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.

Mt. Rainier

When I first came upon Mt. Rainier, its snow covered shape seemed familiar. It was splendidly rugged and compelling. I studied the mountain from many angles and realized it reminded me of Mt. Everest.

A day later, I ran into two park rangers and we began to chat. I asked if they knew if there were climbers who trained on Mt. Rainier for a summit of Mt. Everest.

They seemed surprised by my question and both of them affirmed 'yes' at the same time. They explained that Mt. Rainier is the same technical-wise as Mt. Everest and that it makes a splendid training mountain for the greater Mt. Everest. Plus, just as Everest is, it is unpredictable weather-wise.

Crevasses

They then gave me more detailed information and added that the woman who has scaled Everest the most lives in the area and is a trainer on Mt. Rainier for those wishing to attempt Everest.

Note the block-like formation caused by layers of snow

Evidence of an avalanche

I smiled at the rangers and told them I was not surprised by what they said as I had done much reading about the historical summits of Mt. Everest and thought Mt. Rainier looked like Everest hence the reason for my inquiry.

Mt. Rainier is a massive, active stratovolcano and stands at 14,411 feet. It is considered one of the most dangerous in the world.

 Mt. Everest stands at 29,029 feet.

Geologically speaking

It is easy to forget while walking along a gray chalky path in Yellowstone National Park that you are walking on the mantle of an active volcano.

A volcano that, in geological time, is a recent explosion. It is truly just yesterday that this massive volcano exploded and I am the visitor who rushed to the scene.

The smell of sulfur gas is strong in the air as it escapes up through fissures in the ground and wafts through the air from mists of erupting geysers. The geysers are intensely hot, yet, when the mist lands on your skin it is warm from being cooled by the air.

The emerald blue pools of mineral water is likewise intensely hot and both speak of the power of the Earth just below the surface.

When sunset comes, the geysers are silhouetted against the sky and continue their eruptions day and night.

The shape of the misty water is clear against a twilight sky and steady and sure as the sun's coming and going.

But this serene calmness is an illusion and but a reprieve between explosions. Yellowstone periodically erupts every 800,000 years and it is due soon.

 And, in geological time, it is a frequently exploding volcano.