Category: Blessings

Expecting Spring

I am getting old. I have seen many Springs, but these days I often wonder how many more I will see before I pass from this life and dissolve into the great mystery. I push these thoughts away before I move into despair and fear. I am determined to concentrate on the joy to be found every day…especially the abundant little joys found in the Spring. Some of these little joys are the early flowers. Specifically, I am talking about the little anemone flowers that bloom before most other flowers. I have looked in my front yard and in the nearby greenbelt, but no luck so far.

Here is what I am searching for:

They can be white, pink, purple, or blue. The flower heads are on a tall, slender stalk up to a foot high. Anemones are perennials and are in the family Ranunculaceae (Buttercup). They occur in prairies and woodlands from January through April.

               Flower Fly On Anemone

We have at least 4 species in Texas and I don’t know if the ones I have seen in past years are the Carolina Anemone (Anemone caroliniana) or the Ten-Petal Anemone (Anemone berlandieri).

Fun Facts:

  • What look like the petals are actually sepals…don’t ask…I need to learn more.
  • The “petals” close up at night or during low light days.
  • Although Indigenous peoples used parts of the plant as medicine in healing wounds and others made a tea from it, the plant is considered toxic (neurotoxin).
  • The word anemone is from a Greek word meaning wind. Some say the spring breezes cause the flowers to open. Others noticed them swaying in the wind.
  • There are about 150 species of related anemones in the world in both the southern and northern hemispheres.
  • Folklore associated with the plants range from those who say anemones are the “lilies of the field” in the New Testament to them representing blood in Greek mythology. In China there is an anemone that is associated with death. My favorite story is that when it rains, fairies sleep in the closed up petals.

I will keep looking every day and when I see my first anemone, I will smile and welcome another Spring.

Sources-

Wildflowers of Texas by Geyata Ajilvsgi

Legends of Texas Wildflowers by Elizabeth Silverthorne

Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country by Marshall Enquist

Heralds of Spring in Texas by Roland H. Wauer

Wildflower.org

Photos by B. McCreary

Surviving An Eclipse

I remember my mother’s matter of fact voice as she quoted Robert Burns to me:

“The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men

Gang aft agley,

An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,

For promis’d joy!”

My usual words to myself are “When Life hands you lemons, make lemonade.” But, these words usually come to me later, after my initial anger at the thwarting of my well laid plans. I am still learning how to muddle my way through disappointment. Recently, my significant other and I embarked on a long anticipated vacation. Well, Life events eclipsed my plans…or in this case it was Death (more about that later). I thought I would share some things I learned during the recent thwarting.

When the normal 20 minute drive to the airport takes more than 3 hours through unusual routes and gridlocked traffic:

  • Enjoy learning how to take the toll road the long, long, way around town to the airport. And be glad that you are driving and that your cell phone savvy spouse is navigating.
  • Be happy you are not alone. You have someone to talk to in your car. You have a radio to tell you that you are in a traffic jam and what caused the jam. Everyone else on the road is with you, a bonding experience with your sister and fellow travelers.
  • Be grateful for drivers that let you merge when your lane ends. Don’t curse too much at the ones cutting you off. And pat yourself on the back for pushing your way in front of other cars when needed, and for letting others move in front of you. No one is getting anywhere fast anyway.
  • Enjoy learning about the neighborhoods that you usually speed past without seeing. There are taquerias, tire repair shops, and convenience stores with bathrooms for a needed pee break during this long commute. And again, be thankful for the car that lets you back onto the road after the pee break.
  • Take advantage of the slow, slog to bird watch as you move only 6 feet every 2 minutes past an undeveloped field. There is time to dig out the binoculars and watch hawks hunting, little sparrows foraging in the grass, and a shrike at the top of a tree. You can focus on Nature and calm your “I am going to miss my flight!” agitation. Pretend you are one of the Monarch butterflies fluttering over the freeway towards the airport.
  • Admire the gumption of the young travelers wheeling their suitcases the last mile and a half to the terminal after ditching their ride shares.

