You don't? Well, I guess I don't talk about it enough. I never understood the old hymn that says that the woodlands are fairer than the meadows. This was until I experienced Spring in the forest.
Last year, in the Upper Peninsula, we would see forests where as far as the eye could see, there were forget-me-nots or trillium. Other times it was yellow and orange hawkweed mixed with daisies. Or, it might be garden lupine in three colors.
But, even here in central Michigan, we get some really nice wildflowers. My flower beds are neglected because I'd rather be in the woods!
Today, the kids and I did a little walk just to see the trillium in bloom on a hillside near our home. It's an amazing sight and something I don't know how to capture on camera to convey it in photo form.
These first two photos are just shots of the hillside to give you an idea of how many are there. It is a steep hill, over fifty feet high and goes on about the length of a football field (just a guess, I'm not great with measurements):
Here is a close-up that gives a better idea of what a trillium looks like if you aren't familiar:
Here's a close-up I took last year at trillium time:
And these are a different type of flower we saw today, just to give you an idea of what the forest floor is like right now. There are also places just covered with a flower that looks like a yellow star:
Here is the row of turtles we saw today, plus the leopard frog Brigham spotted on his own the other day (he sometimes identifies birds by name before I can!):
There's so much to be grateful for!!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Remember How I Told You About Spring in the Forest?
Friday, August 8, 2008
Winter, Spring, Summer
Same fence, different seasons. It's amazing how things change. I wanted to wait until I had the fall picture, but the idea wanted to come out of my head, so here it is!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Terror in my Eyes!
How'd you like to wake up to this bad boy staring you in the eyes?
O.k. so it wasn't in by my bed, it was on the kitchen counter under this glass, but still! Nasty. I wouldn't let Joseph take the glass off for an ant photo shoot. It makes me yell and dance around like crazy. He wasn't here when I lifted the carpet piece up from inside the cupboard which was teeming with this guy's little brothers.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Gardening, Gardening
Lovely. My house is full of carpenter ants. I just told Joseph that he is lucky to go to work. I have a creepy crawly feeling all over my skin. Didn't know that carpenter ants would go for the honey. How does that relate to gardening? Even though I didn't feel like it, I went outside today to get away from those gross BIG ants to dig.
I have to do this every year. I have lots of perennials and they look great, but I also have a lot of open dirt for planting seeds of annuals. By this time of year, there are tall grasses, seedlings from plants that seeded the previous year, dandelions, clover, etc. invading my precious free dirt. I have to dig through that dirt to get rid of what I don't want and prepare the ground for what I do want.
So, because of all the organizing I've been doing inside my house, the outside needs some work (last year's herb garden and vegetable garden):
Can you tell where the grass ends and the gardens begin?
The birds have not yet found our feeders we put out a week ago.
Despite lots of insect repellent, there were plenty of mosquitoes and gnats buzzing around me AND when I was done I had to shovel at least an inch of mud off the bottom of my gardening shoes.
The promise of fruits to come later:
We're trying potted tomatoes this year as we've had a horrible time with tomato plants almost every year!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
What a Find!
On the way out of the doctor's office this morning, Sariah and I saw a huge, very cold moth on the side walk. When I picked it up to get it out of the way, it gave us this fine display (wingspan approx. 5"). I've never seen one of these before:
This afternoon, after picking up the kids, we headed to the local Nature Center just to see these Spring flowers. These are an invasive species, but they sure are pretty when they are all in bloom:
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
A Love-Hate Relationship with my Bathroom
But, first, a couple of thoughts.
The sky is a lovely cerulean blue today and it's about 60 degrees and breezy. I simply have to share this information with someone.
Me: The sky is cerulean blue today.
Joseph: What color is that?
Me: Well, it's the color of the City trash bins, but a little more sky-ey. Know what I mean?
Sariah was playing around with the gummy worms I bought her (another shopping bribe) and was breaking them in to pieces to make a family.
Sariah (playing with her worm family): What? The baby has come?!! I can't believe the baby is already here. (Dad voice) Oh, look, the baby, I think I'm going to eat her. (Mom voice) NO! You can't eat her, she's our baby!!!
I am a ball of anger bouncing around the world. This is probably due to my coming off my medication. Joseph very kindly asked me if it was worth it to come off of the medication. I can't answer him. It's not time yet. I need more time.
Did you know that ants protect the peony blossoms until they are ready to bloom? I think they protect them from wasps laying their eggs, but I could be wrong. The ants benefit because there is some kind of sweet stuff they eat on the peonies. It's been a long time since I read about it and I don't have time to research it now. Still, every year when I see this it amazes me. Luckily I read about this before the first time I ever saw it because I'm definitely someone who would have set out to eradicate the ants if I didn't know better.
Nathan took the camera outside yesterday because he wanted to try to photograph some birds. He got a great shot here of a male and female cardinal. Can you find them both?
Now, for my bathroom.
