Cloud Factory

 Welcome to the dog days of summer*, without air conditioning.

(Pearl River, New York - July 2015)

 

 

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_days

 

 

Movement in Blue (and White)

This was the morning sky after a day of tornadoes that swept across Dutchess County into Connecticut. You can see the two systems blowing across each other, the one sweeping out the swirling clouds systems that had the potential to funnel, and dispersing it into vapor. Awesome. Pearl River, NY (June 2015)

Trinity

An old tree stump is rife with mushroom life,

as a forsythia bush mixes with the trees, roofs and sky,

and "The Great Tree*" opens up to the world with many arms.

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9tis_people_%28Canada%29

( Welcome home, "Mes Gens" )

Woodchuck Lives!

I had a piece about botany scheduled for today, but in the miracle that is "life", I opened my door this morning to the little girl woodchuck* eating shoots on the front lawn. OH, YAY! As soon as I saw her, she smartly bolted to safety underneath the porch. It was great to see that she made it through the long cold winter. She has a rich, glossy, golden-brown pelt and a cute button tail on her round bottom.  
So healthy!

The woodchucks made it through winter! Oh, good. I love them :)

When I started getting ready to leave, making my bed and throwing out some trash, I opened the door for a second time to "Mr. Woodchuck". Yeah! He made it, too! He's bigger and browner, with a long, showily furry tail, and he's also a lot bolder, as is natural for most males of Mammalian species. I played a short game of hide-and-seek with him, as I went to the other room and back for my iPhone, deciding on whether or not to open the door, which had chased "Mrs. Woodchuck" away. I don't want to scare my home-base animals. I want them to feel safe with me, because they are.

Once outside, I was struck by how rodent-like its' side profile is, yet the full front face more closely resembles the chubby-cheek cuteness of a beaver. Awesome! Both Mommy and Daddy groundhogs stuffed their cheeks with the brand new sweet grass and wild onion shoots now growing in abundance throughout the Northeast. I spoke softly to the male that remained outdoors, opened out the door quietly while gently padding towards him on the porch, and I was rewarded for my good behavior with this killer shot:

Posing for the camera like a pro. Thanks, Mr. Woodchuck. I'm a big fan!

It's important to that we respect all life on this planet we share, 
which includes animal life. We've made it through the winter, folks! Let's celebrate the glory that is Spring 2015. There won't ever be another one like it, and that's the unique gift of each season we have to enjoy. To share our appreciation of the glory of G-d's gifts that expresses His love for us, try showing some support for His good, natural works through any number of the many available networks we have in place. 

I joined the one that you see as a link below when I was a kid in the 70s by saving my weekly allowances. I still have the poster they sent me of beautiful line drawings. My "Moo Moo" mom was not exactly happy with my choice for fund allocation, but I did it anyway and I've never regretted it. Best of luck to you during your animal adventures (and all your other adventures) today.

http://friendsofanimals.org/about_us/who_we_are

 

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog

Gold Leaf

Gold Leaf (nature's walk home) - Pearl River, N.Y. (April 2015)

Many years ago, when I was an apprenticed hopeful seeking enlightenment at the real-life "Hogwart's" that is the Rhode Island School of Design, I remember taking an art history class for relief. Why, you ask? Well, long before there were things like dual Liberal Arts/Illustration majors existing concurrently between Brown and RISD, this young Illuminator took a full major of liberal arts classes at a SUNY school cheaply before specializing at one of the hardest schools on the planet, in the studio classes needed to enter our hallowed halls of publishing. 

I got a lot of ribbing for being on the "5 year" plan because I lost all of my SUNY studio art credits (RISD does not accept other school's ideas about "studio" and "art"), though I could have earned two degrees in four years if I remained in the 2:1 program that Oneonta had back then with F.I.T., but it was far too late for that: I saw the Chi Ro* page in a darkened SUNY art history class and I was done, especially after me and my college boyfriend took a trip to Dublin in the 90's. Gutenberg bibles in the real at Trinity? Done! I knew it, so I took the snide comments in stride, just like I always have and I always will.

Detail from the Book of Kells "Chi Ro" page.

And so, I found myself with three part-time jobs and a fully loaded studio curriculum (with the odd house painting job or two me and my fellow Yankee housemate Riddell put into the mix during one summer session in Providence), something which I think remains untouched as a feat, or at least I hope so. It was insane. You see, during the school's calendar year, studio classes are full 3-4 hour long labs that do not include the required out of class homework assignments. Oh. It was rad and intense and sometimes I had night sweats with baby freak outs (I'm still convinced the historic house we rented back then is totally haunted, stressful breakouts aside), but I regret it not one bit. 

Anywho, when I wanted an easy "A" coupled with the blissful ease of a simple mutiple-choice exam and an essay composed of my thoughts, I sometimes took a liberal arts class just for the relief of it, and like everything else in my good life, I am so glad that I did. It was there in another dark classroom filled with the bright slides of art that I learned about the concept of "intrinsic value" attached the the highly valued pigments from illuminators of yore, and why a leaf so golden it looks unreal stopped me cold on one of my walks home from this small public library in New York that I now write to you from. Because it's all connected, dudes, and that totally blows my mind. Time travel is a real thing, man! Join me in my quest, the quest for truth and knowledge.  
Seekers, welcome: http://www.risd.edu/academics/havc/courses/.

http://www.museumsassociation.org/collections/16022015-research-and-conservation-of-illuminated-manuscripts

*https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Chi+Ro

Dormant seed pods, and other cool things.

