RIVERWALK THOUGHTS - THE BEAUTY OF NATURE

Bluebird Houses

2011-05-21T09:18:00.000-07:00

(May 21, 2011) This has been a week when bluebird houses have come into my mind as a result of three distinct events. One event took place in our yard and the other two were moments I experienced on the Riverwalk.

In the picture above there is a swallow in a bird house on the Riverwalk (Bluebird House #22). This bird house was the scene of an invasion this week. On Thursday afternoon, I had parked in the public works department parking lot and was walking with Sadie near that box located 50 yards or so from the bridge going across the small creek near the restroom.

As Sadie, our English setter, and I approached the birdhouse, I noticed something sticking out of it. I thought that a bird's tail was sticking out; as I approached closer, I realized that it was not a bird's tail and thought that someone had put a stick in the opening. When I got even closer, I noticed that the "stick" had eyes; a small black snake was in the house and, I assume, the eggs or small swallows were no longer there.

I had my camera with me but forgot to put the memory card back into the camera after downloading pictures the day before, so I was carrying an expensive paperweight that was useless to me. The small snake looked at us for a few minutes and then retreated back into the box (#22). I was saddened by this, but when I mentioned it to my daughter, Christy, she said, "Well, snakes have to eat, too." That is the reality of the Riverwalk. There is new life and death everyday on the trail.

A second event occurred this morning on the Riverwalk. As I approached the dam below Dan Daniel Park, I noticed that the bluebird house there wasn't there anymore. The pole was there, but the house was missing. Perched on top of the pole was a single swallow wondering, I assume, what had happened to his house. It is possible that those who look after the birdhouses may have taken it down for some reason; however, if someone had stolen the house, that person faces a fine up to $10,000 and jail time. I hope it was the former.

A third event happened at our house this week. Elizabeth, my wife, had taken Sadie out and they walked near the bluebird house we have in our yard. It is the time of year when there are either eggs or babies in the houses. As Elizabeth and Sadie got near the birdhouse, they were swooped down upon by a squadron of angry bluebirds. Sadie, the bird dog, cowered and Elizabeth took Sadie into the house. I thought about the embarrassment of what could have happened with the headlines reading "Bird Dog and Owner Pecked to Death by BLUE BIRDS" How embarrassing would that be?

We went out to the Riverwalk this morning and plan another walk this afternoon - the weather is beautiful with sunny skies and temps in the low 80s. It has been and will be another good day on the Riverwalk.

BACK AGAIN! UNUSUAL THINGS . . .

2010-10-03T09:57:00.001-07:00

(October 3, 2010) It has been over two weeks since I last posted, but I have been on the Riverwalk everyday with Sadie and seeing many unusual things. Because of the heavy teaching load I am doing this semester, I haven't had time to take my camera, so we have been doing our 2-5 miles everyday, and I have been recording mental images of all I see. Here are a few of those mental images.

The season has changed from summer to fall since I last posted here. The warm mornings, the extreme heat of the afternoons and the hot evenings have given way to the very cool mornings, the pleasant afternoons, and the chilly evenings on the Riverwalk. Sadie has been enjoying the cooler weather as she runs and runs through the foliage along the side of the trail.

Here's a fish story: A few weeks ago a couple of ladies asked me if I had talked to the fisherman fishing at the dam near Dan Daniel Park. I told I hadn't, and they said that he had had a very interesting thing happen the day before. He was fishing at the same spot, reeled in a 8-10 inch fish, and before he could get it off the hook, a great blue heron swooped down and took the fish off the hook. The man, they said, couldn't believe what he had seen, so that morning he had brought a camera in hopes of repeating the event.

During the past few weeks, I have been walking at Angler's Park most mornings and evenings. I sometimes head towards Dan Daniel Park, but will often just walk around the large field. There I have seen a large number (a dozen or more) of crows in the trees as I walk in the mornings. An occasional flock of geese and ducks flies over in the mornings, but few land at Angler's Park - until the rains came during this past week. The marsh had nearly dried up, but now there is once again life both seen and heard. The frogs sound their chorus after the rains but are rarely seen except when one ventures across the path heading to the open field. Sadie tip toes over the small hopping objects, sniffs them, they remain still, and I pull her away, not totally for the safety of the small frogs but for Sadie's benefit since when she has had a frog in her mouth, she suffers after wards for about 10-15 minutes as her mouth foams from whatever toxin the frogs use for defense. She has never killed a frog because she quickly spits out any frog that she gets into her mouth.

Recently, I have seen some beautiful woolly worms along the trail - pure white, brown with black stripes, and red ones. The butterflies are less plentiful now, but a couple of days ago I was near the bridge at the marsh in Angler's Park and saw several dozen tiny (less than a half inch wing span) swallowtail or monarch butterflies. They were fluttering around some tiny daisies growing alongside the marsh. No camera, but it was a beautiful moment in the morning sun.

This morning I ventured forth, again, without my camera. As we made a final circle around the large field at Angler's Park (the trail to Dan Daniel Park is closed because of flooding), I saw a spider web like I had never seen before; it glistened in the morning sun. It was in the shape of a sunflower with the designer/spider sitting right in the middle. The artistry amazed me. I walked back to the car and decided to drop Sadie off at home and go back with my camera. I walked across the bridge at the marsh and tried to find the beautiful web, but the sun was now at a different height in the sky. The web, I discovered, was further away from the bridge than I had recalled. I found it, took some pictures and headed back across the bridge.

I will try to spend more time taking pictures on the Riverwalk as we continue our daily walks. It was another good, but muddy, day on the Riverewalk.

PARK IN THE DARK

2010-09-13T05:33:00.001-07:00

(SEPTEMBER 13, 2010) The best times to take pictures of nature are during the first hour the sun comes up and during the hour before the sun goes down. That's, pretty much, a given based upon experience. However, what do we miss from the time after the sun goes down until the sun comes up in the morning?

That idea came to mind yesterday (Sunday) morning when Sadie and I returned home from the park at about 8:00. As I turned into the driveway, I saw 8-10 wild turkeys in our back yard. Sadie saw them, too. When they saw my Jeep, they wobbled into the woods. Once in the house, Sadie ran from window to window to see if she could see these strange looking birds. She didn't. They were long gone into the dense woods.

Sunday evening I decided to take Sadie to Angler's Park and let her run on a long leash. We were out there about 45 minutes and decided to head back to the car. I heard the buzzing of a small golf cart and saw a police officer driving towards the parking lot. He drove over to us and started talking. Sadie enjoyed the kindness of this officer as he rubbed her head.

As we talked, I mentioned some of the things I had seen on the Riverwalk over the years, and the officer mentioned that during his 5 years, on the police force, he has spent some time in the park after dark and saw animals that are nocturnal. He had seen red foxes, bobcats, coyotes, and a herd of deer numbering as many as 50 in the large field at Angler's Park. He said that he had also heard reports of bears traveling through (black bears) but hadn't seen any himself. He said that the bears tend to travel near water and that it is just a matter of time that some who venture along the trail will see one. He affirmed, what I learned this summer at Grandfather Mountain, that they will not attack unless threatened or if their cubs are threatened. I hope they don't take a dog barking as a threat because I know Sadie could not refrain from doing so if she saw one.

It is something to think about. What animals can be found in the park at dark? I don't think I'll be venturing down there to see any time soon - especially with my dog, Sadie.

Though I haven't entered new pictures or essays during the past couple of weeks, it has been a good two weeks on the Riverwalk. Life is at work there in the form of humans and nature. It's a good place to be - in the daylight, anyway.

BACKGROUND CHECK ON THE RIVERWALK

2010-08-22T12:32:00.000-07:00

(AUGUST 22, 2010) INS didn't come to the Riverwalk this morning looking for illegal immigrants, but there were plenty of background checks going on.

In the nearly 200 pictures taken this morning, I checked each one to see what the background would be since I have had more than one photo ruined because a tree was going out of a bird's back or a pole in the background looked like it was impaling the main subject. See the picture of Sadie and how the background fence looks like it is coming out of Sadie's head making her look like a merry-go-round animal.

However, there are times when the background over-shadows the main subject. For example, this morning the sky was beautiful. I took a picture of a small bird on a wire and captured some of the morning sky in the background. The silhouette of the bird is nice against the sky, but the sky becomes a picture within itself.

Woolly worms were out in plentiful numbers this morning. I saw two white woolly worms and a green one. The white ones were on green leaves, moving slowly around. The green contrast with the white worm helped to provide the contrast, but it also showed the worm in its natural setting.

The green woolly worm was on a fence post. The texture of the wood provided an interesting picture within itself. The green worm, with black dots on its back, moved slowly along the board.

Upon first getting to the trail this morning, I saw a heron sitting on a dam in front of the Brantley Steam plant. The bird was perched on a dry part of the dam with a large wall behind it. The wall was concrete with some white stripes. The reflection of the wall in the river provided an interesting photo in itself.

A goose in the foliage, a flower among the brush, and a tiger swallow tail butterfly sitting on a group of flowers all provide their own unique backgrounds. As a photographer, it is just as important to look at what in front as well as what is behind.

OK . . . here comes a little philosophy. Life, itself, is kind of like that. We can see what's in front of us, but we carry a background that is either attractive in itself or not so attractive. We cannot erase our own backgrounds, our histories, but, thanks to Photoshop, many a photo wrecked by a crummy background has been saved. Just thought I'd toss that in.

It was another beautiful day on the Riverwalk.

OBSERVATIONS

2010-08-21T08:38:00.001-07:00

(AUGUST 21, 2010) OBSERVATION #1:

Last week I read that dragonflies and damselflies are the "raptors" of the insect world. That is they prey on other insects.

After having taken a number of photographs of these beautiful insects, I could not believe it. The dragonflies and damselflies flit around and have vibrant coloring ranging from brown to red to blue. I could not believe that they preyed upon other insects - until this morning.

I was near the Public Works department when I saw a beautiful swallow tail butterfly flying overhead. As I looked closer at the butterfly, I realized that it was not flying on its own power. There was a dragonfly carrying the butterfly - to breakfast, I assumed.

OBSERVATION #2: As we walk on the Riverwalk, other walkers will often stop to watch Sadie as she points at insects, and they will comment about how pretty she is. They will stay for several minutes as she gently moves toward the insect she has spotted. There are comments like, "She sure is pretty," "She is poetry in motion," "She is very graceful," or "She knows what she is doing."

This morning, as we were walking along in the grass, a new comment was heard. A man said, "That's a fine animal there."

To me that was a much stronger comment than the others since she was "fine" among ALL animals, not just dogs. It would be like someone looking at my Jeep Liberty and say, "That's a fine Jeep there." That doesn't usually happen. They just say, "That sure is cute." Sheesh!

OBSERVATION #3:

"THE PROM."

That thought came to mind as we wandered past some flowers that had a very pleasant fragrance. It reminded me of my prom, for some reason. I thought that the sweet smell from the flowers must have been a perfume that I had whiffed that night, perhaps worn by my date.

As I continued thinking about the smell, I realized that the aroma reminded me of the prom because that "sweet smell" at the prom was ME. I was wearing Jade East, and, for some reason, those flowers smelled like that to me.

OBSERVATION #4:

On our way back to the car, I saw two young girls (perhaps 6 and 8) running among the geese on the shore. They started across the path as Sadie and I approached. I noticed an adult woman (their mother, I assumed) and another little girl, perhaps 12 or so, sitting on a bench. The littlest girl came towards Sadie and asked if she was friendly. I drew Sadie towards me, held her close and told the girl that Sadie was friendly, and the little girl came over and petted Sadie. The second little girl came over as the mother watched from the bench along with the other little girl.

The two littlest girls said that they had 3 dogs at home. One of the dogs is named, "Hot Rod," and the middle girl said that she had come up with that name. Her mother corrected her and said that the girl's father had come up with the name. As I was leaving, the two had gotten into a fairly head on argument about who had named the dog "Hot Rod." They were cute little girls enjoying an outing in the woods with their mother, and Sadie and I had indirectly caused a rift between the mother and child. Oh, well.

OBSERVATION #5:

Someone had stopped to watch Sadie stalk, jump and miss a small butterfly. The woman commented that she surely has the bird dog instinct even when she is using that instinct to pursue bugs.

In response, I quoted my wife, Elizabeth, and said, "Yep. My wife says that if it flies it dies." I then added. "However, whenever it flies, 99 times out of 100 it doesn't die because Sadie doesn't have a very good record of success."

OBSERVATION #6:

This evening I took Sadie to Angler's Park for a walk around the large field. It was near dark, and I noticed little white ghost like creatures crawling around on some weeds in the marsh. The marsh was crawling with dozens of little white woolly worms. They glowed in the twilight of the evening.

It was a good day on the Riverwalk.

COLOR ON A CLOUDY DAY

2010-08-20T18:46:00.000-07:00

(AUGUST 20, 2010) It was cool this morning compared to recent mornings, though the humidity did start to kick in as we completed our walk.

The sky was overcast with threats of rain.

Yesterday, I didn't take an umbrella, and a friend, who had carried his, asked, "Where's your umbrella? It's going to rain."

I said, as I looked at his umbrella, "Oh, ye of little faith. I have faith that it will not rain today."

Yesterday, I was wrong and he was right.

Today, as we passed each other again, he wasn't carrying an umbrella, and he said, "I know it is not going to rain today."

I asked, "How do you know that?"

He said, as he looked to heaven, "I just know." He was right again.

The Riverwalk looked as bleak as if it were the dead of winter instead of summer, except for the foliage all around. However, when there seemed to be little life in the woods, all of a sudden, a burst of colors would spring forth from the dark woods. Yellow flowers, pink flowers, blue flowers, red flowers, white flowers, butterflies, spiders, and other bright and colorful treats awaited me as I rounded every corner in this otherwise dark and dreary world.

One can become depressed and uninspired with such gloominess, but I looked for the little gifts of color and saw the life that was bursting forth on this day. Those bursts brought joy, and when there weren't the colors of nature, I looked at Sadie, and her face burst forth in pure radiance against the dark background.

I recognized how this morning was like the DEAD of winter with the darkness and dreariness, and then I started thinking about how at times of death of a friend, family member or acquaintance, there is the sadness that accompanies this loss. BUT, like on a dark day on the Riverwalk, there are those splashes of color on such days when those who are still living talk about the one who has died, and there is laughter and joy and radiance against the dark background of the day.

What lessons I have learned on the Riverwalk. I have accepted death in nature along the trail as I occasionally see dead birds or insects or other animals, and I have also enjoyed the rich beauty of that little portion of the natural world.

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk.

BIRDS FLYING IN THE RAIN

2010-08-19T19:13:00.000-07:00

(AUGUST 19, 2010) During the last two days, Sadie and I had to work our morning walks in between summer rains.

At Angler's Park yesterday morning, the only birds we saw were some Canada geese standing in the newly replenished marsh that had visible water from the recent rains. The marsh had gone almost bone dry, but they have been resurrected. As we were walking back to the car, we heard the honking, the flapping of wings, and finally, saw a flock of geese flying over head and over the river on that dark and gloomy morning.

Today we walked from Dan Daniel Park toward the train station. Early in the walk, I saw a heron standing in the water near the dam at the Brantley Steam Plant. It stood there as Elizabeth held Sadie while I could get a closer shot. After taking a few photos, the bird flew down stream. Within 30 seconds we heard a flapping, looked up, and saw a heron flying over our heads at about 20 feet. The smaller bird landed in the dark woods, something I had never seen before. As Elizabeth walked on with Sadie, I followed the heron into the woods, and took some shots of it as it walked toward the water. Though it was dark in the woods, I got some interesting pictures of this bird.

As we approached the Public Works Department, I looked up and saw a group of young mourning doves perched on several power lines. As I took the pictures, something startled them, and they all flew off together.

In addition to the birds,today we did see another critter on the Riverwalk. There, right at our feet, was a box turtle. Sadie wanted to get at it; Elizabeth held her back for her own benefit. As we left the turtle alone, it eventually came out of its shell and moved slowly . . . oh, so slowly to the water.

It was rainy, but we had two very good days on the Riverwalk.

IT'S ALL ABOUT SADIE

2010-08-17T15:36:00.001-07:00

(AUGUST 17, 2010) Because I got a later start than usual (I got to the Riverwalk at about 7:15), I didn't take my camera because I knew it would take us longer to walk the 3-4 miles we usually walk, and the morning heat would be oppressive for Sadie wearing her fur coat. Several people asked me why I didn't have my camera, and I responded that I had taken over 300 pictures yesterday and didn't want to have more pictures to work with. That was kind of a white lie. The reason I didn't bring the camera was really all about Sadie.

I've often asked myself why I go to the Riverwalk each morning. Is it because of: A) I enjoy the natural world and being a part of it for an hour or so? B) I enjoy taking pictures? or C) I enjoy being there with Sadie? Actually, all answers are correct, but if I had to choose one answer it would be "C" because it is all about Sadie.

Over the 4+ years we have been walking on the Riverwalk, we have had many interesting events happen that would not have happened had it not been for Sadie. She tends to draw attention, especially when she is pointing, and bikers, walkers, and joggers are constantly commenting on what a pretty dog she is. There are other comments as well, such as:

Does she hunt?
Is she like a bird dog?
Is she that dog that was on that magazine a few years ago (Showcase, July, 2008, to be exact)?
Is she friendly?
How old is she?
Did you teach her to pose like that?

As for that last question, that was raised by a friend who was on his bicycle and stopped to admire Sadie as she was honed in on . . . a butterfly. She was doing her "stealth" moves and moving slowly toward the small insect. She had her tail up, her nose pointed, and was raising each leg, very gently, as she crept toward the butterfly. My friend said, "That's amazing the way she moves. Did you teach her how to do that?"

I said, "Yep. Got down on my hands and knees and showed her how to hunt."

He said, "I'll give you $20 if you will demonstrate."

I said, "I'll do it for $40 and your willingness to help me get up. My pride is worth at least $40."

We laughed and watched as Sadie got within a few inches of the butterfly and, as in 99 cases out of 100, the butterfly flew away, unharmed.

As for the question, "Is she a bird dog?", my response now is, "Yep, but she's really a BUG dog." And, recently someone asked, "Is she LIKE a bird dog?", I responded, "She's not LIKE a bird dog - she is a bird dog." (Perhaps a little snooty?)

I've had people stop to watch Sadie as she poses in her pointing stance. Some have stayed for 4-5 minutes just saying over and over again, "That's amazing. That's simply amazing."

within the past few weeks, someone walked by as Sadie was stalking and asked, "Is she pointing at a snake?" I said, "Naw. Just a bug." Someone asked, just today, "Is she pointing at a bird?" I said, "Naw. Just a bug." Though it's less dramatic than a snake or a bird, it's the truth. Sadie stalks bug - AND frogs.

However, when it comes to frogs, she still hasn't learned that a frog in the mouth is worth 10-15 minutes of foaming mouth. The first time she DIDN'T learn this was a few years ago when she saw a small frog on our driveway and, when the frog jumped," she attacked it and put it in her mouth. The frog emitted some distasteful substance, Sadie dropped the frog, the frog hopped away, and Sadie foamed at the mouth for 15 minutes. I still have to keep her away from frogs or watch her foam for 15 minutes.

A final story. A couple years ago, Sadie had come upon a group of small butterflies. There were 4 or 5 of them, and Sadie started stalking one. She did her "stealth" attack (poetry in motion - very slow motion), and after about 5 minutes had come within about a foot of the small insect. While she was in her point - paw up, nose pointing, and tail straight out - another butterfly landed on her tail. The butterfly stayed there until the butterfly Sadie was stalking flew away (about 2 minutes later). I took a picture which can be seen below.

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk.

INSECTS AT WORK

2010-08-16T18:03:00.000-07:00

(AUGUST 16, 2010) This was a great morning for taking pictures - bugs and flowers. Birds are hiding in the trees and the ducks and geese occasionally do something photogenic, but not on a regular basis.

Shortly after we had started our walk, I noticed about 12 feet over my head was a beautiful tiger swallowtail butterfly, caught up in a spider web. It was frantically trying to get loose, but I was too far below it to help out.

As I was taking pictures of this frustrated beauty, a fellow walker came by and asked what I was taking pictures of. I pointed out the butterfly and said, "Well, I guess it will be food for a spider."

We continued talking and the fellow walker walked over to some debris near where the butterfly was floundering around trying to free itself. He picked up a large branch, walked over to where the butterfly was, threw the stick into the air, and the butterfly was free. It flew off. I stood there in amazement and thinking to myself, "Why hadn't I thought of that?"

Well, I guess there were two reasons. I have been in nature enough now to realize that there is life and death along the river. I guess I must have just decided that this butterfly was just a victim of nature. The second reason was just a simple one - I just didn't think about it. I regret either reason for not coming to the assistance of an animal in peril.

As we walked further, I started noticing that the insects were busily working, doing what they do - hanging around flowers and moving from flower to flower. Sadie noticed, too. She was quite taken by the small butterflies as they moved from flower to flower. She often startled small damselflies as they flittered around and landed on leaves and plants. She stayed away from the bees as they buzzed around the flowers.

As I looked closely at the insects moving about, I became quite interested in their movements. The bees and butterflies climbed all over the flowering plants, the damselflies landed on leaves and flowers, moving away whenever frightened by Sadie and then returning to the same plant, and the dragonflies as they landed on everything from the side of a concrete building to the side of a fencepost to a leaf.

Near our car on the way back, I heard a loud chirping sound. So did Sadie. She had stopped, pointed and pounced upon something before I even saw what was making the noise. It was a cicada about an inch and a half long, and it was now in Sadie's mouth. It was chirping louder, and the sound was echoing out of Sadie's mouth. She had he teeth clinched tightly, and I yelled, "SADIE. DROP IT. DROP IT, SADIE."

She did, and the cicada lay there on the ground shining under the sun. I got the picture below - the cicada in the shadow of my English setter. After we had moved on, I noticed that the cicada was moving on also.

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk.

UNDER 50

2010-08-15T13:08:00.000-07:00

(AUGUST 14, 15, 2010) WHAT IS UNDER 50?

SOME ANSWERS:

* The number of Republican U.S. Senators presently , in Washington
* The number of people Sadie and I see on the Riverwalk every morning
* The number of miles I walk every week
* The number of pictures I took on our walk each day on Saturday and Sunday

All of these are true. The main reason for this entry, however, relates to the last answer.

A few months ago, I mentioned to a friend that I took from 300-600 pictures everyday on the Riverwalk. I then said that out of those 300-600 pictures, "I would get, maybe, 8-10 that were pretty good, and, maybe, a couple that would be extraordinary."

My friend replied. "Out of that many pictures taken, you're bound to get some that are good. Even a blind person could take that many pictures and get some good ones."

I told him that he was probably right.

Back in the days of negative film photography, each shot was made as perfect as possible since the cost of film was, well, costly. Also, with a camera that would hold, at the most, 36 shots, it was important to conserve the film for that really great shot. It was frustrating to see a great shot and be out of film. I have a memory card that holds nearly 6000 pictures, so I just have to make sure the battery in my camera remains charged.

Now, with digital photography, I have enjoyed the luxury of taking a half dozen shots of one subject, thinking that, perhaps, one may be a good shot. I have become spoiled, so I decided that this weekend I would limit myself to no more than 50 shots each day on the Riverwalk. That is what I did, and I posted the best shots above.

On Saturday morning I took 46 pictures; on Sunday morning I took 49. It was difficult to NOT click away as I saw a beautiful great blue heron standing near the shore, but I refrained from shooting 3 shots a second to shooting . . . pausing . . . shooting . . . pausing and then shooting one last shot.

The pictures I got each of the last two mornings were not the best shots I've taken, but some were fairly good. Of course, I still have the advantage of seeing my pictures the morning that they were taken. I didn't have to send them off to be processed and printed and wait for a week or so for them to come back. Even then, I may not have any pictures I liked.

I recall back in the summer of 1980, we were traveling through the mid-west. I ended up taking over 10 rolls of film (36 shots per roll), and out of those rolls were only two really good shots - one was a seal swimming underwater at the Cincinnati Zoo and the second one was a mountain goat that had fallen asleep on a faux mountain at the same zoo; the second shot won a blue ribbon in a local photo contest that year, and I still have the print hanging on my wall.

I think that I will go back to taking many shots tomorrow on the Riverwalk. It was a good experiment, but it surely encumbered my style. Had I been using film, the pictures would have equaled at least 3 rolls, and the cost would have been around $20 just to see what I had; with digital, the cost was nothing.

It was another two good mornings on the Riverwalk.

BIRDS IN THE MORNING

2010-08-13T10:36:00.000-07:00

(AUGUST 13, 2010) Friday the 13th. Elizabeth pointed that out to me on the walk this morning. However, the day did not start out to be unlucky, nor has it proven so during the rest of the day.

It was a pleasant, cooler morning than the mornings earlier this week. We shortened our walk to two miles since Sadie had been having some stomach problems, but we did enjoy the cool air and all of nature around us. I'll take Sadie out this evening to Angler's Park for another couple of miles if she feels up to it.

A lady walker this morning said that "The leaves are beginning to change, now."

I responded, "Thank goodness fall is near and the heat of summer will pass."

Then I started looking around to see the change in the leaves' color. They are still green, but I did see an occasional leaf that had fallen and some of the fallen leaves were red.

In addition to the falling of the leaves indicating cooler weather, it also indicates that the song birds will be easier to see when the foliage thins. During this time of year, a person can either hear the birds singing but not see them, or if the birds are seen, they have embedded themselves into the dark foliage so that only their shadows may be visible.

This morning as we got into the dark woods, I saw a few robins "hop, hop, hopping along." I took some pictures. In the darkness of the woods and the morning, there was only a faint sight of the orange breast of the robins as they moving along in the ground foliage.

Once out of the woods, I looked to the air and water for the birds that could be seen there. The river was running fast and high since there must have been rain in the mountains. Therefore, the bird life ON the river was not there. Usually I could see a heron or some Canada geese on the river below Dan Daniel Park. There weren't there this morning. The river was too rapid for the heron to stand near the dam to catch fish or for the geese to gather in the river to eat.

However, shortly out of the dark woods I saw a crow take flight. Against the morning gray sky, the birds make an interesting silhouette. In the foliage near the river, Sadie's attention was attracted by something. Usually, it doesn't take much for her to be distracted, so I assumed it was a bug of some type. As I looked on the ground in front of her about 20 feet away, there was a mourning dove, looking at us. These birds don't seem to be as nervous as some others, so the bird stood there and just looked as Sadie got closer and I took some pictures. When Sadie was within 5 feet, the dove flew off.

