Category: Nature

Picture This

1/23/2021

With the Trump Virus running rampant across our country and with the Trump Death Toll still climbing out of control, my wife and I don't do much of what we used to do. We don't go to movie theaters, we don't dine out in restaurants, we don't read books in coffee shops, we don't travel, etc., etc., etc. No, Donald Trump has really destroyed what used to be the "normal" things of life. However, we do get outside a lot more now. We take many walks in and around our neighborhood, and we also hike a lot in nearby Shenandoah National Park. The other day we visited a natural area just a few miles away, and I took a few funny pictures -- see below. : )

At the left: I came across this tree stump, and it looked as thought there was a carving of the New York City skyline running across the top of it. (Click the image to enlarge.)

At the right: The base of this tree looked like a shadowy hag was staring at me.

At the left: I'm not sure about this one -- it seemed as though maybe a number of passers-by had tried to create cairns. I've heard that Hikers frequently add stones to existing cairns trying to get just one more on top of the pile to bring good luck. Alas, if that is the case, many of the rocks had toppled.

Into The Woods

12/1/2020

My wife and I took a walk in some nearby woods today. It was near a once abandoned textile mill that's now been renovated for office space, a restaurant and a coffee shop. The overhaul of the place included the addition of a footbridge across a creek adjacent to the old mill. We crossed the bridge and walked for a bit through the woods. We didn't make it too far, though, due to a great deal of mud as a result of a morning downpour.

We did see a Great Blue Heron who seemed engrossed in the thought of finding dinner -- until he took off in flight when he heard us approach. We also saw evidence of a homeless person's abandoned camp. Hopefully the person was able to find drier and warmer -- and safer -- accommodations,

Below on the right: Evidence of a homeless person's camping site.

By Emily Dickinson
(excerpt)

How lonesome the Wind must feel Nights –
When people have put out the Lights
And everything that has an Inn
Closes the shutter and goes in –

Below left and right: Evidence of the mill's by-gone days on the opposite side of the creek.

Above and below: Two other spots in the woods that seemed to be have sheltered homeless individuals at sometime in the recent past.

By Emily Dickinson
(excerpt)

Who occupies this House?
A Stranger I must judge
Since No one know His Circumstance –

At the right: Back on the mill side of the creek at the newly renovated Woolen Mills. I wrote about the mill in a past post, HERE.

Take A Hike

11/17/2020

Hmm. It turns out that today is National Hiking Day -- and that is exactly what I did. My wife and I hiked a portion of the Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah National Park.

Okay, I admit -- we did not "take a hike" to participate in National Hiking Day. Instead, we went to SNP for some star gazing.

A few weeks ago, I looked at the calendar and saw that a New Moon was occurring on November 15th. At that time, I booked a room at the park's Skyland Resort. Then, as we approached the date, some predicted bad weather meant cloudy skies and rain for Sunday night. Therefore, I moved our check-in date by one night. Much better weather was forecasted for the 16th, and I figured a sliver of moon wouldn't spoil our star gazing all that much.

Therefore, we drove to the park yesterday, hiked a WONDERFUL trail at Bearfence Mountain, watched the sunset at Timber Hollow Overlook, and then spent the early hours of the night in awe of a spectacular sky teeming with bight planets and stars.

Today, before we headed home, we walked a portion of the AT and then climbed to another spectacular summit with an almost 360-degree panoramic view of the park. Along the way, we were hit with a brief but furious snow flurry, the first snowfall (albeit very minimal) of the season.

At the right: Emily Dickinson's "The Hills erect their Purple Heads"

I suspect I've posted this poem before. I will say, though, that my wife and I had plenty of curiosity at the blue and purple ridge where we hiked. The trek to the summit of Bearfence Mountain now ranks as one of our favorites -- although it was a bit precarious as we crossed the rock scrambles at the top! It was worth it though. The views were spectacular (the pics below do not do the place justice).

By Emily Dickinson:

The Hills erect their Purple Heads
The Rivers lean to see
Yet Man has not of all the Throng
A Curiosity.

NOTE: Slide shows like those below do not always work on Androids. Therefore, the pics are best viewed on a laptop, an iPhone, or an iPad.

By Emily Dickinson:

Nature rarer uses Yellow
Than another Hue.
Saves she all of that for Sunsets
Prodigal of Blue

Spending Scarlet, like a Woman
Yellow she affords
Only scantly and selectly
Like a Lover's Words.

At the right: The sunset from Timber Hollow Overlook was spectacular. And -- as Emily Dickinson stated in her poem above -- nature saved all of its yellow for this sunset!

We had a crystal clear night for star gazing. The slide show to the left includes a few screen shots from an app we used to identify the planets, stars and constellations.

1. Polaris -- the North Star -- in the Ursa Minor constellation (which includes the Little Dipper)
2. In the view with Venus, the Hubble Space station is shown to the bottom right.
3. Another unnamed satellite we stumbled upon.
4. Jupiter and Saturn rising with Capricorn.
5. Even though the sun had set, we used the app to find it below our horizon in the constellation Libra.

