MORE JULY PHOTOS

July is a beautiful time to visit prairies...especially the one at Prairie Pond Woods!  The summer has been mild, so Cyon and I have been enjoying our morning and evening walks. Below are a few of the wonderful things we encountered along the way...like this box turtle (she leaves them be).

 You are always invited to book a Heart by Nature retreat and take your own Discovery Walks at Prairie Pond Woods.

The Prairie

OSWEGO TEA OR MONARDA

(its actually around the deck)

TALL LARKSPUR

EASTERN TAILED BLUE

WORLED MILKWEED

BUMBLEBEE ON BELLFLOWER

SPIDERS, BEES AND FLIES ON WILD BERGAMOT

WILD BERGAMOT

MILKWEED BUG ON COMMON MILKWEED

SCALY BLAZING STAR.

(for years I had just one plant...now there are eight!)

PARTRIDGE PEA

SPOTTED ST. JOHN'S WORT

The Pond

CALICO PENNANT

BALDFACE HORNET

(not sure why he seemed to be hanging on for dear life at the pond)

SILVER SPOTTED SKIPPER

The Woods

SOME KIND OF STINKHORN?

MUSHROOMS ON FIRST DAY I SAW IT

CLOSE UP

SAME MUSHROOMS ONE TWO DAYS LATER

FIRST WEEK IN JUNE - 2014

As the description states, this blog is a nature journal of when, where and what is happening at the retreat.  In nature, something is always happening!  Just three weeks ago I could see through the woods and last years brown growth on the ground.  Now the trees have leafed out and the ironweed, wingstem, grasses and other herbaceous plants are towering over and filling in any bare spots.  



I've been taking a morning and an evening walk with binocs and my camera each day.  Here are some of the things I encountered this first week in June...captured with the limited camera skills I possess.  One of the exciting things for me was to ID two new plant species for the property.  Again...something is always happening...a seed that has been dormant finally germinates. The wind carries a seed through the air and plants itself in the readied soil.  A bird poops.  However it happens, I'm glad it does.  Enjoy!  And come visit sometime!  



PS...if you received this via email...scroll down to bottom and click on link.)

THE PRAIRIE

Venus's Looking Glass...a first!

Common Milkweed starting to bloom

Long-leaved Bluets Houstonia longifolia (I think)

Sneezeweed...another first for Prairie Pond Woods

Box Turtles were on the move this week!  They lay eggs in June in Ohio.

Had to dodge 3 while mowing the Refresher Course

Blue-winged Warbler sings all day here

Yellow-breasted Chat (annoyingly) sings all day here too!

Prairie Warbler

 THE POND

Painted Skimmer

Comet Darner...I honestly don't know how I got this photo.  I have been trying for years to photograph one.  They are so quick and they NEVER stop flying.  At one point I think I just took a shot out of frustration and was shocked when I scrolled through and saw it.  Not the clearest but considering the challenge I'm happy with it.

Mating Damselflies

THE WOODS

The Creek at the entrance to the property...and Cyon's swimming hole

Downy Rattlesnake Plantain

Cyon waiting while I try to (unsuccessfully) photograph a Worm-eating Warbler

HOW MY PUPPY TEACHES CONTENTMENT

I've started a new ritual at Prairie Pond Woods; a little maneuver that gets me up and going. Every morning I walk briskly up the road to the pond, where Cyon plays like a dolphin in the water. Then I drop my back pack off at Kavanah to take an unencumbered nature walk. And finally we end up back at the re-purposed goat shed to do a little reflection for me and a little chewing for her.

I love this new idea, but I'm not sure Cyon does. She is teaching me how to be "inconvenienced by the things I love," which is what I said I was ready for when we decided to get a puppy.  After less than 30 minutes she is bored with her bone or deer jaw or antlers and wants my attention. She puts her wet head on my lap. She whines. She doesn't get that I'm writing the next great trilogy...or this blog.  She is a beautiful, loving, furry, four-legged Distraction. 

