Mothering Moments...Great Horned Owls

Spring, early morning.  The sun is shinning so bright.  My lids lift and I know it's going to be a good day. Spring means something different to all of us. Some love the budding of trees, I like those also, some love to play in the dirt, I do not. Some like spring cleaning and purging of all that has nested in their houses over the winter...yes, I even do that.  The smell of lilacs lifts me up and reminds me of my Mom...I feel her presence.  I remember her spring Mothering moments..and then I remember what I love best about spring.

I love nature.  I love getting out in the woods. Loading up my car with camera and a few of my special spring lenses.  For me, the first one on my Canon 7D MK11 is the 150-500.  Spring is critter watching time.  This year has been especially good for me. I love all the birds and raptors that I can find.  Not an easy task but if you stay vigilant and keep your eyes open, and get a very early morning phone call, you might get the shot. Of all the nature shots I get though, my very favorite shots are those Mothering Moments.  This day I was very fortunate.  The call was me to come and play with the Great Horned Mom and Baby.. I was out of bed in a flash, teeth brushed, dressed, grabbed a cup of tea and flew out the door...leaving a trail of spring dust behind me.  

It was a delightful two hours with this Mom and baby.  Like all babies, the little one did not want to leave his Mom's side...stuck like glue they were for the most part.  The Mom kept a good eye out on me...looking right at me and staring me down a few times.  For the most part though, they were content on their tree limb and I was content just being there.  The photo above shows the two of them on that limb and to the right of the Mom is their big, beautiful nest.  As the weeks go by I'll share more of them with you. For now, let's just enjoy the beginning of this one spring morning..

I love how the baby just stays so close to the Mom...This was taken a bit later in the morning...early morning left a shadow right across their sweet little faces...If you look under the branch you can see how long the Mom's tail is.

Just the Mom.  Lovely, large yellow eyes.  We connect and learn to put up with each other.  She is beautiful and even the streak of light does not diminish her charm.  She built such a nice home for her baby.  Don't we all strive to do that for our own children.  A home that is safe and strong.  Mothering Moments are the same in nature as in life.  I have been fortunate to view and photograph so many Mothering moments in nature, and each time I walk away, I feel the same hope, love and caring that all Mothers carry with them as they teach their little ones how to fly.

The baby was just the cutest..A little fuzzy, fur ball.  His ears are just starting to develop and grow to someday be just as cute as him Mom's ears are...and his fur is curly.

Mom was frequently checking out the area.  While she was doing that, baby owl kept his eye on me...

The baby had his own language.  I didn't understand it but I loved listening and watching him...He would open his mouth, and the feathers underneath would start dancing and he would look up at Mom and make these crazy little sounds.  In owl talk, I think he was telling her that he was hungry.  Perhaps last night had not been a successful dinner night.  He's so cute with his little beak open.

Just like any other baby, the little owl only had so much energy and he needed his mid morning nap.  He leaned into his Mom and she welcomed him.  His soft little head fell gently upon her feathers and he promptly closed his eyes, knowing that he was safely in his Mother's care.  She knew he needed the rest and so gave me one last stare as I to, rested.  It is not easy to hand hold a 500 mm lens...but the ache in my arm the next day, was worth a spring morning to remember.

Nature is my spring.  The re-newal, rebirth and awakening that spring brings.  In happens in the dirt, in houses with windows open to the breeze and it even happens in big tall pine trees if you look up.  Whatever the meaning of spring is for you...enjoy it. Let it seeps into your weary bones and soul, let it lift you up to the little things that mean so much and hopefully let Mother Nature be your spring tour guide.

“The owl,” he was saying, “is one of the most curious creatures. A bird that stays awake when the rest of the world sleeps. They can see in the dark. I find that so interesting, to be mired in reality when the rest of the world is dreaming. What does he see and what does he know that the rest of the world is missing?” 
― M.J Rose...Suduction.

Lily of the Valley

“Sita closed her eyes and breathed into her cupped hands. Before she left, she had remembered to perfume her wrist with Muguet. 
The faint odor of that flower, so pure and close to the earth, was comforting. She had planted real lilies of the valley because she liked them so much as a perfume.
Just last fall, before the hard freeze, when she was feeling back to normal, the pips had arrived in a little white box. Her order from a nursery company. She'd put on her deerskin gloves and, on her knees, using a hand trowel, dug a shallow trench along the border of her blue Dwarf iris. Then one by one she'd planted the pips. They looked like shelled acorns, only tinier. "To be planted points upward," said a leaflet in the directions. They came up early in the spring. The tiny spears of their leaves would be showing soon.
Lying there, sleepless, she imaged their white venous roots, a mass of them fastening together, forming new shoots below the earth, unfurling their stiff leaves. She saw herself touching their tiny bells, waxed white, fluted, and breathing the ravishing fragrance they gave off because Louis had absently walked through her border again, dragging his shovel, crushing them with his big, careless feet. 
It seemed as though hours of imaginary gardening passed before Mrs. Waldvogel tiptoed in without turning on the light.” 
― Louise Erdrich, The Beet Queen

Happy Hump Day

One of the things I love about Nature Photography is, whenever you go out the door, even in your own backyard, you never know what your going to discover, if you stand there long enough.  The last few years there has been a few hawks hanging out in our yard.  My husband calls the two that come all the time Thelma and Louise because that's what he used to call Ms. Margaret and her friend of 80 years. Her name was actually Thelma...He believes that Ms. Margaret watches over us because of the hawk that stayed on the landing outside her hospital room when she was dying. Hawks are suppose to be very spiritual birds.  I digress.  Happens all the time.  Long story short, today is Wednesday, commonly referred to as hump day...the photo's tell the rest of the story...no words needed.