Note: Slide shows don't always work with Androids, so the pics are best viewed on a laptop, an iPhone or an iPad.

Below: A view from a summit just to the south of Bearfence Mountain from our hike today.

Below: As we hiked today, the sky turned somewhat purple and winds whipped up as we experienced a brief but furious snow flurry -- the first of the season.

At the right: While in Shenandoah National Park, we stayed at the Skyland Resort. Our room had a spectacular view.

NOTE: Slide shows like the one at the right do not always work on Androids. The pictures are best viewed from a laptop, an iPhone or an iPad.

Take A Hike

10/20/2020

The weather was beautiful today, so we drove from Charlottesville to Front Royal, Virginia, to the northern entrance of Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park. There we completed two small hikes. The first was the Fox Hollow trail just across from the Dickey Ridge Visitors' Center. The second was a walk down an old fire road just beyond Mile Post 9 to see the Lands Run Falls.

By Emily Dickinson:

Longing is like the Seed
That wrestles in the Ground,
Believing if it intercede
It shall at length be found.

The Hour, and the Clime –
Each Circumstance unknown,
What Constancy must be achieved
Before it see the Sun!

Below: A few pics around Lands Run Falls.

By Emily Dickinson:

My River runs to thee –
Blue Sea! Wilt welcome me?
My River wait reply –
Oh Sea – look graciously –
I'll fetch thee Brooks
From spotted nooks –
Say – Sea – Take Me!

Below: Between the two hikes we stopped along Skyline Drive to admire the beautiful fall colors.

By Emily Dickinson:

A lane of Yellow led the eye
Unto a Purple Wood
Whose soft inhabitants to be
Surpasses solitude
If Bird the silence contradict
Or flower presume to show
In that low summer of the West
Impossible to know –

Below: In Fox Hollow, we came across a small family graveyard, about a half mile into the forest. The tombstone below is for Gertrue Fox, a two-year-old who died in 1904.

By Emily Dickinson:

Sweet hours have perished here;
This is a mighty room;
Within its precincts hopes have played, --
Now shadows in the tomb.

The Pretty People in the Woods

9/18/2020

I took a walk in the woods this morning, and I met some of "the pretty people in the Woods."

By Emily Dickinson:

The Bee is not afraid of me,
I know the Butterfly.
The pretty people in the Woods
Receive me cordially –

The Brooks laugh louder when I come –
The Breezes madder play;
Wherefore mine eyes thy silver mists,
Wherefore, Oh Summer's Day?

Below: This tree, known as the Bartholomew Oak, was identified as the oldest tree in the park.

Room with a View

8/30/2020

We had such beautiful weather today -- after what feels like two months of rainy and/or hot and humid days (with a thirty-plus stretch of days with over 90-degree temperatures) -- so we thought we'd escape to the mountains. We drove down a stretch of Shenandoah National Park's Skyline Drive, ate lunch on an overlook, and completed two easy-to-moderate hikes, one with a spectacular view and one through a quiet, shady forest. It felt so nice to escape the ugliness and carnage that is Trump's America!

By Emily Dickinson:

"Nature" is what we see --
The Hill — the Afternoon --
Squirrel — Eclipse — the Bumble bee --
Nay — Nature is Heaven --
Nature is what we hear --
The Bobolink — the Sea --
Thunder — the Cricket --
Nay — Nature is Harmony --
Nature is what we know --
Yet have no art to say --
So impotent Our Wisdom is
To her Simplicity.

One of our walks took us through a forest where years ago a number of magnificent hemlock trees succumbed to a terrible blight. Evidence of the stately trees is still apparent (below right).

By Emily Dickinson:

These Fevered Days – to take them
to the Forest
Where Waters cool around the mosses crawl –
And shade is all that devastates the stillness
Seems it sometimes this would be all –

By Emily Dickinson:

The Mushroom is the Elf of Plants --
At Evening, it is not --
At Morning, in a Truffled Hut
It stop upon a Spot

As if it tarried always
And yet its whole Career
Is shorter than a Snake's Delay
And fleeter than a Tare --

'Tis Vegetation's Juggler --
The Germ of Alibi --
Doth like a Bubble antedate
And like a Bubble, hie --

I feel as if the Grass was pleased
To have it intermit --
This surreptitious scion
Of Summer's circumspect.

Had Nature any supple Face
Or could she one contemn --
Had Nature an Apostate --
That Mushroom — it is Him!

In the Still of the Day

5/3/2020

From Jarvis MacKinnon III:

Life in lockdown has certainly not been fevered -- not literally nor figuratively -- so I took time today to stroll through a nearby forest. The place was so empty it felt like I was the only person on earth. Not a soul was around, so it was a wonderful opportunity to stop and smell the flowers -- or at least to take their pics for Instagram -- and to listen to "nature's little poets" (to borrow third cousin Emily's term for birds).

