Category: Friends

Reflections

A memory from my childhood: Two five year old girls on the sidewalk of a city in the southern United States. Both are wearing shorts and summer tops. One has short blonde hair and fair skin and is standing watching her friend trying to fix her bike chain. This little girl has a full head of curly red hair and is crouching down trying to position the chain on the gears. She tells the other girl to hold the foot pedal still while she adjusts the chain, and to not move the foot pedal. The little girl being told this went ahead and did it anyway. She pushed on the pedal and the little red haired girl screamed and jumped up with a mauled bloody fingernail. They rushed to the other girl’s nearby home where the momma doctored the injured finger.

This story is about myself and my very best friend, Vicki. Guess which one moved the pedal after being told not to? Yes, it was me. I have regretted that action ever since. I don’t know why I was being defiant. I was only 5. It did teach me a lesson about impulse and thinking things through. I think I probably apologized and that we remained friends…at least until we turned 6 and I moved to another state.

Vicki, I hope you forgive me and know that I learned a lesson.

Why am I writing about this now? Well, in the past month I have had the reccurring urge to go to Washington, D. C. and go to the reflecting pool and stick my finger in the water. Not that I could at the moment, because it has been drained for repair. But, after the recent renovations came apart (sabotage or not) I know that at least one person was charged with damaging it. I think the case is still pending. He pleaded innocent. People were being blamed for damaging the pool and I even saw a video of a female tourist sticking her hand in it and maybe taking a souvenir piece of the weird blue lining.

i never would have gone up there and stuck my finger in the pool. I can easily fantasize the consequences and I don’t want to go to jail for acting on a silly urge.

I did share my urge on Facebook after my cousin L. shared something about how someone should go there and taunt the ones in charge by standing by the pool with a finger near the water and saying “Look! I am not touching it!” in a teasing way. Seeing the sharing of my urge on Facebook, my Aunt J. called me and left a hard to hear message on my phone. All I could make out was “…putting your finger in the reflecting pool…”. So, I called Aunt J. back and we had a good catch up chat. She pointed out the fact that the reflecting pool did not need a blue liner…the whole idea of the blue color comes from the reflection of the sky in the water. Thank you Aunt J!

Here are 2 photos I took from the Lincoln Memorial of the Washington Monument and blue sky in the Reflecting Pool over ten years ago.

April Bathing

Have you ever bathed with family or a dear friend? I had the privilege of bathing with both recently. No, I am not talking about bathing in a tub or a shower. I am talking about Nature bathing, taking long, slow walks outside. Some call it forest bathing. I say it can also be called prairie bathing, riparian bathing, or desert bathing.

In early April I enjoyed such an outing at McKinney Falls State Park, which is on the outskirts of Austin. My husband and our daughter and I had a great time meandering along the creek looking at wildflowers (which are at their peak in early April here), bird watching, and even fish watching. Here are some photos:

Redbud Tree and Bluebonnets

Pink Evening Primrose (Oenothera speciosa)

Cypress Tree Trunk On Onion Creek

Cormorants Convening

Fish In Onion Creek (unknown species)

Towards the end of April a dear friend invited me to go bird watching with her in the same park. Some different plants were now blooming. We saw snowy egrets, great blue herons, and more cormorants flying up and down the creek. Other than birdwatching, we had no agenda. We just walked and enjoyed the fresh Spring air on our skin. The sounds of many different birds teased our ears, from the screeching of red tailed hawks to the sweet songs of cardinals. There was also the recurrent chirping of frogs. We stopped to admire and smell flowers. I enjoyed touching leaves to feel their texture. Here are a few photos from that walk:

White Clover (Trifolium repens)

False Gromwell (Onosmodium bejariense)

Prairie Larkspur (Delphinium carolinianum ssp. penardii)

Scarlet Leatherflower (Clematis texensis)

We did not talk about world affairs or gossip about people or our troubles. We talked about nature, that before us, and old encounters. And we met others enjoying the natural wonders of this park. There were the girls from a nature school laughing and having fun while processing yucca leaves into cordage. And a couple visiting from Israel led us to a view of a barred owl up in a cypress tree.

These times nature bathing with others both relaxed and renewed me. Get out there, somewhere green, and just be. Oh, and don’t forget friends and family. Invite someone outside to bathe with you.

Here is a link to more info on McKinney Falls State Park: https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/mckinney-falls

Plant information from A Field Guide to Wildflowers Trees and Shrubs of Texas (Texas Monthly Field Guide Series) and Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country by Marshall Enquist

Photos by B. McCreary (who is also responsible for any misidentification of plants)

Natural Associations

I have written about certain plants that reminded me of family members (purple spiderworts for my Mom and madrone trees for my Dad). Deciding to follow this line of thought, I made a list of family members and friends. Next to each name I wrote the name of a bird or birds that I most associated with them. For example: Daddy- vultures, ducks, pigeons. My Dad got a kick out of telling a story about a neighborhood boy who lay out on a driveway, motionless, trying to attract vultures. And, when my daughter was young, my dad would enjoy going to Zilker Park with us to feed the ducks and pigeons.

My Dad Feeding The Pigeons

Next to the name of a very dear friend I wrote crows, because of her many recent crow encounters. I also wrote cartoon birds because she draws whimsical birds.

Whimsical Birds Courtesy Of A. B.

My next list was mammals and quite a few people had dog or cat next to their names. Some were more specific, such as hunting dogs for my Grandfather Johnnie and chihuahuas for my Great Grandmother Tee.

Great Grandmother Tee with Palsry, Neva, and Big Shot (1934)

I started a new list, Reptiles and Amphibians. I have not completed that one yet. And I started a list of categories: plants, trees, flowers, insects, fish, rocks, fossils, geographic features, and constellations. I tend to enjoy associations with the natural world. But, the possibilities are endless. It might be fun to see what kind of music or books or cars or art you associate with friends and family. This could be a fun icebreaker at a get together. Or ask people what animal they associate with themselves. It may be very different from what others associate with them.

Have fun with this!