Tennessee

Black and Yellow Garden Spider

/ Rebecca / 9 Comments

One of the spiders that I have seen frequently this summer and fall is the female Black and Yellow Garden Spider.  She is conspicuous because of her large size and bright color pattern.  Her orb web is also large in size, sometimes reaching up to two feet.  The web is normally decorated with a white zigzag band of silk near the center where the female can often be seen waiting patiently for or enjoying her prey.

“The spider’s touch, how exquisitely fine!
Feels at each thread, and lives along the line.”
~  Alexander Pope

Standing among the duckweed

/ Rebecca / 4 Comments

This spot at the Reelfoot National Wildlife Refugee is one of my favorite places to stand and listen to silence, intertwined with the occasional sweet sounds of nature.

“In mid-wood silence, thus, how sweet to be,
Where all the noises, that on peace intrude
Come from the chittering cricket, bird, and bee,
Whose songs have charms to sweeten solitude.”
~John Clare

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds

/ Rebecca / 4 Comments

“While it may seem small, the ripple effects of small things is extraordinary.”  Matt Bevin

Napping sparrow

/ Rebecca / 4 Comments

This sparrow found a nice, quiet, partially sunny spot on the side of the birdbath to take a little siesta.  It was hard not to yawn as I watched this peaceful little scene.

“… May we learn to honor the hammock, the siesta, the nap and the pause in all its forms.”  ~Alice Walker

 

Busy pollinators

/ Rebecca / 2 Comments

Presently, the fragrant flowers of the White Snakeroot plant can be seen along the edges of the road, especially flourishing in the filtered sunlight of the tall oak trees.  Being one of the last wildflowers to bloom in the autumn, it provides a valuable source of nectar for a variety of busy insects.

“It’s not so much how busy you are, but why you are busy.  The bee is praised.  The mosquito is swatted.”  ~Mary Flannery O’Connor

Enjoying the Sedum Plants

/ Rebecca / 7 Comments

This is the time of year when the sedum plants are in bloom.  I particularly enjoy the late afternoon, when the sun brings out the colors in the star-shaped flowers and a variety of small insects stop by for a visit.

“Nature is to be found in her entirety nowhere more than in her smallest creatures.” ~Pliny the Elder (Roman Scholar)