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Under our skylight Tree shadows lace pale-white light As the moon peeks in© 2012 Thomas W. Cummins
Archive for the ‘Nature’ Category
Midnight Encounter
May 3, 2012Floating Lanterns Under The Hedge
May 2, 2012
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Fire flies await
A warm, quiet, romantic
Missouri evening
© 2012 Thomas W. Cummins
A Tiny Chapel
April 25, 2012
Under yellow leaves
Stained glass-like golden light
A tiny chapel
© 2012 Thomas W. Cummins
A Hike at a Bluff’s Edge
April 24, 2012
An apparent pause
Pulls the trail to the bluff’s edge
Ancient, carved limestone
Overlooking the river winding far below
Loose gravel invites a peek
Beauty fills with fleeting terror
In my throat
A metallic tingle holds me still
Behind and away the path descends
Through deep forest ravines
A lone woodpecker’s distant tap
Reveals a welcoming and comforting silence
© 2012 Thomas W. Cummins
Watching Northern Flickers at the bird feeder
January 7, 2012Watching Northern Flickers at the bird feeder leads me to only one conclusion, they arrive at the request of the squirrels. Lying down, and taking up an entire side of the feeder, one will swing its bill from side to side flinging seeds every which way. Soon the ground is littered with fresh seed, and the already-fat squirrels just sit there and nibble away.
This spring-like weather, here and across the northern plains, is unreal. Am I to mow the lawn in January? The tufts of grass here and there suggest so. Don’t say I didn’t warn of this with my snow blower purchase last fall.
If it does snow, it will be unexpected as one time years ago when I returned late at night from a business trip. Heavy snow had buried the airport parking lot and all the cars in it. Consequently, all the aisles needed to be plowed placing a mound of snow behind, or in front of, every car still in the lot. Next, there was a freezing rain followed by plummeting temperatures. So waiting for me was a 90 Honda with a concrete-like windrow of icy snow across its rear-end.
When I arrived back in St. Louis and back to my car, I thought I would never penetrate the slick drop-forged armor of frozen water encasing the doors and windows in order to get into the car. I did, finally. Then I thought I’d never get over the mound behind the car. Shoveling with an ice scraper does take time. I was able to drive part way out before the bottom of the car got hung up. Fortunately the front wheels were still on the ground – dry pavement being in the snow’s shadow – and I could move forward. More shoveling. It was very late when I arrived to the warmth of our home.
In the meantime, let’s enjoy what we can of this weather and prepare for whatever may be next.
An asymmetrical arrangement of colors
October 13, 2011We first saw it sitting on the deck railing. The pattern on its back was as though made of hand-set coarse grains of sand … simply beautiful. Being an asymmetrical arrangement of colors … more tones than colors … was what caught my eye immediately. It is a grey tree frog.
The frog posed for several pictures before I moved it to a safer place on the rail and away from the steps. By the next morning, the frog was gone. It was mid-August.
When we returned to the lake in late September, the frog was sitting on the wood plank approach to the deck steps. Half of its body was obscured by a fern frond. Not a good idea from a survival standpoint. I guess it figured being the same color as the wood and under a leaf provided a margin of safety. But it also rendered it nearly invisible and easily stepped on.
So, I put it on the same rail of the deck which it seemed to enjoy in August. That night it hadn’t moved, and its eyes were wide open and very watchful. I gently placed it under the deck where it would be out of the way.
A couple of days later it was on a stepping stone in the yard, blending in perfectly. Its presence slipped my mind. Later in the day, blood was observed all over the side of its face, but it didn’t appear it had been stepped on. I picked it up, and it was very lively. It sprang from my hand when I got him to the edge of the woods.
The weather was getting pretty cold by the time we left, and will reach into the minus 20s during the winter. Non-aquatic frogs, according to Bernd Heinrich in Winter World, often burrow down several feet to stay below the frost line. Some can also withstand being frozen to as low as -8 C and will merely get under leaves or snow to survive the winter. In any event, this particular frog was making it through the winter long before I ever saw it. Maybe it will return next year and resume its perilous visits to our yard.
In a dim light... 
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