Sweet May Mornings

"While earth herself is adorning this sweet May morning..." ~ W Wordsworth

Already half way through this sweet month of May. Busy - busy at school with end of year events, grades, portfolios etc. BUT - still able to enjoy so many perfect days. Landscapes all abloom, beautiful weather ( tho we could use some rain at night :) ) and so many Beatrix Potter mornings in our backyard habitat. As our perennials emerge and flower theses past few weeks, we have also planted our annuals for both added color and to help nurture our pollinators. At our feeding stations we are going through seed and nectar much faster then norm and are rewarded by evidence of a number of nesting pairs. We have witnessed fledglings & juveniles for Cardinals, Purple Finches, and Downy Woodpeckers for sure. It is so interesting to watch as these babies learn the" how to's" of their species. One of the funniest sightings is to watch the young finches try to land on and feed from the nectar feeders ...... not only do they teeter precariously as they try to perch, but their thick seed cracking beaks can not "sip" any nectar - yet they keep trying. Another sweet sighting was a "dad" Downy actually feeding a fledgling on the suet feeder. Dad would grab some seed & suet, soften it up and then feed junior.
   Watching from my kitchen window or sitting quietly on the back porch and feeling connected to all of the life in the green space - even for just a few minutes - is such a source of joy as well as an immediate stress reliever.  Then there is the inspirational value, which shows up in both my writings and my Art !!
   I offer you these words from an old Welsh verse and encourage you to find some joy "amid the woods"~

"An angel mid the woods of May~
Embroidered it with radiance gay~
That gossamer with gold bedight~
Those fires of God - those gems of light. "

Metamorphosis & Earth Day

Metamorphosis ~ from the Greek word for "transformation" ~ is a biological process of marked changes in form & physical appearance from the immature to the adult. This often happens in stages like the complete metamorphosis of Lepidoptera.

Yesterday, April 21,2011, was a marker day :) Not only did it mark 32 years of marriage for me, but also it marked the completion of a metamorphosis. Yes, a BEAUTIFUL & fully formed healthy looking Black Swallowtail butterfly emerged from it's crysalis !!
This little adventure of a shared Nature journey began on Sat. April 2 when I found a caterpillar on one of the herb plants I had purchased that morning in our local Farmer's Market. As the bird activity in our backyard habitat was very high, I decided to breakout my Classroom Observatory setup and nurture the caterpillar inside. Was rewarding for me to observe the stages - from "very hungry caterpillar" to crysalis formation, and now butterfly birth.
My mantra of "Walk with Nature, Talk with Art" has been fully satisfied once again with this little experience...... AND I consider it a special gift that butterfly emerged on the earlier side of typical timeline so that it could grace my Anniversary with it's beauty!!
Today is Earth Day 2011 with a theme of "A Billion Acts of Green"and my butterfly release was one of mine. May you each find a way to "morph"today - be it reaching a goal,  completing a project, increasing your knowledge, or adding to the reduction of your personal carbon footprint in some way !!

Happy Earth Day ~ walk with nature, her paths are peace .

Village Lanes & Farmer's Markets

"From dewey lanes at morning,

Village Lane           watercolor on 140lb.paper  ~ eakf

the grapes sweet odors rise, 
at noon the roads all flutter
with yellow butterflies......."
Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-1888)

    As we leave March and enter April, I revel in more things spring ~ the joys & wonders of.........


During our recent visit to Hill Country, we happened upon a number of open air markets ~ both Farmer's & Arts, and thoroughly enjoyed strolling through all. It was, however, a bit frustrating to see (but not be able to purchase) many of the delicious looking freshly grown produce because we were on the road. So-o-o....... when our local Spring Farmer's Market started up again ( this past weekend) I was there early with my basket in hand ! The weather was kind & I enjoyed catching up with some of my favorite vendors & checking out the new ones.
The market basket came home full, with fresh salad greens & fruits, some new "limited edition" handmade soaps ( vanilla orange) and some potted herb plants among other things. The bonus was discovering that my new fennel plant had a swallowtail caterpillar on it !!! Now the question was to plant or not to plant? Due to the high bird activity in our backyard habitat, I decided to resurrect my "classroom butterfly observation" container and nurture the caterpillar through it's stages inside. Today is day 4 from purchase and caterpillar has more than doubled in size :) & there are new shoots on the fennel plant so things are win- win right now.
      Connect this story with the fact that on Saturday I am involved in the official Grand Opening of our new Nature Center with the theme being "Celebrating Butterflies" and you can feel the serendipity. I do find it so interesting how things often tie together ~ if only we look for the threads !!
   So as I continue my love affair with "things spring" and focus on celebrating the beauty of Lepidoptera ~ my wish is for you to stroll down your own Village Lanes and find joy in the wonders of Nature.
Till again.......

