Ten Little Celebrations – July 2017

A lot has happened this July…and it was easy to pick 10 little celebrations to highlight:

A successful first road trip. I finally got a road trip in my Prius Prime. I didn’t celebrate the blow out that happened on the original start to the trip (I did celebrate that the blow out did not cause an accident) but the trip that re-started the day after was so enjoyable that thoughts about by car turned positive again.

A morning walk at Mt. Pleasant Farm. I’ll get around to posting about this walk because it was so enjoyable: temperature perfect for hiking, a flock of gold finches bathing in a riffle of the Davis Branch, dragonflies everywhere, Monarch butterflies in the meadow, a ground hog ambling out of the path ahead of me, a riot of vegetation – including ripening blackberries. It was very much a celebration of summer.

Great Blue Heron interaction with a dragonfly. Sometimes being in the right place to witness the interaction of two very different organisms is a celebration. I could photograph this one. It was a juvenile Great Blue Heron it is seemed perplexed about what to do when the dragonfly perched while the heron was looking for lunch. Eventually the heron moved…the dragonfly moved. This went on for a few minutes before the dragonfly got the idea to find another place to land.

Summer camp photographers at Mt. Pleasant. I celebrated another group of 5-12 year old photographers that took excellent pictures. I have a post planned for early next week about the adventure from my perspective. One of the counselors commented that the campers seemed so engaged with the activity. There is something about having a camera in hand that is almost magic.

Milkweed bug instars. This time of year, I am always thrilled to find a plant with a lot of instars of milkweed bugs. It almost always happens in July. They start out very tiny and almost all red and go through several stages getting larger and larger and ending up as adults that are orange and black…and with wings!

Our street. I am celebrating that the street repaving in front of our house is complete…and it wasn’t too traumatic while the work was going on.

Melons. We are getting melons from our CSA – always worth celebrating so rare we have gotten sun jewel melons, cantaloupe and yellow watermelon. Hopefully we’ll get some red watermelons in August.

Then there were celebrations associated with volunteering a Brookside Gardens’ Wings of Fancy exhibit:

Butterfly laying an egg on my ring. OK – I’ll admit it was a very confused butterfly. But it was magical to have a butterfly become a part of my ring temporarily! I transferred the egg to the host plant afterward.

A 90-year-old birthday girl in Wings of Fancy. The lady was in a wheel chair but thoroughly enjoyed her family’s outing to the exhibit. Everyone that was in the conservatory celebrated with her!

Hummingbird moth at Brookside. I had been seeing the hummingbird moth on the walkway up to the ticket taker for the exhibit…and finally managed to get a picture. Celebration!

Ten Little Celebrations – June 2017

As I look back over the month, I realize that there was a lot to celebrate.

Home. At the beginning of the month I had just returned home from helping my daughter move from Arizona to Pennsylvania. As usual – returning home was celebrated. I like to travel but coming home again always feels wonderful.

3 box turtles. I didn’t do a lot of hiking in June but was thrilled that it seemed like there were a lot of box turtles around…and I celebrated seeing so many. There were two along the path between Mt. Pleasant and the Patapsco River and the third was in the cemetery at Belmont.

Receiving the Carol Filipczak Award from Howard County Conservancy. Celebrating recognition for volunteering that is love.

Daughter on the east coast. Having my daughter living in the same time zone (rather than in Arizona) is something I am celebrating this month.

Kenilworth Gardens. Lotus, waterlilies, dragonflies, turtles, birds, magnolias…so much to celebrate.

Milkweed flowers. I had so many milkweeds come up in my front flowerbed that I had to cut some of them down….but I cut the globes of flowers first and enjoyed them in a stir fry (after boiling them twice to remove the toxins). Celebrating the taste of wild food!

Peach preserves. Not sure why – but I couldn’t resist it in the grocery store and I am celebrating the decision. I’ve spread it on toast and whisked it into a homemade salad dressing. Yum!

Volunteering at Wings of Fancy. Having butterflies flying around while I’m volunteering at Brookside Gardens…a constant celebration. So beautiful.

CSA. I’m celebrating the fresh veggies from the Gorman Farm Community Supported Agriculture. It’s easy to eat enough veggies when they taste so good!

Photography with summer campers. I am already celebrating the photography with summer campers that I’m doing for the 3^rd time this summer. I’m in the prep stages but am anticipating the flurry of having 15 or so campers (at one time…a total of 5 groups eventually) all enthusiastic about photographing the natural world around them is going to be one of the highlights of the summer.

