not the sun!

No this is not the sun. It is the full moon rising over the trees in the same spot as the morning sun. So beautiful to step out into the cool evening yesterday and see this glorious yellow moon rising to take its place in the night sky.

Contemplating the full moon

June 13,  2011      Cooks Point Texas

“The moon is a friend for the lonesome to talk to.
Carl Sandburg



“There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls.”

George Carlin


“We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls.”

Mother Teresa


“The moon's an arrant thief, And her pale fire she snatches from the sun.”

William Shakespeare


“Don't tell me the sky is the limit, there are footprints on the moon!”

Dorothy Parker


“Yeah we all shine on, like the moon, and the stars, and the sun.”

John Lennon

Scenes of Serenity

The full moon's morning greeting. Foto Friday challenge

http://zeahrenaissance.blogspot.com/

The theme this week for Rebecca's photo challenge was : Beauty in the Ugly.

I didn't see any "ugly" when I stepped out of my house early one morning. How about a photo whose theme is "Beauty in the Eerie".

 5:30 a.m., Wednesday, May 18, 2011.

What a cool summer morning....but a Halloween sight.

Setting the mood  for the mystery of this day.

My favorite poet says it so well.:

The Freedom of the Moon

by Robert Frost

I've tried the new moon tilted in the air

Above a hazy tree-and-farmhouse cluster

As you might try a jewel in your hair.

I've tried it fine with little breadth of luster,

Alone, or in one ornament combining

With one first-water start almost shining.



I put it shining anywhere I please.

By walking slowly on some evening later,

I've pulled it from a crate of crooked trees,

And brought it over glossy water, greater,

And dropped it in, and seen the image wallow,

The color run, all sorts of wonder follow.

Scenes from my country Easter

 I loved my Easter Holiday. We attended the Easter Sunrise Service at church. Butterfly decorations were used in the Sanctuary and live butterflies were released during the service. The weather was beautiful and so was the ceremony.



Roses adorned the cross.

The rest of my weekend was spent at my childhood home. My sisters and I took 2 tours around the property that day. Both were lazy, slow drives and I was able to take lots of pictures.

 We checked on the progress of a camp house my nieces and nephews were building.

We checked on the cows to make sure all of them were where they were supposed to be, and not in the neighbor's pasture.

This butterfly loved my sister.

We startled a deer in the woods and she stood very still, allowing me to take her picture.We also saw a raccoon, 3 armadillos, a hawk, and a very long, fast snake.

As the sun began to set, an airplane caught our attention by reflecting the last of the light.

This was such a nice way to enjoy our time together.

Texas blooms in the midst of drought

A great part of Texas is burning and all of Texas is in a drought, but there are several things you can always count on. Mesquite trees and Prickly Pear Cactus, which you can see in these pictures. Did you know that cattle and humans can eat mesquite beans? And, that you can eat the cactus leaves and the "pears" that form after these blooms?

Another thing to remember is to watch for Rattlesnakes. We always have those too!

Things to do when it's too cold....#2

Photograph birds...through the window...without scaring them

They were so excited by all the extra birdseed that they stopped paying attention to me, so I just sat and watched.  The male cardinals tend to "rule" and run off the littler birds. The cardinals are very protective of their females and sometimes they fight their own reflections in the window. I watched this scene a long time, marveling in how fluffed up the birds were, and feeling very thankful that we could put out some feed for them.

The Extraordinary Light of the Morning Sun

Very ordinary things become beautifully illuminated and extraordinary in the first burst of morning sunlight.

Wild, native Persimmons



Johnson Grass with full seeded heads.





A broad Mesquite tree on the fenceline




Perennial, beautiful purple native Liatris




Native grass in full seed that is my lawn

The morning colors are vivid and the shadows are intense. The first sun hits the tops of the trees, leaving the rest in dark coolness.  

