Why So Long?

What can I say?
Only that it has been a long stretch between posts.
The good thing about such a long spell is that the natural world is always there. It waits patiently until you are ready to re-engage.
I think I'm there.
Been pondering quite a bit over the fast-paced way of life that seems to pervade our existence even here in the placid, stolid, and supposedly boring Midwest.
Not so fast.
The disease of maxing out every waking moment is alive and well in this area, and in my life. No doubt it also has taken up residence to some degree in your life.
I, for one, am sick of it.
Time to scoot out the door and make my escape...even if it's only to my backyard, or to the local nature trail, or the manmade lake in town. Our local reservoir west of town isn't a bad place either. Bald eagles seem to take to it quite well. A nesting pair are back at it this season after losing their babies in a windstorm last year. Those eagles know how to persevere under trial.
The weather provides a daily opportunity to connect with the natural world. It's probably the most common sort of encounter for everyone. And most of the time, a disagreeable one...unless the sun is shining, the air temp registers around 70 degrees, and no thunderstorms, snowstorms, rainstorms, or other atmospheric disturbances threaten to disturb these preferred conditions.
Some time back I made a promise to myself to find something good in any and all weather. Rain, snow, ice, heat...all would be something to wonder and marvel at rather than find fault with so easily.
It's hard to believe that just a week ago or so we were buried under 10 inches of glittering snow. Now it's all gone, and in its place a lot of soggy ground and standing water where the soil beneath is either saturated or impermeable. Since clay has been a local resource able to be mined and converted into highly collectible Uhl pottery pieces here in Huntingburg, it's no wonder about the lack of drainage. I have yet to live in a place that doesn't have a superabundance of clay in the ground. The soil back in Costa Mesa, California likewise seemed to have a heavy clay component as well. That sandy loam of fertile fields and gardens so far has eluded this erstwhile gardener.
A note on our local birds...about a month ago when we were in the throes of Frozen February, a large flock of robins congregated in our yard for about a week. At least a hundred birds could be seen darting around and through our large holly tree, scarfing down red berries and finding welcome shelter within its branches. In past years I have noticed this flocking phenomenon just prior to the robins beginning to pair off and start in on their nest building and brood raising. Always fascinating to watch and enjoy.
The other day I heard the call of a pileated woodpecker. I wonder if it is the same bird I have been privileged to glimpse once or twice here in our neighborhood. It is a thrilling sight to see this striking and handsome woodpecker. Once you have seen one, you will never forget it.
The blue jays are being quite vocal these days just before spring hits. Always loud and dominant, these very adaptable birds have expanded their range in North America where many bird species are going in the opposite direction. I believe it has something to do with their ability to successfully exploit any number of environments, and find ways to thrive in the midst of human civilization.
Flocks of starlings and grackles are also quite plentiful. Many people disparage these particular birds. I wonder if they would do that if they would learn something about them. The starlings came over from Europe over a hundred years ago; since that time they have begun to deviate away from their European ancestors, changing the way they nest and so on. It's a fascinating work in progress to see how geographic isolation of species leads to variations and subsequent fixing in these populations of certain characteristics. Nature is always dynamic and in a state of change; even mountains erode and eventually disappear over millions of years.
Another sign of spring is the sudden eruption of frog voices coming from a pond not far from our house. Their loud croaking will echo throughout the night hours from now to the fall. The funny thing is that when I have gone looking for these frogs, I can never see them. I only can hear them. Sneaky little things. That's how they stay alive!
More musings yet to come...hopefully a lot more often!

The Season of Rest

We are now about three or four weeks into the season of winter.
Work schedules being what they are, I find myself sticking pretty much close to home these wintry days. The notion of making a long trek across unknown wilds will have to remain a figment of my imagination.
My backyard is another story.
One only has to slow down, stop, and get down low to the ground.
It is truly amazing what can be found if one will only look.
Leaves fell by the truckload all through autumn. Many people opt to rake up all these leaves and put them at curbside for pick-up by local municipal street departments.
I wasn’t one of them.

Preferring to let the leaves lie, I am now rewarded for my reluctance to siphon off my yard’s biomass in the interest of neatness.
The ecological recycling loop is complete…leaves let lie will break down and feed the earth.  Not only that…they are a thing of beauty this winter season.
While many complain about the weather, I am having fun being a little bit contrarian.
I am enjoying the feeling of hibernation that winter brings about…I am considering this season’s invitation to slow down and take a breather. As all nature seems to go dormant, I too feel the pull of the slowdown.
Snow muffles sounds. Trees without foliage take on stark outlines. Year-round resident birds stand out against the bare branches, making identification that much easier. The stars at night seem that much clearer and brighter. All is brought into sharp focus, even as the bitter cold of a week and a half ago seemed to pierce the thickest coat, hat, gloves, and scarf.
Why do we want to escape the season that we’re in? Why is summer desired when we are in the middle of winter, or winter missed during the blazing heat of summer? Why are only so-called optimal weather conditions the only ones we like?
The remedy for this deficit, I believe, can be found in something so simple as leaves on the ground…they show us the simple yet profound reality of the cycle of life and death and life again…and our place within that cycle. We realize that we are a part of the Creation and not its Source.
And yet even when we observe the death of leaves, or other creatures, or even ourselves, something in our hearts cries for meaning…is this Creation that we see all that exists? Or is there more?
That the Creation is made…that Someone made it…testifies to Eternity. And how, then, unless we ourselves were destined for Eternity, would we even long for something more? This longing for meaning and an existence beyond this life itself testifies to the reality of that life.
And so, I ponder leaves. And the life of the world to come.