Welcome Spring

"Slayer of the winter,art thou here again ?
O welcome, thou that bring'et the summer nigh!"    ~ W.M.Morris

Signs of Spring                            5"X7" watercolor sketchbook page - eakf

Yesterday, March 20, 2011, was officially the first day of Spring :)  ~ one of the 4 temperate seasons,welcomed as the transition from winter to summer, and typically linked to ideas of rebirth, renewal, and re-growth.
At this time of the year, the axis of the earth increases it's tilt toward the sun yielding longer & warmer days triggering the messages of new growth and new life in Earth's flora & fauna. A "Signs of Spring" hike is a great activity right now.
Metaphorically, Spring embodies ideas of fresh starts, new possibilities, and renewed hopes/ dreams as evidenced by the many Spring festivals & celebrations around the world. Creatives respond to the season with beautiful paintings, poetry, photography, prose and on........
I, for one,  have just returned from a wonderful & inspiring Spring break in the Hill Country of Texas, and am eager to incorporate those experiences into my art.

May you, too, gain energy from Spring's beauty and message of renewal !

el Sol

Rise N' Shine                                                  watercolor on 140lb. cold press / eakf

"How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains" - John Muir
This weekend we "sprang ahead" to accomplish DST 2011 (daylight saving time). So what is it about sunlight that has us wanting to "save" it ? The origin of DST stems from a suggestion made by our very own Benjamin Franklin in one of his essays
(An Economical Project -1734 ) ..... and would you believe that energy conservation was the objective !!
 In reality what happens is that we transfer, in effect, an hour's worth of daylight from early morning when only milkmen and roosters are awake to appreciate it, shifting it to then push back sunset (at least as far as our timepieces are concerned), giving the masses more usable daylight.
    Admittedly, loosing an hour of sleep the night we advance our clocks, isn't fun ~ but the benefits of seemingly longer days, especially now that Spring is bringing milder weather and the beauty of all her awakenings, far outshines a few lost 
Z-Z-Z-'s. Personally I embrace the warmth of the sun and the extended time to savor it.


Carpe diem !!!

Making Connections

One of our Red headed Woodpeckers.

"The Earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the Earth. Man did not weave the web of life ~ he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself"   
 inspired by Chief Seattle 1850"s


February is National Wild Bird Feeding Month and the GBBC (Great Backyard Bird Count). The GBBC is a joint project of Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon Society where Citizen Scientists from across the Nation can participate by conducting a watch/count for a specific time frame and reporting the highest numbers of bird species observed in that time. Data is then submitted to the Cornell Lab database for use in comparison studies of bird populations over time. This year the GBBC was from Fri. Feb.18-Mon. Feb, 21. The connections I experience with Nature during the GBBC are much deeper than the more casual watching that I do year round in our backyard habitat, perhaps because of the intensity of the watching necessary for this project. The binoculars are up the entire watch time and you tend to "look" in more places/ spaces than usual, so as to not miss a thing. Consequently you observe SO much more. We participated last year as well and so we now have begun our own "database". We enjoyed our usual cast of characters, including our resident species and our Winter visitors. The highlights for this year included on Day 1 - A Great Blue Heron "fly over"; Day 3 - A Sharp-shinned Hawk hanging around for about 20 minutes ( when there was not a sighting or peep from any of our birds !!) and Day 4 - the sighting of a new species for us of a Yellow-rumped Myrtle Warbler.
Making connections means to unite, or "be in close relation with" and for me, my desire to Walk with Nature often and in many ways gives me the opportunity to respect the web.

The Art of Nature

"Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears" 

Fall sunset - 2005                      The Woodland's , Texas / NJF

                   - Fiddler on the roof


In each of it's moods and through out it's daily & nightly hours, the 'heavens' provide an amazing source of beauty & inspiration ! 
For me, catching a sunrise or sunset (often heading to or home from work) is the big prize of being a skywatcher. No two ever alike ~ each with it's own unique palette & set of scenes.
I will never tire of looking up, day or night, to see what sky show is playing. I also delight in the knowledge that I keep good company with MANY others who have been moved to create by skywatching. ( Think Van Gogh; da Vinci & Michelangelo for a start ) 
As I end week two of this new year ~ I continue to ... Explore ~ Discover ~ Imagine &  Express ... care to join me? 
What are your creative goals & inspirations ? Not sure ?  Just Look Up & Enjoy !!