Ten Little Celebrations – May 2017

May was a busier month than April and the change from cold to warm weather still provides a lot of variety…plenty to celebrate.

“Focus on Butterflies” session at Brookside Gardens. Our experience with a photography specific time in the Brookside conservatory with butterflies was very enjoyable. I’m still celebrating the images I managed to capture.

Conowingo. Every time we go it is a celebration that Bald Eagles have recovered from their near extinction from pesticides. We see so many at Conowingo --- along with Great Blue Herons and cormorants.

Hiking with second graders. I thoroughly enjoy the ‘Science of Soil’ hikes with second graders. It seems like every group is excited about the topic…and being outdoors in general!

Two pre-school Nature Tales field trips in one day. Even though it rained all day – both the morning and afternoon group of pre-schoolers enjoyed their field trip. My segment (which I repeated 5 times!) was about trees and butterflies. Their celebration of walking to the nature center in the rain with their boots and rain gear was contagious!

TSA Pre. Every time I see that my boarding pass has ‘TSA Pre’ results in a little celebration. It is such a relief to not have to pack so I can get my laptop and quart sized Ziploc out easily…or wear slip on shoes that can come off…and back on easily.

Family. This month I saw more of my mother’s side of the family than I have in a long time. They are getting older so every time I see them together, it’s cause for celebration.

A lull before a flurry of busy days. With all the travel going on in the last half of the month, I celebrated a day that was a calm beforehand.

Setting up the Monarch Nursery. I thought my strategy to bring Monarch Butterfly caterpillars inside so that I could gradually take the milkweed plants out of the front flowerbed was a good one – and I celebrated when I found most of what I needed in the basement. My first caterpillar seemed to be doing well…but I put him back outside on the milkweed when I left on my travels. I’ll start a nursery again when I am going to be around to give them fresh leaves every day or so.

Wood Ducks as the Neighborhood Pond. Our neighborhood looked so terrible after they cleaned it out….but the wood ducks came anyway. I celebrated their visit.

Skirts. I’ve gotten skirts out again and am celebrating how great they are to wear when the weather is warmer.

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 6, 2017

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Meditation: Which type is best for you? – So many choices…it doesn’t take long to choose and tailor one that fits your needs. I feel better when I have a meditation practice almost every day!

Sea-Level Rise Will Send Millions of Refugees to Inland Cities – A study authored by a demographer at University of Georgia about how the US will change as people move from areas that are increasingly flood prone over the next century. The state by state graphic shows Louisiana and Florida losing the most; Texas and Georgia gain the most. Maryland – where I live – gains a little.

Underdiagnoses of age-related macular degeneration, findings suggest – Evidently early stages of age-related macular degeneration is under diagnosed by both optometrists and ophthalmologists….something to talk to your provider at your next eye checkup if you are over 60.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #85 – Birds….always great eye candy. This set contains an American Oystercatcher near the bottom (a closer view than I captured near the Dupont Nature Center.

For Some, Pre-Hospice Care Can Be a Good Alternative to Hospitals – Palliative care at home…happier patients and saving money…win-win. Hope these types of programs become available nation wide.

The Essential I.M. Pei – The architect recently celebrated his 100^th birthday. This article from the Smithsonian includes pictures of his most iconic works.

Welcome to the Poison Garden: Medicine’s Medieval Roots – A description of the garden at Alnwick Castle that contains plants with poisonous properties.

Behold the James Webb Telescope in all its Unfurled Glory – It’s still under construction…but will succeed the Hubble Space Telescope (launch projected in 2018).

35 Years of American Death – An interactive US map with color coding to show mortality rates for different diseases from 1980 – 2014. The one for ‘mental and substance use disorders’ shows the impact of the opioid epidemic – more pronounced in some areas of the country than others.

3D printing of glass now possible – A new way to work with glass from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany).

Ten Little Celebrations – April 2017

It’s spring…and there is a lot to celebrate.

Second graders coming to Mt. Pleasant for the Science of Soil field trip. I’ve done two file trips for them so far and both have been a lot of fun – using the soil auger in several places while we hike, talking about rocks looking at the old rock wall dividing the fields, seeing how the stream restoration work done during the winter is greening up and full of puddles after a rain.

Azaleas. There are some in our neighborhood but making the trek to the Brighton Dam Azalea Garden is the day we celebrate the profusion of blooms and colors.

Pre-schoolers on a Nature Tales field trip. I’ve done three of the pre-school field trips at Belmont in April: two that were rainy days and one that we made it to the forest. I’m learning how to keep the younger children listening and participating for the whole 20-30 minutes I have them. There are so many little celebrations in every session because the children are so enthralled with the new things they are seeing and doing….I can’t help be celebrate with them.

