The Lake mirrors the sky this morning, reflecting the hazy sunshine, edged by dark green trees. A quiet breeze gently caresses the maples and oaks as they stand sentinel on the shore, absorbing the sunlight from above as well as from the reflected light below.
We are like these noble lakeside trees. Rooted here. Standing quietly. Witnessing the present and remembering the past. How much easier it is for the trees to be wise. They need not scurry here or there. No appointments, no email to check, no instant messages to read.
The placid sugar maples will launch their seeds soon, with utter disregard for the success or failure of their children, sending their helicopters spinning out into the universe.
And the oaks, too, have set their seed. Some hickory nuts have fallen, and some walnuts are dropping early. No matter. The trees don’t care. I will pick them up and keep the grass clear for barefooted walkers.
It is the barefooted walkers that I care about the most. Those dreamers, thinkers, breathers. Separated from the siren call of their phones and rather focusing on the thoughts that will come gently, the truths that appear when not pursued.
This feather lay quietly alone yesterday morning. So delicate. What bird would have lost it during the night? It wasn’t there earlier. I ran the iNaturalist app and it came back as “Typical Eagles Owls and Horned Owls.” The nice thing about iNaturalist is that other people, who are much more knowledgeable than me, look at your photo and add their opinions.
Amazing how we can identify a bird from a single small feather. Thank you Brenna Farrell, whoever and wherever you are, for looking at my pictures and providing a confirming ID.
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My favorite encounter with a Great Horned Owl was at Mesa Verde National Park about 40 years ago. My son Ben and I were returning to our camper from a hike along the rim of the Mesa along one of the Prater Ridge Trails. It was a fantastic hike. Dusk was approaching as we descended from the ridge and walked under the canopy of trees along the path to the campground.
Suddenly and silently a huge Great Horned Owl swept past us, like an ancient spirit of the Original People, gliding effortlessly through the canopy.
Some years later my daughter and I were at the Cottage at dusk when she spotted a Great Horned Owl swooping towards us along the lakeshore. It looked to be heading for the Martin house and a tasty snack, but spotted us and veered away at the last moment.
We stood in the twilight, in awe of this quiet but powerful predator.
I wish we had named the Great Horned Owl as the National Bird. Yes Ben Franklin wanted the Turkey, and there’s a lot to be said for turkeys, but my choice would be the Great Horned Owl. Check out the leg feathers! Looks like a match to me!
I want to share this interesting post today from Mental Garden:
I love this! It seems many people are deathly afraid of being bored. But the truth of the matter is that if we just stop and listen, while walking, sitting, or just being, that we clear away the hubbub and focus on the truth of our senses. It is then that the muse of our creativity comes calling. She can be a bit shy! And very jealous! My muse especially hates tic-toc and FB.
And sometimes when you are just picking up walnuts an Eastern Swallowtail visits, or you find a feather that takes you on a flight of sweet memories.
Oh, by the way, the Swallowtail Butterfly we talked about yesterday has been further identified on iNaturalist as papilio glaucus, an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, a subspecies common in the Eastern United States.
Above: Female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, papilio glaucus. Credit: Wikipedia Commons. Public Domain. (Glaucus was, like Machaon, a military leader in the Trojan War, fighting on behalf of the Greeks.)
I hope you have time to walk today, to breathe, to think and to let the thoughts flow. You never know where your muse may take you!
Thanks for traveling along on this voyage of discovery! Your comments, likes, shares and kind words in person make this journey even more beautiful.
i’ll never forget how terrifying that owl actually was! I didn’t realize before witnessing one hunting how stealthy they are!!!