August Blues

I have the blues...waiting in the rain for my master

Blue is my blog theme for the second full week of August. Language is such an interesting study. Blue seems like such a basic word but its meaning stretches from colour to emotion to music style to political stance. I speak only English but imagine the word has nuances in other languages as well.

I will have to work on my personal colour challenge and see what comes up in the next few days...

BLUE
Noun
1. The hue of that portion of the visible spectrum lying between green and indigo, evoked in the human observer by radiant energy with wavelengths of approximately 420 to 490 nanometers; any of a group of colors that may vary in lightness and saturation, whose hue is that of a clear daytime sky; one of the additive or light primaries; one of the psychological primary hues.

2. the colour of a clear unclouded sky

3. anything blue, such as blue clothing or blue paint: she is clothed in blue

...the Mourning Cloak butterfly rests on a blue car
(with a name like that I wonder if it has the blues too!

4. a sportsman who represents or has represented Oxford or Cambridge University

5. Brit informal a Tory

5. out of the blue unexpectedly

Adjective

[bluer, bluest]

1. of the colour blue; of the colour of a clear unclouded sky

2. (of the flesh) having a purple tinge from cold

3. depressed or unhappy

Noun, pl

the blues

1. a feeling of depression or deep unhappiness

2. a type of folk song originating among Black Americans

Shades of blue...sun umbrellas for the rain

Weekend Adventures

Samuel looks above the Doon Mills Ruins

"Rain, rain go away..."
Last year we chanted "Rain, rain come again..."

My eleven year old cousin Samuel wanted to go birding on Saturday. The probability of rain was 80% but the morning dawned sunny and bright. He was ready to go quickly and we drove to the trail he wanted to explore. Within fifteen minutes, dark clouds moved across the sky and a light rain fell. We sprayed ourselves with insect repellent and headed towards the river under a canopy of dense leaves. I have walked this trail dozens of times but the undergrowth is like that found in a rain forest this year.

Giant ragweed towered twice my height above the ground.
Trees downed by recent storms lined the sides of the path.
Himalayan Balsam, and invasive weed stood tall and was in full bloom.
I pulled several out by their shallow roots.

Arrowhead

Samuel found some Broadleaf Arrowhead blooming at the river's edge. I have never seen this wild plant which is also known as duck potato or wapato. Its tubers are edible and were eaten by indigenous people. Sam identified it readily when he saw it.

The birds kept our minds off the buzzing mosquitoes...Wrens, Cardinals, Blue Jays, immature Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Herons, Swallows, Woodpeckers, Orioles, Goldfinches, Chickadees and more chirped, called, sang and flew above our heads.

Young Great Blue Heron

The ragweed was making Samuel sneeze so we left and headed to the swamp where we could see from the car if the rain continued. The swamp never disappoints and we were able to walk along the edge during a break in the weather. A juvenile Great Blue Heron flew in front of us and landed on a high stump.

It rained most of the afternoon and evening. Whenever I see the sun shine these days, I rush out to enjoy the light. I managed to walk a trail on Friday evening as the sun was going down and dusk came.

House Wren in evening light

House Wrens are very visible lately and I sat on a fallen tree to watch the antics of a pair of them in the nearby brush. My feet rested on the ground and I watched the grass part as a young skunk approached me. It came right up to me and sniffed my comfortable Keen sandals (thanks Beth). My camera was in my hands but I sat there without flinching a muscle.

What does it take to startle a skunk?

I didn't want to experiment with the click of a camera. The skunk moved away confidently and went under the tree I was sitting on. Perhaps there were others beneath me. I left carefully wishing I hadn't been afraid to take a picture.

Saturday evening heavy rain accompanied thunder and lightning. But at sunset a full rainbow filled the sky above our house. It was impossible to fit the entire arc in the viewfinder of the camera but the colour and clarity made it the most spectacular rainbow I have ever seen. It was only a week ago that we chased the last rainbow. We are getting used to rainy weekends! I still prefer this summer to the hot, dry variety.