When you finally get to your car park and are on the shuttle to the terminal:

  • Enjoy competing with the other riders in one-upping each other in how long the commute took.
  • Enjoy your shuttle driver telling you that this hours long road shutdown is not as bad as the 8 hour road shutdown that happened a few months ago.

Once you get to the airport terminal:

  • Once again, enjoy bonding with the thousands of other people who missed their flights and with whom you will be in line with for at least the next hour.
  • Be proud you asserted yourself when a woman with an angry face cuts in line in front of you. She will back off and yell at you, “Well, move it then!” She will not apologize. A sister passenger in line supports you in your assertiveness and points out that the angry face attempted line cutter is wearing an airline uniform. “They are supposed to be courteous!” she says in a British accent. Be thankful you didn’t miss an international flight like the sister passenger did. Don’t report the angry face lady to the airline she represents. After all, she missed her flight too. You have that bond.
  • Enjoy people watching. There are people from all walks of life and nationalities and most of them are being civil to each other. Smile at the antics of the bored little kids in line and be glad that you are not trying to get out of town with a family of 6.
  • When you get a flight that leaves 7 hours later and will get you to your destination after midnight, enjoy more people watching and maybe a really good sandwich (airport prices be damned!). And be thankful that you and your traveling companion find a place to sit down. At your age, sitting on the floor like the younger travelers might be an option, but getting up off the floor will be much harder.
  • Accept that not all plans work out. Let go of trying to continue on despite your exhaustion.
  • Be thankful that it is just your trip that has been snuffed out and not your life. The roads had been closed and traffic rerouted because a person on a motorcycle died in a collision that morning, before sunrise.

(Eclipse photo was a screen shot from an online live stream of the October 14, 2023 solar eclipse over Albuquerque, New Mexico from NASA)

(Poem excerpt from To a Mouse by Robert Burns; from wwwlpoetryfoundation.org)

Summer Visitors

It is no news to any of you that this has been a really hot summer so far. Here in my Austin suburb our thermometer reads 100.6. I know it is even hotter in town. Any outdoor activities are pretty limited to evening and morning. No walking in the nearby greenbelt. I can’t even sit in the shade on my porch in the afternoon. We make sure we put out water for our little feathered friends and others. I am sharing a few photos of some visitors to our backyard. They are making my summer enjoyable.

The Cute

Squirrel Dining On Sunflower Head (June)

The Curious

Gnatcatcher Staring Me Down (July)

The Tiny

Hummingbird Resting In Bur Oak (July)

The Fierce

Hawk Resting And Scouting In Bur Oak (July)

The Show-Off

Anole Showing His “Money” (July)

*All photos taken by B. McCreary

Thank Yous, Regrets, Ramblings

I spent the week before Christmas crying over the death of our dog Millie. She was sixteen and had a number of health problems. I knew she would pass at some point, but it still hit me hard. When I feel great loss and / or depression is when I work on my gratitude. Oh, I still grieve …and I am tearing up as I write this, but I am counting my blessings at the same time.

Millie, thank you for letting me be part of your life. Thank you looking for me in the house when you awoke from your naps. Thank you for going on walks with us and letting us see you enjoy life. As a youngster running loop de loop patterns in the backyard. Rolling in the grass. I am left with many memories of your happiness.

There were other deaths. Another old dog passed a few months before. He was our little proud man Dash who enjoyed barking at the t.v. (usually at animals or cops on Live P.D., but once at Lady Gaga).

My cousin Steve lost his long struggle with cancer in October. I am sorry we both let years pass without contact. I am grateful for your later attempts to keep us 15 first cousins in touch with each other.

My gratitude to loved ones near and far….A goal for 2023 is to let people in my life know how much they mean to me.

I am thankful for the flamboyant…

Poinsettias at Target

And The Subtle…

Native Green Poinsettia In My Backyard

I am thankful for a cat in my lap while I watch t.v.

