Signs Of Spring

 Birds are passing through, the fox is pregnant, the eagles are nesting and the chickadees are singing the fee beee songs. Spring you say. Woodpeckers, I think the downy or maybe the hairy, are busy making their shrill calls and extremely interesting drumming sound. Today the pileated woodpecker was trying to out drum the hairy or downy woodpecker. Can't be done

The male pine grosbeak in my flowering crab apple tree. They are so beautiful. Their song, like google states, a sequence of very clear, flute like notes.

Yes, yet another picture of a chickadee

The willows, on the trail, are becoming a brighter yellow, and the dog weed, pictured here, are becoming a deeper red. 

   

Not sure if this is a female pine grosbeak 

Some times, just some times, while walking on the trail, you get something extra.  Some personal moment that won't be shared with anyone, even if they were standing next to you. Something extra happened to me yesterday and it involved the trumpeter swan. They flew right over my head, about 7 of them. It became a whoa moment for me.  I'm glad I found this one swan today.

I had to take this picture and the next for my heart skipped a beat when I saw what I thought were buds--do I dare be that hopeful?

The American Basswood buds.  I'll try and get a closer picture

Now, are these the winter version of the Forget Me Not? 

 I just love taking pictures of weeds, whether it be in the summer, spring, fall or winter.

Playing with the manual part of the camera. It scares me, so I guess I better practice. 


Yes, there is hope in the air. Do you feel it?

Winter:
There is a privacy about it which no other season gives you.... In spring, summer and fall people sort of have an open season on each other; only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself.  ~Ruth Stout

Nobody on the trail, I'm alone to think. I can pack a lot of thoughts into the 4 miles.  Some times I can figure "it all" out. Most of the time I leave myself with more questions. 

Today is the second day of the beautiful hoarfrost. I am a bit disappointed that I couldn't take my walk on the first day of the frost for it was very spiky and I would have loved to get some pictues   

It was falling off --so I'm glad I saw what I did

"I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in."  

There is something of the marvelous in all things of nature.  Aristotle

I think I take more pictures of this spot, on the trail, than any other. The European Larch along with the pines, make this my favorite place to be. 

"A snowflake is a winter's butterfly"

 the winter version of the wild cucumber vine

 If you read my last blog you might remember me saying that songs come to me when I'm walking. Today my song was "Build A Bigger House". This is a song that my friend recorded. You can google it but you must also add the name Pete Putnam.  This song is so beautiful. Their voices blend perfectly. Do yourself a favor, google it.


The following are a few pictures of the hoarfrost 

My friend Judy knows when I have been on the trail by my boot print. kinda stands out, wouldn't want to wear this boot if I'm trying to hide. 

"The white-breasted nuthatch is a droll, earnest little bird,

 rather sedate and unemotional. He is no great musician and seems to lack a sense of humor. He has none of the irrepressible fidgetiness of the house wren, none of the charming happiness of the song sparrow; he appears to take life on a matter-of-fact level. He is short-necked, broad-shouldered, sturdy, quick and sure in his motions, suggesting an athlete, and as we study him on his daily round, as he hops up and down over the bark, we see that he is an athlete with marked skill as an acrobat, like the tumbling kind, as much at home upside down as right side up.

It is a characteristic pose of the nuthatch, perhaps unique among birds, to stand head downward on the trunk of a tree with the neck extended backward, the bill pointing straight 

outward from the bark."

In the protection of the trail is where I find the peace and introspection of life

 He wants the sunflower seeds I left for the birds.


A few of my friends

I haven't been lucky enough to see the fox, but it looks like they have been busy

I usually do not see the eagle sitting in the tree near the bridge during the winter season. This winter they have been sticking around. 

The rabbit is back!!!!

The sun came out half way through my walk 

Peace

January 7, 2012

Oh what a beautiful day. About 15 minutes into my walk the clouds gave away to the sun. I was over dressed and had to roll my sleeves up. Take my scarf off that was around my neck and unzip my wind breaker. I had thick socks inside my boots so my feet were very warm. Right now, walking the trail is a lot of work and when you over dress it makes it more difficult.

The trail still has it's very challenging spots. Deep snow and slippery.  Walk carefully.

 Lake Bemidji was bustling with activity.  Trucks pulling ice houses, snowmobilers, people walking,  standing around their houses. In fact, Lake Bemidji was busier today than I have ever seen it. Busier than the summer months.  No wind today, so the sounds of the activity around me was very evident. Drilling ice, trucks going across the lake, snowmobiles, people talking, a train in the distance.  I didn't feel alone or isolated today.  Those feelings happen a lot to me during the winter months. But today was like a spring day ---on the lake--- in January.

 Many times during my walk a song will come to me.  Most of the time it will be a silly song. But today it was the Phantom of the Opera.  So over and over again I was singing, inside my mind 

"Night-time sharpens, heightens each sensation ... 

Darkness stirs and wakes imagination ... 

Silently the senses abandon thier defences ... 

Slowly, gently night unfurls its splendour ... 

Grasp it, sense it - tremulous and tender ... 

Turn your face away from the garish light of day, 

turn your thoughts away from cold, unfeeling light - 

and listen to the music of the night ... 

Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams! 

Purge your thoughts of the life you knew before! 

Close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar! 

And you'll live as you've never lived before ... 

Softly, deftly, music shall surround you ... 

Feel it, hear it, closing in around you ... 

Open up your mind, let your fantasies unwind, 

in this darkness which you know you cannot fight - 

the darkness of the music of the night. 

Let your mind start a journey through a strange, new world! 

Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before! 

Let your soul 

Take you where you long to be! 

Only then can you belong to me ... 

Floating, falling, sweet intoxication! 

Touch me, trust me, savour each sensation! 

Let the dream begin, 

let your darker side give in to the power of 

the music that I write - the power of the music of the night ... 

You alone can make my song take flight - 

help me make the music of the night ... "

I don't know all the lyrics to the song, so I sing it the best I can.

Every now and then, especially on a windy day(ask her), I know that my friend Judy is on the trail for I will hear her incredible voice.  She will be singing away which will bring warmth to my heart.  Thank you Judy

See the tree leaning against the bridge? The birch tree to your left.  
Beavers!
  Well, I think they got tired of trying, they have given up and now this tree will probably die.  WHAT A BUMMER

  The red breasted nuthatch will be able to tell if there is a seed inside the shell by the weight of the seed in it's beak  

Look deep, deep, deep into nature, and then you will understand everything.-- Albert Einstein

I run into this guy a lot on the bridge. He will dive in...

Find itself some food...

and eat.

My best advice for today, find some balance in your life
The heart of a human being is no different from the soul of heaven and earth. In your practice always keep in your thoughts the interaction of heaven and earth, water and fire, yin and yang.
Morihei Ueshiba

When I see the Yin Yang symbol I know that my friend has been on the trail

My little dedication to my mother who died Friday, December 23, 2011

My friend Judy's mother died this year also. She died unexpectedly. This is dedicated to her.  Penny, you have a beautiful daughter. She is one hell of a talented woman!!

Judy's snow art
Adopt the pace of nature:  her secret is patience.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

January 2, 2012

 Took a walk on the PB trail today.  The winds blew all this snow onto the trail and then the snowmobilers.  IT WAS A MESS!  

 But, the wind left a lot of nice snow drifts

 The beginning of the sunset, about 3pm

"Sunsets are so beautiful that they almost seem as if we were looking through the gates of Heaven."