(See Samuel's account of our outing on his blog here)

Friday Flowers: Yellow Coneflowers

Last weekend we walked by a reservoir on the grounds of the local university looking for water birds. (At least that is what I was looking for). Yellow Coneflowers were blooming along the banks of the little lake and had grown so high and thick as to obliterate the foot path to the water's edge. My husband is not one to stand in a field of flowers but I couldn't resist this shot which looks like a scene from the movie Across the Universe. (We were never hippies or flower children but that was our generation)


Many grasshoppers and butterflies were flitting about, few staying still long enough for a picture. I have Purple Coneflowers in my garden but none of these lovely yellow cousins. (They may also be known as Sneezeweed but I did not analyze the leaves well enough to make a definite identification.)


We finally made it to the water's edge and found what we were looking for. Great Egrets are passing through again this year and a single bird stood gracefully in the shallow water watching for fish. Once again, wildflowers and birds won the day's prize for the image of beauty and serenity.


Have a beautiful and serene weekend!!

What's for dinner?

"What's for dinner?" How many times have I been asked that question over the years? Perhaps thousands of times! I only prepare one meal a day for the family now. Everyone is responsible for their own breakfast and lunch. Some days it is a struggle to come up with a menu that can be prepared quickly after work. I have a meat-loving husband, a virtually vegetarian daughter who may eat a morsel of poultry a few times a year, and another who declines onions and all ground meats. So dinner usually involves making two different entrees. We get take out only a couple of times a month, perhaps a Friday night pizza or a meal from our favourite Thai restaurant.


Human diets are complex and our eating is a highly social activity. How much easier it would be if we ate like birds. Peanuts for the family... nice and simple...no salt please. Our Chickadees are easy to please.


Mayflies may be a bit awkward to swallow but one this mother caught may feed a couple of small Yellow-throated warblers. Yum!


The male yellow warbler could chirp loudly with a bug in his mouth. When he finished bragging about his catch he swallowed it.

A Song Sparrow perched proudly with its freshly caught moth. A drink may help with the dry, fuzzy wings.

Birds spend much more time in a day searching for food than I do. The Cardinals in our yard worked from dawn to dusk getting grubs for their youngsters. We have many food choices, likely too many, and decision making, not the acquisition of food wears us out.

Now for dinner tomorrow....just wait a see.

Blogger Comments- I am getting email notifications of comments that are not showing up below the posts. My responses to comments today did not load either. Cheryl D, I got your comment on the 'The World without Us". Hopefully it will appear later.

The World Without Us

One of my daughters brought a book home from the library called The World Without Us. Author Alan Weisman discusses "how our planet would respond without the relentless pressure of the human presence." He uses New York City as one example and describes in detail how long it would take for human structures to deteriorate and for the environment to return to a naturalized state.


It would happen surprisingly quickly. Ancient monuments such as the Pyramids in Egypt would last far longer than the Empire State Building. Modern man challenges nature, rerouting rivers, building below the water table, using flimsy materials rather than working in harmony with the earth. New York City's decline would begin as filters clogged and water pumps failed beneath the pavement. The subway tunnels would flood and building foundations would be compromised. It takes constant vigilance and maintenance to keep a city from deteriorating. The book is not apocalyptic but instead reveals the regenerative power of nature.


Manitoulin Island has many abandoned farms. Crumbling barns and houses dot the landscape. Across the road from the camp, such a farm stood, the old house far too dilapidated to enter. I wondered what creatures took shelter within the leaning walls. Farm implements rusted in the fields and cement foundations of buildings that were long gone were visible beneath shrubs and grasses. I was fascinated by these remnants of the past and wondered at the complete abandonment of home and livelihood.


Anyone who is a home owner knows the cost and time involved in keeping a place up. The forces of water, ice, light, wind and of small things like insects are cumulative and break down man made things quickly. The author discusses the plague of plastic on the planet, particularly in our oceans. But even plastic will break down eventually.

Our lives are fleeting and our possessions become valueless in a blink of an eye when compared to the timelessness of creation.

Something to think about...and an interesting book to read.

A Year at the Swamp

Last August I was introduced to The Swamp by a birder on our local forum. Bounded by a mall and Walmart on one side, a nursing home, two schools, a subdivision and a road, it is an unlikely place for a bird sanctuary within the city limits. It is only a five minute drive from our home so I have dropped in many times throughout the year.

