The Life of a Cosmos: A Photo Essay

Cosmos, a flowering perennial, native to the Southern United States and south to Mexico, Central America and northern Paraguay.

The delicate bud covered in a thin cellophane membrane with the unfurled petals hinting at the color of this Cosmos.

The deep pink petals have pushed through and slowly . . .

 . . .begin to unfurl. The cellophane membrane now looks small compared to the size of the emerging petals.

The ephemeral petals surround the center awaiting the pollinators to partake of the nectar and spread the pollen assuring a future for this beguiling wildflower.

Its job  complete, the flower begins to decay to return to the Earth and with it its seeds. 

Come the spring, the cycle will repeat itself as it has for eons under the bright sun and warm days.

A Vulnerable Turtle

I want to move you. I want to move you to care. I want to move you to action.

So I share with you a reptile who is sharing my backyard with me. An Eastern Box Turtle.

In the wake and busyness of human activity, this reptile is trying to survive. But they are having a difficult time.

They are hit by cars - some intentional by humans who consider it fun, some by accident. Some by loss of their habitat, that is the habitat we take from them as we proliferate at now beyond seven billion on the planet.

I've seen her throughout the years and I believe she's the same turtle. Just yesterday, I finally captured images of her and was able to identify her as a female by her brown eyes. Males are red.

Years ago, when I was a child, I'd visit my cousin whose home was in the country. One day while in the woods, we found a Box Turtle and decided to mark her on the bottom with a number. It was our idea of tracking her hoping we'd find her again but I had little confidence we would ever see her again.

The following year on my visit, we anticipated finding that turtle on our search of the woods. Sure enough we spotted a turtle. Was it the very same one that we marked?  I doubted it. We carefully picked her up and gently turned her over. There it was, the number we had painted on her!

I believe that experience, which so amazed me as a young girl, was my first dawning that animals have homes just like we do. Areas that they consider home.

The Eastern Box Turtle is now listed on the Endangered Species List as Vulnerable, meaning they are only one step up from Endangered. I could not imagine as a child that this species of turtle, beloved by many and probably one of the first turtles a child experiences, being in danger of sliding to extinction. But it is so.

If you see a Box Turtle in the road, stop and give them an assist on their journey to cross our wildlife unfriendly, unsafe roadways. Pick them up towards the back of the shell and cross them to the side of the road they were heading.

It's a kind, considerate and and good thing to do. And what could be better than helping those who are vulnerable.

The Sweetest Song

I had seen Wood Thrushes sporadically in my yard but had never heard their song. I had heard they had the sweetest song.

On a recent trip to Mammoth Cave National Park, where I also camped in the national park campground, I heard a bird singing nearly continuously. It was a pretty song and not something easily forgotten. I had never heard the song before and was determined to find out just what bird it was.

I asked several park rangers if they would help me identify the bird and I tried to imitate the call for them. Both times I tried, resulted in each ranger shaking their heads. They had no idea what bird it was.

When I got home, I looked at the images taken, and recall seeing this bird, which I knew as a Wood Thrush.

Could I have finally heard its song? Could the song belong to the Wood Thrush?

I found a recording on the internet and it was indeed the song of this bird.

Hearing this bird, while camping in the quiet solitude of the park, made my vacation exceedingly peaceful and sweet.

Earth Day 2014

Heaven is under our feet

As well as over our heads

~Henry David Thoreau~
~

I love you Earth

Earth is beautiful,
You is beautiful,
I is beautiful,
Sky is beautiful,
Land is beautiful,
Ocean is beautiful,
Plant is beautiful,
Animal is beautiful,
Insect is beautiful,
Bird is beautiful.

The world rejoices.

American Crow

This fellow, is one of two, that have recently started visiting my feeder. The photo at the top of my blog is him, too, giving a scolding to the ever present squirrels to move on.

The two come for the unshelled peanuts that I include in the morning replenishment of the feeder as they are also a favorite of Blue Jays. Both the Crows and Jays keep the resident Hawk at bay from snacking on the little song birds.

I had the darnedest time trying to photograph them as they kept one eye on me, which you can see here, even though I was behind glass and would barely move except to trigger the shutter. I'd move just a tad and they'd be gone. But my diligence paid off with these shots or maybe the crow finally gained some trust in me.

They are terribly handsome birds, impressive and intelligent.

I jog early in the morning, and encounter other Crows flying overhead calling to each other.

Caw! Caw! Caw!

One day I decided to caw back and it's become part of my morning run. They caw, I caw. They seem to know me.

One morning, after I was at the end of the jog and just about to start the walk down my driveway, I heard a loud caw coming from behind. I quickly turned around and saw a crow on the roof of my neighbors house staring at me with several other crows around him. They played a practical joke on me. I have no doubt they secretly followed me home to give me a little surprise.

Kiss me

A frog garden statue's patina, long faded by the sun, is replaced by green algae that keeps him handsome while he waits for a kiss that will turn him into a prince.

Algae is a diverse group of simple photosynthetic organisms ranging from the very small to that of seaweed, which is the largest. It is often seen growing on fences, pavement, outdoor furniture and garden statues like this handsome frog. And, it is the organism that clings to submerged objects such as sunken ships that becomes the foundation for artificial reefs.

Tenacity

Mount St. Helens, a volcano in the Cascade range of Washington State, blew its side out on May 18, 1980

In the immensity of the blast, it caused a massive mud flow.

The evidence can still be seen in these images take in 2013. The blast completely altered the landscape and decimated the surrounding forest.

Trees were felled by the thousands as was much of the life that depended on the forest.

But life is tenacious and hangs on despite calamity.

Life is slowly returning to the landscape and it's a delight to see the different kinds of wildflowers blooming where so much destruction took place.

 In the barren yet volcanic rich soil plants are slowly taking root and reseeding the area.

 These durable plants are reminders of the tenacity of life . . .

 . . . and are smiles of resilience against hard times.