The day was filled with birds in the tree or grass with fairly poor lighting or birds in the sky or on a wire. However, there was one saving grace of the morning. Through the clouds the sun made an interesting contrast to the dove on the wire. The dove seemed to be ready to feather its nest as it sat on the wire with the gray sky and the bright sun in the background.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

DEATH AND PENANCE ON THE RIVERWALK

2010-08-11T08:30:00.000-07:00

(AUGUST 11, 2010) Each day on the Riverwalk there are life and death stories. The food chain on the river keeps the larger animals alive while the smaller animals are constantly alert to the dangers of the predators. This is one of those stories . . .

Sadie and I got out to the Riverwalk at about 6:45 this morning. The dark woods were dark, the brown river was brown and the great blue heron was . . . great and blue. Not much different from other mornings as I thought, which I do every morning, "I wonder if I'll have anything to write about today?" So far, for over 120 mornings, something has prompted a story idea.

This morning, I started noticing patterns in nature (the "S" shape of the heron's neck, the serpentine vines growing along the fences, and the star shape of a beautiful pink flower just to name a few). I began consciously taking pictures of patterns in nature.

Other possible ideas came to mind as we walked our 3 miles. However, it was on the way back that I met another walker, and we started a conversation. During the conversations I have on the Riverwalk, Sadie entertains herself with her stalking of whatever may move in the length of her leash. She will stalk, point, and, sometimes, attack.

We had stopped by a honeysuckle bush that had small flowers now. I was taking a picture of some moths and butterflies and bees as the individual stopped to talk. Among the small flowers there were two very beautiful tiger swallowtail butterflies darting among the sweetness of the honeysuckle. Right after our conversation ended, one of the swallowtails flew right over Sadie's head, and Sadie took a leap in the air. It was in the reach of Sadie strong jaws, but she just missed it.

She followed the butterfly until it landed on a low branch of the honeysuckle. She stood there, lifted her front paw, pointed and lurched forward, grabbing the beautiful creature between her teeth.

I let out a primordal cry of "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

It was too late. The beautiful creature was struggling its last moments as Sadie pulled at its wings and finally let it be as it fluttered its last flutter.

I was sad that this beautiful creature had fallen to my predator dog, and was a little upset at Sadie but more upset with myself for allowing Sadie to carry out this killing.

We passed one more beautiful butterfly on a lower branch of a bush before we got back to the car, and I kept Sadie at least several yards away from the beauty as she pointed at it.

As we left the park, I thought about the cruelty I had just witnessed as Sadie had taken down the beautiful butterfly. I was getting a little angry at Sadie for doing what she does.

I exited the ramp onto the expressway and found myself fussing at Sadie. The car got up to 60 mph and my fussing became louder. At 65 I looked back in my rear view mirror and saw Sadie looking at me. As I glanced back at the road, I saw, just ahead of the car, coming in my direction, fluttering along in an up and down path, a beautiful tiger swallowtail butterfly just the size of the one Sadie had taken down in the park.

SMACK!!! Right into the windshield.

I thought, "Karma," and drove silently home.

CATTAILS, INCH WORMS AND WTH?* (*What the Heck?)

2010-08-09T05:35:00.001-07:00

(AUGUST 9, 2010) This morning we had to rush our walk because someone was coming to our house to put in some blinds "between 8 and 9." I decided to go to Angler's Park so I could be within sight of my car and could end the walk quickly if I saw that I was running behind.

As we went into the park, two deer ran across the road about 50 yards ahead of us and disappeared into the marsh. I had driven only a few yards more when a much larger deer ran in front of me, following the other two into the marsh. I pulled over into a rocky parking lot and got out with my camera. As can be seen by the photo to the left, I was too late.

CATTAILS

I decided to leave the car in the rocky parking lot, so I went back to get Sadie out of the back. We crossed the wooden bridge, and I noticed that the marsh was full of cattails. These "hot dogs on long sticks" were everywhere I looked. It was 6:20 in the morning, and there wasn't much else to see in the marsh. Unlike deer, that disappear into the marsh, the cattails just stood there and let me snap away.

When I returned home, I discovered that cattails go by some other names in American English. They are also called "punks" and "corndog grass." In England they are called "bulrush," "bullrush," and "reedmace." The red-winged blackbird calls them "home." This is where they sit in the spring and summer and build their nests

INCHWORMS

As we came to the part of the path that leads up river toward Dan Daniel Park, I noticed a shimmering thread hanging about eye level. Attached to the end of the thread was an inchworm. This is not actually a worm but a caterpillar that will eventually turn into a small moth. I often see these small creatures hanging on their threads along the Riverwalk. This morning, in the quietness of Angler's Park, the little guy seemed to be hanging there waiting for me to photograph him.

WTH* (What the Heck?)

As we walked by the marsh, I notice some very pretty flowers - purple, blue, yellow, and I also noticed that one purple flower seemed to explode out of the a thistle and had some white cottony fluff coming out from where it exploded.

While walking near the marsh, on the other side nearer to the river, I had passed some flowers and saw cottony fluff clinging to the leaves of some of the marsh plants. I ignored these little fluff balls thinking that they had come from these purple flowers or were just goose down hanging there.

As we were returning to the car, I saw a yellow flower and stopped to take a picture. It was near one of the white cottony fluff balls. All of a sudden the fluff ball started to move. My reaction was WTH*? (*What the Heck?). As I looked closer, the white fluff didn't move again immediately, but as I stood there, I could see a little head coming out of the white "cotton."

I realized that this was a small woolly worm. Checking it out at home, I discovered it was a woolly bear, a small caterpillar that will eventually become a moth. This little fluff ball seems to want to confuse a potential predator into believing that it is either a part of the flower or a piece of goose down. Or, perhaps, I am the only one fooled by this, though nature is wonderful in protecting its littlest creatures.

On the way back to the car, we were still fairly alone in the park. As we crossed the road to the rocky parking lot, Sadie started prancing and looking like she had seen a deer or other wildlife. As I got within 30 yards of the car, I pushed the unlock button to open the back window. When it went up, Sadie jumped like a frightened dog. She hadn't recognized the car because it was parked at a different place, and when we got there, she started sniffing it. She finally accepted it as ours and jumped into the back.

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk at Angler's Park.

NEAR PERFECT PICTURE

2010-08-07T12:48:00.001-07:00

(AUGUST 7, 2010) Yesterday I took over 400 photographs while on the river. Some of them were shown, in part, in the photo selected for yesterday's entry, EYES on the Riverwalk. However, one shot was especially nice with near perfect lighting and near perfect colors. The crispness of the red damselfly image makes for a very pleasant photograph.

Sadie and I did get to the Riverwalk this morning, starting at Angler's Park and walking toward Dan Daniel Park. I didn't take my camera since it was later in the morning, and I knew that if I took my camera we would likely be an hour or more longer, and the sun was beginning to already heat the air.

While on the trail, I kept thinking of this one photograph I took yesterday. The photo required little cropping and absolutely no manipulation with Photo Shop (light and color were near perfect). I decided that I would write about that photo today.

I have 1000s of photos of damselflies taken over the past two years (most of them have been taken this summer). There are photos of blue one, red ones, yellow ones, brown ones and green ones. I've heard there are some purple ones, too, but I've never seen one of those. Yesterday's beauty was a red one (more of a maroon one as the photograph depicts the insect's true colors).

As Sadie walks near the brush growing up along the river, she often disperses a number of damselflies into the air as they fly away from her nearness. She will still point at them if they attract her attention, but she is more interested in the smaller butterflies. This one damselfly was perched above her reaches while she was pointing at a small butterfly. I snapped away at the damselfly, taking about a dozen shots of it. All of the shots were identical - all near perfect.

It is rare that I take a "near perfect" picture. There is some focusing error or something wrong with the lighting. However, I DO take sometimes as many as 600 pictures a day on the Riverwalk.

I told someone, once, that by "taking 300-600 photographs each day, there are bound to be three or four that are pretty good." The person responded, "Even if a blind person were given the camera, he could get a few good shots out of that many photographs." It's always nice to have someone around to keep me humble.

It was another good day, not as "near perfect" as the photograph, but a good day on the Riverwalk.

EYES ON THE RIVER

2010-08-06T20:18:00.001-07:00

(AUGUST 6, 2010) This morning, as Sadie and I walked on the Riverwalk, I noticed the creatures of the woods - the birds, the insects, and Sadie. I was especially taken by the eyes of those birds and insects I saw.

The Bible says that the "eyes are the window of the soul." I wasn't quite sure what that means, but I guess I was trying to understand the souls of those creatures I saw this morning.

Most of the insect eyes are fairly complex with the damselfly moving its eyes around on its head, the bumblebee staring with its brownish oval eyes, the butterfly with round black dots for eyes, the fly with its colorful orange eyes, and wasps with dark black oval eyes. What did those eyes say about the souls of those insects? I still don't know what it means, but as you look at the pictures above, image what those eyes may tell you about an insect.

The water fowl (ducks and geese) have eyes that are more similar to human eyes except these birds have round eyes. The similarity comes with the black pupil of the bird surrounded by another color (a brownish orange). The expressions in the eyes don't seem to change according to the mood of the bird - from just chillin' on a summer morning to fear as the sojourner and his dog approach.

The songbirds have eyes that are more akin to the insects in that they don't have a pupil surrounded by color. The eyes of the songbirds, however, seem softer than the insect eyes. If I were to try to judge the soul of the songbirds based upon their eyes, I would have to say that they have a sense of peace within their souls.

And, of course, Sadie's eyes. She uses them (and her other senses) constantly as we walk on the Riverwalk. She is searching for a butterfly to point at or some strange bug to sniff. Her eyes are even more like humans. With her smiling eyes, her soul must be rich in joy and peace.

There was a sad event to this pleasant day. This afternoon my neighbor called me over to look at a hummingbird that was at her feeder. The small bird wasn't moving and had its long bill in the sugar water of the hummingbird feeder. My neighbor held the small bird in her hands, and the bird didn't move except for looking up with some sad eyes. Perhaps the tiny bird had starved or fallen out of the nest too soon. I'm sure that the soul of this small weak bird is now flying around somewhere.

I wonder, if humans become angels (some religions believe that), can birds become angels too? If so, I guess that cuts down on the cost of wings, since the birds (and most insects) would bring their own.

MY eyes are tired now as I finish this entry. It was, however, another good morning on the Riverwalk.

LICHENS AND MUSHROOMS

2010-08-05T19:23:00.000-07:00

(AUGUST 5, 2010) How low can you go?

This morning on the Riverwalk I went pretty low to scan the ground cover and the woods for lichens and mushrooms. They were, to my surprise, EVERYWHERE. Especially after the rain we have had over the past few days, the mushrooms were plentiful and the lichens were there where they have been for months and years.

First of all, all I know about lichens is what I learned from a couple of naturalist at Grandfather Mountain last week. I learned that lichens are found on trees and rocks and take a long time to grow. They are healthy for nature's plan in that these part fungi and part algae compounds adhere to the tree or rock, die, and provide a nurturing substance allowing moss to grow which eventually results in grasses and plants growing where the lichens had been.

The naturalists at Grandfather Mountain pointed out a large rock where much of the lichens had been removed as the result of hikers seeing the rock, deciding it is a good "climbing rock," and, as the result, their constant climbing on the rock removed the lichens

OK. That's about all I know, but I now have greater respect for these substances on trees and rocks which, until I was briefly educated last week, thought that they were just algae on rocks or broken bark on trees.

Now I know of a microscopic life that goes on in the park daily. I just hope that Sadie doesn't sense movement in the lichens on a tree and decide to point at it until it moves again. The naturalist said that it sometimes taken lichens a year to grow an inch. That would be a long wait for Sadie.

Mushrooms. I've often wondered what is the difference between a mushroom and a toadstool. Again, the naturalists at Grandfather Mountain helped me out with a brief comment. Basically, their difference hasn't been definitively determined. Traditionally, the name toadstool was given to mushrooms that were poisonous.

Mushrooms just seem to pop up overnight after a rain. They are a fungus that develop from a microscopic spore, and the rest is far beyond my simple grasp of the reproductive system of the mushroom. Regardless, there were plenty of mushrooms out today.

I don't know a lot about lichens and mushrooms and toadstools, but I guess you could say that today I have done some "ground" work on the subject. Each day there is more to learn, and each day there are new things to see on the Riverwalk.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

RAIN, WATER and the RIVER

2010-08-04T19:27:00.000-07:00

(AUGUST 4, 2010) The smell of summer rain greeted us as we began our walk this morning. In the tree canopied sections of the Riverwalk we got drops of water as the slight breeze blew the limbs of the trees causing the water to shake down on us. Otherwise, we dodged the bullet of rain, again, yet some walkers spoke of having encountered rain on other part of the trail.

There were signs, however. The water gathered in the turned up leaves on the tree, the water dripping from the tips of leaves, the puddles in the middle of the trail, and the dampness of the grass indicated a recent rain.

The water provided an oasis for the insects As the smaller butterflies landed on the damp leaves to enjoy a cool drink, a large number of damselflies flitted around from leaf to leaf landing in the middle near the drops there or balancing precariously on the tip of the plant.

As we started the walk, the air was slightly humid with a nice breeze. As we proceeded, the sun came out and the morning turned more humid and hotter. But, when the sun came out, so did the larger butterflies and more insects.

Sadie spent her time pointing at the smaller butterflies as they landed on small leaves and flowers, resting and sipping the water, while I craned my neck and took pictures of larger butterflies cavorting in the woods near the river. Of course, had Sadie not stopped to point at the smaller butterflies, I would have missed seeing the larger one.

I would have also missed seeing new and fresh blooms of flowers that seem to have burst forth overnight with the wonderful rain. There were the yellow daisies and other flowers of blue, purple, and white. The woods, this morning, seemed to be a medley of colors with the dominant color being, of course, green.

On the bridge near the Public Works department, we stopped to watch the geese and ducks as they swam underneath the bridge and some as they stood on the banks of the river drinking the water or eating vegetation along the shore.

As we stood there, a walker we see daily stopped and started talking about the beauty of the river.

He asked me, "Did you know this river is nearly 200 million years old? That's a very long time. I think of 100 years as being old, but 200 million years."

I affirmed that I hadn't known that, and then he went on to inform me that there were Native Americans along the shores of the Dan River 8000 years ago and were there until the settlers came in from Europe. He had just read this information on a historical board located towards Angler's Park. It is amazing when one thinks of the age of this river and its history.

As we neared the end of our walk, we saw one other thing that was truly amazing. Sadie pulled on the leash toward a chirping sound in the grass. I recognized the sound of a cicada, and Sadie pulled the leash towards movement on the ground. I walked closer and saw a very strange object. It was a very large bee riding a larger insect. When I saw the bee, I pulled Sadie away and put her leash around a fence post nearby. I went over and started snapping pictures. I realized that I was watching a very large bee (perhaps a hornet) killing a cicada while riding its back. I took several pictures; Sadie sat patiently next to the fence. I finished, gave her a biscuit, and we went on to our car.

It was a most interesting morning on the Riverwalk.

IMPERFECTION

2010-08-03T14:51:00.001-07:00

(AUGUST 3, 2010) The American novelist Alice Walker wrote: "“In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they're still beautiful.”

There is a great deal of truth in that quotation. It doesn't take a person long, while wandering around in the outdoors, to see both the perfections and imperfections in nature. Over the years of walking on the Riverwalk, I have seen the graceful geese coming in for a landing in the water, and I have also seen geese crash land. This summer on the Chesapeake Bay, I watched as the pelicans didn't land gracefully on the water but just simply dropped into the water.

Though the geese on land look awkward as they waddle along, they seem to be perfect in their waddling until I see a straggler limping along on one foot. Even the timing of the baby animals seems to go against perfection. A number of months ago some goslings were surprised to see us coming around the corner one morning and ran to catch up to the adults, stumbling all over themselves as Sadie and I watched in amusement.

The great blue heron, while standing near the shore, seems like a stately bird in its perfect plumage, but I have seen the great bird spread its wings as it stands on an island in the river, and its body looks so small and frail. The bird in flight is not as graceful either, yet at times it, as Walker says, its flight is both perfect and not perfect.

This morning I made special note of the flowers in the woods. As I looked closely, I saw the beautiful yellow daisies in the dark woods. There were some perfect specimen of bright yellow flowers and there were many more of these flowers whose blooms had been damaged, and they looked less than pristine.

Even Sadie, when she gets out into nature and into her element among the birds and wildlife, stumbles occasionally as she walks through the woods or runs in the field. When she gets into her setter stance and points at whatever interests her at the moment, she is like perfection in motion. However, when the butterfly flies away and she loses it, she looks up at me as if to ask, "What did I do wrong?"

As a sojourner to nature, I find myself looking closely at the perfections and imperfections of what I see around me. Perhaps, by seeing the imperfections of nature, I can see, more closely, my own personal imperfections.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

PRETTY, UGLY & PRETTY UGLY

2010-08-02T18:55:00.001-07:00

(AUGUST 2, 2010) This morning was pleasant on the Riverwalk since the temperature was comfortable and there was still a little dampness in the air from the recent rains. Some walkers were carrying their umbrellas; I trusted the forecast of the Weather Channel.

As we went into the woods, we saw a small heron in the water surrounded by a group of Canada geese enjoying the quietness of the morning. On the way out, I took some pictures of the heron and geese before the heron must have felt a little disturbed by my intrusion and flew down river for more solitude.

PRETTY

In the dark woods of the morning, the yellow daisies burst forth with their powerful color. They seemed to float in the darkness of the deep woods. There were also some purple and blue flowers that lent color to an otherwise colorless day.

Sadie located a number of butterflies to stalk. One small one was especially colorful in the green grass. I shot away as Sadie approached closer and closer. The butterfuly escaped to continue making the woods more beautiful.

UGLY

Some ugly insects were out today. There was an brown beetle type bug crouched, up-side down under the top plank of a wooden fence. It looked at me with its beady eyes as I took several pictures of it. Sadie didn't see the beast, but would have likely given it some competition in a stare-down.

As we were leaving the dark woods, Sadie became attracted to a small butterfly. As I looked closely at a sign post, I noted a brown insect hanging on to the side. As I got closer, I saw that it had pinchers and was, like the other bug, ugly.

PRETTY UGLY

In the woods near the train trellis was an interesting bug that was plain brown but had antennae with bright red tips. This bug was neither ugly nor pretty, but it was, well, pretty ugly.

Also, near the brown bug with red tipped antennae, there was an interesting spider in its web. It climbed up the web as Sadie walked underneath it, causing movement in the web. As it got to a set place, it spread its leg down and look, somewhat, like a squid. It wasn't that ugly nor was it pretty but, like the brown bug, pretty ugly.

It was another interesting morning on the Riverwalk.

FLOWERS ON A RAINY DAY

2010-08-01T09:29:00.001-07:00

(AUGUST 1, 2010) I learned something new this week that I have actually known for a long time. I don't know one plant or flower from another.

While at Grandfather Mountain last week, we went on a nature hike with two park naturalists. Along the way they pointed out various flora. All I saw was green plants. It's a part of my education where there is definitely a lacking.

A couple of years ago I thought that all small birds were sparrows. I knew the robin, the cardinal, the blue jay, and the blue bird, but everything else that was a small bird was a sparrow. My education there has picked up, but there is still a lot I don't know about birds.

This morning Sadie and went to Angler's Park. There was a constant mist as we walked, but the temperature was a pleasant 64 degrees when we got there at 7:00. We walked three laps around the ball field, so we got in our 3 plus miles. I took my camera and snapped some pictures on the first lap, and then returning the camera to the car to keep it dry.

I did hear the red-winged blackbird, but didn't see it. I heard a crow in the woods, but didn't see it. I did, however, see some bright flowers this morning. As I said, I don't know much about flowers but I did see some white ones, some purple ones , some blue ones, some pink ones and some yellow ones on this dark misty cloudy morning.

When I realize how much I don't know about nature, I often think of James Thurber's essay, "University Days" in which he describes his difficulty in seeing anything in a microscope. When he does finally see something, he draws it, and the instructor informs him that he has drawn his eye which was reflected in the microscope. Often, when I see a plant or flower, I see only something of beauty - something I can't identify, but something of beauty.

Notwithstanding the fact that I don't know the names of the flowers I saw, I did enjoy my morning at Angler's Park as we had the park to ourselves because it was a bit damp for most people. Heck, even the ducks and geese weren't out this morning. We had our little bit of nature to ourselves, and the cool temperature made it glorious.

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk.

PREDATOR AND PREY

2010-07-31T07:18:00.000-07:00

(JULY 31, 2010) It was a cool but dreary day on the Riverwalk as the sky threatened rain and the earth was wet from the passing storm the night before. There were puddles for Sadie to drink from and wet grass to walk through as Sadie found the perfect place, in the middle of a field, to do what she needed to do.

Shortly into our walk, I spotted something on a concrete sewer structure. On the top of that was a beautiful monarch butterfly - dead. I wondered how the butterfly had died, but there was no answer.

We did continue on the trail, and a short distance beyond the dead butterfly, the flowers were teeming with bees and living butterflies. But there was also a predator lurking. A large yellow garden spider had built its web near the plants, and Sadie and I watched as a small insect flew right into that trap. Once in the web, the small white insect didn't struggle or move again. As I observed the large yellow garden spider, I realized that it was one of the largest spiders I had ever seen. I also noticed an interesting web spinning that the spider had spun; a part of the web above and below where the spider placed himself was in the shape of a cork screw.

I didn't see the large birds like the osprey, eagle or hawk that come into the woods and takes away small rodents and birds. However, I did see a robin dig a worm out of the ground, a mockingbird with a wing hanging out of its mouth (it looked like a damselfly wing), and the sojourner predator of the woods, Sadie.

As Sadie walks the 3-4 miles with me, she tends to "work." She identifies a "prey" (it could be a small insect or a small butterfly) and goes into her set as she creeps closer and closer. 99 times out of 100, she misses her prey. However, the ducks and geese see her as a predator and often walk to the river when she approaches. In the photo to the right, Sadie has honed in on a small damselfly. This was one of the 99 out of 100 that she missed.

Someone walked by today and asked, "Is that dog like a bird dog?"

I responded, "Sadie is not 'like' a bird dog, she is 100% bird dog."

As I thought about that response, I realized that as a bird dog, Sadie is a predator. She is often seen on the Riverwalk in her pose as she stalks some small insect. Each day several people comment about how still she stands and how she is good at what she does. She is very good at what she does and a beautiful dog as well.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

I have posted, below, a couple of links to see Sadie at Dancing Creek Farm where she stay when we are out of town. She is the white English setter with brown markings.

These are fun to watch:

Sadie Hogging the Bed:

Sadie Potty Break

Butterflies, Bees, Bears and Birds at Boone

2010-07-30T12:58:00.000-07:00

(JULY 30, 2010) For three days we visited the cooler mountains of Boone, North Carolina, and enjoyed the fresh air, the breeze, and nature in addition to the Lovill House Inn where we stayed (by the way, this is not "product placement" in this entry - it is just the mention of a very comfortable location where we stayed for two nights). Scott and Anne were wonderful hosts.

What I enjoyed the most about the inn (besides the good breakfasts) was the garden. The flowers attracted the beautiful butterflies and the busy bees who basked in the breath-taking beauty of that bounteous oasis of blooms. In the mornings the birds would start their chirping at 5:00 and would make their presence known as they visited the bird feeders placed in the garden. It was like Eden.

Speaking of birds - the first evening that we came in from a delicious dinner, I clicked the lock button on the car key and the car made a "chirp-chirp" sound as the locks went into place. From a tree nearby came a "chirp-chirp." I clicked the button again - "chirp-chirp." From the tree came, "chirp-chirp." For a few minutes I stood there clicking the lock button while the mockingbird in the tree responded. I would be there still, but the bird lost interest in this game long before I did.

We went to Grandfather Mountain on Wednesday and spent the day. The views from the top are awesome and inspiring. We visited the Grandfather Mountain museum and the two gift shops there. Then we saw some of the animals in their "natural" habitats (caged, but in a habitat that looks like where they should be). There were two cougars (I learned that bobcats, mountain lions, and pumas are other names for these cats and that the ones east of the Mississippi are smaller than the ones in the west), some white-tailed deer, three black bears, a golden eagle, and some otters (who were sleeping, so we didn't ACTUALLY see them, but saw their habitat).

We then walked across the swinging bridge at the top of the mountain. There were some visitors who had brought their dogs to the bridge, and half-way across, the dogs became frightened and refused to move. There was a traffic jam a mile high. When we got to the other side, the view was spectacular. However, some of the views on the way up the mountain were just as spectacular. It was kind of like having fire-works moments on the 4th of July. The "ooooooos" and the "awwwwwws" after each bright burst was the same experience we had as we saw one beautiful mountain view after the other.

On our way down the mountain we stopped at about the half way point and did a nature hike conducted by two naturalists from the park.
The 30-45 minute walk through the woods was informative as we learned about lichens and hardwoods and salamanders and flora and fauna native to the area. Very informative and worth the time spent.

After returning to Boone we made our usual visits to the Mast General Store and an antique store there. We enjoyed dinner that night at an Appalachian State University "watering hole," Macados, and then returned for our last night at the quaint cottage we had called home for two days.

It was three very good days as we went to the mountains to enjoy nature in a different environment from our daily walks on the Riverwalk.

I did get back on the Riverwalk this morning with Sadie - we did our usual 3 miles. I didn't take my camera today because I had more pictures to look at from our trip. I will take it, again, tomorrow.

Here is a chipmunk we saw near the garden at the Lovill House Inn.

THE BUG WITH TWO HEADS

2010-07-26T12:11:00.001-07:00

(JULY 26, 2010) This morning Sadie and I got to the Riverwalk at about 6:30 to beat the heat. It wasn't as hot today as it has been over the past week, but it was very humid, and the Riverwalk was quiet.

We did see the white-beige sparrow we have seen during the past few weeks near the bridge at the Public Works department. There was a heron in the water near the bridge that goes to the train station. I crossed the bridge to get a better shot, but when I got above where it had been, the heron had left.

It wasn't until I got about a half mile from the car when there was Jim Bob Billy Ray Numbhead running toward me yelling, "Come, see! Come, see! There's a bug over here with two heads. I think I found one of them Siam twins - you know those that has two heads."

Now, Jim Bob Billy Ray isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was so enthused about his find that I had to take Sadie and go see this freak of nature (the bug, not Jim Bob Billy Ray).

Just as a side note, Jim Bob Billy Ray got the first and second names of his two grandfathers. His grandfather, on his daddy's side was Jim Bob Smith, but when Jim Bob Billy Ray's father joined the army between the two wars (Korea and Vietnam), he changed his name because there were too many Smiths in his platoon. He changed it to Numbhead because "it sounded French."

