Category Archives: Nature

March 11, 2010

With the coming of March, spring contests with the last vestiges of winter.  I love this time of year because the play of the weather is more active now than it is at any other time here in Texas.

Take last Monday, for instance.  After hours of drizzling rain, the skies cleared, leaving behind a rain-washed world of beauty.

There were even rainbows.

This is a little horse farm about a mile from my house.  It’s one of the last farms in Fairview that hasn’t been sold to developers yet. 

Looking into Wilson Creek Valley.  My home is on a ridge just above the old creek.

I can hardly wait for spring to come in full force!

Also posted in Clouds, Spring, Weather – 0 Comments

Reflections on a Sunset

March 10, 2010

Also posted in Spring – 1 Comment

February 13, 2010

Most of our winter days look like this.  Or worse - we might be under nimbostratus.  At least when I took this picture, there was some variation in the sky.

A lot of variation when one took a closer look.

However, a few weeks ago, we had a spectacular sunset.  I was sequestered in my room and unable to walk outside, but I grabbed my camera anyway and climbed up on my desk.  There’s a mighty good reason why my bedroom has double windows facing due west.

The sky was clear and cold - a perfect contrast to the clouds which appeared to be on fire.

Here’s a different kind of exposure.  I love playing with my camera settings!

Sunsets really have to be watched because the colors fade rapidly. 

Beautiful, simply beautiful.

Also posted in Clouds, Weather, Winter – 1 Comment

Winter Wonderland

February 12, 2010

Yesterday morning, I awoke to a strange sight in northern Texas - a winter wonderland.  Mom came up and got me up extra early so I could see the snow while it was still blue in the low light conditions.  Well, we seldom get snow (and certainly never like this!) so I decided to venture forth and snap a few pictures while I had the chance.

Here we have a flock of robins passing overhead.

For some odd reason, we have thousands of robins amassed in huge groups that rival the winter gatherings of blackbirds.  I’m not sure why, exactly.  Either I’ve never noticed this before, or it’s never happened.  I would prefer to think the latter.

My Silver Maple tree is actually silver!

This is my pathetic attempt at a snowman.  It fell over.

Abigail trying to build a snow fort.  The snow wasn’t deep, which is why the snowballs are so muddy.

We put out seed for the birds, and instantly had flocks of sparrows at our beck and call.

Here is Mr. Cardinal.  Notice his chickadee companion to the right.

Mrs. Cardinal.

The mockingbirds weren’t too happy with the constant snow.  This one kept ruffling his feathers to rid himself of snowflakes.

So did the sparrows.

It snowed all day and all through the night…

This morning, we had almost a foot of snow.  This is Mom’s magnolia tree.  Somehow, magnolia and snow just don’t seem to go together well in the same sentence.

It was unbelievable.  So much snow.  I’ve never seen anything like this in my life before. 

Sure we are under threat from Global Warming!  I’d like to see those “experts” explain why we are having record low temperatures in Texas this winter.

This is the last family owned farm in Fairview, and it probably won’t stay that way for long.  I’m glad I got to see it like this before the developers get ahold of it.

This is the best snow picture I took all day today.

Talk about a winter wonderland!  Ever driven through a tunnel of snow?

Looking into what Kathy and I christened “The Hundred Acre Wood” as children 20 years ago. 

I was surprised to see water still flowing. 

Later on in the morning, we walked over to the golf course to go sledding.  Here’s Abigail by the fence.

Emily breaking a path through the snow.

Here’s the golf course!  It looks like its been covered with vanilla ice cream.

Abigail is pulling my father’s old sled from when he was a boy.  It still works, even though it must be nearly 40 years old.

First on the agenda was to pack down a path for the sled.

Kimmy’s up first!

Whee!

Matthew got impatient waiting for his turn, so he decided to just summersult down to the bottom of the hill.

Probably not the best idea.

We took pity on him and gave him the sled.

He didn’t fare much better.

Abigail in the act of throwing snow at me.

Emily is ready for takeoff!

No, Matthew is not jumping out of the way.  He hopped on behind Emily, and then failed to stay on the sled. 

Kimmy after a particularly fast go.

Mom and Dad joined the fun briefly before heading into the comfort of the indoors.  We younguns lasted a lot longer, of course! ;-)

I wish it would snow more often in Texas.

