These gates

Through these gates... passes a bit of life everyday.

Reflection, part 2

Reflection

The sad illness and death of Elsa, my mother, return me to the sites of our world. Each day brings a touch of beauty that I wish she could see.

The smart ones

 Green herons - one of the smallest herons.

Green herons are smart. They eat fish - and these herons first drop a twig into the water. When a fish swims up to the twig, the green heron extends its long neck and GRABS the unsuspecting fish. Green herons aren't as stately as their relatives, the blue herons - but greens sure are smart!

Early morning nature

A rainy day.

The smell of creosote.

A gila woodpecker pounding in the tree. 

An early February morning...

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't

We are thinking a black-crowned night heron.

(Gilbert Riparian Park, January 2013)

The view from up here

Gilbert Riparian Park, January 21, 2013

A one legged susie?

We saw this susie standing on the railing.

 She seemed to have just one leg. 

 We watched and waited.

 Slowly, orange claws creeped out from her feathers.

 It was as if she were wiggling her toes awake.

 Ever so slowly... and we waited.

And then all was well.

"susies" are a common term for the hen duck

http://www.deltawaterfowl.org/research/bios/mallard/index.php

Luckily for us

 

D.H. Lawrence wrote:

"I can imagine, in some otherworld...

...Humming-birds raced down the avenues."

"I believe there were no flowers then,

In the world where the humming-bird flashed ahead of creation."

"Probably he was big...

Probably he was a jabbing terrifying monster.

We look at him through the wrong end of the long telescope of Time, 

Luckily for us."

-from Humming-Bird by D.H. Lawrence

 

Dawn at the Riparian Park

 

 

 

 

 

Pathway to the Secret Garden

Mary: It's a secret garden.
Dickon: Secrets are safe with me. 

from the book "The Secret Garden"

by Frances Hodgson Burnett  

Bokeh

Word of the day:

BOKEH

Bokeh: 

the blur in the out of focus area in a photograph.

Bokeh occurs for parts of the scene that lie outside the depth of field .

My husband is the constant reader/student in this family. BOKEH is his word of the day. 

We are always learning here.

And 'bokehing'? It happens, too.

Sites along the ponds

I will gladly take hints as to the species of the birds!

I know the heron (bottom of page), but can only guess at the rest.
All sited at the Gilbert Riparian Park, January 9, 2012.

A friendly guy

Friends are as companions on a journey, who ought to aid each other to persevere in the road to a happier life.

-Pythagoras

Sunrise

You can
die for it-
an idea, 
or the world. People 
have done so, 
brilliantly, 
letting
their small bodies be bound 
to the stake, 
creating
an unforgettable
fury of light. But 
this morning...

climbing the familiar hills
in the familiar
fabric of dawn...

... I thought
how the sun 
blazes
for everyone just
so joyfully
as it rises 
under the lashes
of my own eyes...

 ... Call it 
whatever you want, it is
happiness...

  Excerpts from Mary Oliver's poem

"Sunrise"

The complete poem,

in its full context,

can be found at 

Sunrise 

Not I?

Who will love a little Sparrow?
Who's traveled far and cries for rest?

"Not I," said the Oak Tree,
"I won't share my branches with
no sparrow's nest,
And my blanket of leaves won't warm
her cold breast."

"Not I," said the Swan,
"The entire idea is utterly absurd,
I'd be laughed at and scorned if the
other Swans heard."

 "Not I," said the Golden Wheat,
"I would if I could but I cannot I know,
I need all my grain to prosper and grow."

 Who will love a little Sparrow
And who will speak a kindly word?

The shootings in Tucson have left many of us stunned. 

Saddened.

Wondering.

Who has a kind word? 

I do wonder about the noise I hear.

Is it so hard to be...

(song words are from Simon & Garfunkel's

song Little Sparrow. 

Please listen and enjoy)

Don't forget to look up

If you walk around the Riparian Preserve, you realize you are constantly looking across horizons or down into ponds. You are trying to count the birds, to absorb every winged creature.

 

 Some birds just stand still and admire their own reflection. 

You admire it, too.

 Some ponds seem to host just a lone bird - until you peer into the marsh a bit more. That is when you realize there are dozens of birds in this frame.

Sometimes a flotilla of mallards wander along the edge. 

But, then for some reason, you look skyward. 

And you know the Riparian Preserve isn't just for water fowl. 

Banjo 52 asked the proximity of the Riparian Preserve to our house. John - it is 4-5 miles as the bird flies. Otherwise, it is 6-7 miles as I drive.

Without words

Word can't always describe what is seen.

 Yesterday's sunset at the Riparian Preserve