The Arrival

between the arrival
of the first bats
when dusk gains strength,

and the arrival
of the first stars
when darkness overcomes,

is the perfect time
for another short walk
on this long summer evening;

before returning indoors
and finding the bookmark
awaiting my arrival.

 

©  2013  Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

Grand Teton National Park,  (Tetons)  Wyoming

Grand Traverse Bay,  Traverse City,  (Traverse City)  Michigan

"tremuloides"

A living tapestry
of leaves
trembles
in the same breath
of air that is
brushing my skin.

Attracting my vision,
bathing my ears,
carrying soft music
deep into my soul.

Adding to the
collection of sounds
I will try to recall
deep into December.

After the leaves
have fallen
with a sound
I cannot name.

©  2103  Richard Havenga

Aspen / Trembling Poplar - Populus tremuloides




Photo Locations:

1.  Home Woods
2.  Grand Mesa, (Grand Mesa)  Colorado
3.  Ouray, (Ouray)  Colorado
4.  Ouray, Colorado
5.  Grand Mesa, Colorado  (Colorado)

Rippled

 

this wide summer sky

rippled with streaks of stratus

worthy of regard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Click on photo to enlarge)

 

Photo Location: Home Land

 

 

 

 

 

Ballooning Out

 

Next...



Balloon Flower - Platycodon grandiflorus

Reliable perennial emerges late in spring and blooms all summer.
Height 30 - 36" (75 - 90 cm).
Best in moist, well-drained soil.
Provides good summer color in border  or as accent.
Bell-shaped flowers open from inflated balloon-like buds.


Photo Location:  Home Garden

Resource: 

Pictorial Guide to Perennials  © 1996  (Perennials)
Merchants Publishing Company, Kalamazoo, Michigan

Father Nature Quiz # 3

It is prime time for another "Father Nature Quiz". I know it's summer, but the kids need to keep learning; stay fresh as they say. Adults too. You've been around longer; you should know most of these.

All eight of these wildflowers were photographed within two miles of our land. All of them grow in Michigan, and are common throughout the Midwest. Most of them have appeared in previous posts.

And best yet... they are flowering RIGHT NOW !

Ready for the quiz? Number your paper from 1. to 8. You may begin...




1.



2.

3.



4.



5.

6.

7.

8.

 

 

Okay. Here's how to enter:

 

1. Place your answers into the "Comments Section" at the end of this post.

 

2. Email me directly with your answers; my Email can be found at my WWFN profile page.

 

3. Blabber it all over my Facebook page so everyone sees your answers:    https://www.facebook.com/richard.havenga.5

 

You may consult Guidebooks, experts, or previous WWFN posts.

Let's get our answers in by the Fourth of July.

 

At least get outside and try to find these common, yet beautiful wildflowers.

 

 

 

 

Here is the "Grading Scale" if you really need some encouragement:

 

Number Correct          Your Title

 

7 - 8                                Naturalist First Class

5 - 6                                Excellent (recovering Naturalist)

3 - 4                                I'm Pretty Good

1 - 2                                Promising Beginner

0                                     Don't Get Out Much

 

 

 

 

 

Contemplation

"The desert says nothing. Completely passive, acted upon but never acting, the desert lies there like the bare skeleton of Being, spare, sparse, austere, utterly worthless, inviting not love but contemplation.

Despite its clarity and simplicity, however, the desert wears at the same time, paradoxically, a veil of mystery." *



* Edward Abbey - Desert Solitaire  © 1968






Photo Location:

Canyonlands National Park,  (Canyonlands)  Utah  (Utah)

Gift of Green Days

Formerly frozen
soil of winter
now packed dense
with green leaves and grasses
with green shrubs and vines
crowding the competition
like green hands and fingers
like green arms and wings.

Seeking precious energy from sunlight,
absorbing warmth from this warm season.
Roots reaching, probing, secretly
sipping mineral water from fertile soil.

 

 

 

 

Millions of green cells breathe silently

during the miracle of photosynthesis.

All created to produce this gift of growth.

 

 

 

 



Living with a sense of marvel.
Being fully available to life.

Feeling the presence of Spirit.
Seeing with eyes aware and alert.

Gathering moments
with the patience of time.

Filling with gratitude for
this gift of green days.

© 2013 Richard Havenga

Green List:

1.  Cattail - Typha latifolia
2.  Wild Grape - Vitus aestivalis
3.  Solomon's Plume - Smilacina racemosa
4.  Yellow Pond Lily - Nuphar variegatum
5.  Sweet Pea (Wild Pea) - Lathyrus pratensis
6.  Staghorn Sumac - Rhus typhina
7.  Sensitive Fern - Onoclea sensiblis
8.  Fragrant Water Lily - Nymphaea odorata


Photo Locations:

1.  Wabasis Lake Park,  Kent County,  Michigan
2.  Grattan Township,  Kent County,  Michigan
3.  Stony Lake,  (Stony) Oceana County,  Michigan
4. Pickerel Lake Park,  (Pickerel)  Kent County,  Michigan
5.  Ada Township, (Ada)  Kent County,  Michigan
6. Cadillac,  (Cadillac)  Wexford County,  Michigan
7.  Wabasis Lake Park,  (Wabasis) Kent County,  Michigan
8.  Pickerel Lake Park,  Kent County,  Michigan

Mittens & Moccasins

Mittens

Moccasins

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Redbud - Cercis canadensis

 

(Click on Photos to enlarge)

 

Photo Location: Home Woods

 

 

 

 

 



Poppy Personalities

 

 

 

Prepared

 

 

 

 

 

 

Empowered

Refreshed



 

 

 

 



 

 

Expressed 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Location: Home Garden

 

(Click on photos to enlarge)

 

 

 

 

 

 



"...like the dewfall"

Painting a poem;
searching the silence
for words
worthy of what the soul feels.

Gathering the grace;
accepting the gifts,
recognized and
fanned into flame.

Praying the prayer;
seeking the Spirit's
inspiration
within this humble heart.

Giving the glory;
trusting our God,
knowing his will,
we follow the path.

Finding the words;
during the stillness of dawn
on leaves of grass,
gathered like the dewfall.

© 2013 Richard Havenga

(Click on photos to enlarge)

Photo Locations:

1.  Gavin Lake,  Kent County,  Michigan
2.  Blue Springs Reservoir,  Utah  (Utah) 
3.  Grand Mesa National Forest, Colorado  (Colorado)
4.  Home Woods
5.  Home Woods
6.  Gavin Lake,  Kent County,  Michigan  (Michigan)

The Watcher

This June afternoon
timothy and brome grass,
closely bunched together,
wave in the wind with
silver-green undulations.

To be browsed upon by deer
when dusk secretly returns.

Then mowed for hay
when the sun can promise
three good drying days.

But now, wind passes invisibly
through the wide summer sky,
pulling at scarves of clouds.

But here, in this hayfield,
the grasses wave at the watcher,

as the wind rushes through
unseen.








(Click on photos to enlarge)

Photo Locations:  Parnell,  (Parnell)  Lowell,  (Lowell)  Kent County,  Michigan (Michigan)

Pollination Ballet

stamens: tiny dancers in the wind,

sticky stigmas: ready to receive

the promise of pollen to come

within this circle theatre:

 the pollination ballet.

Sea Fig -  Carpobrotus chilensis  (non-native)

(Click on photo to enlarge)

Photo Location:  Pescadero State Beach,  (Pescadero)  (California)


Dedicated to:

Jamie Brege - Ballerina extraordinaire