The hawk can soar high and reach the heavens effortlessly. As most bird totems, this power animal is often considered as a messenger who brings messages from the spirit world and the unseen.

If you have the hawk as a spirit animal, you may be inclined to play with divination tools and use your intuition to guide your steps in life. Working with the hawk totem could reinforce your ability to rely this type of guidance.

When the hawk shows up in your life, be sensitive to the messages it may carry and be receptive to your own intuition.

I love nature photography...I always have.  It's where I started on my journey and I am always amazed when I'm out there..enjoy these early days of Spring...and also, nature's mysteries.

From Blogs to Books

The written word, with photographs, finally emerges from the hard drive to a paper bound book.  It has been a struggle trying to get this together, to make a hard copy, to preserve my words and my photo's...like most people keep a hand written diary. It does not have a fancy hard cover, it is not of the highest quality, it isn't even for sale, what it is though, is my journey since I started taking photo's and putting my stories with those photo's. I love that I can now hold my stories in my hand, share them with those of my family and friends who don't use a computer, and yes, there are some of those people still out there, and also keep them in a safe place for my children and grandchildren.  If my computer should crash and burn...my work will not go down with it.

I started trying to put this project together quite awhile back.  I tried some of the on-line companies like Blurb.  I blog on Squarespace and none of the companies I checked with support Squarespace.  I then talked to a few other contacts to see how they were putting their own blogs to hard copies and one in particular was very helpful but I didn't move in that direction.  I'd think about it and then let it go...but then the bug would come back again to haunt me.  I really wanted a hard cover copy. What finally got me moving in the direction that I finally took was thinking about the purpose of having a real copy.  I thought about it's intention for me and then had a light bulb moment.  This printing was not to sell my blog or to even share it with anyone in particular.  To print it was just for me and my family someday.  I don't completely trust the computer world now, nor do we know what the future will bring.  What I do know is that I wished I had some writings of my Mom's that I could look back on, that would tell me not only something about her life, but also something about the things that were most precious to her, her dreams and longings and perhaps stories from her past. I have one poem from her about us kids that my brother found after she died.  It is so precious that I have framed a copy for me and my brothers and it now hangs on my wall..one simple poem. Her last gift to us. So there you have it...I want it for me and mine.

Once I understood that then the process became very simple.  I would print it myself on my home printer, which I did.  I started back in 2009 and as of right now everything is printed, bound and ready for storage through 2015.  My hope for this year is to print my blog posts each month. On Squarespace I have a tag that says "View printer friendly version"..I hit that and it lines everything up and I'm good to go.  Once they were all printed and in the right order off I went to Staples where they bound them and put a nice clear cover on the front and a heavy weight colored (black) backing on it.  They look super duper. The cost at Staples was around $5.00 a book. Ink was a lot more money. Here are a few pages to show you what I'm saving:

 And there are my lovely blog post...all bound up by years.

 I'm saving all my special dates with my loved ones..

I want to remember all the special Maine places that I have visited.

I always want to remember my Dad in a special way.

Honoring my family so my children will know their ancestors.

I want to keep the memories alive of all the countries I have traveled to...

I'm a Dreamer, a writer and a photographer...I love what I do.

Most importantly, I never want to forget the gifts that I have been given.  The gifts that really matter.

 

I want the dream to live on in real time and in memories..

It took time, a lot of ink and some special paper but the job is done and I just love it.  It doesn't have to always be about big and fancy or expensive..sometimes it just has to be about the simple reasons of keeping dreams alive and stories told.  I'm glad I did it my way..it makes my blog post special because not only did I write them and photograph them but I also have my hand on them in the printing...I actually loved doing them...as one was printing, I was reading the next one coming up...memories, even for me.

"That is the power of a good story. It can encourage you, it can make you laugh, it can bring you joy.

It will make you think, it will tap into your hidden emotions, and it can make you cry.

The power of a story can also bring about healing, give you peace, and change your life."

                                          Jeff Dixon

I hope all the words in my little stories live up, in some part, to the words above.

Back On The Trail

Mud season is here, then again, mud season brings Maple sugar season at the Audubon.  A favorite walking place for Papa, Me and the boys.  So many trails to choose from but when we are with the boys they always want to go to the Rockery.  Boulders stacked to create arches and a grotto setting, constructed in 1905, provide an adventurous walk along the Rockery Trail, which of course, is very exciting for little boys.  It's a beautiful walk to get to the Rockery, partly along the meadow where the birds sing and fly in and out of their bird houses.  Further along we go deeper into the woods where planks and stairs have been installed to make walking easier and to keep little feet from stepping where they shouldn't.  One of the boardwalks provides a great place for everyone to hand feed the birds.  That's always a lot of fun and really teaches the kids how to be quiet and have patience while they wait for their bird to land on their hand.  Ducks, and water birds, flowers and ferns all grow along the marsh and waters as we continue on our walk to the "big rocks"..With two little ones in tow, it takes a while to get there.  Lot of stopping and bug watching.  First though, back to this visit, our first of the season and we always start at maple sugaring time.