Early morning peace

The morning was so pretty and cool. I grabbed my camera before Amos and I headed out for a walk. It was one of those serene, unhurried times that I cherish. Amos led the way because every walk is an adventure for him. 46 degrees and sunny, it was my idea of perfect.

Identification and Admiration

The moth I found is definitely an Imperial Moth.Thank you Mom24! Here are a few stats:

Adult food: Adults do not feed.

Range: Maine west to eastern Nebraska, south to the Florida Keys and central Texas. Subspecies pini occurs across the northern Great Lakes basin and the northern third of Michigan's Lower Peninsula.

The Imperial Moth is perhaps the only example of such a creature as a character in a novel. Naturalist Gene Stratton Porter's "Girl Of The Limberlost" features imperialis prominently in the plot development, and her account of its life history in "Moths Of The Limberlost" (a chronicle of her discovery of lepidoptera in early 20th Century rural Indiana) captures not just the science but the charm of the giant silk moths and childhood discovery of nature

This pleases me so much because the book "Girl of the Limberlost" is one that my grandmother gave me to read as a child.  I love that book!

Wingspan: 3 1/2 -6 1/2 inches.

This one was definitely had a 6 inch wingspan.

Big, beautiful visitor

This huge, pretty moth stayed on this basket handle for over 24 hours. It just spread its wings and kept very still. I was impressed by the size and the markings. Does anyone know what type it is?

Nature's gift, once again

I cut a small yaupon tree and gathered some abandoned birds nests to make this arrangement in our sunroom. I like the neutral colors with a bit of red. The wooden reindeer were a gift a few years ago and so was the crock jug.

My daughter found some little red jingle bells and added them here and there. Perfect~

Nature's First Green Really Is Gold

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Robert Frost

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower,

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

so dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

I think of this poem every year when things begin to bud out, and new tiny leaves emerge. They have a special brightness, not quite green. And as the poem points out, nothing stays new and untouched forever.

defining Texas-winter version

Can you tell that it has been warm lately and I have spent some time outside, looking around? I am desperately trying to find interesting things to photograph and found some-by looking at the same old landscape in a different way.


Let's take at look...

MELODY:this song is definitely "Bridge over troubled water".

PATIENCE: one day, the rains will come and the family will return to sit here, watching the dragonflies land on the water.

HIDDEN: Amos verses the herons. Do you see him on the other side of this little pinetree?

MEMORIES: all that is left to remind us of a tiny family who once lived here.

SECLUSION: this narrow path is surrounded by youpon and cedar, hidden from everything except the birds.

ENCROACHMENT: the cold front marches toward us and banishes the warm Southern breeze.

GREEN: Dry, Texas winter leaves only the cedar, youpon and prickly pear cactus to respresent the color green.

TREASURE: A rubber boot worn by my husband or son, left submerged when it became hopelessly stuck in the mud. After the drought, it appeared, a sunken "treasure" from years ago.

INVASION: a massive grid of tracks left by the Herons who visit the almost dry tank daily. I think the alternate title for this picture could be "Texas Pterodactyl".

Blue Heron research

Family
BLUE HERON.[Little Blue Heron.]
Genus
ARDEA COEPRULEA, Linn. [Egretta caerulea.] I found out that what I've always called cranes are Blue Herons. The blue ones are the mature birds older than 2 years, and who are of mating age. The white ones are the younger ones who haven't matured yet. They can get very large, with a wing span of around 41 inches.

The tale of two cranes

Two very large cranes hang out by what is left of our tank. They have taken to perching on the railing of the bridge. There is one white crane and one blue. They have also learned to ignore my dog Amos, who is about 1/3 of their size. They just look at him while he barks and they wait until he is about 10 feet away before they move. I, on the other hand, scare them as soon as I come out my front door. They fly off immediately, looking like miniature pterodactyls in the sky.

These pictures were taken by opening the front door just a tiny crack, and sneaking my hand up to the camera, quickly pointing and shooting.