Now back to the story. As you can see from the pictures above that the bugs all have one head. These are, according to Jim Bob Billy Ray, "normal bugs." But he saw the "Siam bugs" and had to tell someone, so Sadie and I were there, and we were the lucky ones.

As we walked over to the bushes where he had seen the "Siam bugs," he kept talking about how he might win the "Nobel Prize in Insects" and become a "gazillion-aire." He went on and on about how proud his daddy would be of him, and that with the money he got from this discovery, he could now afford to get married to the woman he had been "courtin'" for nearly 25 years; her name is Betty Jo Smith, and they may be related, but Jim Bob Billy Ray says, "I don't mind that. She is a purty woman."

As we got to the bushes where he saw those "Siam bugs," I started taking picture of the orange and black striped bugs, seen above. I snapped away, and Jim Bob Billy Ray looked and looked, but he couldn't find those "Siam bugs" to save himself.

He said, "I bet one of those other walkers might have snatched that bug, and now my future is bleak." He walked away mumbling to himself, "The only good break I've ever had in my life, and someone has done snatched it away."

I stayed there and took some more pictures of the bugs. And then I saw a very large bug and took several pictures of it. As I got closer, I said to myself, "By golly. Jim Bob Billy Ray was right. There is a bug with two heads."

I took several shots before I realized that that wasn't one bug with two heads, but two bugs mating. I took a few more pictures and then felt I was intruding upon a private moment and left.

Now, some of the story above is true (the first two paragraphs), but it was still a very good morning on the Riverwalk.

"BEAUTY IS TRUTH, TRUTH BEAUTY"

2010-07-25T15:07:00.000-07:00

(JULY 25, 2010) Though hot, in the low 80s, as I began my walk this morning at 6:30, the woods, the sky and the river were full of life.

In the woods I saw a robin moving along, listening, and then pecking the ground, coming up with breakfast, a worm. In the beautiful blue sky I saw an osprey fly over, heading up river, and then swirling downward to another air current, and then flying out of sight. In the river I saw a heron standing on some fallen trees in the river. I moved to the bridge going to the train station and got some interesting shots from above this blue/gray statuesque bird.

The birds were not the only life on the river. Many flowers were in full bloom shouting forth their colors of yellow, purple, blue and white. They provided a lovely contrast to the green foliage along the banks of the river.

As always, the flowers attracted bees and butterflies and other insects finding the aroma and pollen irresistible. The bumble bees hung in all directions around the flowers. They would hang upside down, sideways, inside the flower in an almost embracing position, and would often visit a flower continuing to fly and not stopping to land. Sadie has learned to stay away from these stinging insects, though they present a mighty tempting target for her.

Dragonflies and damselflies are also attracted to the flowers. The damselflies grasp the plant completely enveloping it underneath. Damselflies are more elegant in their positioning. They often just hold on by their legs while their entire body hangs in space; sometimes, however, they do hold on exactly like the dragonflies. Sadie will spend 5-10 minutes pointing at a damselfly when she spots one. Their darting around the leaves and flowers tends to fascinate her.

Butterflies also seem to get her attention. The magnificent colors of these graceful creatures as they move about the leaves and the flowers draw her to them as flowers draw butterflies to them. Today I saw a number of different varieties of butterflies. They are interesting in that they are sometimes very predictable, and at other times they just show up unexpectedly. Usually, on a warm day, they can be spotted on flowers in several select areas of the Riverwalk. Today was not such a day since there were only bees there.

However, a particular brown and white and yellow butterfly was pointed out by a jogger who had stopped to talk with me. She noticed the beautiful butterfly on a tree behind me. I turned and started taking pictures.

Once I got home and looked at the pictures, I noticed that the beautiful butterfly had a tear in its wing and was rather dreary in the texture of its coat, but its color was very attractive.

This butterfly further pointed out to me the second part of Keats' quote (above) - "Beauty [is] truth." For the artist to depict the beauty of nature as it is rather than how he wishes it were, he must recognize that the truth of beauty in nature is that, up close, beauty can have its flaws.

With that butterfly there is something to be learned here as it relates to human nature. All humans, from the New York fashion model to the person with a terribly burned and disfigured face, have beauty. The nature of humankind is that all encompass a special spirit of beauty, and God, if you wish, which makes even the most horrible looking human - beautiful.

As with the butterfly, humans all have flaws; they are not perfect. However, that does not distract from the beauty of humankind. To accept this about beauty is best summed up by John Keats when he concludes in his poem, "Ode on a Grecian Urn," with:
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty, — that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."

It was another good, but hot, day on the Riverwalk.

STRANGE THINGS SEEN

2010-07-23T20:48:00.000-07:00

(JULY 23, 2010) The English poet John Donne wrote:

Go and catch a falling star,
Get with child a mandrake root,
Tell me where all past years are,
Or who cleft the devil's foot,
Teach me to hear mermaids singing,
Or to keep off envy's stinging,
And find
What wind
Serves to advance an honest mind.

If thou be'st born to strange sights,
Things invisible to see . . .

Donne wrote about things impossible to see - strange things, strange sights. Each day on the Riverwalk, Sadie and I are "born to strange sights."

This morning, as we were walking in the dark woods, a bright white object caught my eye. The woods were dark, with shadows of trees, but this one object lit up like a light bulb. As we walked closer to it, I realized that I was seeing a perfectly shaped white mushroom growing out of the side of a tree. It was like many I had seen growing on the damp floor of the woods, but never have I seen one growing out of a tree.

Further along, I was looking at a damselfly when I noticed a spider's web. While looking at the web and trying to see the spider, I saw a small winged insect flying toward the web. "DOOMED," I thought. But, much to my surprise, the insect hit the web, bounced off and flew over the web into the woods. It seemed like a small miracle.

At the 3/4 mile mark from Dan Daniel Park, I had been missing the cormorants that had, for years, frequented the large tree that was down in the middle of the river. This morning I saw that two of the creepy black water birds had returned. As I watched the two birds spreading their wings to dry off in the warm sun, one spent several minutes staring down into the river at what appeared to be . . . himself. He was quite intrigued by the bird that was looking back at him.

Inch worms always fascinate me. The fact that they just seem to hang in mid-air is intriguing. This morning I saw an inch worm that had dropped a thread so thin that I couldn't see it, and the camera couldn't pick it up - the inch worm seemed to hang in space.

And finally, as we were returning, we had arrived at the bridge which marks one mile back to the car. Beside the bridge something had attracted Sadie's attention. As I was talking with some people who had wandered by, she was zeroing in on a damselfly. She inched closer and closer until she was about two inches away from this clueless insect.

I could tell that her breath was below her perceived prey since the foliage below the insect was moving, and the damselfly seemed to have no idea that Sadie was there, until . . . the damselfly did something I have never seen one do before. Though the insect had remained stiff and straight, as Sadie approached, the body was bent into an upward position, perhaps an impulsive defense to warn away any predator. Sadie wasn't threatened and crept closer and closer until . . . the damselfly flew away, completely unharmed, and Sadie looked at me with the look I often see that says, "Well, another one got away."

A perfect mushroom growing out of a tree, an insect not ensnared by a spider's web, a narcissistic cormorant, an inch worm suspended in space with no apparent support, and a damselfly that used a defense mechanism unsuccessfully, but survived anyway, were some of the "strange sights" Sadie and were born to this morning.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

"FISH GOT TO SWIM; BIRDS GOT TO FLY"

2010-07-22T16:37:00.000-07:00

(JULY 22, 2010) Earlier in the week I saw a couple of fishermen who had caught 7-8 catfish, one being about three feet long. The fish were laid out on the ground, completely out of their environment, and still gasping for breath. A lady who was standing there said, "I hate to see animals, any animals, suffer." I agreed.

This morning I saw a number of birds and insects in trees, much to the CHAGRIN of Sadie, knowing that they got there by flying. The trees and the river are natural habitats for birds; only the water is for fish.

Humans, too, are often taken out of their natural habitat and placed in situations that make them uncomfortable or ill. Such is the case with what has happened in the Gulf of Mexico where not only 1000s of birds and fishes have died or gotten injured by this mistake, but many workers are getting ill from the fumes of the cleanup. Fish got to swim; Birds got to fly; Humans got to be more careful so they can.

I've often thought of the wildlife on the Gulf as I see the wildlife each day as I walk on the Riverwalk. The environment is fragile. One morning a walker stopped and as we chatted, he commented that a number of years ago the Dan River was a dead river. There was little life on it, few birds, and not a sign of the great blue heron. As the city and industry worked to clean up the river, wildlife gradually came back. The small song birds, and then the fish became more plentiful, and then the water birds like ducks and geese, and then, finally, the great blue heron was seen on a regular basis. Now there are a variety of birds on the river including the heron, cormorants, osprey, coots, mergansers, and even a bald eagle can be seen flying overhead.

When the environment is disrupted by anything that throws out the balance of nature, whether it is industry waste or over population of animals, the wild life and all of nature suffers.

Man is not always the culprit. Man is often the savior of endangered species. Many animals that might have become extinct through the natural changes of the environment are now plentiful because some humans worked to protect them from natural destruction. Had it not been too late and someone would have noticed, perhaps the dodo bird would still be around and even the "mythical?" unicorn may be seen in the field along the river.

But all of this is based upon two simple ideas: Fish got to swim and birds got to fly. Without these two factors, the rivers and skies will be dead again.

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk.

LOST

2010-07-21T16:00:00.000-07:00

(JULY 21, 2010) Sometimes being lost means looking for a map to find the way; sometimes it means being somewhere except where expected to be, and sometimes it means trying to find your way until something changes that makes the world clearer.

As Elizabeth and Sadie show above, a map gives an indication of where someone is. I have heard it said that if you don't have a map to take you to a place, you will likely end up somewhere else. That applies to traveling and life in general. There are individuals who are like the feather in the movie Forrest Gump - they are blown from place to place with no control over their lives. At the Riverwalk, the map shows where a person is and how far it is from point to point.

Sometimes a map is not handy, so someone may ask another person for directions. Yesterday I was walking back towards Dan Daniel Park from the direction of Angler's Park when a couple asked me how far the trail went from where we were. I told them that it was about another mile and a half to Angler's Park and then they could go beyond that all the way to the airport. They said that they had started at Biscuitville and wanted to see how far they could walk. I told them that upon their return to Biscuitville, they would have walked between 5-6 miles. They were satisfied and turned around to walk back.

This is also the way life is. When a person doesn't have a map for his life, that individual might ask for directions from someone and, hopefully, get accurate directions.

Sometimes "lost" means seeing something out of where it is expected to be. This morning there was large group of Canada geese gathered at the base of the dam near Dan Daniel Park. The geese, for the years I have been walking the trail, had always gathered up-stream. When I saw them at a different place downstream, they looked out of place.

I thought about a short essay by Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor Louis Rubin. The essay was called "The Boll Weevil, the Iron Horse, and the End of the Line: Thoughts on the South." In the essay, Professor Rubin sees a small train moving along each day in a very specific location. Later in his life he sees the small train in a different setting and thinks it seems lost, away from where he had always seen it and had, for years, imagined it in his mind.

And finally, sometimes being lost means that eventually you find your way and move on. This morning I spoke with a man I see regularly on the trail. He has been job-searching for many months, and this morning he told me about his latest opportunity. A company in Lancaster, Pa. had contacted him about a job. This was the second job he will have interviewed for in the past two weeks, the other being near Hickory, NC.

For months this man had been lost in his job search and nothing seemed to be paying dividends as he sent out his resume. Now, there was hope as he found his way to at least the interview stage in his job search.

Being lost is never good. However, with a good map, good advice, and good luck (or hope), being lost can result in the joy of learning from an experience and trying to never be lost again.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk..

NATURE'S RENEWAL

2010-07-20T15:02:00.000-07:00

(JULY 20, 2010) Yesterday afternoon, I noticed a blob of sort on the screen of a window in the kitchen dining area. I thought that a bird had made a mess on the screen.

However, as I got closer to the window, I realized that there was a beautiful butterfly clinging to the screen. Getting even closer, I noticed that there were two butterflies, obviously in a mating position. I grabbed my camera and took a couple of shots from inside before going out to the deck and taking pictures from different angles. After a couple of minutes the butterflies flew off, still attached to each other.

When I went into the house, Elizabeth said, "You bothered those butterflies while they were in an intimate embrace. You interrupted them."

I said, "I told the two to get a room, and they just flew off to do so."

The creation, or renewal, of life is amazing. Each day on the Riverwalk I see young off-spring of the ducks and geese. I see the young song birds as they try out their new voices and their new wings. I have seen the procreation of geese in the river and the mating of lady bugs and damselflies right there in the bushes. I have, also, seen the off-spring of both the geese and the damselflies as Sadie and I walk the trail each morning.

But the results are not so obvious to one who has not ventured forth on the trail daily. For example, the heron that is standing in the river next to the dark woods is smaller and younger than the one that stood there last year. Also, there seem to be more herons on the river.

The osprey nest, next to the Brantley steam plant, is vacant; the photographers who had set up their long lens on tripods are no longer interested in the empty nest. The river is now full of Canada geese as the young have now grown the size of the adults. The barn swallows and the blue birds that practiced their landings on tree branches have now joined the adults in the search for small insects as they skim the top of the river.

Even the flora along the river goes through periods of replenishment. The small orange flowers that were once seen near the train bridge are no longer there. The sweet smell of the honey suckle no longer permeates the air since the sweet flowers have faded.

However, some beautiful large flowers are now showing themselves along the banks of the river. Some of these are pink with white insides and some are white with maroon insides. Beside the large blooms of these flowers are smaller buds that will soon burst forth to continue coloring the landscape with nature's beauty. Also, to the side of the blooming flowers are ragged flowers that have bloomed and passed.

Such is the creative hand of nature - always replenishing and always renewing.

It was another beautiful morning on the Riverwalk.

PERFECTION

2010-07-19T12:35:00.001-07:00

(JULY 19, 2010) It was dark this morning as I began my walk on the Riverwalk. The sun was peaking over the trees, but the "dark woods" were truly . . . dark.

Because of an early appointment, I didn't take my camera, which was just as well, because during the early part of the walk a unicorn or other extinct animal may have wandered by, and I couldn't have gotten a decent shot of it in the darkness.

However, I did take with me my thoughts from the previous day's Riverwalk adventure. Yesterday's topic was PRECIPICE. Today's post, I decided, would be PERFECTION because the images of three of yesterday's photos seemed near perfect to me as I thought about them.

First, there was the beautiful brown butterfly - perfect color and perfect shape. It was hanging against some leaves, making its lush chocolate brown more beautiful.

Second was the damselfly. I have taken 100s of shots of damselflies, but this one was truly focused and close enough to see the water drops on its body and the tiny hairs on its legs and the water drops on the leaf where it was setting. The beauty of the damselfly was, in my mind, as the British say, "spot on!"

Third was the beautiful pink flower against the green foliage. The flower was in focus and the distant background gave the photo the mood of an impressionistic painting of the Renoir class.

When I got back from my appointment, I took a look at the pictures. Truly perfect - except, well, the green leaf covers some of the brown butterfly. That is too bad - no longer perfect, though it does add some "difference" to the print rather than a stark brown butterfly. Maybe, close to perfect, or at least, OK.

Then I took a closer look at the damselfly. Great close-up, but were the antennae missing? Had I cut off the antennae when I cropped the picture? As I looked closer, I realized that the antennae on this dragonfly were short. Surely something was wrong with it to make it less than perfect. I looked closely - but found it to be OK - maybe not perfect, but OK.

Finally I looked at my photographic depiction of a Renoir landscape. Surely little flaws in focus and color could be attributed to the impressionistic mood created by this "masterpiece." Upon looking at the picture, I noticed a brown dead plant in the upper left hand corner, something I hadn't noticed before. I immediately cropped it out and now the photograph was better - almost perfect for an impressionist painting. However, as I took away the brown plant, the flower was lower on the page, something I didn't like as well as before taking away the dead plant. But, still, it was OK - not perfect.

The more I thought about perfection, the more I realized that those who are creative can only reach a certain level of perfection. Many artists have been driven crazy by attempting to capture perfection in all they do.

There is a degree of perfection in nature, and humans often want to idealize such perfection. We think of picnics by a creek with a special person, yet when we try to create it, there may be insects that bite or sting, ground that is too damp or dusty, or a creek that is too loud or smelly.

So, with the three prints above, I can resolve my inner creative self by saying they may not be perfect, but they are OK.

It was another beautiful (but dark) morning on the Riverwalk.

PRECIPICE: A SITUATION OF GREAT PERIL

2010-07-18T18:20:00.001-07:00

(JULY 18, 2010) How close to the edge do we get in our lives? Do we often tempt fate?

This morning on the Riverwalk, I saw several cases of animals on the precipice of destruction.

As I approached the White Mill area, there was a flock of Canada geese sitting on the dam and the water rushed underneath them. They sat there calmly while below the whirlpool was swirling - a whirlpool that could drown whomever or whatever got into its swirl. Where these geese at risk? I don't think so. I have seen this image many times and have yet to see one of the geese fall over the precipice. I did see a domestic goose that had been put out into the wild by someone who no longer wanted to keep it, fall over into the whirlpool and could not get out. I believe that the wings of the Canada geese are stronger and that they could fly out if trapped under the dam.

Near the Union street bridge, I saw a group of four mallards swimming what seemed to be dangerously close to the precipice of the dam. Again, I've never seen a mallard trapped in the undertow of a dam, and I think that the mallards I saw were actually far enough away to keep from being forced over the dam by the river.

Mid-way between the Martin Luther King bridge and the Union Street bridge I saw a Carolina wren, chirping the beautiful song it chirps. It was a moment of peace as the sound filled the air. However, I had walked only a few dozen yards and the same bird lit into a harsher noise. As I looked up, the bird seemed to fussing at me, no longer singing joyously. I had wandered, perhaps, too near its nest, and it was warning me off. Was the wren in danger? No. Was I endanger? Well . . . hard to say. I have been dive bombed by mockingbirds, and I have no doubt that the wren could turn nasty. We walked on as the wren continued to fuss at us.

I have taken many damselfly and dragonfly pictures over the past several months. The little insects seem to be able to balance themselves on the precipice of a leaf. As can be seen in the picture above, the little guy seems to be hanging on with no fear of falling off. Was this damselfly on the precipice of destruction?

Well, actually YES. Only a few inches from the damselfly was the nose of a 4.5 year old English setter. Sadie had noticed the insect and had gone into her setter pose. Fortunately for the insect. it flew off just in the nick of time, and Sadie, as is often the case when she stalks a bug, was disappointed.

As Sadie was stalking the damselfly, I noticed a small flying insect - in flying mode, but not flying. The insect was moving with its wings spread and its tail moving, but it wasn't getting anywhere. This insect had wandered into a precipice of its own self-destruction. As can be seen on the picture above, there are tiny threads that go out from the flying insect. Those threads are holding the insect very tightly, and a spider will soon have a meal.

Sometimes what seems to be the precipice is not and what seems to be far from the precipice is actually at or beyond the precipice. Humans do the same. They often do things that seem dangerous (like climbing mountains and white water rafting), but are capable of doing such things without harm. On the other hand, humans (as well as other animals) often live safe lives, and find themselves on the precipice of destruction. Such an event could be caused by just being at the wrong place at the wrong time (like the insect in the spider's web).

It was another beautiful, but hot, morning on the Riverwalk.

BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE

2010-07-17T16:14:00.001-07:00

(JULY 17, 2010) Last night on PBS there was a program out of North Carolina about butterflies and moths. I had often wondered what the difference was, and the expert lepidopteroligist (one who studies butterflies and moths - a new term for me, too) made it rather vaguely clear what the differences were.

He said that one of the main differences is that moths come out at night and butterflies come out during the day (well, he qualified that by saying, in most cases this is true). He also pointed out that the antennae of the butterflies have small balls on the tips (well, he qualified that by saying, in most cases this is true).

What I saw this morning were butterflies, I'm 100% sure. They were out in the day time and their antennae had small balls on the tips.

As the butterflies flittered among the flowers, Sadie seemed to be enthralled by the beauty. I just kept snapping pictures.

Later in the day Sadie and I went to Angler's Park after the heavy rain. We had walked about a half mile and saw large puddle. Sadie danced across the puddle and a butterfly, just like the ones we had seen this morning, flew up. Sadie immediately jumped at it, missed, jumped at it again, and missed again. This seems to be a day filled with butterflies, and when a day contains butterflies, it proves to be a beautiful day.

(CLICK ON PICTURE TO SEE THE ANGER OF THE BIRD MORE CLOSELY)

At about the same spot we had seen the butterflies, there was a mockingbird that wasn't too happy that we had stopped to watch the lovely insects in the tree. As often happens, mockingbirds are a bit temperamental - they have been known to dive-bomb passers-by and will, at least fuss at someone who has wandered too near the nest. This morning was no different, but this morning I captured the intolerance the bird showed for the two sojourners who had wandered too close to a nest.

We moved on since we didn't want to irritate it any more, and Sadie, who had once been dive-bombed by a mockingbird flying close to her head, was a little anxious and relieved when we finally continued our morning adventure.

Beautiful butterflies in a mimosa tree and an angry mockingbird in a poplar tree made for another good day on the Riverwalk.

OUT OF FOCUS/IN FOCUS

2010-07-16T19:57:00.001-07:00

(JULY 16, 2010) This morning as Elizabeth, Sadie and I entered the dark woods from the parking lot, Elizabeth said, "Look. A deer."

There within 30 yards of us was a single small deer walking by the water. I lifted by camera, aimed and took several shots. ALL WERE OUT OF FOCUS, and the deer climbed the bank and disappeared into the woods.

Disappointed? Yep, kinda. However, there will always be new pictures to take along the Riverwalk like the mockingbird on the fence (out of focus) and the geese on the shore (out of focus). However, even with those few out of focus shots, I still got some good pictures this morning on the Riverwalk.

There were three young sparrows on a tree - very cute little guys looking at me as I was looking at them. There was a dragonfly that flitted from railing to railing on a fence, and trying to take its picture was not helped with a dog on the end of a leash.

We were late enough going out that the sun was up. Along with the birds, when the sun comes up, the butterflies come out. There were a number of butterflies around the flowers and on the fences. Sadie often points them out to me as she goes into her pointing pose. As she points, I get closer and take pictures. The light was nice this morning since I got some good color; some mornings, when the sun is too bright, the colors are faded by the light.

By taking a few hundred pictures every day on the Riverwalk, I end up with some that are pretty good. However, I also end up with a much larger number that are out of focus or just bad shots.

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk.

VARIOUS SHADES OF WHITE

2010-07-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

(JULY 15, 2010) WHITE. The beautiful color of Tiffany's wedding gown. WHITE. The color of geese on the river. WHITE. The color of snow in the winter.

I heard that, actually, pure white is the absence of color. No other colors can be combined to form white. I don't know if that is true or not (probably is), but I saw several different shades of white this morning on the Riverwalk. But, are there actually "shades" of white? I don't know, but I saw what I thought were different shades of this absence of color.

Each day when I go to the Riverwalk, I see something I haven't seen before. This morning was very special in that I saw what appeared to be a white sparrow. It was hanging out with a couple of other sparrows and was, I assume, a sparrow. I thought, at first, that it was an albino sparrow, but when I saw the pictures, it didn't have pink eyes, which, I think is a common trait of albinos. Perhaps with was a hybrid - kind of the Prius of the bird world. I have inquiries out to those who know more than I do so that I hope I will soon know what this bird is. It was white almost a pure white.

Early on our walk I saw some very small mushrooms growing in the grass. There were not true white, but a grayish white with some areas whiter than others. The pattern of the mushroom, with its ridges, is intriguing.

Later I saw a group of turtles sunning themselves on a large tree in the middle of the river. What caught my eye there was not the white shining turtle in the morning sun, but the yellow turtle. I'm not sure if the turtle was yellow because of the sun shining on it a certain way, if the turtle was yellow because of some natural coloration in its shell, or if the turtle just forgot to brush this morning. The white turtle had a grayish white and was eye-catching, but the yellow turtle was truly unique.

Finally, I see the white and purple flowers everyday while walking on the Riverwalk. However, it was this morning that I observed the purple and white merging to form a purplish white, another shade (or tone?) of white.

And, finally, I saw a white goose feather in the sand. The geese look show shiny white along the river, but this feather had been soiled with dirt. Though it retained its form as a feather, it had lost what seemed to be the pure white of the geese.

A white sparrow, groovie mushrooms, a yellow turtle, and a lone feather in the sand. All were white, but each had what seemed to be its own shade (or tone?).

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk.

Kids and Boulders, Bees and Toads - Bees and Toads

2010-07-13T17:55:00.000-07:00

(JULY 13, 2010) Sing Along:

KIDS AND BOULDERS, BEES AND TOADS
(To the tune of the children's song: "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes")

Kids and boulders, bees and toads (bees and toads)
Kids and boulders, bees and toads (bees and toads)
Kids and boulders, boulders bees and toads
Kids and boulders, bees and toads (bees and toads).

That song kept coming into my mind as I started thinking about what I had seen today on the Riverwalk. Some events just inspire a direction of a piece of writing. There were multiple events today on the Riverwalk stood out as I looked back at my photos taken this morning.

KIDS

The sounds of young voices were heard as we approached the bridge going to the train station. Sadie's ears perked up as we noticed a group of no more than ten children (aged, about, 11-12) starting a walk that was being chaporoned by a woman who appeared less than twice the children's age. The lady had them stop as Sadie and I approached an intersection on the trail, and we walked ahead of them. I heard their excited voices as they saw the ducks and geese.

These birds were being fed by a couple dispensing foot for the gluttonous water fowl. The children stayed a distance from the birds and walked on. The lady pointed out some pretty flowers and then they came to the small bridge near the Public Works Department. The stopped, briefly, to look over the railings, but saw nothing and continued on. Approaching the restroom, the adult asked the young girls if they needed to stop - the 4-5 of them unanimously said, "No." The adult said, "Well I guess we don't need to stop," afterwhich came a deeper voice from one of the young men. "I need to go," he said hesitantly. After that Sadie and I were too far ahead to hear anything else from this young, excited group who were enjoying the morning by the river.

BOULDERS

The morning was cooler when we began our walk than when we finished it. I had stopped at the water fountain along the way and given Sadie some fresh water to drink. She seemed to be OK, but she never passes up an opportunity to drink from "nature's abundance" - that is, anything that "puddles" after a rain.

