A recent walk

I love the colour of late afternoon sun at this time of year; it's golden and rich and adds depth to the view. 

We live in prime agricultural land. This tends to be in direct opposition to birds, butterflies and wildlife.

About 20 years ago a group of people got together and decided to fight for the return of marshland and the birds that had been disappearing from the area. Our town's water treatment plant was decommissioning some of its cells and the group acquired permission and funding to create a wetlands area. There are now three good sized ponds of varying depths surrounded with trees and bushes to attract birds. The water levels are monitored and adjusted depending on rainfall or the migration patterns of the birds: shore birds, for example, need mud flats instead of the deeper water of the great blue heron's preference. Our wetlands now account for 50% of our county's marshland. 

We are a hot spot on the birders' route. This is migration time and a visit to the ponds last week revealed lots of really big scopes and cameras and a man doing a happy dance over a sora rail. He was thrilled to share the sighting with everyone in his group and did a happy dance for each one who saw the shy little bird.

When I stand on the edge of the easternmost pond I can see the 150 year old red maple trees of my house. If I were a crow I could fly straight here in less than two minutes, but must instead skirt the 100 acres of crops in between us and take four to make it to the parking lot. 

It's a happy place.

Epic Homeschoolers

Last weekend I attended the Living Education Retreat in Frontenac, Minnesota and learned that phenology is

1. the study of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena, especially in relation to climate and plant and animal life.

This is a good description of what we do in our regular nature study activity. I love that it has a scientific name.

My youngest calls it "epic homeschooling."

I think he's got the best definition.

A walk on the Green Trail

With four adults, twelve children between the ages of five and fifteen and one dog, we didn't really expect to see any birds or wildlife on our hike. And it's a good thing we had prepared ourselves. Some of us did see one bird, but that was the extent of any living thing besides us and one cross country skier who had to wait for us all to traipse by so he could carry on down the trail.

Fresh snow in our unusually mild winter was a delight and the cold temperature made us feel it was really winter. Snowballs flew and faces sparkled with cheeks becoming redder as we went along. The bigger kids often had to wait at intersecting trails so the adults who knew the way could direct them but they didn't seem to mind.

We got to see a few animal tracks: dog, rabbit and deer at least. The trees were mostly bare but some oak leaves hung on and one plant had bright red berries. I think it was a red barberry. Mostly it was just fun to be outside in the snow all together. We're a group of women and kids who are learning about nature and books don't always give us what we need to know. Trees devoid of leaves look and sound different. The air in winter sounds and smells like winter air. Red berries show up bright against white snow and I'm sure if there had been leaves on the bush with the red and yellow branches we'd not have seen the colours. (I assume the yellow was last summer's new growth.) Lots we saw we had no answers for, but then, that's part of the adventure. We may come across those answers in unexpected places now that we've identified the questions.

I highly recommend a winter hike, especially if it's cold and snowy. You'll be glad you went.

my one big idea

Recently I was asked for my one big idea for this year's schooling. What was the one thing among all the other plans that I had determined would be done no matter what, or that solved that one problem to make life run smoother? The speaker had chosen a new kind of diary for a record of certain day-to-day decisions and plans. The other mom in our trio gave her idea but my mind was roving through the corners of the empty room to find something, anything to give as answer. Nothing but dust bunnies came to my rescue. I parried and changed the topic.

Of course, since I'm talking of it now when the conversation happened weeks ago you may be sure that it's bothered me. And to be frank, the question in a different format had been asked by me, of myself many times since late winter/spring. What really are my ideas? Yes, school fills my thoughts. The plans, hopes, desires and work towards those goals. But apart from school: who am I? Do I have any real thoughts of my own? Where are my interests? Do the reasons I give for not pursuing interests hold water? Or am I just thoughtless and uninterested in life? I can hear someone telling me not to be silly and giving me examples. Or maybe someone else has similar thoughts. But I'm good at covering up what goes on inside.

