Category: Mother Nature

The Only Supreme Tempo is One’s Own

The spiral of the snail shell can symbolize eternity & family ancestors.
I wrote the above title back in 07/28/2015. I remember it because I had used it as a profile quote at that time.
I had written a post pondering the concept of speed and pace in different individuals. 
"Slow and steady wins the race" is the motto I need to live by these days. I have not always been this way.

It is human nature to compare things, however, we must be strict in allowing individual styles to pace themselves whenever possible.Life should not always be about competition. Everyone cannot run at the same speed because we are all built differently and have developed differently, molded by our environmental stressors. Our brains process things at its own built in speed, and the speed of its overall biological systems. We have to stop thinking that slowness is inferior. Slowness can be a hidden strength in the long-run.






An Elephant Foot and Footprint

Scientific name: Beaucarnea recurvata.
Before Easter I was researching palm plants because I was curious about the use and meaning of palms at Easter.
Along the way, I discovered the plant seen above. This came to my attention because one of its common names is Ponytail Palm.
It is not really in the palm family. I prefer to call it by another of its common names which is Elephant Foot.
I ended up purchasing one because it is an attractive addition to a table in our living space.

While doing this research I also learned a little more about a quilt square I found among my mother-in-law's quilt supplies and fabrics. It was in a plastic bag with a note from where she had purchased it. It was made by a Hmong artist who had immigrated to Minnesota.It is pictured below.
Hmong elephant’s foot print on a flower cloth (paj ntaub).
The elephant foot motif can be found in many cultural items of the Hmong. Some have this motif as a tattoo.
This was learned during my casual research for my own edification, and I am definitely not an expert on the subject.



When I think about elephants I think about their strong matriarchs that can make or break the success of their family units.
Elephants keep crossing my path. Recently my husband bought me a bracelet with elephants and amethysts since it is my birthstone. 

I am not going to read too much into the elephant symbols frequency in my life. I do come from a family of strong women, and I will leave it at that.

March 2024 Garden Update

The Japanese Cherry trees are blooming early.
The pink in front is very old.

When looking out our front bay window,
all we see is pink covering the branches.
It spreads dominantly across our view.

The white cherry in the back garden are daughter
saplings from the older trees that had to be cut down. The fluffy white spreads out joyously, fulfilling their family legacy.

The little dwarf iris you see here were planted as  bulbs long ago. Six were planted, though I never see more than two or three.Their bloom is brief.
These two were spotted early morning on a dreary rainy day by the mailbox.It was voting day, and I had an early morning errand to run.
Their appearance cheered me up. My reward for such an early morning.

The Camellia japonica is named "Kramer's Supreme".
It is planted in the back garden in front of my bedroom window. This past Friday I spotted the first fully opened flower. I cut the branch to bring the flower inside to spread cheer and beauty to us all.

Hippocampus Secrets

There used to be a National Aquarium in Washington, D.C. It was located at 1401 Constitution Ave., Washington, D.C. It was permanently closed September 30, 2013. Fortunately we were able to visit it before it was closed.

I was especially drawn to the seahorses. Their bright yellow coloration made them stand out in the dark. The pair stayed close to each other and often wrapped their tails around one another.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since this time, I have learned that the scientific genus name for seahorse is called Hippocampus. In neuroscience the hippocampus is a structure hidden within our human brain. We have two hippocampi, one in each cerebral hemisphere. The hippocampal neurons string together the past and future in our minds. It forms part of our limbic system which is associated with hunger, pain, pleasure, satisfaction, sex, and instinctive motivation. I imagine the hippocampus holds many secrets.

Another resident of the D.C. aquarium was this sea turtle. I imagine it also holds some secrets somewhere, though it does not have a hippocampus in its brain, nor do the seahorses from our seas.

Does Size Matter?

“There is no clear correlation between absolute or relative brain size and intelligence. Assuming that absolute brain size is decisive for intelligence, then whales or elephants should be more intelligent than humans, and horses more intelligent than chimpanzees, which definitely is not the case. Jul 24, 2015″ I took this quote from NIH, National Library of Medicine.