One of her favorite drinking spots along the Riverwalk is out of one of several large boulders that form a barrier between the Riverwalk and the river. As it turns out, there are some concave indentations in the tops of these massive rocks, and Sadie finds the water there - TASTY. Of course, see seems to find the muddy water in a puddle on the gound to be just as tasty.

And, speaking of water - last night I took Sadie to Angler's Park - in the rain. I carried an umbrella and Sadie got wet. She loves running in the rain once she is out there, but later in the evening, it was raining, Sadie wanted to go out, I took her to the porch on a long leash - she saw the rain and did an immediate U-turn. She did go out later after the rain had stopped.

When we returned from Angler's Park, I rubbed Sadie down with a towel (which she loves) and she looked at me with an expression that say: "I wouldn't take a dog out on a day like this."

BEES

I spent much time this morning photographing bees. They were plentiful around the flowers blooming along the Riverwalk, and I found them very interesting.

Some bees flit from one flower to another, spending very little time on individual flowers. Others just curl up inside the flower and seem to be either sleeping or drugged. On several instances two bees headed to the same flower and seemed to bump into each other. More than once I saw a ladybug and a bee sharing a single flower. There seemed to be peaceful coexistence between the two as each did what it did and didn't bother the other.

Sadie will point and jump at insects, but she knows not to tangle with bees. She was never stung, to my knowledge, but each time I see her pointing at one in the grass, I will pull on her leash and say, "NO! You don't want to tangle with that bee, Sadie," and she will back off.

TOADS

Bees are not the only critters Sadie needs to say away from. A couple of days ago I wrote about Sadie putting a frog in her mouth and then regretting it after spitting it out and having her mouth foam for 10-15 minutes.

At Angler's Park this evening, the rain brought out the toads. As we walked the asphalt trail, there were little peepers running in front of us. Sadie is not one to ignore anything moving - especially hopping - so she started lunging at the small toads. The little guys were less than a half inch from tip to tale.

I held the leash tightly so she could get to them. The marsh was singing with frogs on this rainy evening, the path was full of small frogs, and Sadie was frustrated. I'm not sure, but I think she would have regretted swallowing one of those small creatures.

It was a very good day on the Riverwalk.

DUMBER THAN DIRT

2010-07-12T15:30:00.000-07:00

(JULY 12, 2010) This morning, since I didn't take my camera to the Riverwalk, I used Sadie's longer leash. It gives her a chance to run a little more and get more exercise than the shorter one that keeps her nearby.

The problem with the longer leash is that she often gets tangled up around a tree or a bush, and I have to untangle her. Over the years, however, she has learned to heed the leash and avoid getting into such messes, and when I make a clicking sound, she will move herself around the tree and avoid getting tangled up. However, there are times when she just doesn't understand that she just needs to back up and untangle herself.

This morning we had just entered the "dark woods," and she was jumping around in the woods, avoiding entanglements. However, we had gone no more than a quarter mile when she had moved around a tree. Her Pekingese doggie friend, Lucky, was coming towards us, and she saw nothing but Lucky and moved towards the dog.

She wasn't getting anywhere because the leash was around the tree, and I was on the other side of the tree. Stubborn minds were at work here. I called for her to come around the tree; she kept pushing forward towards Lucky. This continued for 20-30 seconds, and the leash on her side got shorter and shorter until, with each short lunge, she was banging her head against the tree. This happened twice before I realized what she was doing, so I eased up on the leash, walked around the tree, and we went to meet Lucky.

I thought "dumber than dirt."

Of course, I wasn't referring to Sadie, but to myself. She had outsmarted me and accomplished what she wanted which was for me to save her from the mess she was in.

"DUMBER THAN DIRT."

Last night, around 9:00, I took Sadie outside to do what she needed to do before bedtime. She has a propensity of going forth and sniffing anything in the driveway that may even resemble a small living creature - bug, frog, lizard. Last night she wandered upon a small knot on the driveway that was a very small frog.

She pulled on the leash to sniff it - the frog didn't move. She pointed at it, and I pulled her away, but she lunged forward and, unfortunately, put the frog in her mouth - immediately spitting it out.

Why did she spit it out?

(FLASHBACK) A couple of years ago Sadie saw a frog in the driveway, put it in her mouth, and then spit it out. Immediately, her mouth started foaming like a mad dog.

Being very concerned for her health, I went immediately to the internet and read about frogs and what happens when dogs put them in their mouths. I had feared that she might die from frog poisoning. Well, what I read was that there are no truly poisonous frogs in this area and that when a dog does get a frog in its mouth, the frog releases a distasteful liquid that doesn't kill the animal, but the animal, for about 10-15 minutes, wishes she were dead because of the awful taste left in her mouth.

Last night, this happened again. Sadie started foaming and spitting (as well as a dog can spit). We went immediately in the house, and I gave her a bone to chew on, hoping that the bone would help get rid of the bad taste. After about 15 minutes, sure enough, she was much better.

"DUMBER THAN DIRT."

Yep, it was two years ago that she had tasted a frog, yet she still went for this small frog and got "mad dog" mouth.

DUMBER THAN DIRT. Lessons are not easily learned.

Oh, again, when I say "DUMBER THAN DIRT," I'm not referring to Sadie but to myself. I could have kept her away from the toad, but I didn't. I let her pursue her interest in the small amphibian, and I should have known better.

Twice in two days I have been "DUMBER THAN DIRT" around Sadie. She, on the other hand, is much wiser than I am.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

FOUR CORMORANTS

2010-07-11T18:24:00.000-07:00

(JULY 11, 2010) Today on the Riverwalk I started thinking about the cormorants. I didn't see any today because it doesn't seem to be the season for them to be perching in the spot of the river where I regularly see them. But, they will be back.

It was these creepy black water birds that first intrigued me about the fowl on the Dan River. I never knew their name, had never seen them until a few years ago, and now I see them everywhere.

This week on the Chesapeake Bay I saw four birds flying close to the water and realized, after taking a picture, that these are the cormorants that I see on the Dan River.

Last summer, in Sweden, I saw a cormorant on a rock with a sea gull.

Shortly after realizing what these birds were, I talked with a fellow walker on the trail who told me that he had actually gone "fishing with the cormorants" when he was in China. As it turns out, these birds are used in Asian countries for fishing. It is an age old custom for them to dive into the water, with a leash on their leg and a ring around their necks to keep them from swallowing the larger fish, and be reeled in with fish in their throats. The fishermen then push the fish out of the birds' throats and then send them back for more fish. This has been done for centuries, but now, according to my friend, it is done now mostly for tourists since there are now more efficient ways of fishing.

The cormorants are fishing marvels. They swim underwater faster than other waterbirds because their feathers don't have the water proofed down of other water birds. Therefore, when they come up, they perch on a log or in a tree and spread their large wings for drying in the sun. This is when they look like large evil Gothic birds.

In the fall I went to the river several evenings right at about dark and watched these interesting birds as they gathered on the river near a large nearly submerged tree in the middle of the river. A group of perhaps 20 were crowded, each evening, on a submerged tree and another 40 or so would be swimming in the water. These birds swim low in the water with their bodies nearly level to the surface and their serpentine necks standing tall. Right at dark, the birds in the water would take off as a group - running across the water before taking flight. Soon the river would hold all of the birds from the tree and they began their flights.

Once airborne, the birds would circle over head like prehistoric flying creatures and eventually land in the trees across the river where they would perch for the night. As they landed on a tree branch, their bodies arched in a C-shape. There they stayed until dusk when they would fly off to feed and then return that evening to carry out their daily ritual, a little earlier since dark comes a minute or so earlier each day in the fall.

It was a very good day on the Riverwalk, though I didn't see any cormorants this morning.

CHESAPEAKE BAY BIRDS

2010-07-09T18:18:00.000-07:00

(JULY 10, 2010) Having returned from a wedding (my daughter, Tiffany's) in Pennsylvania, a time for Elizabeth to remember as we returned to her hometown in northern Virginia, a time for me to remember as we went by the cemetery where my parents are buried in Maryland and then by their home on Cobb Island, Md., and finally to the "Northern Neck" of Virginia on the Chesapeake Bay, I realized that I had bought back over 2500 photos taken along the way. Therefore, during the past two days on the Riverwalk, I have not taken my camera so I can catch up on the numerous pictures taken during the weekend and the first part of this week.

However, I did walk with Sadie yesterday morning and this morning. We had been missed by the regular walkers. Our short walk was lengthened by several stopping and wanting to hear about the wedding. One group of women and a man asked how it felt to have a new son-in-law.

I said, "Well, actually, I have another son-in-law in Chicago. So I have a son-in-law who was raised in Venezuela and is now an American citizen and another son-in-law from Sweden. The only single 'daughter' I have now is Sadie, so I reckon she will marry a German Shepherd." They chuckled and walked on.

The weather was humid this morning after last night's short rain, but the temperatures were bearable at 6:30 this morning. However, as we finished our walk at around 8:00, the temperatures were beginning to rise again.

Even the birds seemed to feel the heat as they were few and quiet. Hence, my pictures of the bay birds above. The pelicans were interesting to watch as they just crashed into the water as their way of landing. The osprey, on its nest, was interesting to watch and the closest I have been to one nesting. There are two osprey nests that can be viewed on the Riverwalk, but the distance and height make it nearly impossible to see them up close. The sandpiper, with its bright orange bill, was playing in a marshy area on Tangier Island. I did see an egret and some cormorants, so I felt that I was home.

Interesting birds, and it is sometimes good to get away from the birds on the Riverwalk; but it is always good to get back, too.

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk.

SO HOT I'M MOLTING

2010-06-29T21:58:00.001-07:00

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(JUNE 29, 2010) Beautiful male cardinals glisten in the morning sun. However, upon closer look, one seems to be wearing a mask and is a bit mussed up while the other looks right prim and proper in its cardinal red feathers.

One is likely a juvenile male, molting into a beautiful adult male that will be the handsome male to attract the female during mating season. But right now, the cardinal looks a bit like it has had a rough night and needs to sleep it off, yet it was singing pleasantly as we passed by this morning on the Riverwalk.

In the parking lot we saw a couple of brown-headed cowbirds. I took some pictures, but at 6:15 the lighting was not the best and the shots came out blurred. We also saw a heron fishing near the dam as several Canada geese floated by and an osprey settling into its nest above the Brantley Steam Plant. There were a handful of new yellow goslings near the train bridge being supervised by family and extended family. And, the flowers were blooming, the bees were buzzing, the damselflies were lighting gently on the leaves, and Sadie and I were enjoying the coolness before the heat of the day came upon us.

But, the most interesting sight was the molting cardinal. There are already signs of the green headed mallard molting as I saw a sad male walking about not knowing that his green head had turned a blackish color. I think that we, as humans, "molt" in our own way. When wooing a mate, we often put forth our best attractions, but once the mate is wooed, we seem to care less about our physical manner or, for that matter, hygiene. The Scottish poet, Robert Burns, in his poem "To a Louse: On seeing one on a lady's bonnet at church," provides a humbling thought when he wrote:

"O would some Power the gift to give us
To see ourselves as others see us!
It would from many a blunder free us,
And foolish notion:
What airs in dress and gait would leave us,
And even devotion!"

Did the molting cardinal not know that he was disheveled and rough looking? Perhaps not as he sat on the tree and sang a lovely song while not being able to see himself as other saw him. He, really, isn't that bad looking, but with time will be marvelous.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

A TURTLE TAIL - er, TALE

2010-06-28T11:20:00.000-07:00

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(JUNE 28, 2010) At 6:15 this morning turtles were the last things on my mind. We had walked a half mile when a biker stopped, noticed my camera and said, "There's a large turtle up there near the fence. It is the largest one I've see, except at zoos."

He showed the size with his hands, making a circle that looked like a couple of feet in diameter. The place he pointed to was about an eighth of a mile from where we were, and I thought that the turtle would be long gone when we got there.

This started a conversation on turtles. I told him that when Sadie was about 6 months old, we were walking on the trail, and there was a turtle on the trail that was the size of a large footstool. I told him that a small child could have sat on it and that Sadie wanted to go near, in her puppy dog curiosity, to see this giant monster; I pulled her back because the turtle's mouth was so large that he could have almost swallowed the puppy. Besides, even if the turtle had just snapped her and held on, I have been told that when a turtle grabs something in its strong mouth, it won't let loose until it thunders (that day, I recall, was bright and sunny with no rain expected for days).

Now I told this man this story, and then I couldn't help but to relate to him the "fish tales" I have heard along the trail. One was recalled a few months ago (April 28) which was actually a "fish tale" told about an English setter. I told him that my rule was that when a fisherman told me the size of the fish that got away, to take the size the fisherman says, divide it by two and add a couple of inches/pounds.

Having realized that he might have thought I was telling my own "fish story" with Sadie's encounter with the large turtle, I was about to point out that the story was true when he said, before riding off, with a mischief look on his face, "Actually, the turtle was only this big." (he made a circle with his fingers about two inches in diameter). We both laughed and off he rode.

Stories. We all tell them, and each time we tell them, they become bigger. Part of that is to add entertainment value to those who listen (often with disbelief); part of that is because we almost all live what we see as mundane lives and need these embellished stories to make our lives seem more exciting, but sometimes we just tell stories that we had hoped would be the way things are or were. Whatever reason, it is fun to hear stories from others - whether believable or not.

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk.

WHAT'S NEW?

2010-06-27T18:30:00.001-07:00

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(JUNE 27, 2010) Each morning when I go to the Riverwalk with my camera, a thought always goes through my mind. "Is this the morning when I won't see anything to take a picture of? Will there be nothing new?" I've taken pictures of geese, ducks, osprey, eagles, cormorants, mergansers, many varieties of lovely flowers/plants, and some very curious insects. I've also taken some pretty good landscapes and even shots of people. So, what else is left? Hmmmmm.... What's New to take a picture of?

I will see something early on my walk and take a picture of it. It may be a weed or an unusual tree branch formation, but, I say to myself, I have at least one or two pictures. I NEVER even get back to those pictures because there is ALWAYS something new I haven't seen before. In the several years I've walked the Riverwalk, I have yet to be disappointed in seeing something new. What I see may be something others have seen, but for me, it is something I haven't seen - it is WHAT'S NEW to me.

Early in the walk this morning, I saw two blackbirds (grackles) standing on a street light. Since it was right at dusk, the light was still on making an interesting picture with the silhouettes of the blackbirds and the brightness of the lamp. I then came upon the white and gray geese with their goslings enjoying the morning coolness. They, as always, started their march to the river when they saw Sadie coming. We made a wide circle, so they didn't have to go all the way to the water.

Up near the Martin Luther King Bridge, I saw a bird I hadn't seen before. This was something new to me. I snapped away, and I think it is a yellow warbler. Someone on the trail said he thought that, with my description, it was a female scarlet tangier which he has seen around. I checked my bird book upon coming home, and think the yellow warbler is what I have (pictured above).

Beyond the bridge near the White Mill I noticed some activity on a tower above the covered walkway that goes across the river. On top of the tower was an osprey, having just landed in a nest built there. Shortly afterwards another osprey came and landed in the nest with some new sticks for the nest. They are awesome birds of prey and look majestic as they fly and land.

Moving from "majestic" to "dainty," I'm not sure how long the damselflies will be about, but they seemed plentiful this morning. I saw some very small blue and brown and black damselflies resting on the leaves along the trail. Nearly every bush we came to from the Union Street Bridge to the bridge going over to the train station held several of these lovely creatures flying around and landing gently. The bees were plentiful in the flowers with some individual flowers containing more than one bee. I have noticed that some of the bees will circle their bodies around the bottom of the flower and just lie there for minutes.

There was also a beautiful blue flower (shown above) that I hadn't seen before. It was very small but attractive with the yellow and green surroundings.

On the way back, I noticed that the young swallows were gathering again in the tree near the Fall Creek bridge that is beside the Public Works Department. A few days ago I observed them practicing taking off and landing in the same trees, and I had supposed that they had mastered that and had gone on to other training in learning to be swallows. They were sitting there more securely than they had when I last saw them. They seemed to have learned their lesson well.

So, WHAT'S NEW? Well, this morning I got an interesting photo of two damselflies resting, I got some pictures of geese and ducks (the mother mallard and her six ducklings I had been seeing during the last few weeks - the ducklings are almost as large as their mother), I got a picture of a lovely blue flower, a couple of ospreys building their nest, a young swallow sitting securely in a tree, a yellow warbler, some moths and butterflies, a couple of blackbirds on a lamp post, and bees resting in flowers.

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk.

SADIE POINTS

2010-06-26T13:47:00.001-07:00

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE PHOTOGRAPH.

(JUNE 26, 2010) I got out to the Riverwalk this morning at 5:45 - kinda dark; kinda early; kinda in a hurry. I was to pick up Elizabeth in Chapel Hill at 7:30, so I did a short walk (a little over a mile) before leaving the house at 6:30 to head down Highway 86.

As the result of this, I didn't take any pictures, but I had over 500 pictures from yesterday, and some of them provided the idea for today's blog entry - Sadie Pointing.

Though it was hot yesterday, Sadie was in a "working" mode - that is, she was "working" at pointing at anything that moved (including leaves falling from the trees). She pointed at bees (which I discourage), damselflies, butterflies, moths, and an occasional bird.

One blue damselfly seemed to especially intrigue her since she would get close to it, it would fly away, Sadie would step back, and the damselfly returned right to the spot where Sadie had just seen it. This happened 3-4 times before I decided we needed to move on.

Now, Sadie's pointing sessions may take as long as 5-6 minutes as she goes into her "stealth" mode - moving very slowly by gently placing one paw down while lifting another one. Yesterday, I told someone, who was watching her, that she is like "poetry in motion. SLOW MOTION." And she is.

About a year ago Sadie was pointing at a moth when two bikers came by. The two men are acquaintances of mine, and they stopped and were fascinated by Sadie's pointing and stillness.

One of the bikers said, "That's amazing!"

I said, "Yep."

He then asked, "Did you teach her to do that?"

I said, "Sure did. I got down on my hands and knees to show her how it was done."

He laughed and said, "I'll give you $20 if you will demonstrate."

I said, "Make it $40, and you've got a deal."

In actuality Sadie started pointing when she was about 8 weeks old (she's now four and a half), just a ball of white fur with not one spot on her at all. I had taken her into the back yard, and she saw a moth - instinctively, she lifted her small front left paw (she always lifts that paw), became rigid, and her tail went out - not straight out like she does now, but up at about 45 degrees.

Pointing is in her genes. That's what she does.

Several months ago we were out in a field where she had spotted a butterfly. She was rigid and concentrating on that insect. She stood that way for several minutes - paw lifted, nose pointing and tail out straight. A couple of bikers rode out into the field, and one said, "I thought that was a statue."

I said, "I'm sure she wishes she could fool birds in the same way - they would flock around her, and she would grab them." They laughed, Sadie continued to point, and they left.

I like to give her some opportunities to point during our daily walks. There are times, however, when I get impatient and will go over to the insect she is pointing at and make a movement to hurry up the activity. She won't attack a bug until it starts to move, so her rate of success is only about 1 in 100.

By the way, no insects were killed or maimed yesterday. The damselfly and moth above are healthy and flying around today - unless some other dog has been more successful than Sadie.

It was a short walk today on the Riverwalk, but a good one.

OASIS

2010-06-25T21:13:00.000-07:00

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(JUNE 25, 2010) An oasis is a place to renew oneself, to get refreshed, to rest. Along the Riverwalk there is the symbiotic relationship between insects and plants as the insects find rest on the plants and refreshment with the pollen and nectar the flowers produce.

There is a white flower with purple tips that seems to attract insects of different varieties. It is not unusual to see several varieties of moths and butterflies, different types of honeybees and bumblebees, and smaller insects like ladybugs resting in the bell shape petals. It seems to be an oasis of choice for these bugs although other plants seem to provide the same service to the small residents on the Riverwalk.

The leaves also provide temporary resting places for the insects. Different varieties of damselflies can be seen on the leaves of the many different plants where they remain until disturbed and then return immediately to the same location. Trees also provide an oasis for insects - this morning I saw a bumblebee, a butterfly, and a number of smaller bugs parked on the white and pink flowers of the mimosa tree enjoying the moisture of the flowers in the morning sun. Some insects even prefer the warmth of the rocks as their oasis.

The larger animals also have their oases, often in the water. The turtles gather on fallen trees or rocks in the middle of the river or at water's edge. They sun themselves and often share their perch with water birds like the cormorant.

The geese have their oases along the shore of the river, although some also prefer the fallen trees in the river or river rocks. This morning one oasis for the ducks and geese was made more special with the distribution of bread by a couple of young women. The geese came flying in from across the river to feast on the small white morsels being dispersed by these two young ladies.

The heron also enjoys the refuge (oasis) near the dam and at other locations where fish are plentiful. They can be seen waiting patiently for the fish to come along.

A couple of bikers I met this morning on the Riverwalk mentioned that a great blue heron came into their back yard a while back and found a tasty retreat in their pond. The pond held a number of beautiful koi fish and some frogs. The heron swooped down and made a nice size meal from these exotic fish and the frogs.

Humans, too, need an oasis - a place where they can take refuge from the rest of the world. Some escape in the world of books or television; others find a hobby to immerse themselves in, while others take refuge by just being at home around family. I enjoy the escape of all of these, but my favorite refuge (oasis) is the Riverwalk. It quenches my visual thirst by providing me with sights I cannot see at home; it quenches my physical thirst by giving me a delightful place to walk, and it quenches my social thirst because I encounter people there who are friendly and experiencing the same visual and physical opportunities I am enjoying.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD (extra)

2010-06-25T08:04:00.000-07:00

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(JUNE 25 2010) Today on the Riverwalk, someone was asking about the red-winged blackbird. As an extra blog entry today, I am posting some pictures taken of the bird this spring.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk, and another group of today's pictures and an essay will be posted later.

"COME ON, STINKY!"

2010-06-24T13:10:00.001-07:00

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(JUNE 24, 2010) "Come on, Stinky," Elizabeth called out this morning as she took the leash and led Sadie out of the back of the Jeep.

Elizabeth uses that term of endearment for Sadie, and the English setter obligingly responds. This morning, however, the air was full of smells of nature, and Sadie, with her super sensitive nose seemed more alert to the odors that surrounded her as we walked on the Riverwalk. Her nose is regularly to the ground as she smells the scent of animals that have gone before us - sometimes a dog that might be a quarter of a mile ahead or perhaps a deer that had wandered down to the river, crossing the trail earlier this morning or the night before.

The smell of nature was around us as we entered the Riverwalk. The Riverwalk is a sensory experience each morning, playing with all of the senses of those who visit it.

The lovely sweet smell of the honeysuckle is no longer evident as those aromatic beauties have blossomed and now have gone back to just a green dormant plants in the woods. However, there were other smells from the woodsy pungent aroma of the dark woods - the woods that a few days ago smelled like a spring rain now smelled more like the dryness of leaves. There was also the smell of creosote near the bridge carrying the train across the river - not natural creosote, but the creosote used to preserve the wood used by the railroad.

The beautiful flowers along the trail each have their own distinct odors, but they do not fill the air like the honeysuckle does in the springtime. By sniffing the flowers, there is a perfume that can be detected that is less likely there to attract the nose of the wanderer and his dog, but more likely to attract the honeybees or other insects that spread the pollen that continues to keep the plant species around.

A few days ago, as I was walking near the river at Dan Daniel Park where the fishermen often drop their lines, I smelled the distinct odor of fish. There, a few feet ahead of us, was part of a fish that had been left there by a fisherman earlier that morning or the day before. Fortunately, Sadie's olfactory senses were tuned to something else, and she missed what she would have considered a tasty treat.

There are a number of non-nature created odors as we walk the trail. Near the Public Works department the morning air is touched by the smell of diesel fuel with the workers starting their vehicles to begin their daily tasks throughout the city. Near the highway that comes within a few yards of the Riverwalk, there is the smell of automobiles traveling only a short distance from nature. Over the years of walking on the Riverwalk, I have accepted these aromatic intrusions into the natural smells of the woods, realizing that these are the folks who repair our highways and pick up our trash.

Oh, and that is an odor I don't smell along the Riverwalk - trash. Those who work on the Riverwalk picking up the trash and cleaning the restrooms and emptying the trash cans do their daily tasks and keep the Riverwalk facilities clean and the trail free from human littering.

And finally, back to the term "Come on, Stinky!" which Elizabeth called out this morning. Today, Sadie smelled more like the lovely aroma of the flowers around us than like a dog since she had spent yesterday at the spa where she was bathed, brushed, and manicured.

Therefore, the comment could not have been aimed towards Sadie, but I was the only other one who was around. Hmmmmm.....could she have been directing that comment to me? Nawwwwwww....well, maybe.....Nawwwww.

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk.

WAITING PATIENTLY

2010-06-23T10:54:00.000-07:00

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(JUNE 23, 2010) Patience is a quality that is either learned by all creatures or lost. For humans patience is something that is more of a convenience than a life or death quality. For many animals in nature patience is the difference between survival or death.

This morning on the Riverwalk, Elizabeth and Sadie waited patiently as I took pictures. Of course their patience was the result of my own patience of waiting for a photo opportunity to appear in the trees, the underbrush or on the trail. Elizabeth and Sadie found shaded places on benches along the Riverwalk and waited until I caught up because I was waiting patiently for an insect to appear near flowers along the trail, knowing that if I waited long enough, there would be life among the flowers. I was right.

Not only were there bumblebees and damselflies, I saw a spider on its web waiting patiently for something to get into its web; something did. A white dot showed up on the web a few inches away from the spider; the spider left its placed, danced over the web and grabbed the white dot and it disappeared. Patience - if you build the web, something will come to it, and for a spider that means breakfast.

Below the bridge to the train station I saw a white goose STILL sitting on her nest. She has been there for over a three weeks and . . . NOTHING, so far. As she sits on her nest with several eggs under her, she is using her patience in hopes that soon the eggs will hatch and there will be little goslings running about. She sits and hopes and has determinant patience.

Also below the bridge there was a cooter turtle swimming near the Canada geese that had gathered there in large numbers. What the turtle was looking for, I'm not sure, but the turtle moved very slowly with the patience of hunter. The turtle just hung under the water in suspended animation, waiting and looking at the Canada geese with its head propped up above the water.

Many days I have watched the great blue heron as it waits patiently for a fish to swim by before snatching it and swallowing it whole. I have also seen the osprey perched on a high tree ready to dive at the sight of a small bird or fish. Just this past week a water moccasin was spotted patiently trolling the banks for a quick meal. And Sadie, when she sees a moth or butterfly or other insect, patiently creeps forward with very slow and precise speed toward her prey. Sometimes she gets the prey; most of the time the insect flies way.

