Rooms Without Walls in the City

A healthy society needs lots of green space for its people. Green space to rest the eyes, green space to rest the weary body, green space to rest the tired ears, and green to rest the soul. Most cities accept and promote this sanctuary for its citizens. Below are two photo-paintings I created of the area outside the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Nederlands.  Perhaps inspired a bit by the art inside?

After all, if the leaders did not see the importance of letting in the natural world where could people fall in love?

Respite

My life has been a nasty roller coaster this past week. I have been able to keep the worry away until bedtime because I have a beautiful 6-year-old visiting for the week that is a pleasant distraction. The bike ride to and the picnic at a distant state park have given me the respite I badly needed yesterday. Hoping you and yours find ways to ease the week ahead.

The air was cool and so fresh. Almost like an early visit from fall.  The breeze off the ocean kept away any insects but was not so strong that it was annoying for our picnic near the beach.  

The park was almost ours as only one family with children were at the dozens of picnic tables and one other couple our age were exploring the nature center and the historic sites.  Grandson had plenty of room to learn to ride his new bike both on the paved roads and the grassy areas.

A Steady Pace

The air is just a bit flat this week, meaning the moisture is down. The shadows are sharper and the sun is not so hot.  A tidbit of fall?  A sneak peek.  Having the 6-year-old means we can spend more time on his new bike and not sweat so much.  I took a walk around the yard, and these are the harbingers of fall at my feet.

My cosmos are in full and abundant bloom, but the early blossoms now look like this.

I realize that no matter what events happen in my life, the world marches on at its steady pace and does not worry that I have fallen behind.

Using It All Up

My garden is tired, just like me at the end of the summer. We have had weekly torrential downpours allowing me to feel less guilty about my neglect.  Amazingly, the tiny hummingbird finds the small yellow blossoms on the zinnia and is able to make a small meal.

His balance and focus are superb and he does not miss one blossom.

And as if to remind me not to pull up the plants another animal comes by and uses up what is left.

I will just let them tidy everything up for a few more weeks.

They Return Each Day

This is the full-table time of year when an abundance of fruit and seeds is available for all.

And below the whole family showed up this time, but were spooked by the click of my camera and thus this one shot was all I get off.

Twins

There are always surprises when you live in the woods, and ever evolving ecosystem.  This means that these woods are hardly as natural as they were generations ago. This was unnatural farmland, perhaps owned by a black family, about 80 years ago and has now grown back to woodland complete with invasives and paved roads. My husband even found a broken hand plow from Germany in the woods.  

A change but not uncommon finding was the bottom jaw with tiny teeth of a fawn near our path to the dock.  We had seen buzzards flapping awkwardly onto tree branches in that area, but thought nothing of it as we were packing for a trip. By the time we returned there were just a few bones left beside the jawbones and these were being eaten by beetles. We had not seen any fawns this year and while we have an ongoing battle with the deer eating landscape plants at the driveway entrance, we were also sad not to see the dappled backs of the new young ones with their soft brown inquisitive eyes. Yesterday, while I was making quiche for dinner, I looked out the kitchen window as I often do and saw this young one.

While I went to get my camera and quietly opened the door to the deck, I saw this second one!

Yes, he/she is sticking their tongue out at me. They watched me for a few seconds.  No adult could be seen to snuffle or stamp or flash a tail and warn them, so they just stood.  After a short time, the slightly smaller one of the two turned and decided it was time to retreat back into the safety of the shadows of the trees and was soon followed by the other.

I was glad for the break in cooking and relieved to know that two young ones, who may be on their own, seem to be stable for now.

The Pause That Refreshes

We had a break today. The heat and humidity disappeared and was replaced by high 70-degree weather and no humidity. It meant I could go outside to weed in the morning for an hour or so and not have to wear a towel around my neck. The rains yesterday made the ground soft for pulling up the invasive crab grass and that newcomer, the Japanese stilt grass! When I was done I went inside for my second cup of coffee. While sipping on it and looking out the patio window I saw this...

That crazy ten-foot sunflower plant in the pot on my deck had attracted two hummingbirds. Both were territorial and fought for space making it twice as hard to capture them.  But, as you can see, my sunflower is blooming very well!

While I have not seen the goldfinch, I expect them any day as the first blossom in the photo above is drying and producing seed.

I could see the little hummers flitting through the trees as I sat on the patio waiting for them to return.  They are such fierce fighters with each other.  One even flew up to my face within two feet as if trying to figure out my species.