Predictably the season has changed.
The timid days of early spring, so easily subdued by a headstrong winter, are now, ROARING.
The lawn has become a carpet of violets.
I walk a weaving course--not wanting to crush their pretty faces.
Even into the gravel drive, the determined growth takes hold.
And how does one find a path through these woods?
Come along in Red Canoe as she explores the quiet backwater of Ohio's State Parks and the scenic streams and rivers of the Midwest. Discover the beauty hidden beyond the water's edge, quietly waiting, past access points, often only inches deep!
Come browse my photography site, Nature Remains: nothing but a photograph, for full-page slide shows of my favorite images and opportunities to purchase them.
In Spring of 2008, I began the study of 2 vernal pools on my property as part of the Ohio Vernal Pool Partnership monitoring program.
My 2008 journal includes the first photos and findings, as I studied this fascinating wetland area just a few steps beyond my backdoor...
2009 photos and findings,
2010,... again!
Now, 4 years later, another season is just days away!
Travel beyond the Midwest has taken me to some beautiful places. Usually off the beaten track, these places are WILD!
Acadia National Park
New River Nature Festival
Olympic National Park
Pictured Rocks and the UP
Voyageurs National Park
(click on the text above each photo for a quick get-away)
A regularly appearing feature, "Have you seen..." takes a closer, more patient look at things usually not seen in a flattering light.
Take a look!
Each spring, as winter lessens its grip and days warm with the first fragrant breezes of a new season, we collect sap from our Sugar Maples and produce just enough syrup for ourselves for the coming year.
The progress of this year's backyard endeavor is illustrated here.
Summer 2008, the tiny jewel of the avian world, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, nested just feet from my front door. Pictures of her nest and the changing lives within are collected in this journal.
From life the size of a pea....
Cats that come to stay
(click on the text above each photo for stories in these collections)
14 comments:
Wow, that's a lot of violets! I like them... can't understand why so many people consider them weeds.
Love the Spring Beauty too. :)
Oh, to have such problems! ;-) Beautiful flowers, Nina!
I think maybe violets are my favorite But then, whenever I see flowers, those particular ones are my favorites. Can't decide. We don't have to choose, do we? We have periwinkles blooming as profusely as your violets. So pretty!
I love, love, love violets! To have that be your lawn, you have a sweet spot there Ms. Nina.
I don't know how one finds a path through the woods but I'd sure like to try as it looks so inviting!
it looks so pretty.
Arlene,
Puyallup flowers
In the right place these are beautiful, I would hate to concider then anything else.
How beautiful. Nature is just so talented.
I love violets. They don't do very well where I live as the ground just doesn't hold moisture here, and with the drying winds, it's a struggle. I think I have two violet plants hanging on! Seeing your field of purple brings back memories of walking past blooming violets and the wonderful way they perfume the air.
I have violets all over my yard and in between my driveway (I have the old fashioned "ribbon" driveway with two strips of concrete and grass in the middle). I also have a lot of the little white flowers. Do you know what they are? I know they are weedy but I love them. Beautiful shots.
The little white flowers in my woods are the Spring Beauties--and they're shades of pink and purple, if the light isn't washing too strongly over them.
I never think of them as weeds, although in a lawn, I guess they would be.
They're one of the first flowers of spring here, and always welcome--
Those violets are sooo beautiful!!
I wouldn't mind having them in my garden :)
your pictures make me so homesick for the woods of Western Pa where I grew up. I used to roam the woods searching for wildflowers like these.
It's hard to believe that some people do actually think of wildflowers as weeds. Good to see that spring is finally roaring along up your direction.
Post a Comment