This morning Elizabeth and Sadie showed patience as they waited for me when I would get a quarter of a mile behind because I had stopped to take pictures. They found a nice, cool bench and sat there until I showed up.

Fishermen also show great patience as they wait for a fish to attack their line. This morning there were several fishermen along the banks waiting for "the big one." From what I could tell, "the big one" hadn't been caught on this warm summer morning. For a fisherman fishing requires patience to wait for a fish to find the bait but part of the experience is just being in nature and having the patience to enjoy it.

Patience is very important to man and other animals along the Riverwalk. Without patience, the Riverwalk is just another trail in the woods. The Riverwalk is much more than that. It is a place that with a little bit of patience, it will earn benefits.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

JUST HANGIN'

2010-06-22T11:02:00.001-07:00

(JUNE 22, 2010) The Riverwalk was warm this morning when we got out there at 6:45. It seemed that everything was moving more slowly, even Sadie, as we watched the animals and fellow walkers go about their daily lives.

I stopped and talked with several of the others along the trail as we discussed everything from the water moccasin I saw this weekend to personal moments that may be life changing (a doctor's visit, a response to an employment test, an up-coming wedding). We gathered in the cool shade along the Riverwalk, just hangin'.

Sadie saw Lucky and Jodie, two of her dog friends, and while their masters and I talked, the dogs did their initial sniffing and playing, and then they settled down and were just hangin'.

Sadie is generally a very social dog and will pull the leash as she sees a dog ahead (what I call "one of her people"), but one dog this morning didn't get that response. I'm not sure she was interested in hangin' with a large German Shepard named Gunner. The dog started barking at Sadie (usually, it's the other way around, or Sadie picks up the chorus and barks back). but Sadie just looked and wanted to walk on. Gunner, I'm sure, was friendly enough, but Sadie seemed a bit intimidated with the dog that must have been twice Sadie's size.

It is summertime along the river, and everything was slower. The geese and their goslings were slower moving across the path as we approached them. The bugs on the bushes seemed to be in a state of funk as they were just hangin' there. Sadie lay down on a few cool spots along the trail and rested. I took some bottled water and kept her thirst quenched, but the heat made her sluggish, except when she saw a bug in the grass which tended to energize her.

Perhaps the most interesting thing we saw this morning was a group of young barn swallows, a dozen or so, just hangin' in a tree. They were humorous, trying out their new wings and practicing landing and hanging on to, and taking off from the branches of one tree near the small bridge that crosses a creek. I had seen activity for a month or more near that bridge of the barn swallows gracefully skirting the river for bugs as they prepared their nest for the young that were soon to come. The young birds would take off (most of them - one stayed clinging to a branch for dear life during the ten minutes I watched), fly around and then land. Sometimes the landing was graceful; sometime it would be aborted and the bird would fly around again and sometimes a scuffle would break out as one small bird landed on top of another one. But, they seemed to be enjoying their newly discovered talents. They were like human babies learning to walk.

Near the end of our walk Sadie spotted a butterfly that was just hangin' in the grass.
Now, butterflies tend to hang out in the sun, and this butterfly was no different. Sadie went into her "stealth" mode and approached the butterfly as I stood in the heat waiting for her to get closer. After about five minutes of her slowly moving closer and closer, the heat was oppressive and the dark woods was just a minute away. I stomped the ground near the butterfly, it took off after just hangin' for over five minutes, flew right around Sadie's face and disappeared in the sky. We got to the dark woods and were cooled by the canopy of trees there.

A few individuals, bike riders and walkers, were just hangin' and talking with each other in the cool woods taking a respite from the heat of their daily regimen. One biker commented on Sadie, and we chatted briefly about mutual friends, dogs and lives - he had retired and was remaining active; I was still working and remaining active. It was a good chat. We were just hangin' in the shade of the dark woods and enjoying the moment.

Summertime is a good time for just hangin'. However, it appears to pass most rapidly of all the seasons. Shakespeare wrote: "And summer's lease hath all too short a date." During this seemingly short season, when things appear to move slower, it is a good time to just relax, try to stay cool and find some time for just hangin'.

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk.

IF NATURE MADE THE RULES

2010-06-21T08:11:00.000-07:00

(JUNE 21, 2010) Obviously, from the picture above, the animals of nature can't read. Obviously, from a photo I posted on June 9 on the dam at Dan Daniel Park, some humans can't read, either. After seeing the beautiful blue heron fishing near the dam with the sign there for all to see, I started thinking about what signs would be put up by nature. If nature put up the signs, here are the ten we would see:

1. Don't throw sticks and stones at birds. Remember the old saying: "Sticka and stones may break my bones?" Well they will - and wings and heads and other tender parts of birds.

2. Don't get too near a nesting bird. It upsets the bird and you are likely going to get pecked if you get too close.

3. Don't get too near the baby ducks and geese. See #2 above.

4. Don't stomp on ant hills. There are a gazillion more of them than there are of humans, and one day . . . who knows?

5. Don't kill an insect so you can get someone to identify it. That's why God created cameras.

6. Don't get too near a water moccasin. It might bite you, and you might die. Also, don't get too near a skunk. It might do what it does and you will wish you were dead.

7. If you see an animal with a foaming mouth, stay away. It may be a rabid animal or an English setter named, Sadie, who has just put a frog in her mouth and then quickly spit it out. Frogs emit a toxin that makes dogs wish they hadn't messed with the frog. The toxin won't kill the dog, but for 10-15 minutes the dog may wish she were dead.

8. Make noises as you walk through the woods. That way animals will know you are coming and will take cover. It also makes the silence that comes after humans have left the woods more pleasant.

9. Don't leave trash behind. We wouldn't come into your living room (bedroom, bathroom, kitchen) and throw trash around. Well, actually, we might make a mess, but that's only because we want to get out and away from the man made world.

10. Don't put up signs in the woods unless they are very, very important (like the "No Swimming Near or Walking on Dam"). We can't read, and they mar the landscape.

ENJOY and then GET OUT!!!!

Signed: Nature

If nature controlled the outdoors, these would be the rules for humans. Of course, one may argue - Nature DOES control the outdoors. That's very true, but sometimes, humans just think they do and mess it up.

It was another good day at the Riverwalk.

FATHERS AND FATHERS TO BE ON THE RIVERWALK

2010-06-20T15:15:00.000-07:00

CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE

(JUNE 20, 2010) A couple of days ago I wrote about ants and how the world of ants is totally female because the males have only two purposes: to mate and die. So much for Father's Day for these little fathers.

This morning I saw the standard family gatherings as the geese were swimming with their young and the mallard mother was with her ducklings. There were young bluebirds, swallows, sparrows and mockingbirds in the trees at different spots along the trail.

I started thinking of Father's Day and how many new fathers there are along the Riverwalk this year. The river seems much more largely populated with ducks and geese this year; it was a prolific year for the addition of ducklings and goslings to the river population.

I don't know if I am noticing more, but there also seems to be a larger number of insects, not the annoying ones like gnats and flies, but the pretty ones like butterflies, dragonflies, damselflies and moths. Sadie enjoys tracking them with her stealth movements as she hones in on her prey, which she misses 99 times out of 100 (sometimes I give the insect warning before she strikes, and the insect flies away safely).

There were two very interesting things I saw this morning. I was watching some damselflies along the edge of the river. They were close enough to get some good shots. However, there was one blue damselfly that was not straight bodied like the others; in fact, this damselfly had a crooked body. As I looked closer, there seemed to be an extension to the body (see the photo at the top of this entry).

HOLY COW! There was another damselfly hanging on to the blue damselfly.

HOLY COW! My first reaction was that this had something to do with the mating of the insect, but what was going on? HOLY COW!

I started thinking about what I had learned a few days ago about ants mating and then the male dying. Was this female damselfly carrying the corpse of her lover? HOLY COW!!!

A little ways up the trail I saw some pretty white and purple flowers. There are usually some type of interesting insects around them, so I thought I would go to investigate. There were some bumblebees flying in and out of the flowers, and in one of them I saw a ladybug. But, it was a most unusual ladybug - it was larger than most ladybugs I had ever seen. When I looked closer, I noticed that it was NOT just one ladybug I was seeing, but two - one was riding piggyback on the other. I thought again about the mating ritual of ants since the one on top looked anemic, not as bright as the one on the bottom. Again, I thought, well here is another insect that won't be able to celebrate Father's Day since, I assumed, like the male ants, he would die after mating. HOLY COW!

Well, I was wrong in both cases. Neither the damselfly nor the ladybug (by the way, male ladybugs are called - - - "ladybugs")would die. I was observing the mating rituals of two very unique insects.

With the story of the ants a few days ago, my first discovery of the Webworm Moth yesterday, and now the mating rituals of the damselfly and the ladybug, I may find myself looking more closely at insects rather than birds - or, maybe not. But, if Sadie, who spends more time pointing at insects and less time pointing at birds, can change from being a bird dog to a bug dog, perhaps I can spend more time concentrating on bugs and less time concentrating on birds.

Actually, I take pictures of anything along the Riverwalk that interests me - whether it is a bird, a flower, an insect, or just a unique sunset. With the foliage so heavy in the woods now, the insects are much easier to spot than birds. But sometimes what happens on the Riverwalk makes me feel like a voyeur. What happens on the Riverwalk stays on the Riverwalk - unless I see it and write about.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

"DON'T TRADE YOUR DOG FOR AN ELEPHANT"

2010-06-19T12:47:00.000-07:00

CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE

(JUNE 19, 2010) This morning, as we were in the darkest part of the dark woods below Dan Daniel Park, we saw some moving white dots in front of us and the faint dark figures of ducks. It was the mama mallard and her six (there used to be seven) ducklings. I have taken dozens of pictures of this small family over the past few weeks, and the ducklings are now almost the size of their mother.

It was 6:15, right after dusk, and the young ducklings were grazing in the field of good vegetation. When they saw Sadie, they headed across the path towards the river, but I noticed that they came back to the field once we had passed.

Ducks are cute, but would I want a duck for a pet? Give up Sadie and walk my duck in the park? I don't think so. I'll keep Sadie.

A little further up the trail we saw some fishermen who took their fishing seriously with about a dozen fishing rods being carried on a rolling cart. I asked one of them if he had caught anything, and he said, "Not this year. But the guy over there has a brother who caught a 45 pounder a few weeks ago." I usually take the size of the fish a fisherman says, divide it by two and then add a couple of pounds, so I guessed that the fish was around 25 pounds, but I said, "That's a big one. The size of my dog."

We walked on. Behind us was Lucky, a Pekingese that Sadie sees nearly everyday. Lucky caught up with us, and the two dogs sniffed each other while the lady who owns Lucky and I talked. She said, "I don't know why I got Lucky. But when I went to the Humane Society, I saw her little face, and that night I couldn't think of anything else. I'm glad I got her."

We were talking "dogs" when a bike rider came up and joined the conversation. As he left, he said, "I have one bit of advice for you. Don't trade your dog for an elephant." Then he rode away.

This was a "plastics" moment, right out of The Graduate. I thought about that sentence over and over as I walked the trail. Was there something philosophical about the statement? Was he saying that you need to be happy with what you have? Was he saying don't wish for something bigger? Was he saying stick with what you know rather than what you think might be better? Was I getting too obsessed with this simple statement?

The Riverwalk raises questions for me each day. Today I saw what appeared to be a beetle on a leaf.
This bug was something I had never seen before. It was orange and black striped with white spots. What could it be? I didn't know, so when I came home, I looked it up on the internet and discovered it wasn't a beetle at all but a moth - an Ailanthus Webworm Moth that folds its wings when landed so it looks like a beetle.

That was easy to solve - much easier than the meaning of the comment, "Don't trade your dog for an elephant."

I continued on, and we saw Jodie, another small dog that Sadie meets most mornings. I was talking with Jodie's owner, and she told me, "I don't even have to set my alarm in the morning. Jodie comes right in and wakes me up wanting to go to the park. I didn't have to get up early this morning, but there he was, waiting to go the park." I told her that Sadie is patient, but gets very excited about going to the park each day. We both agreed that the dogs are wonderful to have to walk with, and then she moved on.

As we got to the location of where the Worsham Street Bridge used to be, I looked down over the bank and saw something moving in the water. As I stopped to look closer and take pictures, I realized it was a 10 foot (actually, take that number, divide it by two and add a couple for the real size) water moccasin. It was slithering along the shoreline looking, I suppose, for a quick meal.

It was then that the comment of "Don't trade your dog for an elephant" made a little more sense. I started thinking about the animals and insects we have seen on the Riverwalk this morning. The mallards, the moth, geese of all sizes, song birds, a wood duck, and a cooter turtle. And then I thought about Sadie. None of these others of God's creatures would make good pets, just like an elephant wouldn't make a good pet, either.

But Sadie, my faithful companion on the Riverwalk, is just right. She is a domesticated animal - elephants, mallards, moths, geese, other birds, turtles and, most of all, water moccasins are not domestic, nor can they be domesticated. I don't think there will be a time when I see people walking their turtle or snake on the Riverwalk. But, dogs are just right. Forget the elephant - I'll keep my dog.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

THE LITTLE GUYS

2010-06-18T15:39:00.001-07:00

(JUNE 18, 2010) Yesterday evening I was listening to an interview with an entomologist, Mark Moffett, who has just published a book on ants. The interview on NPR ran 20-25 minutes. What can a person say about ants in 20-25 minutes? What I know about ants can be covered in one sentence - "They always show up at picnics."

However, I became interested in the interview and listened closely. What could I learn from this man about ants? Well, here are a few things I learned:

1. The ants we see on the ground are all females. The males are few in number and fly around with only one purpose - to mate and die. Moffett referred to the colony of ants as a "sisterhood."

2. There are some ants in Australia that will literally run after a human. They are about an inch long, called bulldog ants, and they will chase you if you run. They can yield a painful bite.

3. Sometimes larger ants provide transportation for smaller ants as they travel about.

4. The oldest marauder ants take on the worst jobs which often includes leading in battles against other ants and guarding the trail from enemies.

Perhaps more than I needed to know about ants, but at least interesting information.

This morning I decided to concentrate on the LITTLE GUYS along the trail. OK, I did take pictures of birds and flowers and other things that caught my eye, but I decided to concentrate on the little things we sometimes just walk by and miss seeing. I noticed that flies, when enlarged and looked at up closely, are very attractive creatures with their orange eyes, their see-through wings and their neon green bodies.

A little damselfly was perched on a green leaf in an area where I regularly see damselflies and dragonflies. I have discovered that these little insects are so sensitive that even a shadow will cause them to take flight.

With the sun shining through the leaf, a small bug was clutching to the leaf and made an interesting study from above and from the side. The bug didn't move, but just stayed on the leaf as I clicked away one shot after another.

Finally, a black fly like insect had landed on a leaf and was walking around. My first thought was, "Is this the male ant that mates and dies?" The answer: I don't know. It was there for a little while and then was gone.

I recall a story that I read as a child. It was titled "The Ephemeral" and dealt with an insect that lived for only one day, mated and then died. Its major purpose was to make sure the species continued to thrive - even for one day.

So, what did I learn from looking at the LITTLE GUYS? Well, not much. However, each little insect has its own history the same as the most common of all insects, the ant. I look closely each day and discover some little part of our world that I had never noticed before. The Riverwalk provides me with a remarkable viewing stand from which to discover new things including THE LITTLE GUYS.

I was another good day on the Riverwalk.

BEST FRIENDS OF THE DUCKS AND GEESE

2010-06-17T19:29:00.001-07:00

(JUNE 17, 2010) This morning a walker stopped and asked me if I ever get tired walking on the Riverwalk with Sadie. I told her, "No. I get a great deal of enjoyment coming out each day and seeing what nature provides."

We see some of the same people each morning, walking, jogging, riding bikes, but two ladies are there doing a service for the wildlife. These two women carry bags of bread crumbs to feed the ducks and geese each morning.

As Sadie and I approach the bridge that goes over to the train station, there are always dozens of geese and ducks gathered there, and when they see Sadie, they tend to walk towards the river or start their hissing action while lowering their heads as if to charge. We always take a wide circle so we don't disturb them too much.

When other people approach, without dogs, the birds come near hoping that the person may disperse food. I have seen some children feeding the geese, and when they are out of crumbs, the geese get angry and fuss at the children who run to their parents in fear.

But, the ducks and geese seem to wait for the two bread ladies. When they are approaching, a call goes up, and a number of geese and mallards fly in to take part in this feeding ritual along with those that had already gathered. While walking towards the feeding table, the women are approached by dozens of ducks and geese that are eager to sample what the ladies have in their bags. As they get closer, the noise the birds make is almost deafening as they trumpet their approval of what is going to happen. Once the bread is dispersed, there is a feeding frenzy as the adults compete with the young for the many morsels of bread dumped onto the ground. There is some fussing and elbowing (if geese can "elbow") as the birds eat up every last crumb.

The women see Sadie each morning, and they approach her to give her some affection and, often, a piece of bread. They don't seem to mind that Sadie has dirty paws from the walk, and one woman even had a broken arm a few months ago, but doesn't shy away from Sadie's overly active lunges toward her.

This morning I saw the ladies as they were getting ready to feed the masses of ducks and geese gathered. I said, "I guess you are the ducks and geese best friends. I know they appreciate your daily feedings."

One woman said, "They may enjoy the bread crumbs, but we get a lot out of this too. We enjoy getting out here every day."

A symbiotic relationship - the geese enjoy the bread crumbs and the women enjoy feeding the crumbs to the birds. It is a simple thing, but something very important to the the birds and the ladies.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

WHATZIT?

2010-06-16T19:06:00.001-07:00

(JUNE 17, 2010) "How's WHATZIT doing today," a lady asks every morning as we pass her and her friend walking the Riverwalk?

I know she is asking about Sadie. She calls her "WHATZIT" because a few years ago when we first talked with these ladies they would come over to Sadie and Sadie would, in her excitement, jump up on the women. The ladies didn't seem to mind that, but whenever they called Sadie's name, Sadie would make a lunge toward them wanting to be petted. So, as not to cause Sadie to pull on the leash, they referred to her as "WHATZIT" or as "the dog whose name shall not be called.

It has turned into a friendly joke over the years as they ask how I'm doing and then ask, "How's WHATZIT?' I say, "She's just fine," and we continue on our walk.

This morning I encountered several dogs that Sadie had met before. However, one dog, Mia, I hadn't recalled her name, so I asked, "WHATZIT's name?" Mia's owner said, "Mia. We have met before." I recalled her dog after she mentioned her name; Sadie and Mia got along fine with each other, we shared treats with each other's dog, and then went our separate ways.

Over the years we meet dogs on the Riverwalk and know the name of the dogs but not the names of the owners. Today Sadie saw Jodie, a small white curly furred dog. We have seen Jodie on the trail almost every morning for a couple of years. The dogs sniff each other and then move on. This morning, Jodie's owner asked me the name of another person on the trial, and I told her. She called me by name; I was embarrassed because after a couple of years I knew only as Jodie's master. She told me her name, and now I will not only speak a good morning to Jodie but to . . . WHATZHER name as well.

Sometimes my eyes deceive me as I look at something that seems odd and respond with the WHATZIT question. I generally go over to investigate the WHATZIT object. This morning I saw a beautiful flower that had black spots all over it white flower. My first idea was that the spots were little bugs, but as I got closer I realized that they weren't bugs at all, but little holes in the flower made, I assume, by little bugs.

On a plant there was a dark spot to which I asked myself, "WHATZIT?' As I walked over to it, I realized it was some kind of roach or waterbug that had taken up residence in the flower. It was a rather attractive bug with a maroon shell and black accessories. I also saw another plant with what seemed like a little hole in it. The "hole" started to move, and as I got closer I realized that cute ladybug had landed on the plant and made an attractive picture with the black and orange bug on the white flower. Another bug was hanging upside-down on a leaf. When I saw it scamper up the stem of the leaf, I responded, "WHATZIT?" Well, I think it might have been a mosquito or some other long legged bug.

Near the bridge to the train station there were two lovely yellow bell shaped flowers. On one was an interesting bug that was yellow and black. As I looked at the other I assumed that it was full of the same bug, but what appeared to be several of the bugs were actually the stamen of the plant that looked just like the small bug on the other plant.

And finally, the most exciting part of the walk this morning was the sight of a great blue heron flying over the water and landing just a little ways from where we walked. It's landing wasn't the most graceful; in fact, this graceful bird of the sky had such an abrupt and clumsy landing that I exclaimed, "WHATZIT?"

And finally, when you see Sadie on the Riverwalk, you might want to refer to her as "WHATZIT" or she may respond with an overly friendly response. However, if enough people call her WHATZIT, she may start responding to that instead of Sadie. And then the two ladies who walk together have to start calling Sadie something she won't respond to - maybe - "bad dog?"

Well, it was another beautiful day on the Rivrwalk.

NOTHING RHYMES WITH ORANGE

2010-06-15T21:02:00.001-07:00

(JUNE 15, 2010) This morning on the Riverwalk I didn't take my camera.

I had taken over 500 pictures on the Riverwalk and over 1000 pictures of horses and horse hooves and farriers and farrier equipment the day before for a horse magazine and was just tired of taking pictures. I had a good walk without the camera and stopped to talk with a few friends along the way including the wife of my church minister who had the day off and was biking. We had a good chat, and then went in opposite directions.

Though I didn't take my camera, I knew that the day before I had taken some pretty good shots on the Riverwalk, but I had limited yesterday's blog to the photos having blue in them. As I walked, I thought about the pictures of the day before, and one orange flower stood out. I started thinking poetry - perhaps a sonnet that would capture the images of the Riverwalk would be appropriate. Perhaps a ballad or a lyric poem. And then I recalled that the word "orange" has no rhyme. So, I needed a poem where there would be little rhyming, and I settled on the haiku.

Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry with a total of 17 syllables spread over 3 lines with 5 syllables in the first line, 7 syllables in the second line, and 5 syllables in the third line. Traditional haiku deals with nature and relates a primary experience (something the poet has experienced for the first time).

Short lines ran through my head as I walked. I became obsessed with the color "orange" to a point that I asked myself is "orange" one or two syllables (is it "orange" or "or-ange").

As it turned out, I had to teach a literature class from 6-10, and we were going to discuss poetry. I decided to introduce the students to haiku and to have them write one as a way of experiencing the idea of "syllables" in poetry. So, how could the students have a "primary experience" about nature that evening? I decided to show them the picture above with the flowers, the moth, the geese and Sadie pointing at a butterfly. Their only requirements were to write a haiku and to use the word "orange" in it. Here is the results from 7 students.

#1:
Only three ducks and
only one butterfly to
relate to orange.

#2:
Many shades of orange
Different objects appear
All from the same place.

#3:
Butterfly flying
High above the duck's feathers
Orange in color

#4:
Three Ducks looking wayward
Attention caught. What can be
Three orange bills pointing.

#5:
Flower Blooms Orange
Ducks are staring down at it
The butterfly lands.

#6:
The orange flower
Water hanging from the tip
Waiting to drip down

#7

The orange flowers shine bright
The duck adds to its beautiful scene
The beauty of shades were breathtaking.

These are not bad for a 10 minute period given to writing the haikus.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, the 42 syllables above give an interesting description of the pictures given to them. The word "haiku" means "beginning verse." For these 6 students, it is, at least a start for learning about poetry.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

SHADES OF BLUE

2010-06-14T18:21:00.000-07:00

(JUNE 14, 2010) Nature tends to protect itself through camouflage. Young birds take on a brownish hue that blends in with the nest. Female birds also are lees flamboyant than the males so that the males can distract the predator and move any danger away from the nest.

Certain colors seem prevalent in the woods - brown, green and gray. These are colors that are dull and allow all animals or plants to blend into their surroundings.

The male cardinal puts forth a brilliant red while the female is less colorful with a dull red. The little male merganser duck is a colorfully patterned black and white while the female is a dull (yet with a cute Mohegan head) brown. The green head of the mallard is easily spotted from a distance while the dull brown spotted female blends in to the undergrowth.

But, what was Mother Nature thinking to put blue into the mix?

The bluebird (male) stands out in the dark woods, and you can count on the duller blue female to be nearby. There are certain blue flowers that are more likely to be plucked from their stems than the more common orange or yellow flowers, though some of the orange and yellow flowers put forth a vibrant and beautiful personality.

The great BLUE heron seems to be an obvious contrast to the browns and greens, but since this great bird spends most of its time on the water, the blue helps it to blend in.

Even the insects get into the mix when it comes to being either lucky or unlucky with colors. There are dragonflies and damselflies that blend right in to the undergrowth along the Riverwalk. But, occasionally, there is that florescent blue that catches the sun just right and gives away the resting place of a species of damselfly.

One wonders if nature was looking out for the predators as well as the plants and animals themselves. Is the honeybee attracted to the more attractive blue plant than the more common yellow flower? Though blending in with the background of the water, do predators notice the difference in the hue of the great blue heron from the hue of the blue water? And, whatever predator that may attack the neon blue damselfly, the sun gives away its pray each morning making the dragonfly more vulnerable.

In a previous post I wrote about a hawk swooping down to carry away a songbird from a bird feeder. One person was appalled while another person said, "Well, hawks gotta eat too."

The color blue can be both friend and enemy to plants and animals that are lucky (or unlucky) enough to be born with that color. The shades of blue in nature are varied and, since it all seems to work in God's plan, purposeful.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

ELVIS SINGS HYMNS OF INSPIRATION

2010-06-13T15:10:00.000-07:00

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(JUNE 13, 2010) This beautiful Sunday morning on the Riverwalk, a lady rode by on her bike and spoke. I had talked with this lady a few weeks ago, and she told me that she listened to the hymns and gospel music of Elvis as she biked along the Riverwalk. She has four of his CDs and enjoys the music as she rides past nature.

What exactly did Elvis have to say about nature? Is his music relevant to what I see daily on the Riverwalk? I thought about this this morning and tried to think of Elvis songs as I saw nature doing what nature does. I saw a mallard couple which made me think of a few songs. The first ones that come to mind are the obvious ones: LOVE ME TENDER and I CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE WITH YOU. However, a few months ago I saw a mallard couple sitting on a hillside. Another mallard drake walked by, the female was distracted and went off with that sojourner. Is that HEARTBREAK HOTEL or SUSPICIOUS MINDS?

