Searching for cool
Slithering, hunting
Transforming
nature
Hiking in the Heat
For several weeks I noticed big bright white blossoms on tall stalks as I looked across the canyon in the evenings just before dusk. While it was still hot even at 8 during this latest heat wave, I hiked across the canyon for a look, taking various photos as I strolled along.
When it rains, water drains into this arroyo and crashes over the cliff near my bedroom.
Never bulldozed or cleared, this land allows ancient junipers to continue to thrive.
No water dropping off the cliff on these hot, dry days.
The flowers I could see from my house across the canyon. My wildflower book tells me these are a type of Stickleaf. To take a photo of the other flower, I had to climb up an incline covered with gypsum.
My dog, Athena, and I continued our hike along the canyon edge.
It was beginning to get dark as we headed back to the house.
I can also see this bush from across the canyon. I see no others like it and do not know what it is.
Headed back home along the canyon’s rocky edge.
Flowers for Mother’s Day
Usually, my son sends me flowers for Mother’s Day even though he lives far away. He sometimes sends his sister in Amarillo flowers as well. Since none of us are participating in the flower rituals this year due to quarantining, I offer all of you mothers out there photos of my iris this year.
Happy Mother’s Day. Stay safe, be thankful, take a walk. Enjoy!
Spring–Wild Flowers in Canyon Country
Nature ignores the stresses humans suffer these days, renews, brings beauty, joy. Luckily, I live in the country, can work online, and take walks to escape and renew. Recently, after feeding the horses in the morning, I took a walk and captured photos of all the wild flowers in bloom and some photos of the canyon where I live. Relax, observe, breathe deep, enjoy.
See if you can find the bee.
Chocolate flowers.
Covid19-5-Spring Beauty
In the midst of being home for about a month now, it is spring most of the time. Saturday was 80 something. Now it is snowing. When it was 80 plus, I walked around outside and took photos of some of the wild flowers and the orchids blooming in the window above my kitchen sink.
I had planned to post several days ago, but I am so busy teaching English and Spanish online, I hardly have time to do much else. I did mow for several hours Saturday morning, did some gardening, cleaned horse runs, let them out to run. My students are studying the works of John Steinbeck, reading Animal Farm, The Odyssey, and Oedipus Rex–I teach four different levels of English. Designing lessons they can do online with little assistance takes forethought and planning. I thought I would hate it, but there are some things I really like and when we go back to class, I probably will continue. In the meantime, I will read, think, garden, care for my horses, hike my canyon, teach, write, and dream. Take care. Be safe.
Student Poems–Four
In the beginning of the world
nature provided.
Poachers, factories, deforestation,
We abuse nature.
Nature now has too much to carry,
Greed, selfishness, money.
Nature is being destroyed.
We are the ones who have destroyed.
If we continue,
then no one knows what the future will hold.
Luke Mason
All the birds are chirping.
The dogs are barking.
The leaves are falling.
The deer are eating.
As we lay here
in these oakwood desks
Learning!
Animals get to relax
and eat.
While we learn and
work.
WHY!
Ellwood Jennings.
The sun,
The moon,
The animals.
This is nature.
When the sun goes down
the moon comes out.
Animals howl, bellow and bark.
They are all part of
the animal kingdom.
This is nature.
Brooke Madill
Student Poems-Three
Three poems follow:
Nature
Nature is
a beautiful place
so start
kicking that
can all over
the place
we will
we will
rock
you
Ethan Singletary
As I am laying at home
I hear a loud thunderous noise
The sound startled me out of my seat
I looked out the window
There was a giant funnel
I heard the tornado siren
As the trees were coming out of ground
I run downstairs to take cover
The storm was ruling the land, but
I was safe from the natural catastrophe.
Makenna Byrd
The Grip
As the wind blows and the storm flows through this
Desolate wasteland
As you wonder the numbing thunder puts you at peace
As the wind whips and the storm grips the desolate ground
As it whirls and twirls bringing wreckage
to the sky
Someone brings a tractor to clean up
this decay
For this storm may bring sorrow but all through
the hollow the great sorrow is met with a great
peace
As the family sifts among the rubble and
finds on this trouble at least they are in
one piece
Corbin McKinney
Student Poems-Two
Here is the next set:
The Beauty of Nature
Nature is everywhere
It teaches you how to share,
God created nature
With beauty you can always capture,
Without it there will be no peace
Everywhere will soon cease,
Nature includes some of the biggest animals
Like the awesome looking camel,
Nature has everything from Willow Trees
All the way down to bumblebees,
Nature is everywhere.
Jaci Allen
life vs. nature
spring, summer
winter, fall
these are the seasons of the year
nature’s crazy
nature’s fun
nature has something for everyone
it can be scary
not so sweet
life’s like nature scary and fun
when times are tough rivers run
we may cry laugh and smile
life’s emotions drive me wild
Jordin Arnaud
Beauty
Once I was married to a man who sarcastically commented that I could find beauty anywhere. It’s probably true. Taking a hike in semi-arid country, I find tiny flowers, hidden lichens, cactus the size of my thumbnail. I keep thinking of the miniscule lavender flowers near the rock walkway by the garage. They only appear briefly in the spring. They are so tiny, tinier than my pinkie nail. How can I see them? They stand out so brightly against the rocks, they’re hard to miss. Well, hard for me to miss.
Every natural place has its own beauty. I can only think of one place I’ve been where I questioned this: a place on the Interstate east of LA next to the Arizona border. In June when it was 118 and the hot wind nearly knocked me over, I recall asking myself, “How can anyone live here?” Yet I’ve seen photos of the same desert carpeted with hot pink flowers in the spring.
Every natural place has its own beauty. You just have to be open to seeing., feeling, experiencing its magic.
Note: This essay was part of an assignment for a writing class from the Story Circle Network. The assignment is to write six minutes each day using just one word to get you started and writing about that word. You can make a list of topics or just pick a word out of a book. The teacher is Yesim Cimcoz. It would seem I never took of photo of the tiny flower mentioned above. Below are photos of native flowers taken around my house.
Early Blizzard
Yesterday 71 degrees
Balmy autumn day.
Today 31 degrees
Early blizzard continues.
