“True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.”
~ C. S. Lewis
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
This Ruby-throated hummingbird looked content sitting on his perch in one of the bushes in our backyard. He would dart away to chase another hummingbird or get a drink from the feeder, but would soon return to his lookout on the same small branch.
“Living big and joyful and content is almost always the result of our finding satisfaction in life’s ordinary day-to-day pleasures …” ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Blue-Eyed Grass
I saw this whimsical Blue-Eyed Grass growing along the banks of the Hatchie River. Though it has grass-like foliage, it is actually a member of the Iris family. When each flower finishes blooming, it leaves a small round seed pod which resembles a tear.
“The method of nature: who could ever analyze it?” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Barn swallows on a line
“The real world, in my opinion, exists in the countryside, where Nature goes about her quiet business and brings us greatest pleasure.” ~Fennel Hudson
Enjoying the sunshine
These are only a few of the turtles that we saw when we recently drove around Oneal Lake in the Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge.
“Some old-fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat.” ~Laura Ingalls Wilder
Great Crested Flycatcher
A Great Crested Flycatcher sitting on a branch in the top of a bush.
“A well-developed sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to your steps as you walk the tightrope of life.” ~William Arthur Ward
Eastern Chipmunk
Scavenging beside the road, this chipmunk was pretty single-minded in his quest to find a snack. He stopped periodically to size me up, and then got back to his task.
“Each morning sees some task begun, each evening sees it close; Something attempted, something done, has earned a night’s repose.” ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Silvery Checkerspot
“If nothing ever changed, there’d be no butterflies.” ~Unknown
Sweet sparrow family
I’ve enjoyed watching this little family of house sparrows fluttering around the backyard this week. Right now, the baby birds are sticking pretty close to the mother even though they are big enough to pick up the sunflower seeds themselves. You can tell the babies from the mother by the yellow lines around their mouth.
“That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet.” ~Emily Dickinson
A splash of color
A beautiful field of red corn poppy and blue cornflowers sown along the roadside near Reelfoot Lake.
“Lord, make me now
As happy as the field.
With flowers enriched … “
~Eileen A. Soper
walking on a country road 