As we ventured forth toward Angler's Park, Sadie pulled me to the side of the trail. There was a box turtle with its magnificent black and orange design. Sadie was curious. I kept her back because I feared that the turtle would be ALL SHOOK UP. But, Sadie being the HOUND DOG she is, was impatient and wanted a closer look. I continued to hold her back, and she gave me that DON'T BE CRUEL look. The turtle continued to be TROUBLEd by the invasion into its space, but I assured the turtle THAT'S ALL RIGHT, and we walked on, though Sadie wanted a closer look. I encouraged her to move on by saying "C'mon Baby," in an Elvis accent, and I assured her, "YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE."

At Angler's Park I saw a swallow delivering some food to the young swallows in the house. As the bird flew towards the house, I took pictures. The dedication of the birds to feed the off-spring shows the mates have a BURNING LOVE, and that they have the innate inward thought that says, "Survival of the species is ALWAYS ON MY MIND."

At Angler's Park my camera battery died, so I couldn't take any more pictures on the return trip. It was a pleasant return, and I stopped thinking about Elvis and just enjoyed the beauty and sounds of nature. If you have gotten this far in the essay, I want to say (in my best Elvis imitation): "Thank ya' Thank ya' very much."

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

SIGNS

2010-06-11T12:57:00.001-07:00

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(JUNE 11, 2010) Near the dam at Dan Daniel Park there were two men standing there, staring across the river. As we passed by, one of the men asked, "Do you know how long that sign has been there?"

I looked and asked, "What sign?" The man responded, "The POSTED sign over on the island. I guess they don't allow fishing over there since the drowning of the young boy."

I said, "I hadn't noticed the sign," and the other man said, "It wasn't up there at the end of last fishing season. We haven't been here since."

We talked a little longer, and then I walked on thinking that that little sign has made a difference in those men's plans for the day. I assume they will just have to fish from the shore

As I walked on, I noticed other signs posted along the trail including the NO FISHING FROM DAM sign which some still ignore. I had also noticed the signs in the information shelter that gave information about the trail and identified some of the wildlife along the trail.

The most unique sign on the trail is the very clever one written as a NOTICE TO ALL DOGS. It starts out, "Wuff, Wuff, Bark, Ruff, Ruff . . ." and is translated for those of us who don't speak "DOG." Translated it says that dogs must be on leash always (again, something some dog owners ignore) and that if the dog poops, the owner needs to put it in a bag and dispose of it in a trash can.

Sometimes the "signs" aren't written in either "DOG" or English. Some are written in nature. For example, I saw a new orange and yellow flower that I had not seen this year. It was blooming by itself and I think it is called a lady slipper. It is the flower in the background of the group of pictures above. To me, seeing these newly sprung flowers, means that summer is nearly here. The tulip poplars (peach colored flowers above) have had several groups of flowering so far this spring and there are still blooms ready to burst forth.

Another sign I have learned to recognize is the sign of aggression of some birds. The swallows fly around, circling my head, as I pass by a house where they have their nest. The mockingbird, on the other hand, will stand on the fence and fuss at Sadie and me as we walk by. If we stop, they move closer continuing to fuss. I have also noticed that when they are angry, their tail goes up in the air. This can be seen in the images above.

Back in late April I watched as two mockingbirds faced off on a fence at Dan Daniel Park. One approached the other with his tail up while the other shot his tail up. The aggressor hopped forward and shot his tail up as he landed. The 10 yards between them soon became a few feet until the aggressor jumped on the other mockingbird and chased it into a tree. They both returned in a few minutes and repeated the standoff.

Signs were everywhere this morning on the Riverwalk. From signs telling dogs what to do to signs from birds telling those approaching to BEWARE.

One final observation. As I was at the dam, I looked over to the island and saw a man fishing there. The man was not one of the men I had talked with earlier. However, as I crested the small hill there in the woods, I could no longer see the sign that I had seen two hours earlier. I'm not sure what this is a sign of but,

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk.

IF IT FLIES . . .

2010-06-10T12:40:00.000-07:00

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(JUNE 10, 2010) NOTE: None of the insects shown above were maimed or killed during our walk on the Riverwalk this morning.

Why the disclaimer? It is because of Sadie, my English setter bird dog. She will point and, eventually, attack anything that flies. In fact, Elizabeth often says, "If it flies, it dies." Well, actually, that quote is not totally true.

Sadie has never killed a bird, though she is a bird dog, and she has stalked and jumped on 100s of moths and butterflies in her lifetime, but her actual success rate in squashing or injuring an insect is about 1 in 50. That would not put her in the class of a major league hunter, and when she actually ends up with a moth in her mouth, she has a look of regret because it doesn't taste so good.

This morning I mentioned to someone on the trail that Sadie was slow starting again. And they noted that she was stalking something in the grass (it turned out to be a small bug) and the person said, "Well, she is just doing what she is supposed to do - hunting."

As her owner, I have two personal moral (read that, "guilt") issues.

First: Since she is a bird dog, bred to HUNT birds, am I denying her her birthright by not being a hunter, myself, and not allowing her to pursue her "career"? My own moral compass says, "No." I justify that by the fact that she gets to walk, everyday, 3-5 miles and gets to run in the backyard. During these outings, she gets to point at bugs, which seems to fulfill her innate urge to HUNT. As I write this, she is vigilantly stalking a house fly. So, now, she has become a "bug dog" rather than a "bird dog," which puts me back into my moral questioning of denying her her birthright.

Second: Often she will stalk a moth or another insect for 4-5 minutes as she does her beautiful slow motioned stealth walk toward the intended victim. She is "poetry in motion." Most of the time the insect notices her before she can attack; however, on some occasions she pounces and - well, the insect doesn't fly away. My moral issue is have I contributed in killing one of God's creatures by allowing Sadie to stalk and pounce? My rationalization is that her success rate is about 1 in 50, as mentioned above. However, I have the demise of those 2 in 100 insects on my conscience. I also rationalize that as a hunting dog, she needs to experience success on occasion or else she may go into a deep depression, and dog therapists are expensive and not covered by my major medical insurance.

And I also have a sub-moral issue when it comes to the 2nd moral issue above. I sometimes let her stalk the moths that aren't too pretty. The ones above, I didn't let her get very near. Now, since I only allow her to attack (and, occasionally, smash one) only the less attractive moths, am I being unfair to the ugly bugs?

Am I losing sleep about either of these moral issues? Not one second, but I do think about this on occasion. And, as for the saying, "If it flies, it dies." That may only be true in Sadie's mind since her success rate is only 2%. But, at least, it gives her the chance to hone her hunting skills.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

BIRDS JUST HANGIN' OUT

2010-06-08T10:46:00.001-07:00

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(JUNE 8, 2010) This morning we saw a single fisher near the dam. It wasn't a man with a tackle box and a pole, but a great blue heron standing near the dam trying to catch a fish for breakfast. He was just hangin' out there waiting for some tasty fish to come over the dam.

Elizabeth said, "I guess that is why there are so many fishermen lined up on the bank near the dam each morning. If you want to go where the fish are, follow the herons." It's kind of like finding a good place to get a good meal when you are traveling - go where the truck drivers eat.

Near the first field after the dam, there was a cardinal shining red against the Carolina blue sky. He was chirping and just hangin' out, enjoying the morning coolness. The air was crisp and welcoming after the heat of the past few days.

As we approached the public works department, we heard a ruckus in the trees and saw some crows enter the trees where mockingbirds hang out. The leaves moved and the images of birds could be seen and the squawking became louder and louder. Out of the dark trees emerged a sing mockingbird that sat on the top of a nearby tree. However, the fracas wasn't over. As the bird sat there, another bird dive bombed this guy, knocked him off the branch and took up residence where the single bird had been hangin' out. What was that all about? I don't know. It could have been territorial; it could have been a nesting situation, or it could have been something else. The battle took place about 2o yards beyond where I saw the young mockingbird in the brush yesterday. We didn't see the young bird today.

Beyond the public works department we saw a family of geese hangin' out. The two adults here hangin' with their six goslings of differing sizes. They were the only group of geese in that area; most mornings there are 2-3 families of geese and goslings, and generally a mallard or two.

As we returned back to Dan Daniel Park, we saw some turtles sunning themselves on the log in the river - no cormorants - just turtles. Closer to the dark woods at Dan Daniel Park we saw some insects, including a pretty neon blue damselfly, and a few birds in the tree (a couple of wrens and a sparrow) chirping away.

When we got back to the dam, the heron was still there. "I wonder if he caught anything?" Elizabeth asked. "I don't know," I replied. "He still looks hungry, and I guess he would have had his fill and moved on by now if he had. Or maybe he is just hangin' out there."

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk.

DANGER!

2010-06-07T06:57:00.000-07:00

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(JUNE 7, 2010) A couple of months ago a colleague took a group of students to the Riverwalk to observe nature. Before they went, she told them what to expect. One student, who was unfamiliar with much to do with nature, asked about the dangers there. He asked if there were any wild animals that could rip someone apart - like lions and tigers? She said no that the Riverwalk is a safe place to walk.

However, there are dangers there for humans as well as the wild life. There is a sign that speaks to the danger of the river and the undertow that is created at dams. There are, of course, plants that can cause rashes if a walker gets off the trail and wanders into the brush. And, if you look closely at insects, like I do, then it is possible to get either an insect bite or sting.

The beautiful bumblebee buzzing around the pink, dainty flowers of the mimosa tree can carry a bruising sting. The yellow jacket crawling gently on a leaf in its bright black and yellow can attack a person and cause great pain. I have seen very few snakes on the trail, but I have seen 1000s of bees. The fact is that 3-4 times more people die of bee stings than from snake bites.

This morning I was talking with someone on the trail when I noticed a furry patch in the bushes. I thought that it was, perhaps, some goose feathers, but it wasn't until I approached closer that I realized it was a baby mockingbird. It was about 3 feet above the ground, hidden in the foliage. I tied Sadie to a fence on the other side of the path and went to the bird and started taking pictures. It didn't move except to occasionally blink or move its head. This was the same area where the adult mockingbirds have swooped down at us as we walked along the path or fussed at us as we, evidently, got too close to their nest. I had the thought of being completely bombarded by the adults as I got near their baby. NOTHING. I took my pictures without incident.

When I came back 30 minutes later, the small bird was still there. Had it been abandoned? I don't know. That close to the ground put this small bird in DANGER of predators that could too easily find the little guy and make a small meal out of him.

This morning I saw a female mallard with her three ducklings. It was a pleasant sight to see, but also a reminder of the DANGER the wild life face on the river. This same mallard, just a few days before, had 7 ducklings - today, 4 were missing - gone.

I noticed tent caterpillars had taken over some trees along the trail. The leaves make a treat for the larvae but what is left after they have gorged themselves is the skeletal remains of the leaves. There is DANGER to the trees as well along the Riverwalk.

As I think upon the DANGERS that threaten each plant and animal each day on the Riverwalk, I can't help but think of the devastation that is going on in the Gulf of Mexico. Many animals and much plant life are dying not because of nature; these living creatures are dying because of a foolish act of humans. Birds may strafe humans who get too close, insects might sting, and spiders might bite humans and create a minor irritation; but, it is what humans can do to nature that is truly devastating. Surely the higher, thinking animals, like myself, who often visit this very fragile ecosystem can do better.

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk.

DAMSELS AND DRAGONS (and maidens?)

2010-06-06T12:44:00.001-07:00

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(JUNE 6, 2010) Yesterday morning after I finished my walk, I returned to Angler's Park and saw a group of individuals who had gathered to kayak from there to Milton, NC. One of them was a colleague of mine from the biology department, and she came over to see Sadie (and me, too, I guess).

I was exhuberant about all that I had seen that morning and told her about the mockingbird chasing the squirrel in Chapel Hill, the red-winged blackbird shooing away a smaller bird at Angler's Park, the butterflies and the agressiveness of the "dragonflies or . . . what are the others? Uh . . . maidenflies?" She said they are damselflies and then she said, "damsels, maiden . . . I guess they are all the same." We laughed, and I was truly appreciative of any new thing I could learn, and she is very kind to offer information.

That comment sent me on a quest. What is the difference between damselflies and dragonflies?

I consulted a couple of books and several web sites to learn what I could. One site told me all I needed to know. I learned that they are very similar yet very different. But, the basic thing I learned was how to tell the difference between them as I see them on the Riverwalk. Basically, this is it:

Dragonflies have bodies of larger girth, and when they are resting, their wings are to the side. Damselflies, on the other hand, have thinner bodies, and their wings are on their backs as they rest. That's it.

In addition the site told me about the difference in the shape of the eggs, the larvae stages of each, that there are 25 different types of these insects in the sub-group to which they belong, and a lot of other stuff. Very interesting, but I mostly wanted to find out which are damselflies and which are dragonflies. Along the way I learned some more things, and truly appreciate my colleague for all the help she has given me during my quest to learn more about the wonderful plants and animals and insects we encounter.

Oh, I also learned that there are no "maiden" flies - unless that is a name given to female dragonflies or damselflies who never find a mate. I just made that last part up.

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk.

AGGRESSION

2010-06-05T12:55:00.000-07:00

(JUNE 5, 2010) In 1979 President Jimmy Carter returned from a fishing trip and told a "fish story" about being attacked by a "killer rabbit."

This image, which didn't seem very "presidential" at the time, may have been one of the reasons he became a one-term president. What could have been worse? How about "killer butterflies?"

I was late getting to the Riverwalk this morning since I had picked up Elizabeth from work in Chapel Hill. The theme of my entire morning, dealing with "aggression," was foreshadowed by an event from that trip. No...now don't jump to conclusions. I enjoyed seeing Elizabeth, and there was not an aggressive moment between us as we drove back the 50+ miles. In fact, it was a very pleasant trip, as usual.

However, as we were leaving the hospital parking lot, we saw a squirrel running as fast as a little squirrel's little legs could carry him. He ran across the street with a mockingbird hot on his bushy tail. That squirrel had wandered where, I assume, a squirrel should NOT have wandered and was now paying the price.

We chuckled at the moment of AGGRESSION by that mockingbird, and it brought back memories of the past few days when a mockingbird showed aggression toward us as we, evidently, wandered too close to the bird's nest.

I got to Angler's Park at about 9:00. I still had the word "AGGRESSION" on my mind, and, sure enough, there were three events I witnessed this morning that we additional acts of aggression. As we walked around the marsh, I kept seeing dragonflies zipping over the water. Individual dragonflies were doing whatever they do. However, I noticed two small dragonflies flitting about when a large (not as "large" as President Carter's "killer rabbit") dragonfly just seemed to attack these smaller insects. Both flew off, quieckly, being chased by the larger dragonfly.

As we crossed over the bridge that divides the marsh, I heard a squawking coming from the trees ahead of me. A male red-winged blackbird had just evicted a smaller bird from his tree. He chased the smaller bird off, and then took his place back in the tree.

As we walked toward the west, we passed the water treatment plant and went into the woods. The coolness of the woods were a relief from what was becoming a very hot morning. We saw very little life, other than plants, in the woods. We saw a few mushrooms in the moister part of the woods, and we could hear the birds singing, but where they were in the canopy of the woods, we couldn't see.

Coming out of the woods, we saw some moths and butterflies which attracted Sadie's attention. About a quarter mile out of the woods, we came upon a couple of very pretty butterflies. Sadie became the AGGRESSOR in that she went into her natural pointing stance as she made her short steps toward the small butterfly. While she was doing this, another butterfly landed on my arm. It had the black and gold markings we often see, and just sat there as I looked at it, and it looked at me. It had no inclination to move. I turned my camera toward the little creature, and then realized that a 55mm lens would not work here - this became an un-photographed moment of our walk with the butterfly within inches of my head.

However, a few more of these beautiful winged creatures showed up and started landing on Sadie AND me. While Sadie's nose was pointing at a small butterfly, two more had landed on her - one on her tail and another on her hind leg. She continued pointing until the small butterfly in the grass flew away; then she noticed there was a small one on her leg. She turned around with a "what am I supposed to do?" look on her face. She turned her body around and started pointing at the butterfly on her leg, and remained that way until it flew away. At the moment, with the many butterflies in the air, it seemed that they were had become the aggressors toward Sadie and me.

Now, I'm not going to say I had to fight them off with a boat oar, like the former President did with the "killer rabbit," but it got a little creepy as 5-6 of them landed on Sadie and a couple landed on me. Actually, "creepy" may not be the right word - perhaps, "magical" is more appropriate.

The morning was otherwise uneventful (OK, "uneventful" is an understatement). However, I will always remember the morning as the day Sadie and I were attacked by butterflies. At least I'm not running for elected office, so I can get away with it; and, I will never say they were "killer butterflies."

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

THE THREE RAVENS

2010-06-04T18:13:00.000-07:00

(JUNE 4, 2010) The ballad, "The Three Ravens," is a classical love ballad about a knight who has been killed and how his dog, his hawk, and his lover do not leave his side. Here is the poem:

THERE were three ravens sat on a tree,
Downe a downe, hay down, hay downe
There were three ravens sat on a tree,
With a downe
There were three ravens sat on a tree, 5
They were as black as they might be.
With a downe derrie, derrie, derrie, downe, downe.

The one of them said to his mate,
“Where shall we our breakefast take?”

“Down in yonder green field, 10
There lies a knight slain under his shield.

“His hounds they lie down at his feet,
So well they can their master keep.

“His hawkes they fly so eagerly,
There’s no fowl dare him come nie.” 15

Down there comes a fallow doe (woman),
As great with young as she might go.

She lift up his bloody head,
And kissed his wounds that were so red.

She got him up upon her back, 20
And carried him to earthen lake.

She buried him before the prime,
She was dead herself ere evening-song time.

God send every gentleman,
Such hawkes, such hounds, and such a leman (lover, wife).

Each time I read this poem, I think of Red Skelton and his two seagulls, Gertrude and Heathcliff. His birds would talk with each other, but not the same way as the ravens did in the above poem. His stories always had a humorous punchline.

So, what else did I see this morning on the Riverwalk. The bright spot of the walk was the blazing pink mimosa tree. It had bloomed overnight and created a breath-taking image as the morning sun lit it up. The tree was also alive with insects from honeybees to ladybugs. The honey bees were also busy on other blooming flowers that had popped up over night.

The baby geese seem to be more and more plentiful since I see new groups each morning we walk on the Riverwalk. Today the goslings were being herded toward the water as we approached, and some were swimming like "ducks in a row," protected by the adults, in the river. There was an interesting white goose resting, and her goslings had tucked themselves up underneath her wings and body.

There were a number of song birds on the Riverwalk this morning. Thank goodness the mockingbird was not around, and we didn't get harassed as we walked close to its nest.

Sadie saw a couple of her dog friends, and she got to chase a few moths as they flew past her in the dark woods below Dan Daniel Park. After our walk, I returned home with my "hound" (Sadie) to my "leman" (wife - Elizabeth); I don't have a hawk, but, I assume if I did, it would be just as faithful as my hound and my "leman."

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

QUESTIONS

2010-06-03T18:08:00.001-07:00

(JUNE 3, 2010) This morning on the Riverwalk, we saw a single sock in the dark woods as we began our journey. My wife, Elizabeth, asked, "How could someone lose a sock? Wouldn't the person notice that a sock was missing while walking out of the woods?" This brought to mind many other questions that often go unanswered about things on the Riverwalk.

Why don't I see as many blue jays on the Riverwalk as I see bluebirds? Before I started walking on the Riverwalk, regularly, I saw blue jays, 5:1 more often than bluebirds. Now I see them on occasion, and they seem to be somewhat skittish. This morning I saw a blue jay in the dark foliage, but that was the first one I have seen in weeks.

Do turtles swimming beneath the water near the Canada geese, ever bite off feet of the geese? The reason I ask this is because I was told, once, when I saw a one legged goose, that the water birds often lose their legs to turtles swimming underwater thinking that the webbed feet are food. I don't know if that is true or not, and this morning there were several turtles just under the water as a number of Canada geese were hanging out at the water's edge near the bridge going to the train station. The theme songs to "Jaws" started entering my head.

Why do the beautiful cedar waxwings not show up until the spring? Where do they go? Why can't their beautiful colors grace the woods in snow? Elizabeth commented that these birds don't look like they belong around here but in a more tropical setting. Perhaps that is where they go in the winter where they are more fitting to the surrounding green world rather than the white world we have here during the winter.

Why do some female mallards actually stand out more so than the male mallards? There is a couple with a whitish-brown female who can be seen much sooner than the male with his green head and attractive feathers. He blends in with the foliage, and she stands out like a . . . well, . . . setting duck.

Why are catbirds called "catbirds?" I have seen these little guys on the Riverwalk often, and I'm not sure I've actually heard a meow or any other sounds of cats. They do seem to be peaceful once I have seen them, but I've never heard one purr.

Where do the inch worms come from and how do they get their web from the ground to the tree? These guys hang around in the woods and make an interesting sight. They seem to always be climbing up and dangling, precariously, on their micro-thin single strand of web.

How do mushrooms decide where to grow? They seem to choose a place, haphazardly, near trees. Some we saw this morning were very small, and there were a couple of long round table like mushrooms. They seem to need moisture and shade, but what is the combination that causes them to burst forth one day where there were no mushrooms the day before?

And, finally. Where was the wood duck over the past couple of months? This little guy has been around for several years, all alone, and hanging out with the mallards. He was MIA for the past two months, and then, this past Tuesday, showed up again. I enjoy watching him strut around with his red eyes and the comb that moves up and down when he runs. I'm glad he's back; he adds diversity to the duck world.

Back again to the sock. Is someone missing a sock? I know that when I start pairing socks after doing laundry, one is almost always missing. I blame the dryer for eating it, but often I can retrieve it when I look on the floor in front of the dryer or inside the dryer where it has been lodged. Of course, sometimes it sticks to other clothing and makes its appearance sometime during the week when that piece of clothing is worn. But, did someone do the laundry today and find only one sock not knowing that the other one is in the dark woods near Dan Daniel Park? It's something to think about and question.

There are many questions in our lives where we will never know the answer. The questions raised above can, mostly, be answered with a little more education. That is an education I get each day as I leave the Riverwalk with not only interesting images but also a slew of questions. These questions prompt me to find answers, and I learn more and more each day.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

MOCKINGBIRD

2010-06-02T06:13:00.000-07:00

(JUNE 2, 2010) It was a foggy morning on the Riverwalk. The other shore was not visible and birds seemed to fly into an abyss as they flew from one shore to the other. The birds on the wire were eerie as they sat there against the foggy background and gray sky.

As the sun broke, the fog lifted, and the shore across the way became visible. The cormorants and turtles were sighted on the return trip after being a dim vision on a log in the river fog on the trip up the river. An interesting pattern of spider webs adorned the trees in the two fields beyond Dan Daniel Park. The intricacies of the spider artist at work proved too tempting not to photograph against the foggy backdrop.

The birds were out as the geese herded their goslings toward the river as Sadie and I approached, and the mallard pair that often hang out near the public works department had re-located this morning towards Dan Daniel Park. Some interesting birds hid themselves in the green foliage and chirped as we passed.

But the most unique experience we had on the trip up and back was our encounter with a mockingbird. These birds often pose for me, and this morning seemed to be the same. However, one bird had a green worm in its beak as we walked west on the Riverwalk. He flew aggressively toward us, squawking at us as he came nearer and nearer - finally within a yard or so. He perched on a fence post and let his disdain come through in his angry eyes and impolite temperament.

On the way back, the same bird, this time with berries in his beak, came at us again. I kept shooting pictures as Sadie, the "bird dog," cowered behind me. The bird kept squawking, and I kept shooting, and Sadie kept cowering.

Sadie had had a close encounter with a mockingbird about a year ago, and I think the memory of that traumatic moment was brought forth in this double dose of irate bird bantering. We moved on, and the bird flew away to a nest, I assume, that was close by.

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk.

EXPRESSIONS

2010-06-01T14:27:00.000-07:00

(JUNE 1, 2010) The expressions on the faces and eyes of animals tend to give us a clue of what they might be thinking. At least, if we anthropromorphize them, they become recognizable

The expressions I encountered this morning on the Riverwalk were: anger (geese fighting over some bread), love (two mallards as they look at each other with love and admiration), dominance (crow on the bridge top expressing his dominance over the other birds of the sky, that was, until a hawk flew by and dwarfed the crow), and inquisitiveness (the wood duck looking questioningly at the mallard).

From the people who walk the Riverwalk daily, their expressions were smiles, seriousness, determination, and stress. Yes, some even carry their stress to the Riverwalk; others, like Elizabeth and Sadie, leave their stress behind and just enjoy walking, sitting and smiling.

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk.

SLOW STARTIN'

2010-05-31T07:54:00.000-07:00

(MAY 31, 2010) We got to the park early this morning to beat the heat of the day. In fact it was so early that Sadie just kind of dragged out of the car, not jumping out with her usual vim and vigor. As we entered the woods, she just sat down, looking at me, as if she wanted a cookie (dog biscuit). I said, "It's too early for one now, girl," but she just sat there. I said, "Come, girl." She reluctantly pulled herself up and started walking. I said, "You are a little SLOW STARTIN' today, aren't you girl." She continued this slow pace for a while on the trail.

As we came to the dam below Dan Daniel Park, I saw a fisherman, and I spoke. He spoke back, and I asked, "Caught anything,yet?" He said, "No. It's a little SLOW STARTIN' this morning." I wished him luck, and we ventured forth.

Since it was a holiday, there seemed to be more people than usual on the Riverwalk. We were a little SLOW GOIN' as we came to individuals and started talking.

Along the trail we did notice that the birds were a little SLOW STARTIN'. The swallows were peeking out of their houses, the goldfinch, oriole, and cedar waxwing, birds I don't take pictures of often, were all being very photogenic this morning and moving slowly, and the bumblebees seemed to not hurry as they swarmed the flowers.

As Sadie, in her SLOW STARTIN' stance, was stalking a white moth on a bush, I noticed a number of granddaddy longlegs crawling their slow paced acrobats on leaves above her head. Some bugs were SLOW STARTIN' as they hung out on a leaf en masse for a long time shortly after the sun came out. These red and black bugs show up in great numbers during this time of year.

As we approached the dark woods, more fishermen had their poles in the river. They all seemed to have the expression of "SLOW STARTIN'" on their faces. As I stopped to take some pictures of a bird, one of the fishermen saw me and asked, "You want to take a picture of a fish?" I looked at him, and at his feet was a 3-4 foot catfish. He and a fellow fisherman held up the fish, and I took some pictures. It looked like the SLOW STARTIN' time was over, and things were taking off nicely on this Memorial Day morning.

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk.