I can also tell you that when it comes to backyard bird hierarchy, size does not always matter.
Case in point was an event witnessed by me today in my own backyard.
On display was bravery and not necessarily intelligence. In this particular case bravery took home the prize.

Late morning I stepped outside to a light holiday snow. It was expected, and I had filled the bird feeders the day before.
I felt a weirdness in the air, and a moment after I had this feeling, a huge coppery colored hawk flew over the pond heading in my direction.
It was close, and I marveled at its beauty and size. I wondered why it was in flight towards me, something totally unexpected.
Then I spotted the angry instigator, an adult mockingbird closely chasing it. It was unbelievable, you could see the absurd size difference.
The hawk was easily twice to three or four times bigger. The mockingbird's anger made up for the obvious difference in size.
The hawk was gone, and soon the mockingbird returned and proudly stood guard atop a metal hook by the feeders.
Even a large blue jay stood nearby, yielding until the mockingbird finally went on its way.



On The Wall

A motion-less mantis poses in full regalia, possibly dead, or perhaps stunned.

One antennae wrapped around an eye must be an indication of an unseen fight.

The brightly patterned wings of this Carolina mantis are stuck in an open position.

Will it fly again?

I walked away unsure of its fate.

The next day it was gone, possibly eaten, or perhaps it recovered and flew away.

The Spin is All that Matters

I ran across a bag of wooden spools the other day. They were in a box of odds and ends that had made it into our garage when we were cleaning out my mother in law’s house of forty years. She has been gone for many years now, and yet her memory is still alive in various things we still have around.

The wooden spools are all bare now. All the thread was used up in antique wares. I’m sure they were saved in hopes of being made into future crafts. They could be used since their simple beauty was still apparent. The wooden spools had been made from dead biological life, and thus they still had value.

Long before the wood was cut and shaped, it pulsed with life and color, and with a continuous exchange of gases from within and without. These spools are cylindrical in shape with a hole that runs from end to end. They can be linked together to form a chain. They can be made into decorations, and strung around a living tree, still breathing and growing. They can be assembled with other materials to make a vehicle since all spools can roll.

There is a big hand in all of this, coordinating, designing, and engineering all of it. A mind is needed to oversee it all. I call this mind, God, and I like to sit and contemplate his intentions. I think God is the original, the first and the ultimate one to recycle and reuse. To him the Blue Planet is a woman, and she is still a work in progress for him. His mind has become entangled with hers, and he cannot let go of her, at least not yet. His death will be her death and vice versa.

Cowrie, Cowry, Kauri

(picture from Wikipedia.)  220px-Cowrie_shells_-_sozhi_roll_of_3

I found a small, smooth and shiny shell today. It was lying on the floor near my foot. I picked it up, and then slipped it in my pocket for later inspection. I’d gotten into the habit of doing this back in the days when I thought I could divine messages from found objects.

When the time came for further inspection, I recognized it as a common shell that I’d seen many times throughout my life: in shell games, jewelry, and other crafts. My specific shell is about an inch long, and it has a teardrop shape. Its colors are softly hued.  It has a pale silver teardrop in the middle surrounded by a thin line of orange-red, and beyond that on the edges and under-side it is a soft sand color. Its top is domed, and the under side is flat with a slightly curved opening winding down the middle with small ridges on both sides.

I knew it had to have a name, but I could not remember what it was. I did a little online searching and was soon able to answer my own question. Its name is Cowry aka Cowrie or in Hindu Kauri. They come in various sizes and color patterns. I had to smile when I read that it is the shell of a sea snail. The snail has become somewhat of a totem or animal spirit for me this past year or so.

I also found it strangely coincidental that I found it a day before the start of Diwali – the Festival of Lights in India. I read that the Kauri shells are seen as a symbol of the Goddess Lakshmi. I don’t know very much about these things, but they do intrigue me.

At the end of a tiring work day, I like to let my imagination ponder the spirit of Lakshmi running through my life and mind. I’ll save my found shell and place it somewhere special.