"Life is Old There, Older Than the Trees"

I was reading about/looking at the iPhone photography awards this morning and was struck by Ruairidh McGlynn's 1st place winner in the Trees category.

McGlynn, from Edinburgh, Scotland, was on a trip to Qatar in the desert bordering Saudi Arabia when he took this photo. I've always liked pictures of lone trees.

Mark Hirsch, a Dubuque, Iowa area photographer is another one I admire. He used his iPhone to capture a photo a day for 365 days of a bur oak tree near his home. The images are amazing. (Google That Tree)

I'll probably never have an iPhone or a good camera, nor will I likely take any photography courses. I will, however, continue taking tree pictures for my own satisfaction.

"My Three Trees" - I took many pictures of these favorites when we lived on the acreage near Urbandale.

Another photo from that same location, these trees were in our acre+ front yard.

Corner tree at Prairie Rose Cemetery - now cut down - a victim of the pine beetle.

Old Stone Cemetery in Northeast Iowa near Volga.

Sunrise through the trees and fog when we lived at 'Mrs. Eliot's' south of Fairview Church, Taylor Co.

Overlooking Crater Lake, Oregon, 2006.

February 2012 snow and ice west side of Lake McKinley, Creston. So glad I took this photo, the trees have all been cut down.

"Trees are poems the earth writes upon the sky."  (Kahlil Gibran)

Mountain Ash across the street at Quiet Harbor - now also gone - but I saved a small limb to make into a walking stick.

Our weeping willow at the farm seen in the distance past the sundial and through the butterfly bush.

Sun coming up through a dead catalpa tree east of Mom's barn. I shared my memories about this catalpa grove in my blog June 18, 2013. The entire grove was dead by the early 80's. The kids and I cut the dead trees down and used them for firewood at the little house.

One of my Mother's photos of her crab apple tree, dog, Buffy, her garden and that tall, tall pine I climbed to the top of when I was a teenager.

Very old choke cherry tree on the Mauderly/Ridnour homestead under which is buried my great-grandmother's brother, Christopher Mauderly. (April 26,1864-March 20, 1881)

Some photos I didn't take - of me and trees:

Okay, so the photo is of me holding a puppy, but the tree behind me by the garage is "Betty's Tree". When she and I were preteens, Dad planted two maple trees in the front yard. Betty and I both laid claim to the same tree. It was the one south of the tree in the picture. Being older and using threats, I won the claiming of the tree I wanted and by default the other one became Betty's tree. If I remember right the reason I wanted the tree I did was because it had a branch low enough and strong enough for me to hang on and skin-the-cat.

Oh if this tree could only talk. ♫Let's go to Luckenbach, Texas with Waylon and Willie and the boys.♫

I may be smiling, but I was hot and tired and wondering if I was going to make it to the top. Mato Paha, Bear Butte near Sturgis, South Dakota.

Have I mentioned that I love trees? "It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit."  (Robert Louis Stevenson)

Mingus Mill, Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The Oconaluftee River Trail.

The Week in Words and Pictures 6/7-6/13

Sunday - This morning, still enjoying that we got to see American Pharoah become a triple crown winner last evening - the 12th in history and the first since we lived here:

Thirty-seven years ago. 1978. Dad had just died and the kids and I moved back to SW Iowa. We were staying with my mother until we found a rental house of our own. Affirmed won the triple crown that year. That's a long time to wait between 3xcrown winners!

Up early enough to take a sunrise photo. Do you see anything in the clouds. Dreamer that I am, I am rarely able to see anything other than interesting clouds.

 I was lucky enough to get this picture of iridescent clouds. And this one of a mackerel sky:

 Also known as a buttermilk or clabbered sky. ♫Ole Buttermilk Sky, I'm keeping my eye peeled on you....♫

There were so many cottonwood seeds in the air today it looked like it was snowing. That's the white cottonwood fluff showing in the corner of the pond as I was trying to get a late evening picture of the red-headed woodpecker on the tree.

Monday - Swept out the garage while Bud was at the Y. When he got home he decided today was the day:

Power washing the house and deck. He 'let' me do the patio area. All in preparation for:

Tuesday - Up early and ready to go, even though a little stiff and sore from yesterday.

My job was to do the railing and posts while Bud rolled the floor. We started around 7 a.m. and were done by 9 a.m. Good thing as the temperature and humidity were rising rapidly. If it doesn't rain, the second coat will go down in a couple days.