Back on the trail this year has much more meaning for me than in years past.  Yes, it was the first trip of the season but it was also the first time since October that I have been able to walk very far at all and one of the first times walking outside.  It was, to say the least, my first big challenge, and If not for the boys, I would not have made it all the way to the Rockery.  Oh I paid for it the next day but, honestly, it was time to give my new knee a test drive and although I was a bit shaky, I was also excited to be "free" again.

I get attached to things, very attached.  My cars have names and I frequently talk to them when driving.  I have a had time parting with books, even though I might have had them for a very long time.  I think those are the best ones.  If someone gives me a gift, I hold on to it way beyond the time that I should have let it go. So I was not surprised when I was told that I needed a total knee replacement, that I would go through a sort of crazy grieving process  when saying goodbye to my old knee.  I'm not talking about a down and out, crying jag or anything nearly like that but I did sit down one day and sort of think about where me and my knee have been and how far it has taken me in my life.  An inventory, so to speak, of our journey together over these many years.

During these last few years, when the writing was on the wall, that I would eventually need a new knee, so many of my "friends" would say, "no surprise there, you wore the damn thing out".  That used to make me so mad. Now, I guess they were right. Now, I understand that me and my knee walked,biked, swam, traveled all over the world and climbed a few mountains together.  It supported me in my effort to lose over 100 lbs over 35 years ago when I beat the hell out of it on the treadmill everyday. It gave me strength to climb mountains, swim in the lake, and to travel along woodland lanes to visit with nature. It even gave me the flexibility to run after small boys before it finally became to tired to run anymore.  It was hard to make the decision to have the surgery but like everyone says, you know when the time is right and for me, that happened last October, after my trip to Chicago..when I limped in pain the entire time..so goodbye old knee, your really got me to a healthy life style and some very exotic places...

I won't go into the details of the surgery or recovery except to say that I'm not a great sitting in the chair, popping pain pills kind of person.  Oh at first it was o.k. because the pain won out.  Not for long though..It is not an easy process fighting back.  I have great respect for all those people who have lost limbs and fight their way back. I can't even imagine.  Everything that happens to us in life, teaches us lessons.  Spend a few months in outpatient PT, on a regular basis, and it humbles you.  I did my part there...pushed through the pain with one goal in mind...hitting the trails and treadmill again.  I still have some recovering to do, but I am able now, to put one foot in front of the other and go...wherever I want.  I won't be climbing any mountains soon, perhaps never, but I got to the top before and the race is on again.  This morning I got to two miles on the treadmill...I so missed my treadmill.  Now, I've also got myself back on the trail with my most favorite trail guides...the boys.

Yes, it is mud season but the that's o.k.  We navigated around it to the smell of the maple sap being turned into syrup.  We got to taste it right from the maple sugar shack.  Energy for the walk to the Rockery, where not only do the boys climb the rocks, feed the birds and take their own photo's..they continually turn around to make sure I'm there and to encourage me to keep going...even when I wanted desperately to sit on the rock and wait.  Without their little voices calling me and their patience in waiting for me, I am sure I would not have done the whole trial.  So, yes, we are back on the trail again and as I continue to heal I dream about where this new knee will take me and the boys...but know for sure, we are on our way.

Buckets hanging on the Maple trees.

The smoke room at the Maple Sugar Shack.

Jaxson getting his taste of fresh maple syrup.  He wanted more.

 Resting on the tree limb before we start our trail walk.

Off we go to the Rockery.

Did I mention that it was mud season...and who do you think lost his boot and kept right on going..If you could see this up close...Liam is just killing himself laughing..off with the sock and back in the boot.
 

Liam waiting patiently for a bird to come to his hand.

Just a pretty picture along the way.

The bridge...we are almost there...

Finally, we are there and I can sit and rest...but it sure feels good to have made it.

This is what they love.  The boulders and caves. 

Back on the trail. The boys to a place that they love, every time it's different but the same. That is how nature works.  Me, just being back on the trail when there were days I wondered if it would ever happen. At the end of the day all was right with the world again.  I'm not saying that I didn't need a good rest and some ice...but since this day with the boys, I have been walking outside, by myself as often as the weather allows and the treadmill, well, it's there for me whenever I want to use it. I'm starting to bond with my new knee, I think I'll keep it...As for the boys...they surely are Keepers Also...Keepers of our adventures...

Happy Mud Season in New England...Happy Spring...

"The future will belong to the nature-smart-those individuals, families, businesses, and political leaders who develop a deeper understanding of the transformative power of the natural world and who balance the virtual with the real.  The more high-tech we become, the more nature we need."  Richard Louv