December’s First Full Moon

For ages humans have wondered about the effects of a full moon on the planet.  If tides are at their highest (and lowest) during this phase, wouldn’t anything that has a high water content, such as plant and animal life, be affected too?

Supposedly, timber isn’t harvested in tropical rainforests during a full moon as sap rises in the trees at that time.  This phenomena attracts death-watch beetles, insects known to destroy timber.  Does sap rise in the trees here too during a full moon?

There are nights when the wolves are silent, and only the moon howls.

~ George Carlin

Since a full moon is ten times brighter than a crescent moon, one would assume that nocturnal wildlife has more light with which to forage and hunt during the night hours.  However, raccoon hunters often find their prey less active on full moon nights and some deer hunters believe that deer are actually more active at noon during a full moon.  Despite all the research that’s been done, animal and human activity during this moon phase is still a mystery.

The two photos above were taken at 6 am this morning while the photo below was taken an hour later, half an hour before sunrise.  It looks more like the sun than the moon is peeking out from behind the trees. 

Full moons occur every 29.5 days and the next one will be on New Year’s Eve.  Since it will be the second full moon of the calendar month, it will be what’s known as a ‘blue moon,’ an event that occurs, on average, once every three years.

When I admire the wonder of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in worship of the creator.

~ Mahatma Gandhi

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The Deepest Secret

… here is the deepest secret nobody knows


(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;
which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart).
~ ee cummings

The world has many secrets. Some are ancient but new ones are made (and revealed) daily.  This one is probably the most wonderful.  It’s what allows people to go on and remain connected to one another, despite the suffering brought on by separation, either through death or some other circumstance. 

Someone might read Cumming’s poem and think of romantic love, another the love between a parent or grandparent and a child, the love between siblings or friends or the love of God.  Regardless of how many hearts we hold within our hearts, somehow, they are always large enough to hold these all in.  And that, in itself, is a wonder.

This morning’s clear November sky allowed me to find these images: the root in an upturned tree (the negative image is shown), the bud in one of next year’s frosted Rhododendron buds, and a spruce tree at sunrise along the salt marsh trail.  Birch and maple leaves provided the background for the shape of the heart within a heart.

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November’s Red Dawn

Each time dawn appears, the mystery is there in its entirety.
~ Rene Daumal

Red dawns are thought to bring bad weather, but the warm temperatures experienced later yesterday were a welcome relief for November’s blues.

As the sky was overcast, there was no visible ’sun’ rise. It simply seemed like the sky was blushing. The red blush lasted only a few minutes and then… was gone.

 

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The Magic of First Snows

Waking up to the first snow of the season is a magical event.  Suddenly seeing white when the day before, the landscape was covered with fading autumn hues, is always a surprise to the senses.  Children are especially excited and full of wonder at the arrival of nature’s most versatile plaything. 

But, not everyone smiles at the sight of the season’s first snow.   It means more work for parents getting children ready to go outside, more time scraping the vehicle in the morning, more potential danger on the roads and worst of all, more shoveling.

Nevertheless, snow is beautiful, especially when it’s still in mid-air, falling softly from the heavens or swirling in the wind.  It covers the landscape, making the most of November’s stark silhouettes.  The colored leaves of autumn quickly pass from memory.  Winter’s on its way.

Soon it will be time to put out sunflower seeds for the squirrels and birds who have decided to stay for the winter.  There will be more activity at the birdbath as the ground freezes and it becomes more difficult for wildlife to find food and fresh water. 

As warmer weather is forecast over the next few days, this snow will probably melt as do most first snows here in Nova Scotia.  Which leaves one to wonder… when the snow melts… where does the white go?

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The Year of Living Vicariously

This week marks a year of living vicariouly… through Nature.  What she’s experienced, I’ve experienced.  Her springtime has meant hope and wonder, delight and new discoveries for me.  Her fall has brought colour to my life in ways I barely noticed or thought possible before.

This is what happens when you keep a nature journal.  Although you might experience the same natural events year after year, you see everything in a clearer light when you take the time to reflect on what you’ve seen.  Once you learn the name of a common weed, it becomes more difficult to ignore it the next time you see it in bloom on the lawn.  You think twice about mowing it down. 

Over the past year I’ve spent a lot of time outdoors and taken more photographs than at at any other time in my life.  Field guides have become regular reading material and I’ve drawn numerous images of wildlife in an effort to illustrate what I couldn’t capture in a photograph.

My favorite posts are those that surrounded the theme of shapes in nature and the natural elements during our Midsummer Scavenger Hunt.  Thank you again to everyone who participated.  The whole was definitely greater than the sum of the parts.

The Midsummer Scavenger Hunt Series

Despite all the page views I received last week while on WordPress’ front page (just under a thousand in one day!) it’s the feedback from regular visitors from around the world through comments and email that make the process all the more worthwhile.  My goal has not just been to share what beauty is here in my neck of the woods, but to encourage readers to take a closer look at the wonders waiting to be discovered in your own backyard.  Living vicariously through Nature is a way of life that’s all the more enjoyable when it’s shared.