MISSING AND FOUND

2010-05-30T11:39:00.001-07:00

(MAY 30, 2010) As we entered Dan Daniel Park this morning we saw a large turtle crossing the road and a young deer grazing on a hillside to the left of us. We had arrived 15 minutes earlier than we usually get out to the park, and we were seeing some things we don't usually see. I thought that this would be a day of seeing the things in nature we usually saw, plus some new things. I felt it was going to be a wonderful day for picture taking!

I was wrong about seeing those things "in nature we usually saw"; I was right about seeing new things.

After parking the car I noticed that the full moon was shining brightly against the new blue sky of the morning. I have taken some interesting photos with the moon in the background - some Canada geese flying by and a mockingbird on a bush. This morning, early in the walk, I kept waiting for that mockingbird that always shows up when there is an interesting background - the bird was MISSING. I never got that shot with the moon.

I can usually get some good pictures of swallows and bluebirds around their houses. This morning - "crickets" - nothing. No activity and no pictures. The swallows and the bluebirds were MISSING.

At the spot where the cormorants hang out on a log, I knew that the faithful few would be there just standing and looking and, perhaps, accompanied by a few turtles. I got ready to take the picture of a half dozen or so of the creepy black birds on the log, but, again, MISSING. The high water had almost covered the log, and there was only one cormorant on the log. When I return a half hour later, even the one cormorant was MISSING.

Now when one has a routine and finds that routine disrupted by, say the fact that the person went out earlier than usual, it would be assumed that that individual would be greatly disappointed. Well, I did MISS seeing the mockingbird with the moon in the background, and I did MISS seeing the swallows and the bluebirds, and I did MISS seeing the cormorants - but, I knew that the morning would hold more for me if I just looked and FOUND what it offered.

Near where we see the cormorants, Sadie FOUND a large turtle in the grass heading towards the river. She wanted to get closer, but I held her back. The giant reptile inched its way forward and then made a mad dash to the undergrowth before disappearing.

Heading west on the Riverwalk, we approached the Martin Luther King Bridge, and I saw an interesting design on a fence post. As I looked closer, I realized that I had FOUND a brown dragonfly perched on the side of the post - the light shining through its wings produced a beautiful piece of nature that I would have missed had I been 15 minutes later.

On the return trip I stopped to take some pictures of bumblebees flying around a group of flowers. Looking closer, I FOUND that they were not alone. There was a gold and black butterfly enjoying the nectar of the flowers making a bright contrast to the mostly green and pink surrounding.

Near the butterfly was a wood fence, and I noticed something orange shown in the morning light. Looking closer, I FOUND that the object was an insect of some type. It possessed an amber color with an interesting design on its back. I have no idea what the insect is, but it was very pretty.

However, my greatest find of the day was the return of an old friend on the Riverwalk. For too long this guy had been absent, perhaps enjoying the Riverwalk at another location or venturing on to other wet lands to enjoy the elements there. Near the train trellis I FOUND a wood duck resting on a log. It has been several months since I had seen this guy who during the winter months stayed among the mallards in a seemingly congenial relationship. It was good to see the old guy again.

As I was walking and thinking about those that were MISSING this morning along the Riverwalk and those that were FOUND and the wood duck that was returning, I thought about this holiday we are celebrating. As families gather, they tend to talk about those that are MISSING from the family - parents, siblings, cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents. There is a hole in the family left by those who are no longer around. With these losses, there is sadness.

Of course, there are always the new FOUND members of the family - a new spouse, a new child, a new friend. With these additions to a family, there is joy.

And then there is the one who returns after a lengthy absence. That person is welcomed back into the gathering, and the family is made whole again.

Of course, tomorrow if I get to the Riverwalk at the time I usually get there, I will see my old friend the mockingbird (perhaps with the moon in the background), my old friends the swallows and the bluebirds, and, if the river has gone down, my old friends the cormorants en masse. They are MISSING for only a day - they will be back and so will I.

Tomorrow I will also see new things - new creatures that have always been there, but FOUND by me for the first time as I look closely and eagerly expect to find the unexpected.

Tomorrow, like today, will be another good day on the Riverwalk.

MEDLEY OF MUSIC

2010-05-29T11:15:00.001-07:00

(MAY 29, 2010) This morning, before going to the Riverwalk, I had been exposed to music by the Rolling Stones, Chicago Transit Authority (later, Chicago) and a blue grass group called, Mandolin Orange. By the time I got to Angler's Park (where I started this morning), I was ready to be done with the sounds of music and to immerse myself into the sounds of nature. And so I did.

However, not 1/4 of a mile into our walk, a woman who bikes regularly there, stopped to mention to me that she had seen a very large snake, the night before, right in the spot I was standing - about a 6 foot snake. She then commented on the possibility of rain and said that she "didn't want to get her Elvis wet." She then produced a CD of Elvis singing hymns. She had popped one of the ear plugs out as we talked, but Elvis was singing in one of her ears. She said that she had four CDs of Elvis singing hymns. We talked a little about "the King," she mentioned that she had been to two of his concerts and she popped the earphone back in her ear and was off listening to "How Great Thou Art" or "In the Garden."

I started thinking of the medley of music I had encountered this Saturday morning. However, Mick Jagger and Elvis started to be way in the background as I immersed myself in the music of nature.

As Sadie and I walk each day, I want to leave the music of mankind behind and listen to the music of nature. As I write this, I am listening to Garrison Keillor sing some song as he performs at Wolf Trap, in Virginia, this Memorial Day weekend. However, I don't want to take Mr. Keillor with me as I listen to and watch nature.

Since we started at Angler's Park this morning, we headed west toward Dan Daniel Park (about two miles from where we started). Along this part of the Riverwalk, the trail does not run as close to the river as when we walk west from Dan Daniel Park. As we passed the Water Treatment Plant, I saw a couple of goldfinches sitting on the barbed wire fence that surrounds this facility. They were chirping and singing merrily on the cool Saturday morning, and then they flew away leaving the air empty of sound.

We entered the woods beyond the plant and heard the music of water as it rushed over the falls there. Coming out of the woods, there was the sound of some brown-headed cowbirds hanging out near the trail. A little ways beyond that I saw a very small sparrow chirping her little heart out. She must have been a recent born as she stood there with a mussed up hair style and wide-eyed glance at us.

Approaching Dan Daniel Park at about 10:30, I noticed something was missing. There were no loud sounds of children playing baseball on the fields; the fields were, in fact, empty. The rain last night must have caused the teams to cancel.

The park was almost empty, and I actually welcomed the "music" of being fussed at by a couple of mockingbirds who must have thought we had intruded too closely to their nest. We moved on without incident and headed back toward Angler's Park.

Right below the smaller ball fields, I saw the movement of three animals on the ground near the path. As I got closer, Sadie started slowing her pace and went into her "stealth" mode. She started moving slowly toward the three animals. As we got closer, two of them ran into the woods and the larger one sat motionless at her place on the trail. These three groundhogs, an adult and two youths, had been enjoying the quietness of the morning until that beast, the four-legged Sadie, came into their world. The adult eventually moved on, and so did we.

As we approached the woods near Angler's Park, we heard the sound of the birds and the roaring of the river, again. However, I also spotted a dragonfly, luckily before Sadie did, and took some photos. I also saw a green sludge climbing very slowly up the side of a tree. I observed a green larvae as it crawled slowly onward as I took pictures of it. It turned its head and showed a triangular face with what looked like multiple black eyes on the lime green face.

As we got back into the car, we entered the world of human noises again. I started the engine and tuned the radio to a couple guys from Boston talking about cars. Had I been listening to these guys talk about tuning engines and other such stuff, would I have missed the cherubic look of the small sparrow, the angry fussing of the mockingbirds, the playfulness of the young groundhogs, and, even a conversation with a lady on a bike about Elvis?

This evening I went back to Angler's Park with Sadie. The smell of charcoal was in the air on this Memorial Day Weekend. Other than that, the large circle around the playing fields was quiet. We, again, enjoyed listening to the medley of music coming from the birds. Near the marsh hundreds of voices were chirping as the frogs were enjoying this wet, damp weather.

Back at the car again, I noticed that there were few cars around. However, as if on cue, a car with some 20-somethings in it rolled into the parking lot, windows down, and music playing "Blue Hawaii."

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

MINUTIA

2010-05-28T22:31:00.001-07:00

(MAY 28, 2010) MINUTIA: That which is simple, common, small and insignificant.

This morning on the Riverwalk I noticed - QUIETNESS. The songbirds sounded muted, and the Canada geese had gone somewhere else. The dark woods was silent except for a rare bird sound. The meadows beyond the dark woods were quiet with the absence of the geese, and even the domestic geese I saw near the bridge were not noisy - they just moved quietly to the water. I don't know why the Riverwalk was quiet, but it was.

Early into the walk, Sadie stopped and pointed at something that I couldn't see. When I walked over and looked closer, I realized that she was pointing at a small fly that had caught her attention. In the bright sunlight,the fly had a fluorescent green shine to it. It was just a fly, but it was rather attractive. This was a very minute detail of the walk, but the results of that moment turned into an obsession with me as we continued.

We walked more slowly on the trail this morning as I started noticing movement on the leaves. There was a cool granddaddy long legs on a bright green leaf. It moved about like a ballerina as it tip toed on its green stage. An ugly black bug led contrast to the red and black bugs we often see on the walk. The black bug seemed to be independent; the red and black bugs tend to hang out in larger groups, often crawling over each other in their small private universe.

And, then, I noticed more flies. When flies are thought of, the first word association is "nuisance." This afternoon, I talked with a gentleman in an office who had gone out earlier and bought a fly swatter since one had been buzzing over his head all morning. He said, with a sense of disappointment, that after he put the fly swatter on his desk, the fly didn't show up again.

I'm not sure if there are as many different types of flies as there are different types of "Bubba Shrimp," but I saw some very interestingly colored specimens this morning. There were green-eyed flies, yellow flies, orange-eyed flies, black flies, red eyed flies, and brown-eyed flies. Each fly had its distinct coloring but, I kept telling myself, "they are JUST flies."

JUST FLIES. These creatures make a minute part of our system, and we often just swat them without looking at them. The colors and physical structure of these aerodynamic aviators are, sometimes, spectacular. I watched closely as the flies I saw this morning cleaned themselves, and then, like a Harrier jet, just took off vertically and flew away.

In addition to minute insects, my eyes were focused toward other minute objects. In the grass, at one point in our walk, I saw a single toad stool. It was a beige and browned colored little umbrella shaped part of the minute landscape. It was alone.

There are tiny things that surround us, but we often don't take the time to stop and see. The Riverwalk was quiet this morning, but there was a visual symphony going on right under my eyes. The colors and uniqueness of the minute objects along the trail made an otherwise quiet day, louder with the beauty of nature.

As I sat down in my car, after our walk, there was a small flying bug that had gotten in when I opened the door. After my experience with observing the minute objects on the trail, I looked very closely at the bug - it was a small insect with long gray wings and long antenna. I looked very closely at the little creature - I observed its movements - I observed its colors - and then I swatted it.

It was a good morning on the Riverwalk.

REFLECTIONS

2010-05-26T22:02:00.001-07:00

SHALL WE GATHER . . .

2010-05-25T18:37:00.000-07:00

(MAY 25, 2010) "Shall we gather . . ." is a phrase that many families use each year about this time as Memorial Day approaches. It becomes a time for cookouts and reunions for many families. I can recall such events when I was growing up - the family would get together at a state park, have tables of food and the great outdoors for the children to play in. I assume large families still do this - my family has been spread at a distance, and such gatherings are no longer possible.

However, every morning on the Riverwalk, GATHERINGS take place. There are walking partners who meet at a certain time to walk with each other, there are cyclists who meet at a certain time to ride on the Riverwalk, and there are runners who meet at a certain time to jog or run together in the coolness of the morning. Sadie and I GATHER each morning as she, most of the time, eagerly awaits the time when we can start our morning journey on the Riverwalk

There are other GATHERINGS along and on the river. The Canada geese, often in numbers approaching 100, gather on the river above the Dan Daniel Park dam, and coordinate flight plans as they move around, honking out commands. Upon a certain signal, a small group will take off to the sky, often just circling around and landing in one of the meadows next to the river where they stay and graze.

One of the first gatherings I noticed when I started walking on the Riverwalk, a number of years ago, was the gathering of the large black gothic looking birds sitting in the middle of the river on a large log (often, they are accompanied by turtles or other water fowl). These birds roost in the trees across the river at night, and then some take up the choice spots on this large log in the river. A month doesn't go by that someone asks me what these "vultures" are, and I say, "they are not vultures. They are cormorants. They are fish eaters . . ." and then I continue to tell the story of the birds.

Near the public works department there is the GATHERING of the white geese (often accompanied by a Canada goose or two) and their goslings. They gather on the hillside, and eventually make their way to the river. This move is, unfortunately, sometimes motivated by the sight of a 45 pound English setter on the end of the leash I am holding. I got an e-mail today from a friend who said that she and her husband fed the geese on Sunday and found the geese "very aggressive." That they are, and they are especially testy when they have young around. Even my bird dog, Sadie, cowers when they come at her.

I have also noticed the female mallard and her 7 ducklings GATHERING down by the river near Dan Daniel Park and then later, on the return trip, up near the train trellis where they gather and then walk down to the river. Sometimes they are collected into a large fluff ball as they sleep right next to the water.

There is another type of "GATHERING" going on by the river each morning. The swallows and the bluebirds can be seen flying in and out of their bird houses as they GATHER bedding and food for their babies. Looking closely this morning, I saw a small bug drinking the "gatherings" of water on a large leaf while a bumblebee was "gathering" nectar from a nearby flower.

And I, as I walked along the river, was GATHERING thoughts - thoughts that would go into this essay and thoughts that would bring a smile on my face as I thought about some of the things I saw. For example, the young ducklings were running swiftly toward the water, and a couple of clumsy ones stumbled over their little webbed feet. As the white geese where "herding" their youngster from the hillside toward the river, one was straggling and the adult had to nudge it on with her beak.

I experienced some human GATHERINGS as well. The gentleman who shared one of my blogs this past Sunday with some members of his church, the bike rider who stopped to talk about having had to go to the funeral of his ex-wife and mentioning that she was cremated and would have her ashes placed somewhere on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the couple at Angler's Park who were enjoying the evening but came over and started to talk about my favorite subject - the Riverwalk, are some of the small impromptu GATHERINGS I encountered today on my walk with Sadie.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

HERON ADDICTION

2010-05-24T19:40:00.001-07:00

(MAY 24, 2010) The morning started with another look at the young mallard family in the dark woods. The female mallard showed herself with a greenish tint and white eyes as she, and her 7 ducklings, wandered across the trail from a rain made temporary pond where they had been swimming this morning. Their silhouettes in front of the camouflage green highlights of the morning sun against the green woods, made an interesting picture.

At the dam near the power plant we saw our first heron, standing in the river nearby waiting patiently for an unsuspecting fish. This was the first of several we saw this morning on the river.

As we approached the first field outside of the dark woods, there was a group of deer chomping on the grasses under a tree in the far corner. A fawn was with two adults ignoring us until a large flock of Canada geese landed on the field. It was 6:45, and the geese flew in for their morning grazing. The deer scampered across the access road and into the hillside woods.
We passed our usual assortment of song birds including an oriole, swallows, mockingbirds, bluebirds, a cardinal and some sparrows. We saw the wild geese near the bridge, but became transfixed on the sight of another great blue heron wading in the creek that goes under the bridge. The bird moved gracefully, but at times, more resembled a teenage boy at his first dance - standing on shaky legs, unsure of himself. The great bird looked at us as Sadie put her head through the slats of the bridge to get a closer look; I took pictures.

As we moved off the bridge to photograph some other angles of the bird, one of Sadie's dog friends, Jodie, approached, so any future shots were discounted until after Sadie and Jodie had their ritual sniffing, jumping and faux playing. As I held the leash, I noticed the great bird fly over the bridge and out into the river. I had some good shots, so I was fine with this.

As we approached the next bridge, going to the train station, we stopped to watch the same mallard family we had seen earlier down the river. The group of 8 wandered across the sand and into the river. The mother led the well disciplined group of youngsters as several drake mallards watched from the shore.
Upon approaching the Martin Luther King Bridge, I looked down into the river and saw a yellow fin moving about over the water.
I watched this fin for several minutes realizing that it was on a living fish. A catfish, I assume, was scavenging the muddy bottom near the shore. The fish never surfaced, but the fin remained very animated as the fish dined on the bottom.

Not far from the dam, on our return trip, I noticed something dancing in the woods. It was a small shimmering thread that held a small inch worm. I took several pictures of this small, fascinating creature.

At about a quarter of a mile from the car, Sadie enjoyed venturing off the trail and into the high grass to see if she could stir up some insect life which she chases. On this morning we stumbled upon two interesting mushrooms having grown in the moist rich earth of the dark woods. I took some pictures, and then we headed home after Sadie had chased a couple of moths in the high grass.

My thoughts today kept coming back to the great blue herons that are on the river. A few years ago, someone on the river told me that in the 1970s and 80s the river was almost dead; but when the blue heron came back, there was hope seen by many in the community. Well, the heron are back in their glory. They make a brilliant show, most of the time.

There was one time last fall when I was walking on the Riverwalk. I looked out into the river, and there in the middle was a heron spreading its wings and sunning itself. That was one of those "wish I hadn't seen that" moments. The body of the heron is very thin, but the wings are very large; hence, this makes the heron, with its wings spread, look like a very thin man being an exhibitionist. I have other pictures of herons on my web page. In addition to the great blue heron, I have also seen the green heron, a much smaller, and less dynamic bird.

As with humans, the heron can be beautiful or not so beautiful, but like humans, they are always interesting to watch. I can't imagine the river without these graceful and gothic, blue and gray birds. The community would miss a great deal by not having these feathered wonders in our city.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

Here are some more pictures taken today on the Riverwalk. Click the image to enlarge the photo.

GRAY, GREEN AND GRUMPY

2010-05-23T15:15:00.001-07:00

(MAY 23, 2010) The walk this morning moved from Gray to Green to Grumpy.

The morning started as a very dreary morning with gray clouds and a threat of rain. As I began my walk, one of the two bikers, who are very regular on the Riverwalk, said as she rode by, "Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet . . ." I agreed, and then we couldn't bring ourselves to say that it was a pretty day before going in opposite directions.

The grayness of the sky turned into a very plush green as we entered the dark woods. The evening rain had turned the foliage into an emerald glow. There seemed to be new life there, over night, that had not been there the day before. I noticed new leaves on the bushes, and insects were busily enjoying the water on the leaves and the nectar on the honeysuckle. A few bees were visiting the remaining blooms of the honeysuckle, and Sadie got distracted by a small fly's activities as it made its temporary home on a large leaf.

The birds, however, were only black silhouettes against the gray sky. Except for the noticeable shape of some of the birds, they were unidentifiable. Their color told me nothing except for a few that had attracted the brief rays of the sun. A cardinal sat upon an antennae on the top of a building, the unmistakable markings of a robin were evident when the light picked up a glimpse of the bird's breast as he sat on a tree limb in the emerald foliage, and a couple of goldfinches flew across the path at one point. Of course, the young goslings were mostly gray or white except for the small yellow chick that was constantly running to catch up with the larger siblings near the water.

In some places along the walk the gray and the green mixed with the gray/black chickadee being framed by the green surrounding of plants and a gray heron was outlined by a green frame of bushes as it strolled in the water. However, the plushest of green was noticed as we were on our return trip and saw our friend, the mallard, in his regular place. The sun was coming out by that time, and the intensity of the Kelly green covering his head glowed with radiance; I don't know where his usual mate was this morning.

At about the mile mark of our walk, the morning grew into a morning of grumpiness. The geese were their usual grumpy selves as we approached, and they honked a warning that a dog was in the area. The ones near the public works department made their usual march to the river, but the ones near the bridge to the train station protected their path, and we encountered our first act of bird attack of the day. One of the adult gray geese put his head down, parallel to the ground, hissed and started a feigned charge. Sadie cowered, perhaps having remembered her first Canada goose attack when she was less than a year old. On up the river we saw more Canada geese goslings than I had seen at one time on the river this year. There was, first, a group of 21 with 4 adults guiding them up the river. They were followed by another group of 10 goslings, and then a smaller group of 7 goslings was bringing up the rear with adult supervision. On the way back, we saw the large group in a field near the highway, enjoying the wet grasses while the adults stayed on the outlook for sojourners like Sadie and me. One of the geese made a threatening gesture at us as we passed by, but must have decided that we were not a true threat.

Not only were the birds on the ground grumpy this dreary morning, but we experience two dive bombings by two different types of birds. Near the public works department, a mockingbird buzzed over my head as we must have been very near a mockingbird nest. We have had that happen before on several occasions in nearly the same spot.

However, the most interesting attack of the morning occurred near the Martin Luther King bridge where we were buzzed by two swallows, circling us in a menacing way about 10 feet above my head. They stayed with us for 20-30 yards. When we came back that way, they didn't buzz us, but the two adults were sitting high on a wire waiting for any threatening action. Both Sadie and I stayed as far away from their house as we could. This was my first attack by a coordinated squadron of swallows. It was quite an impressive assault.

The only other moment of grumpiness was noticed on the river as the young Canada geese goslings were being herded into a nice green marsh before coming up the bank to frolic in the damp foliage. One adult goose was constantly having to urge on a straggling gosling that was swimming a few yards behind the rest. The adult would put her head down and gently, but deliberately, nudge the baby onward.

As we got back to the car, the air was warming up and the humidity was building. It was 8:45 on this gray, green and grumpy morning.

It had been a mostly pleasant walk, and it had been a good morning on the Riverwalk.

WINDOWS

2010-05-22T16:07:00.000-07:00

(MAY 22, 2010) Windows that we look into everyday provide us with sustenance in living no matter how long we stand and stare or how short of time we spend looking - gazing - gawking. There are windows, or portions, of all lives lived on this planet. They may be the people whose window we pass on the streets or on the trail. They may be windows of natural life that we pass, sometimes not noticing anything, and are impacted in some way by the plant or animal's life we get a brief glimpse into as we pass.

This morning I was talking with a fellow walker who is regularly there on weekends. As we were looking into the "windows" of each other and he was petting Sadie, learning a little more about the other, we saw a group of Canada geese across the path behind a chain link fence. There were, perhaps, 6-7 of them. As we stood there, they seemed to get more and more agitated, perhaps at seeing Sadie, the bird dog. Finally, their honks got louder, and the wings started flapping. They took to the sky, except there was a "twangy" sound and a squawk. One of the geese had hit an overhanging line. He picked himself up, honked a little and, eventually, flew off to catch up with the others. I had a "window moment" with that one goose for a brief, traumatic, period in his day.

However, my first "window moment" of the day was in the dark woods below the ball field at Dan Daniel Park. As we entered the woods, it was getting lighter (around 6:45) and I noticed some movement over near the bank above the river. There was a group of mallards - a mother and six ducklings standing there. I started taking pictures, thinking to myself, these are large ducklings and I had not seen them before today. The mother had kept the young ducks hidden, but today I got to have my "window moment" with this family of mallards.

As I walked out of the dark woods, moving west on the trail, I noticed the osprey being active as it came back and forth to its large nest across the river. I took some photos and enjoyed that "window moment" with the giant bird.

At the bridge, near the public works department, I had a few windows into the lives of a family of geese. There were a number of adults and a number of goslings of different sizes in the water. As they swam about, it was interesting to watch the adults keeping the babies in line and scolding them whenever they got out of line. This window into the living room of the geese proved very interesting - loving but tough discipline that is needed for survival.

I walked past where I usually turn around (at the 1.5 mile marker beyond the bridge that goes to the train station). I was glad I did because I got some pictures of a beautiful heron as he crept through the green brush next to the river. I also saw into the window of river traffic as two Canada geese swam calmly past the heron who ignored them as they passed through his living room.

I saw some "industrial windows" mixed with the window of the birds. A cardinal was perched on a metal smokestack and a mocking bird also found a metal smokestack on which to sing. Their brief windows were open only for a short time before they had other places to go.

Going past the bridge to the train station, there was a lot of activity there as a distance walk was being set up for later and the windows of these workers, setting up a giant inflatable ending arch and beverages for the thirsty walkers/runners. I enjoyed talking with a few of those and viewing some windows in their lives.

As I approached the restroom near the public works department, I saw a fellow photographer, long time acquaintance, and we began to open our windows to each other. I learned about swallows that are down on the river and we shared some stories. We walked the next 3/4 mile together talking and taking pictures. This was a window where I saw through it and learned some things.

My windows didn't close after my walk this morning. This evening I went to Angler's Park with Sadie. I always see a groundhog as I enter the park and took a picture of it this evening. He is always there munching the grass allowing me to look through the window of his dining room. However, earlier, I didn't need to even leave home to peer through the window of a groundhog eating; I just had to peer out my window into the back yard where a groundhog was chomping the dandelions while a half dozen grackles did their thing nearby.

While at the park this evening I also concentrated on flowers and insects. I saw an attractive moth clinging to a flower; fortunately, Sadie was not looking through this window but looking elsewhere, allowing me to take a number of pictures. She could have easily interrupted that moment of voyeurism on my part. I also saw a fly on a flower, just sitting there - looking at me, looking at it through its small window of the day.

Earlier this week, a fellow walker told me that he had met another walker who introduced himself. The man said that "this is what enjoying life is all about." I agree -looking into the windows of others as they share their lives or looking into the windows of animals as we stumble upon a brief moment of their time, helps us to better understand people and nature much better.

Today I learned a number of things looking into windows of lives. I learned that parenting skills of adult geese much be natural since I'm sure they don't offer courses on this for the geese; I learned that river traffic among birds doesn't always result in territorial disputes; I learned that Canada geese aren't always graceful when they take off to fly; I learned that some insects are very pretty, up close, and even prettier when hanging on to flowers, and I learned that there are three types of swallows on the Riverwalk: the tree swallow, the barn swallow, and the rough-winged sparrow.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

OUT THERE EVERY DAY

2010-05-21T15:29:00.000-07:00

(MAY 21, 2010) A number of weeks ago, one of my colleagues who teaches photography in the art department told me that he mentioned my name several times in his class because "you are OUT THERE EVERY DAY taking pictures, looking for THE SHOT."

Today I was thinking about that statement as I realized that when I'm OUT THERE, Sadie is OUT THERE, too. I have my agenda; she has her agenda. I am out there enjoying the fresh air and nature and trying to take a few good pictures; she is out there enjoying the fresh air and nature and trying to . . . be a hunting dog, doing what hunting dogs do - hunt. She is constantly tracking and pointing and jumping at anything that moves. She pulls on the leash at times when I am taking a photograph because I am not near enough to where she needs to be to do whatever she is needing to do.

