May It Always Be So
Posted on December 17, 2021
Now when I go into the woods, camera in hand, I find that there is much less concern about “getting the picture” and more about just being there. Perhaps that’s because in some miraculous way, the skills required to get an acceptable photograph of something crawling, walking, running or flying have slowly transformed me into the “camera”.
Now being in nature is more the experience I seek. The experience may involve observing the goings and comings of a belted kingfisher and being left with the realization that I need his world much more than he does mine. In fact, it’s sobering to realize that from the kingfisher’s point of view, things would get along quite nicely if I didn’t exist at all. Despite all our technology I can’t, with any confidence, say the same about the kingfisher.

Embraced by wonder, awe, and humility I am left with a heightened sense of gratitude, that for a brief moment the kingfisher perched on a branch and allowed me to share his world. May it always be so.
Thankgiving
Posted on November 22, 2021
Each year at this time we are greeted by visitors from the north. Some just show up at backyard feeders while others are only seen after much patient looking. Despite its beauty, autumn brings the demise of many living things and confronts one with a darker side of existence. Overhead a dragonfly cruises by one day and the next is gone, it’s kind not to be seen again until the earth travels 30 million miles in its orbit around the sun. But as many know who have spent time in the woods or travelled life’s path for more than a few orbits, it’s never that simple or dark. November doesn’t carry the promise of spring with its bird migrations, wildflowers, and green becoming, but there is much for which to give thanks.

Dark-eyed Juncos breeding range is the boreal forests north of the great lakes. Every winter these common sparrows move south into Ohio. Active and amazingly hard to photograph, these little birds can often be found on the ground below feeders.

Much more elusive is the Brown Creeper which breeding range is the higher elevations east in the Appalachians or to the north. Unless moving they are they are almost impossible to spot.


Every year at this time we engage in what we affectionately call “the kinglet quest”. It’s a great way to mark the arrival of the season. Often seen with chickadees these small active birds can also be a challenge to capture.




Perhaps the most elusive bird to be seen is the tiny and mouse-like Winter Wren. They find their way to Ohio after breeding in northern Michigan and as far north as Hudson Bay.

With a breeding range similar to the Winter Wren, the White-throated Sparrow is usually only seen in Ohio in the fall and winter.

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There are a number of other birds that have graced us with their presence in recent days. All seen not far from our home.







The days in late November are short and often damp and cold, but as if in an act of defiance there are living things that continue nature’s celebration undeterred and beckon us to join in.

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Autumn Woods
Posted on November 2, 2021
We are fascinated by the few intrepid wildflowers that continue blooming late into autumn.

On a larger scale, as we walked along the wooded shore of a local reservoir, we are also carried away by the thought that nature in all it’s expanse is now in bloom.


On a much smaller scale fungi continue to “bloom” and will do so long after the flowers have given up.







Often just being in the early November woods with the colors, the briskness of the air, and the distinct fragrance of the leaves, that after a season’s hard work fall to the forest floor and generously give back to the cycle of life, is enough.



Be awake to this day and to what, with intention, is experienced. Be awake to the season’s coolness, then warmth, the sun on your face, the sound of a flock of robins weaved their way through the branches, the smells, the trail with it’s roots, rocks, mud, inclines and descents, and the muscles that now feel used. These are the embrace of unique moments floating in the river of time that form you.
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Autumn Song
Posted on October 14, 2021
High overhead an Osprey gives no notice but now as we walk along the shore sycamores sing in a tenor voice as they respond to the ebb and flow of a weightier October wind. Gone is their murmur in the gentleness of a moist summer breeze. In a fight to remain on ever barer branches the rattle of their autumn dryness soon gives way to a silent pirouette as one, losing it’s hold, lands quietly at my feet. The sun slowly warms the the day and the last intrepid dragonflies venture out in search of smaller “others” that have also awakened.






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An Ever Changing Miracle
Posted on October 10, 2021
Looking at the forest floor in early October it’s hard to imagine that in the same place just a few months earlier spring beauties and trilliums enchanted. With the exception of the tapping of a distant woodpecker and the call of a much closer Carolina Wren, it’s quiet. The banter of spring birds is not heard. Initially asked if you were in the same place, you might answer yes and then after a moment’s reflection laugh at the thought. The woods cry out, “All is change, birth, life, then death, be in my moment”.










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A Record Day
Posted on September 27, 2021
Yesterday, the 26th of September, on a long walk through residential neighborhoods near our central Ohio home and then along a city park bordering our local reservoir we saw more Monarch butterflies than we’ve ever seen in one day.

If we had kept counting the final tally would have been over 30 with four seen on just one small cluster of asters. At a time when their demise is often, perhaps accurately, predicted, it was nonetheless cause for real celebration.




On what seemed like it would be an ordinary September day in our “ordinary’ part of the world we found ourselves enchanted.
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A Michigan Meditation
Posted on September 18, 2021
An epiphany occurred a few years ago when I realized I was never going to to see it all no matter how far and wide my travels took me so perhaps a more satisfying approach would be to strive for more intimacy and dig a little deeper in familiar places closer to home. With that in mind for the past ten plus years we’ve travelled to Michigan’s Rifle River Recreation Area. A wonderful way to mark the passing of time, things gained and things lost, and to embrace change in seasons of the year and in life. The areas major draw is that’s to my knowledge it’s the closest location from central Ohio, where nesting loons can be observed.

Other than the ample food supply and clear water that makes it easy to locate, the reason loons are found here is that their nests are built right at water’s edge where they can easily access them with a short slide as their legs are located too far back on their body to facilitate walking. This makes the nests venerable to motor boat wakes but no motor boats are allowed within the park resulting in happy nesting loons. The relative quiet resulting from the lack of motors whether on the lakes or trails results in a great place to observe nature. A significant added bonus is that the Ausable River and Huron National Forest located nearby offer many additional natural areas to explore.



During time spent in the canoe other birds also enchant.







In addition to the birds there are other things that establish a sense of place.









While paddling yours truly couldn’t help but see if there was a fish in the area

Along the Ausable River we take a break.

The parks numerous trails offer ample opportunity to discover fungi.





A few insects also caught our attention. Ever try to photograph a small insect from a canoe on a windy day?


Stepping forward a week. The other day walking in a park close to home we were enchanted by the sight of a large colorful dragonfly.

A reminder that one need not travel even as far a Michigan to discover the magic.

In a journey through space and time each year as we arrive we also leave. Should we be so blessed next year we will return to again be embraced by what has become a sacred place. The experience of this year is all the more precious as the place as well as we ourselves will never be quite the same as together we travel into the newness of the next.
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Uncommon Beauty
Posted on September 15, 2021
Early September Walk
Posted on September 5, 2021
On any given day we wonder what will be seen as we set off to explore a local park. In this case it was Prairie Oaks Metro Park a few morning ago. Wondering now in the past tense, we were not disappointed.



















Other things seen eluded the camera’s lens but that’s okay because the above images are more than enough to hint at the riches found and the wealth accrued.
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Just One Thing
Posted on August 16, 2021
It occurs to me that I often end up trivializing nature by always seeking the next bird, butterfly, or landscape. Perhaps a better goal would be, that when in nature or whatever the endeavor, to seek to truly appreciate one thing.

Perhaps a first step is to walk a little slower.
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