 

 

The Wildness Nearby, Continued



Wildflowers in October...awesome!

Thanks to the wonders of technology, I was able to take some photos with my cell phone camera on my neighborhood wander yesterday...email them to my G-mail account, download them into my laptop, and then post them here on this blog...unbelievable yet so much fun!

As autumn progresses, the weather should turn progressively colder and wetter even as some days should be glorious punctuations of bright, warm sunshine to brighten things up.

Fall is one of my favorite seasons!









A patch of sunlight...where might this

     little clearing lead?                                 

Dropping the green...revealing the gold.





Happy Feast of St. Francis of Assisi!

It’s one of the world’s most favorite hymns, its universal appeal crossing all sorts of denominational lines – All Creatures of our God and King, by St. Francis of Assisi, whose feast is celebrated today. He expresses it so well!

All creatures of our God and king
Lift up your voice and with us sing
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
Thou burning sun with golden beam
Thou silver moon with softer gleam

O praise Him, O praise Him
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!

Thou rushing wind that are so strong
Ye clouds that sail in heaven along
O praise Him, hallelujah!
Thou rising morn, in praise rejoice
Ye lights of evening, find a voice

Thou flowing water, pure and clear
Make music for thy Lord to hear
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
Thou fire so masterful and bright
That givest man both warmth and light

And all ye men of tender heart
Forgiving others, take your part
O sing ye, hallelujah!
Ye who long pain and sorrow bear
Praise God and on Him cast your care

Let all things their Creator bless
And worship Him in humbleness
O praise Him, hallelujah!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son
And praise the Spirit, Three-in-One

I love this hymn for its majestic sweep across all of Creation, which with one accord ever sings and proclaims the glory of its Creator. I too wish to join this everlasting chorus!

Wandering can take place just about anywhere…today for me it was behind our house where there is a little woods just begging to be explored. It’s one of the joys of living here in the eastern United States, where at one time mostly unbroken deciduous forests covered the land from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River. One can only imagine what such a vast woodland must have been like, for it no longer exists to that degree. Its composition likewise has changed. Gone are the American chestnut, taken down by chestnut blight beginning in the early 1900s. Likewise, the American elm suffered the ravages of Dutch elm disease. Left to fill in the gaps are other trees – beeches and maples, oaks and hickories. They now are the dominant trees in the great American woodland. To this West Coaster – used to the dry slopes of the Sierra Nevada and its Ponderosa pines, or the scrubby chaparral of the Santa Ana mountains – these forests that loom so green in summer, so colorful in fall, and so barren in winter continue to amaze and inspire.

 

 

It's Been Too Long...




Somewhere along the way, this blogger took a vacation...a looooong vacation...from posting anything here!
The glorious season of fall is upon us...the deep green of summer is giving way to the dusky hues of autumn. The colors this year promise to be bright as we are having warm days and cool nights. September is such a beautiful month!
These days my wandering has been somewhat curtailed due to the need to earn some daily bread. Time is somewhat fleeting yet the trail beckons at any time of year. There's just something about a path as opposed to a sidewalk that gets my imaginative juices flowing.
Here's to unpaved paths everywhere.



Red-Letter Day: My First Blog Post!

Wow! A Blog is Born!
Who would've thought...this is a new adventure into the realm of self-publishing!
Just think of it - anyone can set up a blog and begin to post entries for others to read. At least, that is my hope with this project!
The first challenge with creating this thing was to come up with a decent blog title and address...I had to use my imagination, but I believe the shoe - or shall I say, hiking boot - fits.
Number one, it's good to be happy. Happy, Jesus says, are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:3). It seems like the less you are attached to material things, the more free you are to really encounter God. I know I have too much stuff - and it's an ongoing project to weed out the things I really don't use or need and give them away to others who might.
Number two, the Catholic thing. It would take some time for me to explain, but I do adopt that label with exceeding joy and amazement...I distinctly recall once upon a time stating very clearly that I would never do so, but you know how those famous last words can turn out.
Number three, I am definitely an incurable wanderer. As J. R. R. Tolkein has stated, however, "Not all who wander are lost." That is the truth, brother. I take great joy in wandering. Nothing restores my soul like getting out there for a bit of a wander through a field or in a woods, on a beach or on a footpath...it's all good. To a childlike spirit, even a vacant lot is a fine place to wander and to discover the small wonders to be found at one's feet.
Happy...Catholic...Wanderer. That's it!
I hope to have you join me on my journey! Thanks for coming along.