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Autumn Blues

You can’t hide your true colours as you approach the autumn of your life.

 
Isn’t it odd how the colours of leaves turn warm just as the weather cools?  In art, it’s known that warm colours like red, orange and yellow advance, while cool blues, greens and purples recede. 

Could the warm colours be nature’s way of bringing leaves to the forefront so that we can examine and appreciate them one more time before they’re gone?

I’ve often wondered what autumn would look like if the leaves turned cool in colour instead of warm?  How would the landscape look with leaves of icy blue and turquoise instead of fiery red and orange?  Perhaps the combination of cooler weather with cool colours would be too much of a shock to us after months of warm summer weather.  The warmer colours are nature’s way of easing us into the cold winter ahead.

Unlike the leaves, autumn’s skies turn bluer than usual at this time of year.  Above are excerpts of three of the bluest skies I’ve photographed in the past month.  Each one is such a unique hue.  Who would have thought there could be so many versions of ’sky blue’ to be found at this time of year?  Nature’s true colours never cease to amaze me.

 

Deep, Sparkling Waters

The water doesn’t require the warmth of summer days to sparkle.  All it needs is a bit of light.  It adjusts the facets of its waves to receive it and then sends it back. 

The effect is pure mystery.  One of the most marvelous sights in nature to behold, it’s a wonder how light bounces on the ripples and waves.  Walking along the salt marsh trail, sparkling waters can often be seen at sunrise.  Sometimes they’re accompanied by the rush of tidal waters while at other times they’re silent, accompanied only by the sound of your feet walking on the boards of the bridge.

The shine on the surface of the water speaks nothing of the deep and dark that lie beneath.  By itself, the sparkle lends an air of lightness and fleeting happiness.  In contrast, dark waters say nothing.  They are wordless and endless, full of the inexpressible unknown.  Both the sparkling surface and the dark, pondering deep are intertwined into one body, and that is perhaps the greatest mystery of all.

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Sunrise, Sunset

Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly flow the days
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers
Blossoming even as we gaze.
Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears.

~ Sheldon Harnick, Zorba

 Seagulls seemed oblivious to the last hours of summer trickling away yesterday afternoon.  While a few people walked along  the shore at Rainbow Haven Beach, some were laid out on blankets, looking to catch the last few rays of summer sunshine.  Summer always seems too short, but this one was especially brief.  

As my grandson threw pebbles into the waves and we collected shells in the strandlines, it seemed like I had just engaged in the same activities with his father a moment ago.  Seasons change and generations pass in the blink of an eye.  The natural world carries on.

The sunshine and warm breezes wait for nobody.  Sparkling waters and sand can only be enjoyed in the moment.  I doubt if anyone who had been on the beach yesterday afternoon regretted having made time in their day for just one more walk on the summer sand.

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A Change of Seasons

We humans are creatures of habit and the older we become, the more we appreciate that which is predictable.  We learn to work around familiar limitations and establish routines that make the most of the positive.  However, seasons change, both in the weather and in our daily lives.  Fresh green leaves turn red as the weather cools and autumn comes knocking on the door, indicators of more changes waiting just around the corner. 

Numerous events over the past couple of weeks have prevented me from posting with the same regularity as before: the birth of a second grandson with more time spent caring for his older brother; the death of my quilting group’s mentor; a new job substituting at a preschool; and final visits with my middle son prior to his upcoming deployment to Afghanistan.

Some changes are more welcome than others.  Some are anticipated, while others come as a complete surprise.  We never know what’s around the corner, only that change is imminent and part of life on the planet.   

Whether good or bad, change usually brings stress and requires a period of adjustment before bearings can be found again. Nevertheless, new challenges and situations present opportunities for transformation once we dare to break free from our comfort zones.   As long as we’re alive, there is potential for growth.

Love is the only flower that grows and blossoms without the aid of the seasons.
~ Kahlil Gibran

 

Holiness at Dawn

What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter our daily lives?

~ E.M. Forster

Considering the beauty that’s available in nature at sunrise, I always wonder why there aren’t crowds of people outdoors at this time of day.  Perhaps it is because sunrise happens every day that it is so easily taken for granted.

Regardless of the vista, the sight is always uniquely splendid and a marvel to behold.  In the salt marsh, the reflection of sky in water multiplies the effect of the streaks of warm colors just before dawn.  Silhouettes of herons stand quietly before the wonder that is taking place.  These moments of the day seem more sacred than any others that will follow.

Even on mornings when the sky is brightly painted, it’s difficult to see everything clearly.  This factor brings to sunrise the element of mystery.  If everything was seen in a brighter light, it would be somehow less wonderful and holy.

At sunrise everything is luminous but not clear. It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us. You can love completely without complete understanding.

~ Norman Maclean from A River Runs Through It

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