Mother Nature – Page 6 – movingforwardslowly

Cardinal Flower Attraction & More

The cardinal flower likes to have its feet in watery mud.
The cool refreshing environment keeps it hydrated.
The nectar filled flowers are pulsing with life.
The hummingbird comes consistently during hot summer days.
The flower's nectar helps power its flight.
The swamp milkweed in the background has its own special suitor.
It arrives later in the summer and lays its eggs under the leaves.
The monarch's eggs will develop into caterpillars that eat and eat.
The excitement of the chrysalis is payment for the patient gardener.

Unusual Development

The other day when I was looking for monastery pictures,
I found this picture buried in my files.

This allium bulb shot upward in the spring, and then an insect or worm intervened.
The resulting curl made it stand out in its warped appearance.
Another type of beauty came alive. Its development continued.
Its flower came out the best that it could under these circumstances.
A very unique looking flower stood proud. It did not fold.

The flower's story is an inspiration. Disruptors exist all around us.
We can continue to bloom to the best of our ability, or we can give up.
In the end the Earth always takes us back and prepares for the future.
Continue to pray for all of us. God is with us when we pray.
The rain outside gives me hope. Life is possible.

Mascots and Team Spirit

Sunday, February 9th, 2025, will be a big day for players, mascots, and fans.

I am not a huge football fan; however, this upcoming Super Bowl has the potential to be a record-breaking game.

I have my pretzel bites and buffalo chicken dip ready to serve on Sunday.
I have some whole wheat pizza dough ready to defrost.
I might not need it. My husband brought home a Sam's club pizza tonight.
I don't have an appetite for eating pizza all weekend.
I do have some orange juice and blue moon beer.
I rarely drink alcohol. I might have a beer mimosa this Sunday.

I looked up the team mascots today. They are cute and look like they can rally up their team's spirits and get the crowd roaring!

Good Luck to all and let us all hope the game is fairly played.

Drum Roll Please (Timpani)

The 10th anniversary was in 2021. I was reminded of this earthquake when I read about the 2.8 earthquake today.

I vividly remember the earthquake in 2011. I was in my kitchen in Sterling, Virginia, and it sounded and felt like a giant was jumping on the roof of our house. Today's earthquake was not felt by me. I happened to read about it in the news, though, it was not big news, especially with everything else going on in our country and around the world.

I did not know that the 2011 earthquake was the most widely felt earthquake in America. I learned this today.

update 4/14/25: I deleted this, then restored it to drafts. Today I was debating whether to permanently delete it. My decision was to republish it because of the drum roll. Also, it shows a fact that I learned many years after the event.

From Year to Year

Which comes first? The chicken or the egg. Does it matter?

Soon 2024 will be left behind in an archive older than time itself.
The year becomes new again in 2025.
There is a beginning and an end to every new year.
The ever-moving hand of time turns the dial of this transformation.

Those of us who live within time's framework must follow along.
What would it take to escape this framework?
Could one enter into a melting pot of the past, present, and the future existing all at once? Could one move freely from one to the other, and to the other? Would you turn into a chameleon in the process?

Keeping track of the chicken and the egg would be nearly impossible.
Does it really matter who came first?

Side note: I was inspired after reading some Ogden Nash poems, and reading about Puff, the Magic Dragon. The year of the dragon is coming to an end soon.
The new year requires some introspection before it begins.

Woodpeckers and Junipers

A downy woodpecker in a juniper tree. This image is AI generated, however, its creation was inspired by a real sighting outside my dining room window this past Sunday.

The downy woodpecker is especially close to my heart since we have an artistic carving of a downy pair which we purchased long ago at an indoor craft’s fair. We also have real live downy woodpeckers that come around our home during this time of year. I saw only the male with a full vivid red patch on the back top of its head. It was a perfect specimen of a real bird in action. It hung around longer than I expected, though I was still too busy doing other things to take its picture.

The tree outside our window is a Juniperus virginiana (aka red cedar). It is tall enough to hug our home and protect one corner of our covered deck which would otherwise be exposed to wind. Junipers are in the cypress tree family along with sequoias. We also have three of these trees along our back fence line. They stand closely together which has made them grow straighter and taller, and they are less spread out than the one surrounding the corner of our dining room and deck. We have one more of these trees which had been partially cut down at one time, and now has a tall daughter tree that grew up and out from its base. It protects another corner of our home along the backside.

Since my recent woodpecker sighting I have been reading up about all types of evergreens that are used as Christmas trees, and all the traditions surrounding its origin. During my research I ran across a Willa Cather quote that I found captures a sentiment that I have felt before.

“I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do. I feel as if this tree knows everything I ever think of when I sit here.” ~ Willa Cather

Downy woodpecker pair is made out of carved wood and then painted. We purchased this long ago at an indoor craft exhibition.