Thank you to the cold…

A cold weather snap in Central Texas forced our family gift exchange into a more traditional holiday home visit instead of the usual covid protocol parking lot gift exchange of the past few years. Masks were worn and we had the best visit in a long time.

And the cold weather kept another family member from bringing our presents until after Christmas, giving us a wonderful post holiday visit.

Thank you to the mighty

And the meek

Green Anole in Backyard

Thank you to books and of course, authors

Thank you to my writing group members for the laughter and love and for sharing your expressive gifts

Thank you to my sister and fellow bloggers out there. I love the support you give me and I love that you are sharing creative selves and your interesting lives.

Thank you to C. R. X. for your independent spirit and your smiles.

Thank you to D. Mc. for putting up with me and loving me despite my eccentricities.

Thank you A. B. for being my long haul and long distance friend.

Thank you to a.m. radio for playing the oldies with good beats and with lyrics I can sing along to…”I love rock and roll…put another dime in the juke box baby!”

I am thankful to the longer days and the songs of birds.

Estoy tan agradecida!

(I am so grateful! from my Spanish phrase a day calendar for Dec. 29th)

(All photos taken by the author in December of 2022)

Autumn Gold

To paraphrase Carson McCullers from her novel “Reflections In A Golden Eye”: There is a backyard in the South where a few days ago a murder was committed…

Yes, a week ago today, Tuesday September 20th, a crime was committed. I murdered some beautiful little creatures. It was negligent homicide. Our little backyard pond needed some water added, so I set the hose running and meant to check on the water level after a few minutes. It was a nice, evening and three of us in conversation on the back porch was a distraction. At some point I realized that I had not monitored the water level. It was overflowing into the yard! I pulled the hose out. I did not see any goldfish flopping around in the grass, so I figured all was okay. The next morning (Wednesday) I fished out seven pretty, little, golden corpses, which I netted and dumped into the compost bin. Yuck! Not because of the decaying bodies, but because of my guilt. I had poisoned them. I started to think that maybe we should just get rid of the pond.

This little pond has attracted so many interesting creatures: frogs, toads, dragonflies, wasps, snakes, opossums, raccoons, and an occasional bird. Colorful waterlilies add beauty and the sound of the trickling, pump fueled, waterfall is relaxing. And I enjoyed seeing the goldfish moving about in the water. But, I was not a good caretaker of this little oasis and these critters would have to find somewhere else to hang out.

One more corpse floated up on Thursday morning, the first day of Fall. I pulled some water plants out and tossed them in the garden. I wanted to see if any goldfish had survived. But, I didn’t see any. Maybe they were hiding after seeing their family members die. No more little bodies showed up Friday, and I began to let go of my self-criticism. I am human. Humans make mistakes.

Saturday morning I brought my notebook and pen out to the back porch and attempted to write a poem about the falling leaves in the yard behind ours. I wrote:

As each leaf descends

And says goodbye

Sun reflects gold

A little while later, my husband and I were enjoying our morning coffee. My binoculars and camera were nearby. I like to take pictures of lizards and whatever else catches my attention. The binoculars are for checking the trees and sky for birds. This was the peak of migration and I was hoping to spot something different than our resident birds.

And then they came!

Yellow Warbler

Warblers! Lots of them and more than one species. They came to bathe in our pond! Golden treasures from above.

Immature Yellow Warblers?

Golden Cheeked Warbler

Wilson’s Warbler

Mixed Group (taken through window)

This lovely parade of migrants lasted about 20 minutes, when our dog Millie wandered out and scared them off. I feel so blessed to have witnessed these visiting birds reveling in the same water that I had been contemplating getting rid of just a few days earlier. I guess the Universe has forgiven me. Or at least I have forgiven me. I will be a better caretaker of this small environment. I promise.

(please let me know if my warbler i.d.s are not correct)

(all photos taken by B. McCreary)