A high school girl I know tweeted this the other day.  Yes, a high-schooler:

"If everything were to go as planned then that would be my favorite day...ever."

Mine, too, girlfriend. Still waiting.

There is a golden nugget in life called Being Content. You can possess it at any time, but it is content to wait; wait to be acknowledged; wait to be picked up and held; wait until we catch the light it reflects and are able to finally see that, "Yes, I DO have to do this or that, but what if I let go of the pressure to do it?  What if I didn't do it now, but later? What if I just stopped in the middle of this and looked around with grateful eyes?" In our excitement at this new way of seeing, we can even answer in enthusiastic agreement, "Yeah, what if?"  

Ah, the head can give us the idea but our hearts must give us permission. I've been wrestling and writing about this lately, so bear with me. It's not because I have figured this out - but because I haven't - and definitely want to.

Today I listened for over an hour to the Brown Thrasher sing its couplets - double notes sung over and over (some with repertoires of over 1,000 songs). I like to think it is content to have these particular songs - and so he sings at the top of the trees, with great gusto, all day long.  I envy his singular focus.

My dog, on the other hand is like a cat on a hot tin roof, much like the thoughts in my head all day.  She chews her bone for 15 minutes, then goes off to explore a sound, then come over to me and drops something at my feet, then whines, then she runs to plays with a bleached turtle shell by herself, and finally back again to me.

This is not how I want these outdoor writing sessions to be - all staccato and distraction - but they will be.  I am slowly and gently giving myself permission to be OK with that. I can only hope I will get better at living completely in the moment, whatever that moment brings, however unplanned, and be grateful for it. To take every scene in my life...good, bad, distracted, contented and hold it close to my heart, because every moment has something to offer.

As I watch the thrasher leave its high perch and fly off to sing somewhere else, I'm reminded of another song. A song by Carrie Newcomer I heard recently at a concert. A song that more eloquently transcribes what I am trying to say.  Enjoy.

 

THE ART OF SITTING...IN THE WOODS

We call this spot, The Woodland Cathedral because, well, it just feels holy when you sit there. You will undoubtedly hear the crescendo of the Ovenbird song in the spring. Up on the ridge in the tangles of underbrush, a Hooded Warbler faithfully sings his "witcha-witcha-wee-oh" each summer.  A Pileated Woodpecker may also startle the silence with its loud, staccato call, as it swoops through the colored canopy in autumn.



This is a good place to contemplate whether your own voice is being heard in the world...









"Don't try to figure out what other people want from you; figure out what you have to say.  It's the one and only thing you have to offer.  

                       

 -Barbara Kingsolver

 If
you prefer not to trek up the hill, another spot at the bottom of the
trail awaits. This Adirondack chair sits across from a small patch of
newly planted woodland flowers, anchored by one Mountain Laurel bush
that I planted several years ago. This summer I planted Virgiania
bluebells, Jacob's ladder and wild geraniums. If all goes well, next
spring these will flourish alongside Giant Solomon's Seal, Bellwort, Mayapples and Two-flowered Cynthias.  

This is the third and final spot in the woods for reflection, should you come for a Personal Retreat.  There is nothing more relaxing...more quieting...more comforting than being surrounded by such beautiful gifts of creation.  

To find out more about taking a Personal Retreat visit the 

Heart by Nature Retreats Website

THE ART OF SITTING...BY THE POND

Pond -April 2006

Ahh...the pond...of Prairie Pond Woods.  To appreciate this tranquil, yet active, hidden spot, a little history is in order. 

When we first bought the property in April of 2006, the pond was a lovely, albeit strange, shade of turquoise...much like you would see off the coast of Bermuda. You could see straight to the bottom. Nothing lived or grew in it, except thousands of whirly-gig beetles...pretty creepy really. It just had no life.  

The pH was 3.86 due to the shale, clay and sandstone bedrock through which the water seeped up.  So, the following fall we threw agricultural lime into the pond to sweeten the water...and hopefully attract new life...which it did in the form of amphibians, herons, ducks, vegetation, damselflies and dragonflies.