There. You've caught me at a quiet, open moment. I won't go on to reveal more of those inside thoughts right now. Instead I will parry and change the topic.

I just received a book I'd ordered called a Grain of Sand by Dr. Gary Greenberg. It is beautiful. The photographs of each grain of sand are incredible. I pored over the book Saturday morning with my children and my niece and nephew. It was a beautiful time not only of reading of the wonders of sand but also of sharing the wonder with these precious children. And I get to brag because my 10 year old immediately identified three of the grains as coming from a sponge, lime and coral. I wanted to know how he knew that and he replied that it was from reading Life and Her Children by Arabella Buckley, last year's school book.

*Sigh of happiness*

And speaking of books, I have a whole new stack for this year, including my very own copy of the Complete Poetical Works of Wordsworth. I'm sure the other library patrons will be happy to hear that.

I sense in part my life is in a transition from a mother of children to a mother of growing thinkers. Perhaps this has left a void that I want to fill meaningfully instead of just with the junk that hovers at the edge wanting to be sucked in in order to exclude the meaning. The question of who I will be when I grow up has perhaps a different twist. Who will I have been when I look back?

la

We saw the moon!

The moon was so bright before bed that we all trooped outside to be in the moonlight as though day. Even as we stood there chatting, the clouds blew in across the sky; not a flutter of wind at ground level but lots way up high. We looked at each other in dismay* as we wondered whether it would clear before the lunar eclipse at 2am. Not much we could do so we set our alarms and went to bed.

It was cloudy at 2am. The sky orange at first but then darkening to a smudgy charcoal grey and finally nearly black. But no moon. We checked all the webcams from the NASA website and although we did see the moon for a while most of the sites went offline from heavy traffic. And anyway, it just wasn't satisfying watching it on a screen. It didn't seem real. I had already been out to see the smudge in real life so when I glanced out the window hopefully, again, and saw a star I flew to get my coat and boots on. The boys had all gone to bed so it was just BTG and I who nipped outside and saw the moon! God cleared a little patch for us near the time of totality just enough to see the moon dark and red with a bright ring around its edge. It only lasted about five minutes--maybe ten but it was enough!

I had to share it. I saw the moon.

*fun to actually write that line!

 

We've been watching a monarch egg grow into a caterpillar, feeding it leaves to keep it growing. As we kept our eye on it we knew to watch for the J shape thanks to this beautiful post. So when I saw the J yesterday I got very excited. It changed overnight so we missed the whole transformation. But what a beautiful thing all wrapped up in green. I'm happy to continue watching the changes that will take place and look forward to the results.

Cattails, children running through the fields and woods, fall colours, pumpkins, tomatoes rescued from frost, hot soup and hot chocolate, squash and beans harvested from our own garden. The crunch of leaves underfoot, a warm sweater. Cozy. Fall. Yes, it means winter's coming but what a waste to not enjoy today.

(And after all, winter's beautiful too!)

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water, water, everywhere

water in the pool, children swimming

water from the sky, cat dodging

water on the garden, vegetables growing

all is thriving

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Today's bird sightings:

• a pair of american goldfinches


• a red-breasted nuthatch (see photo)


• house sparrows


• grackels


• chickadees


• starlings

The finches and nuthatch are new this spring and a delight to watch. We love to sneak up on them through the window. They're feeling rather brave actually and we get frequent if not long peeks. They do love to flit around!

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As I work my way downstairs with the vacuum cleaner buzzing in my ears, Pieman flings himself towards the window yelling something about Tundra Swans. He's been outside stacking the never-ending woodpile. We knew that the swans were migrating and were apparently landing by the hundreds on a semi-nearby lake. It seems that they fly over our house to get there and since we have a wetlands area near our home they decided to stop over. We piled into the car and raced over to try to catch a glimpse.