We do, however, work together at times. This morning as we started our walk, Sadie pulled me toward something on the ground. I pulled at her leash and said, "Come on girl. Let's get going." However, she was persistent, and I went over to see what she was staring at. There, in the parking lot, was a large black object, a couple of inches long, moving slowly toward the grass. As I looked closer, I realized it was some kind of wooly worm (I looked it up, and I believe it is a leopard moth larvae). It was all black with a red ring around the back end, inching its way to the grass. This is a very interesting creature that is OUT THERE for a short period of time until it does what it has to do before becoming a moth. This is one of many creatures OUT THERE that add variety to our walks since we don't see this EVERY DAY.

For me to be OUT THERE EVERY DAY is something that I enjoy. It is not survival or something that I MUST do; it is something that is pleasing to me. However, most of those who are OUT THERE are OUT THERE, day in and day out, just trying to survive.

About a half of a mile from Dan Daniel Park, there are some trees where the song birds sing daily. Each morning I see some beautiful birds in the trees singing - just chirping away.

Now, why do they do that? My conjecture is that they do this for, perhaps, one of two reasons. I know they don't sit their like, this morning, the beautiful cardinal and the brown mourning dove did in their beautiful grandeur chirping just for my enjoyment. I know there are nests nearby, and the birds that I see are, almost always, males, noticeable by the brightness of their colors. My belief is that these males are either 1) singing to attract a mate or 2) singing to distract me from the nest that is in the trees behind me as I watch them in the trees before me. They are OUT THERE everyday either trying to attract a mate or trying to distract a potential predator (either Sadie or me) from spotting their nests.

The same applies to the bird houses along the trail. These bluebird and swallow houses often have the male bird sitting on the top. When I approach too closely, the bird flies off a little ways, sits there, looks at me as if to suggest I follow, and then flies a little further. This morning, I noticed this action when I saw a tree swallow sitting on the top of a house; yesterday I was teased by a goldfinch that flew a little ways and landed on another section of a chained link fence along the trail before flying away again as I got nearer.

At this time of year, the most noticeable actions by birds, keen on survival of the species, are what is done by the geese on the trail. The geese are very aggressive when it comes to someone getting too near their gosling off-spring. The adults huddle around the youth, honking; if someone gets too close, the adults will thrust their necks out, hiss, and come toward the threat in a hostile way.

This morning the adult geese seemed especially threatened by Sadie, and they formed a barrier between us and the babies. A few of the adults guided the young geese towards the river, while three adult geese hissed and honked at us. When the young were on the river, the rest followed and huddled around the young as they all swam safely in the water far away from the perceived threat. For the geese being OUT THERE EVERY DAY their practice of every moment is the key to either surviving another day or not. For them, it is not just enjoying the fresh air and nature; for them, it is basic instinct survival.

Another element of nature that is OUT THERE EVERY DAY is the foliage. This morning Sadie spotted something in the bushes beside the trail. As I walked over, she was pointing at a bug of some type, but right in front of me were some berries growing in a tree. They looked like raspberries or blackberries; I'm not sure what they are. Anyway, they were aesthetically pleasing, and I enjoyed looking at them and taking photos of these berries that are OUT THERE EVERY DAY providing food for the animals as well as providing seeds to quietly replenish themselves in the rich earth of the dark woods.

And, finally, there are other people OUT THERE, like me, who are OUT THERE EVERY DAY. For them, they are likely OUT THERE for the same two major reasons I am out there: to enjoy the fresh air and nature. This morning I was heading back to the car when I stopped to talk with one of my walking friends. I happened to be taking a picture of an oriole that had landed high in a tree and noticed that the walker was wearing a Baltimore Oriole baseball cap. He told me the story of his cap as I continued to take pictures of the beautiful bird in the tree on this sunny morning. Both provided a moment of enjoyment - one with its song; one with his story.

Getting OUT THERE EVERY DAY to GET THE SHOT is a secondary reason for my daily walks on the Riverwalk. I would be there even without the camera to just enjoy the air and nature and all of the other elements, both human and natural, that are OUT THERE EVERY DAY.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

LITTLE THINGS

2010-05-20T05:58:00.001-07:00

(MAY 20. 2010) Little Things.

The world is full of "little things" that make life interesting. Comments based on little things tend to add variety to everyday activities. Sometimes the comments add positive variety that can result in smiles and joy; sometimes the comments add negative variety that can result in conflict. Generally comments shared on the Riverwalk with those who frequent the trail are positive and often fun.

Today I passed two men who walk regularly, and they commented on the number of pictures they see me taking each day. One man said that I must have a room full of pictures. I said that I take 200-400 pictures a day and, "someone told me, once, that with that many pictures taken every day, even a blind man could turn up 3 or 4 that are good." Most days I do; some days I don't. The gentlemen chuckled and moved on saying, "I hope you get some good shots today."

Another daily walker stopped and made a comment about something that had happened a few months ago. When I was taking a picture of an inch worm hanging from a thin thread, the gentleman had come up behind me and asked what I was looking at. I told him an inch worm. He looked closely, but couldn't see it since it was at a distance. We then exchanged some comments and made a joke, and the "little comment" has provided periods of amusement between the two of us. Today, we recounted that conversation and commented on "little things" that are said and done that make life interesting. This gentlemen is a happy man who works to spread his happiness to others everyday. He does that with "little things" that he says.

On the Riverwalk today "little things" seemed to be everywhere. One was the little bird defending itself from the larger bird; another was the little goslings representing the new generation that will continue to give the Riverwalk life; another was the little yellow bird spreading visual joy with its colorful feathers; another was a group of little bugs that, when grouped together, made for a colorful design against a green leaf, and finally, the other little thing was a jet liner flying overhead, releasing a white plume against the blue sky.

Early on our morning walk, we heard the squawking of a large bird on the other side of the trees next to the river. I walked back on the trail, while Elizabeth held Sadie, and I saw an osprey in the sky - retreating from a much smaller bird dive bombing the giant hawk at least ten times the size of the smaller bird. The osprey flew into a grove of trees and the smaller bird flew off. It was a "little thing," but quite aggressive.

As we approached the bridge near the public works department, we saw the larger white geese herding their off-spring away from the path where they saw a large dog approaching - Sadie. The "little things," the goslings, huddled up to the older geese and moved toward the river. "Little things" help to preserve and protect the future of the species.

A goldfinch, with its bright yellow plumage, sat singing in a tree. The "little thing" added melody to the quiet morning while providing an attractive visual to the greenery of the trees. Such a "little thing" makes the walk more pleasant and provides simple aesthetic satisfaction.

On the return trip, we walked close to the foliage toward the river. I saw something that looked like a small colorful moth on a green leaf. As I got closer, I saw that it was a group of small red and black bugs huddled together. These "little things" brightened the green leaf and provided an interesting mosaic form. The beauty of nature can be seen in even the "little things" that most people don't stop to see. As I was standing there taking the picture, another walker came over and asked what I was photographing. I told him, "Bugs." He said, "Oh, I thought you were taking a picture of a snake." I said, "No. Just some colorful bugs." He lost interest and moved on.

And finally, a little thing in the sky that was man made made me realize that what is often in "little things" is precious to those who care about life. A jet liner streamed across the blue sky; I know that in that "little thing" was life - humans who were traveling a distance to a destination unknown to me. But there was human life in that "little thing." Precious human life, like the precious life of birds bent on survival and making the world more colorful, and the precious life of bugs that must add something to nature other than the colorful mosaic they provide.

"Little things." The world is made a better place with "little things," and with the loss of these "little things," whether through human greed or nature's own depletion, comes a world that is just a little less joyous.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

PATTERNS OF NATURE

2010-05-19T15:34:00.000-07:00

(MAY 19, 2010) This day started with a sad moment. After a discussion of the issue, we decided to take the small kitten found yesterday at Angler's Park to the Humane Society. Many factors played in this heart-wrenching decision, but we believe it was the best decision.

After taking the kitten to the humane society, I started my walk from near the public works department and walked toward the west turning around near the Holiday Inn Express. By starting about a mile up the river from where I usually start, I saw different people and different patterns of nature.

The Riverwalk animals, like humans, have certain patterns of action they follow each day. The Canada geese group in the water and then fly to a grazing area in the park. The mallards swim down stream and find a place to sun and eat for the rest of the day. The adult geese and ducks take their babies on the river, near the shore, to a safe place to relax for the day and eat. Songbirds come out when the sun comes out and sing in the rays of the sun; on cloudy days, they come out and sing, but are usually hidden in the branches of the trees.

There are patterns in actions along the Riverwalk with the animals there and the human walkers, runners, cyclists . . . Those who are there regularly pass with similar comments to each other: "Good Morning," "How are you doings?" "Fine, thank you, and you?" "Nice weather today, isn't it?" "A little cool this morning, but a beautiful day," etc. When everyone starts from the same place each morning, a walker can just about guess where he will meet up with a certain individual. This morning, my pattern was wacked up by starting at a different place.

I saw some different things this morning.
I saw three goslings sleeping together curled up near the public works department; I saw three ducklings gathered together near the river towards the train station. I saw some cedar waxwings silhouetted against the sky. I saw a turtle swimming up the creek that empties into the Dan River; I saw a heron, not shy at all, wading in the same creek as the turtle passed by.
I saw some Canada geese goslings and two goldfinches played a few steps ahead as they landed on a chain link fence; they waited for us to take a few steps, and then flew a few feet landing on the fence further up the river. It was at this time that I realized that not only were we part of habitual patterns in our lives, but also part of aesthetic patterns. The goldfinches against the pattern of the chain link fence made for a pleasing visual.

After several shots of these golden birds (my wife said that the bird looked like a pet bird from a pet shop), I started noticing other visual patterns combining human objects and nature.

The electrical tower provided an interesting combination of the poles and wires with the swallows and mockingbirds that landed there this morning. This evening, at Angler's Park, the soccer goal and the football goal posts made interesting patterns for some young bluebirds there.

But, sometimes nature doesn't even need human made objects to provide for an interesting piece of art. Two cedar waxwings silhouetted against a white sky while in the triangle of tree branches provided a natural pattern that was aesthetically pleasing.

And while thinking about patterns today, I also thought that, perhaps, the mother cat and the two remaining kittens I saw at Angler's Park last evening might still be there; I was wrong.

However, as Sadie and I crossed the bridge over the marsh, we saw a man and a woman coming over the bridge in our direction. We were halfway across the bridge when they came over to see Sadie, and we exchanged small talk. They went on over toward the ball fields while I took some more pictures from the middle of the bridge.

I then noticed the man had stopped at the top of the steps and the woman had gone down the steps. As I approached them, I saw that the woman had picked up a trap near the portable toilet there.

I commented: "Oh, you have retrieved a trap, I see." The lady said yes that they were taking it in for the evening.

The man said that "someone had reported seeing a mother cat and some kittens here yesterday evening."

I said, "I was the one."

I related my story, and they said that they were volunteers from the humane society and had put the trap there to try to capture the mother and the two kittens, but would take the trap in for the evening, not wanting some other animal to get trapped there over night. The man said that he had walked around the marsh this morning looking for the cat and kittens, but hadn't seen anything.

I guess that some animals avoid patterns in their daily lives because that can result in being spotted and captured.

However, there is a groundhog that is in the field every evening when I go to Angler's Park. It hangs out, grazing right near the water treatment plant beside the road leading into the park. I have spotted him there nearly every evening and even on the morning earlier this week when Sadie and I walked there during the rain.

Patterns are interesting - both patterns of habit and patterns that are aesthetic.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

GIVE ME YOUR TIRED . . .

2010-05-18T18:37:00.000-07:00

(MAY 18, 2010) Today offered two opportunities to walk on the Riverwalk. This morning we walked from Dan Daniel Park and this evening we walked at Angler's Park.

As I walk the trail and observe the wildlife, I often tend to anthromorphize the wildlife there. I see a microcosm of human life in the lives of the animals residing along side the river. For example, in the area of diversity among the creatures on the Riverwalk, there seems to be an acceptance of different species of birds than in other wildlife. The geese, both the Canada and the others, tend to hang out with each other peacefully. This morning I noticed a single Canada goose with a huddled family of white geese. The adults were hustling their little ducklings along while the Canada goose honked warnings that a dog was near (that was, of course, Sadie). It is not uncommon to see mallards and wood ducks hanging out together in peace and harmony as well.

However, there are occasional territorial disputes even among the like birds. I have seen wood ducks wander into mallard territory and the drake mallard fending the wood duck off. I have noticed some interspecies disputes among the Canada geese when some rogue Canada geese try to wander into another flock. I have seen disputes among the white geese as one goose puts his neck parallel with the ground and charges another white goose for what seems to be no apparent reason. And the mockingbirds along the trail seem to be the bullies as they defend their territories against invasion by not only other birds, but also from human as my wife witnessed last year when she a Sadie were attacked by a mockingbird, not once by two times. It was, also, mating season which tends to make the birds a little more testy.

This morning I witnessed the "huddled masses" of baby geese and ducklings. But I also noticed a difference between the ducks and the geese. The ducks seem to be less communal in their raising of the ducklings while the geese seem to surround their goslings with protection. This was evident at the beach area near the train trellis. The female mallard was looking after her 3 ducklings alone while the 8-10 goslings I saw were protected by 4-5 adults on the water and on the land.

We also saw a huddled mass of deer under a grove of trees in one of the fields near Dan Daniel Park. They seemed to be grazing in peace until a flock of Canada geese landed on the field causing the deer to scatter.

The Tired and Poor was evident this evening at Angler's Park. I was taking some pictures from the bridge that goes over the marsh when I spotted some larger movement on the other shore. I took some pictures and realized that there was a mother cat there with three kittens. My first thought was to get as many of them as I could and take them to the humane society. I climbed down a hill, after safely putting Sadie in the car, and when I got to the cats, the mother had fled and two of the three others were running away also. I did get one little tabby kitten and decided that, rather than taking it to the Human Society, to take it home and let Elizabeth see it.

This is a story that hasn't ended yet. We are both trying to decide if Sadie needs a pet cat or to take the kitten to the human society. Tonight the kitten is upstairs in the pool room with Elizabeth where Elizabeth has prepared a nice bed, litter box and food for the little guy. We will decide tomorrow what we will do.

The massive number of new born geese and duckings provide a bright scene to the park. The abandoned animals in the park (I have taken 3-4 dogs to the humane society over the past couple of years) are the poor and tired of the park. The Riverwalk has become a melting pot of birds and other animals. It is a place where, daily, one can see the "poor and tired and huddled masses" of animals. For many of them the only challenge is survival, to stay alive for another day and to, eventually, replenish the species.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

Mother Nature Gave to Me . . .

2010-05-17T05:22:00.000-07:00

(MAY 17, 2010) On this rainy morning, Sadie and I went to Angler's Park and walked a couple of times around the large field. There were some birds and other creatures out this rainy morning. What I saw this morning inspired the following:

On the first part of the Riverwalk Mother Nature gave to me: A DRY DOG IN THE BACK OF MY JEEP.

On the second part of the Riverwalk Mother Nature gave to me: two turtles crossing and a WET DOG ON THE RIVERWALK TRAIL.

On the third part of the Riverwalk Mother Nature gave to me: three groundhogs grazing, two turtles crossing and a wet dog on the Riverwalk trail.

On the fourth part of the Riverwalk Mother Nature gave to me: four lizards running, three groundhogs grazing, two turtles crossing and a wet dog on the Riverwalk trail.

On the fifth part of the Riverwalk Mother Nature gave to me: five Canada geese; four running lizards, three groundhogs running, two turtles crossing and a wet dog on the Riverwalk trail.

On the sixth part of the Riverwalk Mother Nature gave to me: six scampering squirrels; five Canada geese; four running lizards; three groundhogs grazing; two turtles crossing, and a wet dog on the Riverwalk trail.

On the seventh part of the Riverwalk Mother Nature gave to me: seven mallards feeding; six squirrels a-scampering; five Canada geese; four running lizards; three groundhogs grazing; two turtles crossing, and a wet dog on the Riverwalk trail.

On the eighth part of the Riverwalk Mother Nature gave to me: eight blackbirds playing; seven mallards feeding; six squirrels a-scampering; five Canada geese; four running lizards; three groundhogs grazing; two turtles crossing, and a wet dog on the Riverwalk trail.

On the ninth part of the Riverwalk Mother Nature gave to me: nine killdeer wading, eight blackbirds playing; seven mallards feeding; six squirrels a-scampering; five Canada geese; four running lizards; three groundhogs grazing; two turtles crossing, and a wet dog on the Riverwalk trail.

On the tenth part of the Riverwalk Mother Nature gave to me: ten swallows perching; nine killdeer wading, eight blackbirds playing; seven mallards feeding; six squirrels a-scampering; five Canada geese; four running lizards; three groundhogs grazing; two turtles crossing, and a wet dog on the Riverwalk trail.

On the eleventh part of the Riverewalk Mother Nature gave to me: eleven daisies budding; ten swallows perching; nine killdeer wading, eight blackbirds playing; seven mallards feeding; six squirrels a-scampering; five Canada geese; four running lizards; three groundhogs grazing; two turtles crossing, and a wet dog on the Riverwalk trail.

On the twelfth part of the Riverwalk Mother Nature gave to me: twelve bluebirds roosting; eleven daisies budding; ten swallows perching; nine killdeer wading, eight blackbirds playing; seven mallards feeding; six squirrels a-scampering; five Canada geese; four running lizards; three groundhogs grazng; two turtles crossing, and a WET DOG IN THE BACK OF MY JEEP.

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk.

To Everything There is a Season

2010-05-16T17:29:00.000-07:00

(May 16, 2010) This was another cool morning after the thunderstorms over night. This new day threatened rain, but we had only an occasional drizzle.

The woods were beaming with the chirping of song birds, the sound of the river, and the squirrels running about. A heron had taken up morning feeding at the dam. There were cormorants in the water and flying overhead. The two Canada geese squawked their warnings as we left the dark woods moving toward the first field. There were a dozen or so Canada geese grazing across the field not at all bothered by Sadie who was an eighth of a mile away.

At about a half mile from our car we noticed something large and black near the large rocks next to the path. Sadie went over to sniff, and I quickly pulled her away. It was the remains of a cormorant that lay there with its giant wings spread and the bone structure all that was remaining. That which was left looked like the bones of a Thanksgiving day turkey after the meal has been consumed. The only life within the carcass were the two blue flies crawling over the bones. It was a ghastly sight on this dreary morning.

Walking a little further down the path we came to a view of the cormorants on the log in the middle of the river. There were 6-7 of them, and they didn't seem to be mourning the passing of one of their own.

I started thinking about the Blood, Sweat and Tears song, "And When I Die," as I continued on our walk. The song repeats the refrain which is: "And when I die, and when I'm gone, there'll be one child born." I knew that as I got to the bridge a half mile away, there would be some geese with their goslings.

I was wrong. There were no geese there, only a sandpiper on a distant rock and a blue jay in the tree. I walked through the next group of trees toward the train trellis and saw the white goose that had been nesting there on the debris for several weeks (she was still there, and there was no sign of goslings). As we got nearer to the bridge going to the train station, I saw the "one child born" playing itself out as I counted seven ducklings in the water, huddled together in one group, and a female mallard with three other ducklings walking up the beach toward the trees. Under the grove of trees was a group of geese with a half dozen goslings. On the debris under the bridge going to the train station were three white geese nesting, and on the piling was the Canada goose who nests there annually.

One of the regular walkers stopped and talked with me a few minutes as we watched the ducklings on the sand. He said that on up the river toward the Union Street bridge there were 20-30 baby geese a few days ago; there were fewer today (perhaps 15-18). Death happens daily on the river, but often it is not as obvious and obtrusive as the carcass of the cormorant.

On the way back to the car, I saw a catbird in the tree singing its mating call and a small yellow goldfinch chirping beautifully in the dense foliage of the trees. We passed the dead cormorant, again, and I thought about the Ecclesiastics verse that goes: "To everything there is a season. A time to be born and a time to die."

On this cool rain threatening morning we had experienced life and death. The life on the river greatly outweighed the death, for the new life on the river gives the river a new energy. The ducklings and goslings scampering about added the smile to this otherwise cool May morning when there was death on the banks of the river.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

BEST SEAT ON THE RIVER

2010-05-15T15:36:00.000-07:00

(MAY 15, 2010) What a perfect morning it was on the Riverwalk. There were more people enjoying this day earlier than usual as Sadie and I got out there at 6:45. The evening storm had passed, and the air was fresh with the smell of honeysuckle.

I saw a bluebird pair sitting on the yellow "foul ball marker" at the ball field. They seemed to be scanning the area and taking a respite from the grueling task of eggs and babies, being that it is that time of year. At the dam I saw a tree swallow sitting on top of his house with the water rushing over the dam in the background, enjoying the coolness of the morning. A robin was in the tree, surrounded by new green foliage, chirping its song, and on down the trail I saw the cormorants sitting on a tree in the river while a group of turtles joined them. All seemed to be refreshed by the smells, the coolness and the sights of this spring morning.

Last week I saw a group of four women who regularly walk the trail. They had parked themselves on a bench that fit them perfectly. The bench was shaded from the morning sun by a tree, and they had a perfect view of the river where the cormorants hang out. As I passed with Sadie, I commented, "You have the best seat on the river." They didn't deny that and responded about the pleasantness of the morning. This morning, as I walked the trail with Sadie, I started thinking about that conversation. Who (or what) really has the best seat on the Riverwalk.

Looking back at the birds I had seen on the early part of my walk this morning, it is hard to say. The bluebirds were 30 feet up on the yellow perch where they could see a good part of Dan Daniel Park, PLUS, they were enjoying the solitude away from their eggs and babies. The swallow had a wonderful view of the river and could watch other birds flying over, swimming in the river, or just walking on the shoreline. They also had top seats to watch the fishermen as they cast their lines into the river and haul out an occasional fish. The robin was enclosed in the lush greenness of the foliage, but seemed to enjoy his own song and could see, from behind his green curtain, the happenings along the path as individuals walked by without seeing him but enjoying his melodious song. Finally, the cormorants sitting on the tree in the river seem to always be content. They watch the river pass underneath them; they dive in for a meal in the shallow river, and they watch the other water fowl swimming around them or flying over head.

Who has the best seat on the river? Well, maybe none of the birds. Sadie has a tendency to chase bugs on the Riverwalk. I often follow the insects as they land in safer locations than on the ground where a "bug dog" can easily stalk and capture the delicate creatures. This morning Sadie was intrigued by several moths that made their escape to some green foliage just above Sadie's head. There they sat and watched - whatever they watched, I don't know, but they knew that for at least that short period of time they had looked death in the eyes and were now enjoying life. There was another bug, perhaps a mosquito, that landed on a green leaf. Sadie had not seen this insect, so the creature had not escaped death like the moths. Yet the bug sat there and enjoyed the morning.

Who has the best seat on the river? On the way back to the car as we approached the dark woods, Sadie spotted a squirrel which always sets her off into her hunting dog stance. The paw was lifted, the tail went up, and Sadie was ready to pounce upon the squirrel. As she approached the squirrel, it ran up a tree, which is what all the squirrels Sadie chases do. From its safety perch, the squirrel looked down on us. It was safe, it was at a point where it could see a large portion of the river and the park, and it was content. It sat there for a while looking at us, and I thought, that must be the best seat on the river. But maybe, not.

As we ventured on, there were several fishermen fishing near the dam. Some were busily baiting their hooks and throwing their lines into the river. But one gentleman had his line in the river and was sitting there just waiting. There was a sense of peace there as I watched the fisherman just sit and wait. Was this the best seat on the river?

I came to realize that the best seat on the river may belong to each one who has the opportunity to get out into nature. The ladies on the park bench, the birds in the trees, the turtles on the river, the bugs on the leaves, the squirrels in the trees, and the fisherman with his line in the river all have the best seat on the river. As a sojourner on the river, I am fortunate to have this daily portrait as part of my life. I too, have the best seat on the river, and it is a beautiful view.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

Gray Skies . . . Nothing But Gray Skies - Except for Nearly Everything Else on the Riverwalk This Morning

2010-05-14T07:37:00.000-07:00

(MAY 14, 2010) There were few people on the Riverwalk this morning. That could have been because there was a constant threat of rain. Fortunately, Sadie and I didn't get wet; we just walked in a dreary world of GRAY.

The sky was a light gray causing the trail to be dark. As I looked up over the two layers of trees in the distance, I saw that there was also fog, giving the background trees an eerie autumn look. It didn't seem like springtime as the air was cool and humid.

On the gray river I noticed the cormorants, those black and gray birds that look like vultures as they perch upon the fallen tree in the river. There were six on one end of the tree and two on the smaller end. This added to the mood of the day - GRAY.

A robin was sighted on the trail, and even he was sitting on a gray rock. The contrast of his orange breast with the rest of the setting made for a spectacular moment. It was a brief moment since he flew away, shortly, leaving the GRAY rock.

After about a mile on the trail, we came upon some geese - a half dozen adults and about a dozen goslings. Even the river where they swam and sand on which they walked was GRAY. The robin added the brightness to the dreary day; the goslings added the smile as they fell over each other trying to keep up in the water and continuing to stumble over each other as they walked on shore.

Shortly after that, we wandered upon a mallard couple that found itself in a precarious situation on the GRAY path. For us to pass them, we had to walk between them and the river. I knew that this would be a threatening moment for them, and I held Sadie back as they started across the path - but they started up the path ahead of us and not towards the river. We continued on and, unfortunately, they were startled and took to flight. I try not to disturb nature, but sometimes Sadie presents a threat to the birds.

For Sadie, this was a moment that she lived for - the flight of birds in front of her must bring out a deep sense of excitement as the result of her being a part of generations of purebred bird dogs. I often refer to her as a "bug dog" rather than a "bird dog" because she seems just as excited about a bug that she points at for several minutes only to have it fly away as she gets near. There are times, however, when she gets within inches of the moth or butterfly or bug and then jumps at it - sometimes tasting the bug which is something, I don't think she likes. She makes an awful face like a child makes when taking a distasteful medicine.

This morning she found her prey. It was a moth that had flown up out of the grass and caught Sadie's eye. Sadie slowly approached the moth, jumped at it, and, thankfully for Sadie's taste buds, the moth flew off. Often the moths are very colorful with unique patterns; today's moth was GRAY.

There were splashes of color along the way - some flowers of yellow, pink and blue, the bright yellow goslings, and one of the few walkers on the Riverwalk wearing a Baltimore Orioles cap,

It was still a very nice day on the Riverwalk.