By Emily Dickinson:

These Fevered Days – to take them to the Forest
Where Waters cool around the mosses crawl –
And shade is all that devastates the stillness
Seems it sometimes this would be all –

1991 1993 1911 9191

10/27/2013

I just realized that I'm late with posting the #1 entry on my "Top Ten References to Nature by Emily Dickinson," which I posted on my Tumblr account back in September.  I posted my list's "numero-uno" on September 24th -- and now it's October 27th -- and I never posted a link to my final entry for the visitors to this site. Oops! I'll take care of that in just a minute!

In my top entry for my "Top Ten" list, I discuss how I use the poem in lessons with students -- so before I post the link, I thought I'd offer a very quick and easy activity to use with students if you are a teacher of poetry -- and this activity happens to use numbers.

Here's what you do:

1. Write the following four numbers on the board: 1991, 1993, 1911, and 9191.

2. Tell the students that ONE of the four numbers does not belong -- and then ask for volunteers to explain which number does not belong.

3. Students might start with any of the four numbers, but someone might say "1993." Ask WHY? The student will say that 1993 has a "3" in it, and none of the other numbers has a three. Underline 1993.

1991   1993   1911   9191

4. Then ask if there are any other answers. One student might say 9191. Ask WHY? It's likely the student will say that the other numbers are past years -- but 9191 isn't a year (at least not yet). Underline 9191. (NOTE: The student might say that all the other numbers start with a "1," but 9191 starts with a "9.")

1991   1993   1911   9191

5. Then ask if there is another "correct" answer. One student might say 1911. Ask WHY? It's likely the student will note that 1911 has a "1" in the 10's place -- while the other three numbers have a "9" in the 10's place. Underline 1911

1991   1993   1911   9191

6. Finally, ask if there is another "correct" answer. Someone will volunteer that 1991 is the "right" answer because it is the only number of the four that is not underlined.

With this activity, you can discuss how EVERY number is the RIGHT answer -- as long as students can explain the "WHY" behind their thinking. Then you can continue with your unit of poetry. If/when you ask, "What do you think the poet meant?" students can offer a variety of answers, as long as they can support their answers with the "WHY."

Perhaps as you continue your unit on poetry, you will use the poem I listed as #1 on my "Top Ten References to Nature by Emily Dickinson." You'll find it HERE.

The All Too Frequent "Frequently"

9/22/2013

Happy first day of fall 2013, and the first day of fall brought to mind the following poem by Emily Dickinson:

Frequently the woods are pink --
Frequently are brown.
Frequently the hills undress
Behind my native town.
Oft a head is crested
I was wont to see --
And as oft a cranny
Where it used to be --
And the Earth — they tell me --
On it's axis turned!
Wonderful Rotation!
By but twelve performed!

Yes, the twelve performers turn all too quickly, and the older I get, the frequent rotations seem to come all the more frequently.

I remember as a kid I would think about how old I'd be when the Earth's axis would turn to mark the year 2000 -- and now it's 2013, soon to be 2014! I can barely believe that I have another birthday coming up -- in a little less than two weeks. That fact calls to mind a poem by Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request):

Frequently my eyes are pink –
Frequently are red.
Frequently my mood is gray
At times my stride is lead.
Oft my head’s congested
My eyes wont to see –
And oft there is an aching
Where none used to be –
And my Girth – I tell you –
On its Axis turns!
Woeful Maturation!
By the years – I’m worn!

Even though time is constant, it sure doesn't feel that way. Instead, it seems as though time is spinning, spinning and spinning out of control -- and I'm gettig a bit too dizzy by the pace!

Isn't there a bumper sticker out there somewhere that states something like, "Everything is changing -- and it's all happening right on time"? I'm not sure I have that right -- but at this time of year, I know that everything is changing "autumn-atically"! (Ba-dump-bump!)

Anyway, happy birthday to me (soon enough) -- and happy fall to you!

BTW: I blogged about "Frequently the woods are pink" HERE. Check it out! : )

A Fresh Slant

9/17/2013

I attended an event recently at UVA's Fralin Museum about a literary competition called "Writer's Eye." The challenge is open to youth, high school and university students, and adults. Contestants are to submit poems or prose inspired by selected works of art in the museum.

A past judge of the competition spoke on the importance for writers to use "fresh" similes and metaphors -- and that's not an easy thing to do! She had the audience try -- for instance, give an example of how "sadness" sounds -- and it wasn't easy!

I mention this because I've been plogging (poetry blogging) lately about my "Top Ten References to Nature by Emily Dickinson," and a particular simile of Dickinson's landed a poem in the #2 slot on my list. Let's just say that the comparison was in fact a "fresh" simile -- or should I say, I "fresh" slant? The post about the poem is HERE.

I'll post #1 on my "Top Ten" list soon.