We got some great pictures. We also saw lots of Canada Geese, half a dozen muskrats swmming under and around the still frozen lake and enough birds to make us feel that the wetlands were just alive with Spring! More remarkable to us since we all wished we had thought to grab our gloves and hats to combat the icy winds. Wish I had muskrat fur.

feed the birds

With national bird count day coming up, we copied this idea for a bird feeder and had a great time preparing and hanging it. However, all the birds seem to have flown away. We spotted a couple of chickadees yesterday but nothing else besides our own chickens. It's been warmer. Have they all gone north? or west? east, maybe? They shouldn't be going south.

I should add that our winter birds consist of juncos, a few chickadees--still my favourite bird, the occasional flock of sparrows and a rarely visiting blue jay. After having lived in Costa Rica where birds were as abundant as Canadian snowflakes, this seems barren.

But those flashes of colour and life do bring us joy when they come.

frost

I took these photos last week (maybe the week before?) when we had a huge frost one morning. It was a beautiful, sparkly, winter wonderland morning. The air was crisp and cold and oh so clear. I went out to start the car before our trip to the orthodontist and couldn't help grabbing my camera and taking a few shots. K2 came out behind me and as we rounded the corner into the backyard all he could say was, "Wow! Mom! Wow!" which was just an echo of my own heart's cry. What else can be said in such a glorious display of God's magnificence?
Have you ever heard hoarfrost tinkle like thousands of little bells falling around your head?

more frost photos

Over the last two days, I've had two people tell me that I should keep a journal and write some memoirs some day. Keeping a journal is something I have always enjoyed doing but have done less and less of these past years. Not from lack of desire. At first I had little babies and less time. But then, I got out of the habit of taking the time and of using a pen. I much prefer to journal in a journal as opposed to the computer. Somehow I want to carve out the time to create anew the habit of writing my thoughts. Can't say I'll ever write memoirs. But then, what do I know about the future?


Pictures taken near our house.

I am not the only one in my family to take pictures of dead things. I come by it honestly--my father took these.

Cold, cold, cold

We are thrilled here to find good things about the weather: the air is clear and crisp, the drafty old windows have beautiful stars and swirls from Jack Frost's visits, we enjoy reading our books with warm tea and hot chocolates at hand.

Winter

We've been away, you know, for nearly two weeks. Visiting with family in Virginia and North Carolina. We had such a nice time.

Our return trip was uneventful and as we drove north the snow became a common sight. So much so that BTG claimed she felt that we had been seeing snow for months. It was nice to arrive home. And although I was reminded today that we have months of winter left, I know that I can and will relish the beauty of the snow now, before it gets to be too much for me. It really is pretty.

I can't go to bed.

I painted the floor that is between here and there. I'm hoping it dries quickly with the fan on it. Tomorrow I can move all the stuff back onto it but for tonight I get to still trip over things that are out of place. Not that I'll be going anywhere during the night across that sticky paint. If I have to I'll be able to get to my bed by going outside and through the side door. But I won't make any midnight trips to the loo that way.





So here I am, you lucky people!





Three of us had passport photos taken today. Why do I always forget to put my head in the more flattering position? And since my hair is blonde and fine, that white background makes it seem to disappear and I look scraggly. Ugh. The kidlets are cute by default but their shots aren't much better. Shh. Don't tell the grandparents.





Before going to our morning's appointment and then the photo shoot, the kids tried to chase the uncooperative (and very smart) chicken back into the coop from whence she had escaped when they went in to feed her. We left her out. One of the hens has taken to digging up my hosta garden so they've been confined again. They're much happier when they can run around though so I may have to build a fence or something. Happy chickens lay more eggs. The renegade came back at suppertime.





Only 4 more days till Pieman comes back.





Some shots I like from our nature walk the other day:

We stopped our bikes for this one. He didn't like the camera so close. First he tried to make like a leaf, then he put his dukes up, then figured the best thing was escape and scuttled away. We let him to. Figured the road wasn't a very safe place for him anyway.

Standing up straight like little soldiers at attention.

Why do I take pictures of fungus? I suppose 'cause it's so weird. This is just a cool shot. The weird fungus didn't look so weird on camera.

I love this one. I suppose it's my mother's heart. They look so independent.