When we were searching for houses, there were really only three or four in our price range contrasting to the hundreds of similar houses for sale like ours now. Limited choices can be a good thing. This house was the best of the three, but we still had some concerns because the inspector told us that there had been standing water in the basement, despite the owner insisting otherwise. I'm a worrier. Joseph was probably pestered to death during that time because I really wanted this house, but I also really didn't want problems.
On our second time through the house, I noticed something. The bathroom walls had a pattern on them. The then-owner had sponge painted this pattern onto the wall with a sea sponge. She had used three colors. Cornflower blue, moss green and a dark mauve color. While I'm really not very fond of the walls in my bathroom, something hit me about those colors. Those were the exact colors of the towels we have. I'm not kidding. We had at least two or three of each of those color towels including hand towels, rugs, and wash cloths.
To me, this qualified as a sign. It meant that things would be o.k. if we bought this new house. You know what? Looking back over nine years, we've had some problems, even some water in the basement, but I don't regret buying this house. I think it was a good decision.
P.S. It's really hard to redecorate a bathroom when there's only one in the house. I'll be waiting until we have more than one bathroom to paint over the sponge painting. Until then, it's a good reminder that God is watching out for me. He always has and He always will.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Changing (Michigan) Attitudes One Person at a Time
The year I entered high school, my family moved to Massachusetts. My mom did not like this move at all and mentioned mostly the negatives to us kids about living in our new state. I couldn't really see much great about it either and I remember sitting in my 7th period study at the end of each day expounding on the many faults of MA to a new friend. One day she became fed up with me and told me in no uncertain terms that I was not to talk to her about this anymore. How would I like it if she moved to Utah and told me how horrible it was there? Point taken.
On to Michigan. I don't hear people saying that they LOVE to live in Michigan. As you may know from my previous posts, I LOVE Michigan! A lot of people I have known come to Michigan to complete some schooling or for their first job and can't wait to "get outta he-ya."
I admit the winters are cold (though not much colder than Utah or Massachusetts) and probably an even bigger factor is the lack of sunshine in the winter. I can see their point to some degree. I have done my share of complaining, but now I am out to convert even the hardest cases!
I was in Meijer (grocery chain) the yesterday and had such a fun experience. I could tell the cashier was a friendly guy and when I got up to the front of the line, I could see his badge. He had been given an award for his friendliness and now it was my turn to have a chat with him. He made some comments here and there about my purchases. We got to the sand toys and I explained that we are planning on hitting the beach this summer. At one point a comment he made (said he had been to the upper peninsula and was amazed to find that Michigan could be pretty), made me wonder if he was originally from MI, so I asked. He told me yes and asked me the same. I told him we were transplants, that we had come for school and loved it. We decided to stay. He told me that I was the first person he had ever heard say that before. So began my sales pitch.
"Where else can you live where you have an east coast and a west coast, where you can visit 'up north,' where you can see lots of pine trees if you want to and if you like snow activities you can do that too? The fall is absolutely beautiful and once spring arrives you are so glad to see it that it looks and feels magnificent."
He was amazed by this new perspective on Michigan. I think I left him considering it a little. He really doesn't need an attitude adjustment with his free smile and friendly ways, but even if he can enjoy our great state a little more, it was certainly worth it!
Here's something to consider no matter which state you live in and whether you like your surroundings or not. This is from my friend Jeff, who has just arrived back to the Grand 'Ole US of A, from a year in Iraq:
America The Beautiful
When the flight touched down the crowded plane full of uniformed troops under my command erupted into cheers and applauds. “Thank God,” the Staff Sergeant and Miami Beach cop sitting next to me expressed with the deepest sincerity. His voice crackled. It sounded like he would cry.
“Yes, America!” shouted others while the clapping continued.
I was so choked up I could cry and shout all at once. The feelings were contagious.
My gratitude to be back in the land of the free and the home of the brave cannot be adequately described.
Also, it might sound funny but I want to run through all the thick, green bushes and roll around in the tall grass. I’d like to climb a tree and hug a branch, soaking up the scent of the leaves and feel them brush against my skin. Man, America is BEAUTIFUL.
…I can hardly wait to see my family again.
For more of Jeff's writing, see his blog.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Tulip Festival and Early Season Beach Trip
The first beach we visited was Tunnel Park (because it has a tunnel through a dune to get to the beach). I have to say that I had great anticipation as we neared the tunnel where we would see the waters of Lake Michigan. My heart was in my throat and I was literally like a kid on Christmas morning. I haven't felt that way in a long, long time. Exhilerating!
Veldheer's Tulip Farm
One of the sweetest things I saw all day. Nathan said, "I forgot how nice it is to hold a little hand!"
Ever since we visited Silver Lake Sand Dunes last summer and learned what happens to sand when lightening strikes, Nathan has been wanting a piece of fulgarite. It is rare to find it because it is so fragile, but that is exactly what he happened upon. A nice contribution to his rock collection. I don' t have a picture of it yet. Maybe he'll post that on his blog.
Nice big brother trying to keep his sister warm!