Also posted in Birds, Cardinal, Family, Family Events, Winter – 2 Comments

Today’s Pictures

December 23, 2009

It was a lovely day today.  Crystal clear blue skies and soft, cotton clouds wafting on a warm, wet southern breeze. 

All I had to do was close my eyes, smell the rich, grassy scents on the breeze and imagine that spring was just around the corner.  Hard to believe that Christmas is just barely two days away.

Of course, I know it won’t stay that way.  We’re due for a nasty cold front in the next day.  But for now, I’m enjoying this warm reprieve from the cold.

Every last, cloudy bit of it.

I caught this jet racing through the clouds and was astounded to find that my camera can zoom close enough that I can read the letters on the tail.

This was also taken on zoom.  Doves are very fearful birds and hard to photograph at close range (unlike mockingbirds, which are fearless).

Even with me standing 30 feet away, this one decided to take off.

As I wandered around the property, I was startled to find this gall hanging down from one of our red oaks.

It’s huge.  I’ve never seen one this big, much less at this time of year.

Despite the bleakness of the season, I was able to find many interesting subjects for pictures.  Really, the merits of one season or another depends on the mindset of the person involved.  If you go through life determined to find beauty, you’ll most likely find it.  If you go through the winters bemoaning the loss of the spring, winter will seem just that much bleaker.  I was amazed at how interesting the leaves were once I got down close to them.

Even the tiniest of dried grasses became beautiful once I began looking for beauty in them.

All I need to do to satisfy my craving for green is bury my face in a bush of cedar twigs.  Mmmmm!  Cedars smell like green.

One flower that blooms year round in Texas is the dandelion.  These seemingly insignificant flowers are the most tenacious of all.  We’ve had weeks this month below freezing, and I found dozens of these little beauties poking their golden heads above the tree litter.

Dandelions are an important source of nectar for bees during the winter.  On warm days, it’s not uncommon to find a few honey bees buzzing happily around a cluster of these.

After the dandelions are pollinated, they close while the seeds mature…

And then open into a ball of fluff.

The feathery ends of the seeds are quite interesting - almost like little flowers themselves and so soft and silky!

The seeds are anchored into the base of the flower, loosely of course because the wind is needed to pick them up and carry them away.

They are commonplace, but dandelions have a unique beauty.

Ordinary things can really be beautiful.

The birds were gorging themselves on whatever they could find.  They’ll barely feed during the cold snap.  Here is Mrs. Cardinal in our cedar elm.

And a little sparrow in Bonnee’s tree.

 

I spotted this little butterfly on a dandelion.

This is with the zoom on my camera…

…and this is on the super macro setting.

This little butterfly was unafraid to have my camera lens poised only a few centimeters from his probing antenna.  I was really surprised.

He even allowed me to pick him up on my fingertip.

Can you spot the mockingbird in this photo?

Here he is!

He seemed a bit affronted by my close proximity.  I don’t think he liked the camera.

For all that, he’s awfully cute!

Also posted in Birds, Today's Pictures, Winter – 1 Comment

December 19, 2009

I miss green.

Really I do.  I love the russet colors of autumn, but about December, I really start missing green.

The only thing green in December is evergreen trees.  And the only plentiful evergreens in Texas are Eldaricas and cedars.

We have a lot of Eldaricas in our neighborhood.

And cedars.  BIG cedars. 

These Eldaricas belong to our neighbors.  They have graciously allowed the little ones to play on the cushion of sweet-smelling needles under the trees.

Eldaricas are excellent sources of pinecones.

One thing’s for sure: we have a lot of blue and white in winter, even without snow.

In Texas, “snow” never actually comes to the ground except in rare instances.  It stays aloft, tantalizing observers.

This is strato-cumulus.

And this is a light fan of cirro-cumulus.

Long sweeps of cirrus look like they’ve been painted on a blue dome.

Blue is pretty.  But I miss the green.

Also posted in Clouds, Weather, Winter – 0 Comments

Homestead Heritage - Garden

December 4, 2009

Here are a few photos from the garden Homestead Heritage had on display.  There were all sorts of winter vegetables including Chinese cabbage and asparagus, but what interested me the most were the blackberries.  Actually, that’s not correct.  What interested me was how they had the blackberries set up.  The plants - two to a section - were supported by posts and wires.  Sprinkler system type hoses were rigged between these wires.  It was a very efficient way of doing blackberries.

