I enjoy the lively energy this small bird exudes as he flutters from feeder to bush to tree — his echoing voice clearly declaring his presence. To be so small, he certainly holds his own with the other birds.
“I’m not going to give up, shut up, or let up, until I’m taken up … as a matter of fact, I’m just getting warmed up!” ~Zig Ziglar
“Come forth, and bring with you a heart
That watches and receives.”
~William Wordsworth
Two photos of the waxing crescent moon and venus taken on July 18. The first photo was taken shortly before sunset. The second photo was taken after sunset right before they dipped below the western horizon. The moon took on an orange glow.
“Many eyes go through the meadow, but few see the flowers in it.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Saturday morning, around 6:00 a.m., I was startled from a sound sleep by the insistent barking of our dogs. Knowing from past experience that this was the sound of their “something’s intruding into our territory” bark, I begrudgingly sprang from my bed to see what was the matter. An occasional snake or opossum are the normal culprits, but on this day when I arrived on the scene, I was surprised to find an armadillo digging a burrow under an insulated bag that had been left on the other side of our chain-link fence. Neither the presence of the dogs nor myself seemed to deter it in the least. It stubbornly dug away, occasionally popping its head up to confirm that we were still there.
Eventually, the dogs sullenly resigned themselves to its presence and stood silent watch.
After about an hour I took the dogs inside, and within a short time, the armadillo stopped digging and ambled away.
“Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.” ~Epictetus
Usually I hear a loud “yelp” and a “plop”, followed by the sight of water rings left by the blur of a leaping frog. I seldom actually get a good glimpse of the frog sitting along a ditch or have time to take photos before the inevitable aforesaid scene. But lately, it seems like my stealth-like powers may be improving. 🙂
“So the trick it seems, if you want to sneak up on frogs, is to walk softly and act as little like a giant as possible.” ~Tom Pelletier
… He sat down close where I could see,
And his big still eyes looked hard at me,
His big eyes bursting out of the rim,
And I looked back very hard at him.
~Elizabeth Madox Roberts
“We must combine the toughness of the serpent and the softness of the dove, a tough mind and a tender heart.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
One day while I was sitting outside enjoying some beautiful weather, I noticed this cardinal as she carefully preened her feathers and then very meticulously fluffed and spread out her wing and tail feathers to soak up the sun. She sat so long with her feathers opened out that at first I thought she must be hurt. But it turned out that like me, she was just taking advantage of a lovely sunny day.
“Sometimes, in a summer morning, having taken my accustomed bath, I sat in my sunny doorway from sunrise till noon, rapt in reverie.” ~Henry David Thoreau
“Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” ~Mary Oliver
walking on a country road 