Finally bought some basil and got the last of the herbs planted in our old rural route mailbox. --A memory from my childhood - the mailbox was down at the corner then and the lid was hard to close. Betty & I rode old Queenie down to get the mail one summer day. We sidled her up to the box, withdrew the mail, and the lid stuck open. I finally got it to slam shut, the noise of which startled the horse and back she went hell bent for leather up the road headed for the barn. Betty and I both fell off halfway home. I always said I wouldn't have fallen off if Betty hadn't been holding on to me and drug me off! After that we walked down to the corner for the mail!

Wednesday - Up before six. Bud on his way to DSM for his regular 6-mo. check-up at Vets. Got my hair cut.

This is the 'before' taken May 16. And here is the 'after':

Okay. So you don't see much difference. Guess I should have shown a photo of the back of my head. I believe it is what in my Mother's day would have been called shingled. Anyway, I can tell the difference and I like it.

Thursday - Woke up early - to rain. No second coat going on the deck any time soon.

But I do love the way the water puddles on it now.

Great time for some cloud shots.....

Is that spot a bird?

Not what the farmers needed, but another 3+ inches of rain today.

Friday - Ahh, a day of R&R. Took my car to my cousin in Corning for a new exhaust system. My chum from high school days picked me up there and off we went to Stanton.

The famous Swedish Coffee Pot water tower has been taken down and moved to the grounds of the Swedish Heritage and Cultural Center, aka, Old Main school. This building is the oldest public building still in use in Montgomery County.
It was the first time I had driven around Stanton for several years. Two things stood out - the nice parks and paths system and the fact that there are now a few houses in The Little White City that aren't white! I did not think that was allowed. The times they are a changin'.

Ellen and I went out to Viking Lake to celebrate her birthday with lunch lakeside at Deb's Lake View Restaurant.

There were two bathing beauties preening on the beach. I remember many trips to this beach when it was new. Betty and I took our little sons, Mike & Doug, there numerous times to play in the sand and water.

On the way out of Corning, I stopped at Lake Binder. After all the rain I wondered how much water there would be going over the spillway.

I still remember when heavy rains in the mid 60's almost washed out the spillway and endangered the dam and lake.

Saturday - I want to call this picture "Dew on the Dill".

But in reality it is from a light early morning shower.

Lily's lilies this morning. Yesterday there was only one in bloom. I counted at least sixteen buds on them this year.

I call these Lily's lilies because we were all given a pot of this plant three years ago at my granddaughter's baby shower in Minneapolis. Alyssa already knew she was going to have a little girl and that baby's name would be Lily. Such a nice remembrance of that lovely day and my great-granddaughter.

Too wet to paint and Bud was in the mood to work. Time to clear all those saved boxes out of the garage. I forgot to take a picture until we were almost two-thirds done.

The trunk of my car was full. And off to the recycling center.

A final sweep.  And this is the week that was.

The Week in Words and Pictures 5/31-6/6

Sunday - A day of birthdays.... Walt Whitman born in 1819.

Clint Eastwood born in 1930 - oh what a crush I had on him when he played Rowdy Yates on Rawhide. I was 16 and he was 29. That was a crush which has lasted my whole life.

My sweet little daughter, Kari Leigh, born in 1969. I adore this photo of her. She was so happy playing in the dirt. Does she realize the connection between her and Clint? Not just that they share a birthday - but that had she been a son instead of a daughter, her name would have been Erik Fleming. Eric Fleming was the star on Rawhide - trail boss, Gil Favor. Some weeks I had a crush on him, too. But it didn't last like the one on his assistant, Rowdy Yates.

And my grand-niece, Keira Calise who celebrates her very first birthday today.

Monday - A beautiful day to begin June; sunny, calm. Another birthday:

My daughter-in-law, Shelly, born in 1963 - pictured here holding her granddaughter Lily almost three years ago.

June 1 also saw the season opening of our local farmers' market. Ideal weather for it.

Not the bunches and bunches of radishes I hoped for, but I did score these heirloom German Giants. This was the first time I had tried this radish variety. Also known as the Amish radish, these can grow to the size of a baseball yet still remain mild, sweet and crispy without becoming woody. Hope they have more next week!
I also got a small strawberry-rhubarb pie. It was okay, but not even close to the deliciousness of Shelly's strawberry-rhubarb pies!

Tuesday - Remember the comments I made about how many maple seeds there were this year?

And how we would be having little maple trees sprouting all over the place? These are just a few of the ones coming up between the stepping stones - and I have black weed blocker mulch under the stones!