Delmarva birding. My husband and I spend a day at the Delmarva Birding Weekend late last week. It was our first time to attend and we enjoyed it. I celebrated that there were so many birds to see (and photograph) not that far from where we live. I’ll be posting more about our experience in the coming days.

Faromir. One of our cats died in April. We celebrated his life…and that he was will us for 13.5 years. He was my husband’s little buddy.

Favorite lipstick available again. I’ve always liked Cover Girl Bronze Glow lipstick and was very disappointed when I couldn’t find it anywhere…but now it is back. I celebrated that Cover Girl has started making it again.

Fitting into smaller jeans. I discovered that I can fit into some jeans that I thought were too small. That’s always something I’ll celebrate. I also celebrated that I hadn’t put them in the giveaway pile last fall.

New blade for old paper cutter. I was thrilled to find a new blade for my 20-year-old rotary paper cutter. When I couldn’t find the replacements in a local store and the new cutters did not look at all like mine, I thought I was going to have to buy a new one….but Amazon had the size I needed.

Roman Art and Archaeology course from University of Arizona. I’m not taking as many course from Coursera as I’ve gotten busy with other things…the few I’ve taken recently have been fabulous. I celebrate the availability of the course as the perfect time (the lull before the ramp up of spring field trips) and the well done videos and other references.

Boxes of old documents shredded. We’ve cleaned out some old boxes full of paper (spring cleaning!) and took 2 to be shredded at a local shredding event. I celebrated getting all that old paper with account numbers and social security numbers securely recycled.

Ten Little Celebrations – March 2017

March was a more hectic month than usual….but full of lots of little celebrations!

Potluck lunch. There was the potluck lunch for volunteer naturalists at the Howard County Conservancy – celebrating our time together for training…getting ready for the field trips that will start in the next few weeks and continue until June. The food is always luscious.

Snow. We haven’t had much snow this year…the first one of more than an inch was this month – much later than usual. I celebrated the beauty of it all and that I didn’t have to get out in it until the streets were all cleared by plows and salt application.

Ancient Egypt course. I celebrated the last modules of the Coursera course --- and am savoring the book written by the teacher.

There were three celebrations involving travel in March:

Old friends. I celebrated visiting with people that have known me my whole life…savoring the time with them. I also celebrated renewing friendship with someone I had not seen in 40 years!

Phipps Conservatory. I like conservatories…and this one in Pittsburgh was one to celebrate.

National Aviary. The walk around the National Aviary in Pittsburgh was a hours long celebration of the diversity of bird life --- and becoming very aware of the fragility of that diversity around the world.

And then there were outdoor activities and photography to celebrate:

Brookside Garden skunk cabbage. It finally was up even though the plants looked like they were trying to hide again under the bald cypress needles from last fall.

Rockburn Branch macroinvertebrates. Yes – is was part of training…but I always celebrate that we find the creatures so easily.

Pileated Woodpecker. We had one the visited our yard – scouting apparently. The birds was on the sycamore at first, then on a neighbors deck, then the trunk of a pine tree, and the roof of our covered deck…finally into the maple tree. I had lots of opportunities for pictures.

Khepri (morning) light. I liked the Ancient Egypt class so much – I am calling the excellent light for photography that happens as the sun comes out after the Ancient Egyptian god for sunrise and rebirth…celebrating that time of day!

Ten Little Celebrations – February 2017

Usually February has been a low-key month with weather dampening activity. This year – the weather has been mild – and my celebrations have been more active than usual for February.

I celebrated outings to 1) Conowingo (for Bald Eagles), 2) Brookside (for witch hazel and snow drops), 3) Mt. Pleasant (skunk cabbage), and

4) State College (to see my daughter and son-in-law.

There were also learning experiences to celebrate: 5) the TED dialog with Yuval Harari (I enjoyed his “A Brief History of Humankind” via Coursera back August 2013) and 6) The Changing Global Order course on Coursera (from Universiteit Leiden).

There were new (big) purchases to celebrate: 7) a Samsung Galaxy S7 and

8) a new Honda CR-V for my husband (I am celebrated more room for me in the front passenger seat than in his previous car…and I am still celebrating my Prius Prime every time I drive it).

Two things for myself that I celebrated this month: 9) a short haircut that maximizes the little bit of natural curl my hair has and 10) lots of lots of Zentangle tiles (new pens and more time than usual to create tiles).

