Lately, my deer friends have been meeting me in the morning for breakfast too, or a late afternoon cup of decaf:
Breakfast Friends
Coffee with a Friend of a Friend
The hawks still dine here as well, sigh. I love them so, but, sigh. At least I don’t have a mouse-in-the-house problem anymore.
Hawk on Low Branch
Hawk on Shed
Hawk on Fence
And thankfully, their screeches haven’t kept other new friends from stopping by:
New Friend: Red-Eyed Eastern Towhee
New Friend: Tufted Titmouse
New Friend: Indigo Bunting
Mom Rabbit and her baby bunny have eluded the hawks as well, thank goodness:
Mom Rabbit
New Friends: Squirrel and Baby Bunny
This other poor squirrel should have just stayed in the yard. 
At least the vulture enjoyed a good meal, and he was intent on not sharing it. “Move along,” the vulture said to the pedestrian with the camera; “Nothing to see here.”
Vulture and Squirrel: Not Friends
Of course, my bird and animal friends have nothing on my loving husband and cousin, my brother and sister-in-law and dear, wonderful girl friends–you know who you are. I feel so much gratitude for them and everyone in my life who believes in me, and for all of you too who stop to read my blog. 
This flower is for you:
Gardenia after the Rain
Enraptured by the Magnolia
07 May 2012 4 Comments
in Flowers, Home and Garden, Nature, North Carolina, Photography, Trees Tags: Charlotte, description, enchantment, flowers, haunted, magnolia, native, nature, NC, North Carolina, rapture, The South, treeporn
Magnolia Bloom, Wide Open
The bell-shaped magnolia trees around here appear eerily haunted most of the year with waxy, watermelon rind leaves–pressed and cut into over-sized almonds–draping down-turned and turned out limbs, leaving no trunk exposed, only darkness within. Nothing grows beneath them. While deciduous tree leaves turn red and gold and flutter to the ground in the fall, the ever-emerald, native southern magnolia casts off scant dead leaves like useless scraps of tanned leather all year long, adding a pinch of cinnamon and clove to every season’s color palette. Then when the pear and dogwood and other flowering trees bloom come springtime, the magnolia waits. Or maybe that’s me waiting! Finally, last week, the magnolia blossoms opened, enrapturing the trees the way lotus flowers enchant frog ponds. My sense of time and place drift elsewhere when I see this flower, and from now until late summer, the air in my neighborhood will smell like lemon and honey.
Magnolia, Full Bloom
The Boundaries Blur between Birdwatching and Birdmeddling
23 Apr 2012 4 Comments
in Birds, Birdwatching, Nature, North Carolina, Photography Tags: bird watching, bluebirds, caterpillars, chickadees, mornings, nature, nestbox, North Carolina, song bird
As it should be?
Not long ago, seeing a bluebird perched upon my new and first ever bluebird house tickled me silly and likewise assured me that I followed the instructions of the North Carolina Bluebird Society correctly by erecting it in an open area on a metal pole, five feet high, and facing Southeast. I have not yet put a baffle on it to keep the squirrels and snakes away. More urgently and unexpectedly, I need a hole reducer to keep the bluebirds away!
The wee black and white chickadee I saw flying in and out of it these past couple months wasn’t just curious after all. It moved in, and the other afternoon, I heard its chicks chirping inside. Somewhat befuddled, I researched the phenomenon of chickadees nesting in bluebird houses, and what do you know; it’s common, and according to bird-lovers, a delight. So what the heck, I thought; I’ll delight in it as well.
Chickadee Homecoming
Breakfast time, chicki-chickadees.
When I consulted with the bird expert at my neighborhood garden center about a hole reducer, however, she shook her head and said I needed to “let nature take its course.” Hmmm. I don’t mean to be a nature-meddler, but really?
No, no, no, bluebirds!
I cannot stop myself from rapping against the window to shoo away the bluebirds when I see them on the house accosting the chickadees, and my knuckles are hurting from it! I expressed as much to my husband who understands my bird love and graciously bought and surprised me with a hole reducer and two more nestboxes for the yard. According to the Bluebird Society, which I now cite with skepticism, March and April are nest-building months.
Or is it already too late?
The other morning in bed, over the hum of the air conditioner and the buzz of the oscillating fan, I heard chirping, a high-pitched orchestra of chirps in fact, all coming from the wall behind my headboard: the “woodpecker wall.” Remember my rejoicing woodpecker? It seems he may have been in cahoots with a pair of bluebirds.
Bluebird Home a la Downy Woodpecker Hole
Not in an open field, not on a metal pole, well over five feet high, but I bet through a perfectly sized hole, bluebird chicks sing and eat worms. I just hope I witness their maiden flights to the nearby tree because it is otherwise a long way down.
Papa Serving the Worm: Open wide!
Papa Bluebird Bringing Home the Worm
I’m not yet sure how I’m going to clean out the nest as recommended after the young have fledged. I guess I could just let nature take its course. On second thought, I do have a pretty tall ladder in the garage.
Nearby caterpillar: hide or be lunch!
Safari in the Piedmont
18 Apr 2012 4 Comments
in Animals, Photography, Travel Tags: black and white photography, family outing, giraffe, horses, North Carolina, piedmont, ranch, safari, toddlers, travel, zoo
I hand-fed a velvety tall giraffe this past weekend, and no question, I felt as thrilled as my 3 year-old did to do so. Of all exotic animals, I’m most awed by the comical grace of this long-necked beauty with patchwork fur and fringed-umbrella eyes.
Velvet Patchwork
Brahman cows impress me too but not as much with their Hindu Holiness as with their muscular tongues.
Nana feeds a hungry Brahman
Holy cow!
I’ve been on this safari in the North Carolina Piedmont before, but last year, my husband, son, and I stayed in our vehicle as many visitors do.
Watusi Road Block
Ostrich Checking ID's
This year with the grandparents along, we rode on a horse drawn wagon through the pastures and woodlands of the Lazy 5 Ranch.
Me and the family at the ranch (mom behind my camera--eek!)
Safari in the Piedmont
Sneaky Eland
Buffalo Social
Our guide, a sturdy John Wayne type who rode with a whip but didn’t use it, announced that the ranch spread 185 acres around us and was home to over 750 animals from six continents, most without enclosures, but some with.
Peaceful Billy
Dusty Rhino
Of the four legged roaming free, only the zebra has both upper and lower teeth, said Mr. Wayne-look-alike, so we could feed all but those. My husband and I did not know that last year when encouraging our 2 year-old to pet the zebra. Live and learn.
"Nice, Zebra" (2011)
At the end of the 3 1/2 mile wagon ride through the herds and flocks and all the dust getting Watusi, llama, African oryx, and giraffe spittle on our hands, we visited the kangaroos, but they had just settled down for an afternoon nap, and it was indeed nap time for all.
Snoozing Kangaroo
Learning to See through the Green
05 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in Birds, Deer, Flowers, Home and Garden, North Carolina, Photography, Trees Tags: bird watching, nature, spring
I hear the birds above and around me; I hear the woodpecker and know the exact tree; I look and wait and watch, squint, tip-toe, and careen my neck, but there are just too many leaves to see. Only yesterday, I was still waiting for winter–never mind that spring came in February; I still never anticipated so much green this soon.
I’m learning to see all over again.
The one glorious tulip the deer didn't eat
One purple wild violet hidden in the weeds
One open rose from my birthday bouquet
And another from the same birthday dozen
Ladybugs do love flowers, after all, but the bird songs keep me looking up, and aha!
I see you!