The Beaver Moon

Tomorrow night 11/15/2024 will be the peak of the last super moon of 2024. (AI generated image)

The chill in the air today gave me hope that our winter will be memorable.

The beaver prepares for winter. It builds a dam and stores up food. Here it looks to be praying by the water, asking the moon for guidance. This month’s full moon is named in its honor.

This reminds me of the new Reservoir Park in Loudoun County, which is a partnership between Loudoun Water and NOVA Parks. It is situated on the southeast side of Beaverdam Reservoir. I have not yet had a chance to visit it this year. I will have to put this on my 2025 list of things to do if I do not get a chance before then to visit it.

My hope is that the sky will be clear of clouds tomorrow night. It is raining now and expected to continue through until morning. Shine bright Beaver Moon!

Sweet Olive Whispers

Sweet olive flower artistically designed as a drop earring. I imagine it can whisper.

Osmanthus fragrans is its scientific name.

This flowering plant is native to Asia from the Himalayas through several provinces in China, Taiwan, southern Japan, and S.E. Asia as far south as Cambodia and Thailand.

In China, it is the “city flower” of several cities, and in Japan it is a “city tree” of several prefectures.

In Chinese mythology it is said that it grows on the moon. Wu Gang was a Chinese character who is known for endlessly cutting it down. It is seen as a divine punishment for him because this “self-healing” Osmanthus could and would regrow an equal amount every day.

I was inspired to look up this flowering plant when I saw this pair of earrings today. All the information here I have gleaned from Wikipedia. The picture has been edited from a picture on the Etsy website. Wikipedia did not suggest this flower can whisper. This thought came from my imagination, and when I read about the mythology, it confirmed to me it must have magical powers. Ha!

I even looked to see if I could grow this fragrant flowering plant in my garden. I think it needs a slightly warmer garden zone than where I am located. In the future when I get the chance to seriously renovate my garden, I will explore this possibility again.

Apple Season

As we enter September, the relief of cooler weather will arrive. This morning the thought of apples came into my mind. Fall is full of festivals and apples in Virginia.

I stayed up late last night finishing the book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I picked it up Friday at a thrift store along with his book, The Girl Who Played with Fire. After finishing his first book, I will have to wait to read his second. The book is a thriller, and it took my mind into a horrible darkness that can reside within some humans. The dragon theme has now been fully played out. I am ready to move on.

Twenty twenty-five is the year of the Snake in the Chinese zodiac. Perhaps this thought brought apples into my mind.

“Virginia is for Lovers” is an advertising slogan that was created in 1969. It has greatly helped tourism in my state. Virginia has an abundance of apple festivals in September into October. Here is a link if you are interested: https://www.virginia.org/things-to-do/farms-and-agriculture/pick-your-own-farms/apple-picking/

Moving into the theme of apples, festivals, and love brings my mind into much lighter territory.

The apple is also a symbol for education. Out of curiosity, I asked the AI image generator for an apple cut into fifths. Here is its first attempt. I realized I needed to be more specific. I asked for one apple cut into equal fifths. Finally, I asked for the heart of an apple. The image above is the result. This is my favorite.

Pua Lehua

“The lehua is the first tree that springs up from a recent lava flow. It’s for that reason, when we speak in Hawaiian and we speak of people who are skilled, strong, and beloved, they’re often referred to as pua lehua, or lehua flowers. They like the lehua, have a kind of resilience, a strength and a grace about them.”

written by : Kalena Silva, University of Hawaii Hilo Professor of Hawaiian History

I have been on a part-time web quest of Hawaiian botanical plants this week. It all started when I read in the news that May 1st was Lei Day. This is a Hawaiian cultural event. I had heard of lei before, though I never knew they had their own day.

When I first looked up the word "lei" in my dictionary (to see if it had a plural form) I discovered the word "lehua".
Subsequently, I learned about the Ohi'a lehua tree (scientific name: Metrosideros polymorpha.) What struck me with resonance was the fact that it is a species of flowering evergreen tree in the Myrtle family (Myrtaceae).

This reminded me of the Myrtles in my own family. Since Mother's Day is coming up in the middle of this month, I decided to revisit and honor my mother and her mother, Myrtle, and a surrogate mother of sorts, Great Aunt Bess. In honor of Lei Day, I belatedly show them wearing their lei during their visit to my mother living in Hawaii at the time. (mid- 1950's)

My mother is in the middle, and to her right is her aunt Bess, and to her left is her mother, Myrtle. All of these were strong and resilient women. All three worked hard throughout their lives. They all had grace and gave generously of themselves. Bess taught me to read, using phonics, during the summer before I entered 1st grade. She never married, and was a school teacher her whole adult life until she retired. My mother taught me many things, and thanks to these 3 women I had no college loans to pay off. My grandmother, Myrtle, made many clothes for my sister and I. She made sure we had nice looking clothes to wear when we were children. In my mind, all three of these women should be called ‘pua lehua”.