I had a lot of celebrate in February 2017!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I bought flowers a few days ago….an early start to our Valentine’s Day. My husband and I will use the flowers for some photography experiments. I’m posting my first round of pictures as a virtual bouquet on a day that celebrates relationship. Enjoy a little beauty of flowers and be in the mood to savor the best of the people you love!

Little Luxuries in Winter

What are the little luxuries of your winter day?

Here are some little luxuries I am enjoying this winter:

The first thing I thought of was – getting into a pre-warmed bed at the end of the day. We bought a heated mattress pad a few years ago and I have enjoyed it most for what it does before I get into bed. I turn it on before I brush my teeth; the bed is toasty by the time I climb in and I turn the heat off (or way down).

There are little luxuries that are foods too: dark chocolate for breakfast, lemon curd or ginger preserves on toast for morning snack, beet noodles for salads or stir fries, a juicy orange for afternoon snack. I’ve learned to create a second round of luxury from the orange peel by chopping it up in my mini-food processor and letting it dry….having all the orange zest I want for soups and stir fries and salad dressings.

Hand and foot warmers. When I know I’m going to be out in the cold, I’ve come to appreciate the foot warmers on the bottom of my feet in my hiking boots and the hand warmers inside my gloves. They make photographing birds on winter mornings a lot more comfortable!

Seeing the sunrise is a luxurious way to begin the day – made easier by the long night/short days. Maybe I am channeling birds to think of this as a luxury; they always seem to be at their most vocal just before the sun comes up.

Ten Little Celebrations – January 2017

January started out with a burst of travel – driving cross country between Maryland and Arizona with a stop for a week in the Dallas area. There were associated ‘little celebrations.’

Leaf earrings from a local artist in McKinney TX – I celebrated finding earrings I like a lot…and if they are created by a local artist that makes it even better. I find it very easy to remember where I purchase earrings so they are great mementos for my travels.

A day on my own – Usually when I travel, my time is full of interacting with other people and I end up exhausted after it continues for too many days. On this 9-day trip, I had one day that was almost all ‘me time’ and I celebrated the lull!

Getting to the hotel in the snow – One day I was out and about in Dallas when it started snowing. I thought it wouldn’t stick but it started before I could head back to the hotel. Dallas does not use salt and there had not been any time for sand to be out either. I was driving an unfamiliar car too. I white knuckled the drive (overpasses particularly) but made it back to the hotel without incident…and celebrated.

Then there were ‘home’ related celebrations:

Home again – I enjoy traveling but coming home again is always a little celebration.

A good night of sleep – I came home from my travels with a cold so the first night that I sleep well was cause for celebration.

A sunny day – January in Maryland has been full of gray skies and drizzle (no snow) so I celebrated one on of the few sunny days.

A new car – Maybe this is a big celebration rather than a little one. I only buy a new car about every 10 years or so…and I’m still savoring the lingering celebration of acquiring the Prius Prime.

There are instances of little celebrations in my favorite activities as well:

Anatomy of the Abdomen and Pelvis Course – This might be the most challenging courses I’ve taken on Coursera – but tremendously interesting. I am celebrating every module. Kudos to the Leiden University Medical School for producing it.

A hike and finding skunk cabbages – I enjoyed a winter hike and was celebrating being outdoors when I found skunk cabbages already up in the winter muck…and that made for a bigger celebration.

Red-tailed hawks – It seems like I am seeing red tailed hawks a lot more frequently this winter….or maybe I am just becoming a better observer. My daughter and I saw them on our cross-country road trip, there is at least one that is frequently the woods behind out house and I saw one at Centennial Park when I was there last week. I celebrate that the birds are thriving and that I am seeing them!

2017 Begins

I always like to get up early to see the sunrise on the first day of the year. This year will be no exception but I will see it somewhere along the road between Dickson, Tennessee and Dallas, Texas. I’m writing this post a few days ahead of time and scheduling it to come out on the 1^st - including a sunrise from a few days ago. Being on the road at the first of the year is as different as our trip to Conowingo was on Christmas morning.

When my daughter was young, we had a tradition of going down to the Smithsonian on the 1^st of the year. All the museums along the Mall in Washington DC were open. It wasn’t very crowded. I remember when my daughter was only 4 months old and I tried to get her to notice the elephant in the rotunda of the Natural History Museum! She doesn’t have a conscious memory of the experience, of course…but I’ve always wondered if she has a subconscious impression. When she was in elementary school, she spent a long time in the section of the Natural History Museum that displayed skeletons. She liked the Air and Space Museum but spent more time in the Natural History Museum.

So – something beautiful to start this New Year.