Fortunately Bud keeps our eaves cleaned out, otherwise they would look like our neighbor's!

First time I've seen any deer for quite awhile. This photo is a good example of why I need a new camera. So many of my pictures look fuzzy.

Wednesday - Awake to rain on the roof. Seems to be an ongoing refrain. A good day to read.

When I decided to re-read Rebecca, I had no idea this was what the cover looked like. Perfect for someone whose blog title is Chances R. Right?

Thursday - How quickly they grow -

This year's goslings on April 23. (There were only two this year.)

And today, June 4. The babies are almost as big as the parents. Mom & Dad with their heads up keeping watch as the little ones feed.

Friday - Sunny and in the 60's at 6:00 a.m. And the humidity - 97%! Don't even have to exert any energy to start the perspiration dripping. Something I've been meaning to do when at the Y is walk across the street and take pictures of the labyrinth.

You see, they mowed it completely off this spring. There are a few flowers blooming, some daisies and cranesbill, but the weeds are taking over. I know what a huge job this would be to keep looking as nice as it did when I blogged about it August 5, 2010. Too bad there isn't a garden club willing to take it over.

This is what the labyrinth looked like then. What a difference. It was so lovely and really nice to walk the path in contemplation.

Saturday - Why is there not even one mention of D-Day on any of the news sites today? Just because last year was the 70th anniversary of the Normandy invasion shouldn't mean it doesn't even get mentioned this year.

Two weeks ago we decorated the graves for Memorial Day. Today was the day I decided to go back and pick up my flowers since most of them were new this year and should be good for another year at least.

 South gate at Prairie Rose. You can see by the sky the kind of day it is. Did get sprinkled on a bit.

The prairie roses for which the cemetery is named - Iowa's state flower, the wild rose.

Wild prairie rose or rosa arkansana. I used to pick these walking home from school and could never understand why they didn't last in water after I got home.

While at Oakland (Quincy) cemetery, I took this photo of the woods off in the distance. This is the one area I know of where you can still go of an evening to hear this call.                                                

This is the week that was.

Ruffled Feathers

I was taking pictures of grackles the other day when I snapped this one ruffling his feathers. "Ruffled Feathers, I thought. That has a familiar ring." Then I remembered it as being the title of a column from our high school paper, The Smoke Signal.

No wonder it sounded familiar - I wrote the column my senior year when I took journalism. The title wasn't original to me, however, it had been used by the preceding year's journalism class, too.

It was a column of short observances meant to get as many student names mentioned as possible: "Doors have a funny way of getting in the way, don't they Short Simmons and Virgil Gaskill?" (Black eyes maybe?)

"Mr. Boston seems to be a very popular teacher. His first hour American History class gave him a valentine for Valentine's Day. His third hour history class far outdid them by presenting him with a live white Easter Bunny. The plan was instituted by "Percy" Fleming." (Shouldn't I have said "instigated"?)

"Several girls found that playing basketball can be rough. During the recent girls' phys.ed. tournaments, Pat Herbert and Sibyl Roberts sustained sprained ankles while Ramona Lynam received a jammed finger for her efforts. Bruises and floor burns were also the order of the day." etc. etc. etc. Not exactly world class journalism, huh? But at the time I'm sure I thought I was pretty 'cute'.

My friend Ellen also had a column. The title of her's was original to herself. As was the one by Kari & Preston's one-day-to-be father:

Denny wrote a sports column. I wonder if the kids ever knew he had once been known as "Percy"?

Oh the fun of tripping down memory lane and remembering some bygone ruffled feathers.

A Memory of June

When June comes dancing o'er the death of May,
With scarlet roses tinting her green breast,
And mating thrushes ushering in her day,
And Earth on tiptoe for her golden guest,

I always see the evening when we met --
The first of June baptized in tender rain --
And walked home through the wide streets, gleaming wet,
Arms locked, our warm flesh pulsing with love's pain.

I always see the cheerful little room,
And in the corner, fresh and white, the bed,
Sweet scented with a delicate perfume,
Wherein for one night only we were wed;

Where in the starlit stillness we lay mute,
And heard the whispering showers all night long,
And your brown burning body was a lute,
Whereon my passion played its fevered song.

When June comes dancing o'er the death of May,
With scarlet roses staining her fair feet,
My soul takes leave of me to sing all day,
A love so fugitive and so complete.
                                (Claude McKay)