They also had a few rows of grape plants.  We already do a few grapes ourselves, and I think we’d like to do more in the future.  Thankfully, the Texas climate is very condusive to raising grapes.

Best of all, they had a row of Sea-Island cotton.  Kathy and I, now that we’ve gotten into spinning, would like to grow our own cotton. 

At Homestead Heritage, they grew the cotton, spun the cotton, wove the cotton, and made…

… this dress.  I don’t think Kathy and I will ever do something that sophisticated, but we would like to do something similar.  Except I’m not into weaving.  I would like to knit/crochet my own kitchen linens.

 

Also posted in Family Events, Family Outings – 0 Comments

Homestead Heritage: Herb Garden

December 2, 2009

One neat thing about Homestead Heritage is that they have actual workshops and gardens laid out for the public to see.  This is the herb garden, which was a lot bigger than one would think an herb garden would be with plants I had never even heard of.

Mom and I were very interested in this part of the fair because we would like to be able to grow all our own herbs for the family.  We spent a good 20 minutes walking around examining the structure of the beds.  Some were edged by wood, others by stone.  I prefered the stone. 

I also liked the wild, overgrown quality of the beds.  They were well tended to (by that I mean there were no weeds) but by no means perfect.  Each plant was allowed to grow according to its nature without being pruned or pinched to a desired shape. 

I was reminded of what my mother told me about the English gardens she had seen during her winter abroad.  Over there, the gardens are very overgrown and wild.

This is just about the largest bush of rosemary I’ve ever seen.  You wouldn’t believe how good it smelled.

These herbs have been cut and are ready for processing.

These are wreaths ready to be decorated.  I’m not sure what plant they are made out of.

Here is one in process.  The herbs and flowers from the garden are dried and inserted into the wreath.  They also took old glass bottles and placed dried plants and flowers in them for display.  Regretfully, I forgot to take pictures of those.

I wish my best friend, Elisha, could have been there to see the herbs.  The entire time I was looking at the display, I kept thinking, “I know she would just love this!”  Elisha has grown an herb/flower garden for the past couple of years and I’ve enjoyed reading about her work in her letters.  Once I returned home from vacation to find a little vase of spearmint flowers on my desk that she had left as a surprise for me. 

Maybe I need to learn how to make these myself.

Also posted in Family Events, Family Outings – 2 Comments

Rio de los Brazos de Dios

November 30, 2009

South of Dallas, there is a river which early Spanish explorers named Rio de los Brazos de Dios.  Translated, this means “The River of the Arms of God.”  Legend has it the river recieved its name because the explorers that first found it were about to perish for lack of water.  Today we know this river as the Brazos.  It is the 11th longest river in the United States at 1280 miles from its source at the head of Blackwater Draw to the mouth in the Gulf of Mexico.  The Blackwater Draw (formerly called the Anderson Basin) is an extinct riverbed near Clovis, New Mexico.  Two archeological sites have yielded important finds such as fluted spearheads, bone weapons and other tools used by the ancient Clovis people during the Ice Age.  Investigations have revealed evidence of human association with traditional Ice Age animals such as the Colombian mammoth, camel, horse, bison, sabertooth cat, and dire wolf. 

I love rivers with histories like that.  Gives one goosebumps to stand on the banks and realize the age of such a landmark.

 

The Blackland Prairie around the river seemed to me particularily rich and fertile.

All around our campsite were farms on the gently rolling hills, spaced irregularily between wide floodplains that drained into the Brazos.

 

The hills were fun for driving.

Like the local Dallas prairie, the land had an abundance of cedar trees.  This female tree was magnificent.

I noticed that there were more live oaks near Waco than Dallas.  And they hadn’t been planted in landscapes.  These were naturally grown live oaks, the best kind of live oaks.

This picture unfortunately didn’t turn out like I wanted to because Dad was driving at 50+ mph.  That big tall tree with the light leaves to the right is just about the tallest Sycamore tree I have ever seen.  In fact, I can’t remember the last time I saw so many sycamore trees.  There were hundreds of them.

One thing was for sure - the woods were just as jungly and tangled as at home.

I even spotted a monkey.

First glimpse of the Brazos river.

On the path, we found where centuries of erosion had exposed layers of rock laid down by the flood thousands of years ago.