Here's a seed pod in its' "latent" phase.

I will always love all things botanical, as today I give special "thanks" to my mom for being there with me, at home in her gardens, speaking their names to me in Latin or French whenever I wanted, (because she wrote her Master's dissertation in French way back in the early 60s, as one of the few women at her university to major in science), and for my deep, abiding love of all plant life. I think Springtime is so exciting, while we wait for life that was once dormant to burst back into riotous life. I know can't wait to see the show. Here we go again!

Up close and personal with nature!

Two seed pods are better than one!

A different view reveals a nautilus shape. Cool!

Can't wait for the "big show" to start! Gotta love Springtime.

P.S. - For a special bonus round of "good clean fun", try reading the photo captions aloud to yourself in a strong "New Yawk mutha's" type of accent. 
I dare you to not laugh while you do it!

The Last of the Wood Violets

Translucent wood violet.

These delicate wood violets opened up a few weeks ago, the last of the years' flowers to blossom during the warm spell we had this fall. They were so paper thin, the sunlight shone through them to brilliant, transparent effect, imparting a fragile, see-through quality upon the already frost-threatened flower. It was a good lesson in how so easily life can be broken, like the paper-thin quality of these beautiful little petals that can tear when touched lightly. We are here for so short a time! Let's enjoy it, together.

Sunlit wood violets.

In contrast to the whisper thin petals of the last wood violets are these hardy, bulbous mushrooms that sprang up almost overnight, after we finally had a good few days of soaking rain. Alien looking, aren't they? They're a cluster of big beech mushrooms growing out of an old stump. Please, do not pick and eat any mushrooms without consulting an expert first! Edibles can be very tricky to identify correctly.

Cluster of round-topped beech mushrooms.

And lastly, we have the gorgeous striated caps of the Mycena mushroom. Again, please do not pick or eat any wild mushrooms without an expert present, especially varieties with with prominent gills. Snap a picture instead, like any good ecological tourist would do. That's what I do!

Wild Mycenas and morning dew.

Thunder and Clouds

Tendrils curling with condensation.

I saw a storm system move in last night, the gathering line of clouds churning and rolling its way quickly towards the porch I stood upon. Yellow-beaked blackbirds raced past, towards safe havens to wait out the coming storm.

The line of the storm front nears.

After the line of advancing clouds past, a blast of wind shook through the trees, blowing off leaves and buds in furious gusts onto the street. Thunderstorms bring yellow skies in the east, and as I stood there watching the clouds above my head bring a cool wind, I could feel thunder building.

The sky roiling with storm clouds.

A flash popped right over me, causing me to take a step or two towards the door, but it was so beautiful, I just had to wait for the denouement; and so it began to spatter drops onto me, and then I went inside. A few seconds later, bedlam broke out. It didn't pour rain, it gushed water violently from above, obscuring some nearby bushes on the lawn. Wow!

More curling clouds form in the line of the advancing storm.

It was majestic, awesome, powerful, fun, a little scary, and ultimately, humbling; such is the fury of a really good thunderstorm. Enjoy the gathering storm, fellow humans.

Clouds, and the dark they bring.

The Crow

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corvus_%28heraldry%29

The First Day of Spring

Springtime in Stuyvesant Square Park.

Stuyvesant Square Park.

Flowers in bloom, Stuyvesant Square Park.

Clusters of buds like barnacles.

Hello! Welcome to the new season. In celebration, I've put up a series of photos I took in 2013, when I lived (for a brief time) in Stuyvesant Town, a neighborhood in lower Manhattan. It was the first time I'd ever lived in the borough that is officially New York, New York, and as a native New Yorker, I had other surprising (and rare) "firsts", too: I discovered parks, foliage, trees, flowers, plants, and people I hadn't encountered before, as the glorious, gorgeous Spring of last year unfolded before my eyes. Here's to the newness, and yet timelessness, that marks the first signs of Spring. Enjoy!

Nature: The Hornet's Nest

Paper nest in snow.

I saw this beautiful paper wasp's nest on top of a frozen layer of snow, crossing a field one afternoon, and upon closer inspection, miraculous. After all, it's state has changed dramatically with the seasons. What was once a fearsome home in the summertime for fighter bees that stung ferociously upon invasion has become, in wintertime, yet another piece of flotsam and jetsam that can succumb to the elements at any time, long abandoned by those creatures who lived an entire lifetime in the mere speck of a few months to us as humans.

It looked so fragile and temporal, seemingly floating on the surface of ice that had hardened after a recent snowfall, and yet so firmly fixed in its' position. I touched it after taking a picture, and it revealed to me those dual natures under my hand as well: flimsy, light, papery, given to crumbling around the edges, but as a whole nest, it was also surprisingly hard and immovable, locked in it's winter home. I was moved by this, as I made my way to meet my own fates for the day in that sunny freezing weather, a day that was both cold and warm, hard and soft, beautiful and difficult.

Me, the hornet's nest, and a dog's tracks, at different times.