                                                                     

Now, you can relax by the pond in the spring...and you'll probably hear the invigorating chorus of frogs...or you can enjoy watching mist as it rises in the morning hours...or take photos of the myriad of dragon and damselflies species flitting about as they defend their territories.

 

Yep...all those little metallic turquoise lines are damselflies!

THE ART OF SITTING...AROUND THE HOUSE

Sometimes sentences just come to me.  From where?  I do not know....

The other day I was sweeping the deck off, the last chore after a few hours of outdoor puttering, when this thought popped into my head:

" I love working my butt off at Prairie Pond Woods 

so that you can come and sit on yours."

That thought led to another:

"Why don't you show all the places where people can sit on the property...to reflect or take in the beauty?"

So imagine yourself sitting back and relaxing in them, as we take a tour of the first in a series of the many chairs where you can plant Le derrière and experience the "art of sitting in one place."

The Front Porch is one of the guest's favorite places to wake up with a morning cup of Birds and Beans coffee.  It is in shade until about 1 pm and dark enough until then to use a laptop.  A breeze always blows through it, keeping it very comfortable.  At night, with the candles lit, you can listen to peepers and toads at the pond or look out over the fields filled with a zillion fireflies!  While swaying on the porch swing, you can ponder areas in your life that might need to awaken or come alive...

Just off the front porch is another great place to sit and watch fireflies at night or the sun cast its warm light on the hills in the morning.  The field in front bursts with twinkling lights around 9 pm and if the stars are visible, the whole darkness glitters from the ground to the heavens!  This is a wonderful place to ask yourself if you are letting your light shine or hiding it for some reason...

We refer to this place as the Sunset View.  In the summer, this is the perfect spot to watch the sun go down over the prairie.  In spring you can hear the woodcocks and watch their erratic, spiral flight right from these Adirondacks.  With a cold drink, a cup of hot chocolate, a good friend, a soul-mate or all by yourself...this is a wonderful place to just let your thoughts meander... 

Lastly, there is always the back deck...and always a-flutter with butterflies, hummingbirds and other feathered friends at the feeder.  A great spot if you need a surface for writing or WIFI for communicating...and doing research for that novel you're working on... 



As my father used to say, "Come.  Sit a spell."

WEEKEND UPDATE

Last year during the Spring Retreat the participants painted bluebird boxes to either take home or leave at Prairie Pond Woods for the following year...their creative work always on display for others to enjoy.  So today, taking full advantage of the gorgeous weather, we loaded them all up in the wagon with tools and T-posts and headed out to the prairie.

Ran into a bit of a snag with the first attempt, trying to place it near the Refresher Course trail for best observation...hit dolomite rock about 6 inches down! This is typical of prairies in Adams County. The short-grass prairies here, unlike the tall grass prairies of the Plains, have adapted to thin soils atop rock outcroppings and dry conditions. No problem...we just moved up closer to the center towards the ridge.

 

 In the east section of the prairie, I decided to go with a red & yellow theme :-)

 

 

 

In the west section of the prairie, the remaining bluebird box stands at
the turn right before you enter the pines at the upper ridge

.

Later in the early evening I decided to check the old bluebird box in the backyard attached to a utility pole.  I couldn't remember if I had cleaned it out last fall and thought I had better do that before the bluebirds start scouting.  When I opened it up, it was full to the top with moss and leaves with one small hole.  When I poked around with my finger, something snapped at it!  Something with enormous eyes and rodent-like teeth....

 

After a second observation with a stick this time (thinking that maybe I had mistaken it for a mouse), what jumped down to the ground and then up the pole was a
FLYING SQUIRREL!  

 

While on the ground I could definitely see its gliding membrane and its olive/white color. I quickly snapped a photo and then left the poor thing alone.  We may not have any bluebirds flying in the backyard this year, but I'll take it, if I can watch a family of flying squirrels instead!