I was so thrilled with finding this geological formation that I climbed closer to get a few pictures.  Kathy just about went into conniptions when I did that because I have an internal tear in my abdominal wall.  Don’t worry - I was very careful.  Ironically, climbing about did nothing to injure me further.  Instead it was something else completely innocent.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The ground water was seeping out from between the layers of rock.

In some places, the water was coming out rather rapidly.  It would be interesting to observe this rock formation after a heavy rain.

There were quite a few plants that enjoyed the benefits of a constant water supply.

I am absolutely amazed at how some plants can actually root through bare rock and survive.

We found this tree at the river’s edge with absolutely ginormous leaves…

…as Annie demonstrates.

Dad found a footprint.  It’s probably a dog that someone brought with them on a camping trip.

Here are a few shots of the river.

 

Also posted in Autumn, Family Events, Family Outings, Objects of Interest – 0 Comments

A Day at Celebration Park

November 3, 2009

Today, we went with some friends to Celebration Park which we refer to amongst ourselves as the Water Park.  Autumn is in full bloom right now in Texas, and I was especially excited to go because this park has a walking trail through a nearby wood.  Unfortunately, my camera is out of commission (for how long, we don’t know), so I did a bad thing.  I swiped my father’s camera.  It’s pretty much the same camera as mine, except that it has more megapixels than my little Canon Power-shot.  I decided that today I would work on some of the custom settings.

This is the little pond by the park’s entrance.  It has two fountains.  This is using a blue filter, which is supposed to enhance the color of the water.  The handbook said to use this for ocean scenes.  Well…I’m six hours away from the nearest beach, so I figured this little body of water would have to do.

The entrance to the trail, using the green filter.  Some of the trees are in fall color, some are not.  These are not.

Autumn is a funny thing in Texas.  With the cooler weather and constant rain, some places look like spring is just around the corner.

Some places really show the aging of the seasons.

Here is a young Sycamore tree.  Texas Sycamores are some of my favorites.

The ground was already littered with leaves, causing the air to smell rich and damp.

When I was a little girl, we visited my grandparents who at the time were living in Tuscon, Arizona.  I had read about the desert, but this was my first practical experience with one.  I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why anyone would want to live in such a dry, ugly place, and I told my grandfather so.  I’ll never forget his reply: “There is beauty in every place in the world; you just have to be willing to find it.”  Since then, I’ve come to the understanding that a lot of people look at Texas the same way I looked at Arizona.  This amazed me because I thought my little corner of the Lone Star State was the most beautiful place in the world.  I couldn’t understand why anyone couldn’t see that.  Later, I realized that this was because many people simply aren’t willing to find beauty even in the most common of places.

So I decided that I would find it for myself.  And I’ve been doing that ever since.  These next couple of photos feature what I think are things commonly overlooked by a lot of people.  They are ordinary, everyday subjects.  Chances are you’ve seen them before, but never noticed them.  It’s easy to see beautiful things in springtime, but what about in a quieter season like autumn?

Here’s a bit of a photographic experiment.  I learned how to deliberately overexpose (and underexpose) a picture.  This is overexposed…

…and this is what it really looks like.  That will come in very handy when I take pictures in the dark.

Playing more with the exposure settings…

This is the second pond at Celebration Park.  I’m convinced its this blue because of something added to the water.

It does attract a lot of waterfowl.  These are mallards.  Last time I was here, there was a flock of migrating Canadian Geese.

Someone had come before me and thrown bread to the ducks.  Small bluegills were picking off the remains.

After a while, I noticed something stirring in the depths.

What on earth could it be?

Aha! Catfish!

 Here is my Abigail perched in a tree.  She’s a great tree-climber.

This is Miss Addison Klause, who came to play with us at the park.

This is my sister Annie (in pink) with Bailey.  With her beautiful red hair, Bailey perfectly fits in with this colorful season.  I wish I had beautiful red hair like hers!

Left to right: Bailey, Kennedy, Addison, and Kimmy.  There was a 15 lb dead fish below that just fascinated them.  Why, I don’t know.

I’m afraid I broke the 10th commandment today while on my photographing spree…I have this thing for white Golden Retreivers (blame it on Spooky).  I love Golden Retrievers…and Collies…and Shelties…and Italian Greyhounds…

Speaking of Italian Greyhounds, Sadie came for a visit!

I almost stole her.

Also posted in Autumn, Family Outings, Objects of Interest, Visiting Friends – 4 Comments
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