Category Archives: nature

Feb3

driftwood.

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a piece of driftwood

mixed in 

among the vases and mirrors and tchotchkes and other home decor items

and while i’m a fan of natural found materials

i was not really motivated to spend $39.99 on this

but i do now have an idea for my summer job –

beachcomber.

—

 

“i imagined your stick, washing in the waves for hundreds of years,

turning to driftwood

smooth and hard like stone.

i imagined a little girl finding it on a beach so many years later.

saving it on her shelf,

where she put the things that made her feel like the world was magical.”

– ava dellaira

Jan23

rock out.

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when you’re little

 walking around the museum

 see a big old bumpy boring rock

walk around to the front of it

 find an amazing, amazing surprise

that is inside of it

you just have to touch it

 there are no words.

—

“sometimes the most shocking surprises are the most beautiful surprises.”

-lori wilhite

 

Jan19

partly cloudies.

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when walking by the river

 

—

“today is one of those excellent january partly cloudies

in which light chooses an unexpected part of the landscape to trick out in gilt,

and then the shadow sweeps it away.

you know you’re alive. you take huge steps,

trying to feel the planet’s roundness arc between your feet.”

-annie dillard

 

 

—

huron river, argo park, ann arbor, mi, usa – january 2023

Dec6

beginning…

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https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=787006252392996

Aurora Borealis Observatory

 Reindeer under the aurora

 

—

“i always believe that the sky is the beginning of the limit.”

-MC Hammer

Oct26

tiny tree tour.

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bonsai in the autumn
  add the bonsai and penjing garden to your list of color tours this fall.
they may be small, but these little trees have a big impact.
the outdoor garden closes for the season on October 30th.
matthei botanical gardens, ann arbor, michigan, usa – autumn 2022
—
“the world of bonsai is miniature, but the natural world that it evokes is boundless.”.
-arthur joura, bonsai curator
Sep17

of giants, glaciers, stone, and wolves.

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Kummakivi Balancing Rock

This rock stands in the middle of the forest balancing on another much smaller rock. There is a legend that the rock was placed here by giants, but there is also a scientific explanation for this. Geologists say that the rock may have been moved by the power of glacier over 8,000 years ago. This captivating stone can be found in Valtola, Southern Savonia, Finland.

The rock is well-visited no matter what you believe to be its origin story, and the best time to visit the rock is summer and early autumn, as you can easily get to the forest. It can be difficult to get to the middle of deep forest during long winter nights when there will be snow and maybe even wolves.

i’m a fan of the giant theory and would love to see this up close.

—

“how one walks through the world,

the endless small adjustments of balance,

is affected by the shifting weights of beautiful things.”

-elaine scarry

Aug17

“if you see me, cry.”

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Hunger Stone :

Recent droughts in Europe once again made visible the “Hunger Stones” in some Czech and German rivers.

These stones were used to mark desperately low river levels that would forecast famines.

This one, in the Elbe river, is from 1616 and says: “If you see me, cry.”

—

“when the well is dry, we will know the worth of water.”

-benjamin franklin

 

 

—

credits: history review

May24

“no mow,” said the bee.

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bee kind

—

“for this,
let gardens grow, where beelines end,
sighing in roses, saffron blooms, buddleia;
where bees pray on their knees, sing, praise
in pear trees, plum trees; bees
are the batteries of orchards, gardens, guard them.”
― Carol Ann Duffy, The Bees