There is no single spot in the region where I have seen more birds and my list here now tops fifty species. This past week I met up with a new birding friend, Cheryl after work and showed her The Swamp. We did not have a lot of time as dusk was falling, but there was so much bird activity going on. Yesterday, The Becka wanted to look for some clothing, so I dropped her at the nearby mall and spent an enjoyable hour watching the water. It was so much less stressful than bathing suit shopping.


The water levels are much higher than last year and the wading birds have moved to different parts of the swamp. The Green Herons were easy to find last summer but I have looked in vain for them this year. I finally found one on the top branch of an old dead tree instead of on the usual logs at water level.


An Osprey hovered above the water. I did not know they could stay in one spot for so long .


I saw my first Wood Ducks here last October. This year a female has been seen frequently with her brood. Here they are lined up on a log. I hope they stay around for a while after the males have their breeding plumage again.


There are many Belted Kingfishers about and they make a mighty racket as they dive into the water for a minnow. They compete for the best perches and aggressively chase away others who venture too close.

I also saw a Great Blue Heron make a noisy fuss when a Kingfisher got too close to the Heron's fishing spot.

Other birds seen this evening included the usual suspects plus a Trumpeter Swan, a pair of Northern Flickers, a Hairy Woodpecker, Cedar Waxwings, Kingbirds, a Caspian Tern and Spotted Sandpipers. Shorebirds are moving south and other birds like male Red-winged Blackbirds have flocked together and are leaving. Fall migration is underway. And this swamp is a great resting place for migrating water birds.


The Becka finished her shopping and as I picked her up a lovely rainbow hung above the swamp. Yesterday was a day of sun and showers and the rainbow was the storm's parting gift. There is much to enjoy close to home!

Summer Skies

Looking out the window pane...

Rotating funnel cloud over the city, Clearing after another storm
Noon hour sky, Sunset by our home last evening

August....the lawn is green and needs to be cut weekly. Most years the grass is dormant, crisp and brown by the end of June and we try to get everything watered on Thursday, the only day we are allowed to use a hose.

Severe storms, funnel clouds, local flooding, downed trees have been news features every week. They say the jet stream is running right over us instead of taking a more northerly position and freak storms ride its path.

Since June we have received four times more rain than we did in the same period of time last summer. We did have drought conditions a year ago and I could walk far into the river bed without getting my feet wet. Now the watershed is in fine shape, the reservoirs are full, lawns and gardens are growing very well, and we keep an umbrella handy at all times.

And clouds are an essential part of a spectacular sunrise or sunset.

“Clouds come floating into my life,
no longer to carry rain or usher storm,
but to add color to my sunset sky.”
Rabindranath Tagore

Friday Flowers: Accessible Gardening

She isn't a patient and she doesn't need the wheelchair. The lovely girl is a seventeen year old from Spain who is in Canada for a month on a summer exchange program. Her host works at the hospital and brought her to work for a day this week. Our occupational therapist was showing her how to drive a power wheelchair and she thought it was great fun. One of my patients was watching her and said,

"Oh the beauty of youth! If they only knew how fleeting it was."

My patient knows the reality of disability and lives her life from a wheelchair. She doesn't think it is great fun.


Patients spend many weeks or even months at our hospital. This garden at the back of the building near the chapel features raised beds so people can garden from their wheelchairs. Penny, our recreational therapist organizes a group of gardeners to work the beds and tend the flowers and vegetables growing there.


She has a wonderful assortment of herbs, lettuces, tomatoes, annual and perennial flowers. The herbs and vegetables will be used for special meals and for making flavoured oils and vinegars. Getting outdoors and watching things grow is very therapeutic. One patient who is waiting to be transferred to a nursing home is concerned he may not see his tomatoes ripen. Hopefully his new home will have a similar gardening program.


Garden centres are full of long handled tools and padded accessories for aging boomers who find the bending and kneeling of gardening hard on their deteriorating joints. Raised beds are a great option and are easier to keep watered than traditional flower beds. I enjoy coming in this back entrance or taking my patients out here for a walk. Even if summer is hot, dry, wet, humid or bug-infested, it is still summer and better than our long, dark winters in my opinion.


Our hospital garden was featured in this recent article in our local newspaper.

Have a great long weekend! I plan to get caught up on blog reading during my time off.