tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77570932803877685932024-03-13T22:59:13.027-04:00Nature remains.After you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, and so on - and have found that none of these finally satisfy, or permanently wear . . . . .what remains?
. . .Nature remains. . . Walt Whitmannina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.comBlogger626125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-45529162299127537872013-03-15T10:51:00.001-04:002013-03-15T10:51:36.271-04:00nina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-1535360501537083022011-09-14T09:47:00.005-04:002011-09-14T10:09:23.537-04:00Transplanting a GardenThe thin, green strip has been mowed again—that narrow band of grass and weeds that runs in the few feet of unplowed land on either side of the lane that I walk along each day.Chicory, Cichorium intybusThe danger in letting it grow, I have not quite determined, for nothing woody remains along the field's edge—nothing that, if not cut severely back each month, would soon overtake the road.Yet the nina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-48036756343575033642011-09-03T16:45:00.011-04:002011-09-03T20:08:56.834-04:00The Great Borer Expedition IIThe Great Borer Expedition II
A journey into the untamed brush of southern Ohio in pursuit of the Amorpha Borer,
a seldom seen longhorned beetle, described by the few who have found it as
‘the most beautiful insect in the world.’
The Team
(in alphabetical order)
Even when she’s without her favorite hat, Heather Aubke wears her reputation well. She's the Indiana Jones of the volunteer nina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-886777253517249772011-09-01T20:15:00.000-04:002011-09-03T16:52:44.394-04:00Going Coastal
Marblehead Light
This may not be the image that first pops into your mind at the mention of the word Ohio.
Ohio’s a Midwestern state, right?
Farmland boasting fertile fields of both corn and beans, a hint of hill country to the east where the Appalachian plateau rises from the Ohio River Valley, and Columbus situated at its center—including, of course, the sprawling campus of The Ohio State nina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-41744454586653022152011-08-29T20:24:00.002-04:002011-08-29T20:25:06.835-04:00Refilling the Feeder
My hummingbird is happy for the change…in me.
A newly cleaned and freshly filled reservoir hangs, brimming with cool nectar, in what feels like September’s first fall breeze. I’d gotten lazy in my tending of the small, plastic globe suspended from the eave of the upstairs front porch and blamed, instead, the awful August heat for the mildew-blackened holes and clouded liquid of the neglected nina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-14354160622249192302011-08-23T11:58:00.007-04:002011-08-23T13:05:52.331-04:00Have you seen...I had just made the last trip outside for the night, flipping on the porch light and grabbing the few remaining items from the clothesline across the yard. Glad that I’d caught them before the heavy summer night could leave its cool dampness with them once more, clothes in hand, I moved mindlessly toward the back door, already falling into sleep.
The sounds from the woods and field, strong and nina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-396801988091354142011-08-09T06:44:00.009-04:002011-08-09T07:10:28.238-04:00The Birding CurveProthonotary Warbler in Wet Woods
I recall a brief greeting several years ago in an exchange one spring afternoon beside a boardwalk.
“The prothonotary has returned!” he said.
But as I stepped onto the wooden-planked path looping the lake at our local nature center, the excitement this announcer had hoped to read on my face as he joyfully told me of his discovery was clearly absent.
I didn’t nina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-59355212149524758072011-08-01T19:43:00.000-04:002011-08-01T19:53:26.971-04:00HeatLike many others, I’ve been kept off the trail for days by this extreme heat--a wave so wide-ranging and long-lasting that I’m hard-pressed to find a direction to explore, a place escaping the blanket of humidity that, each day by dinnertime, catapults the heat index well above 100 degrees. Waiting out its wrath from within my air-conditioned cocoon, the only exercise I’ve undertaken in these nina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-61126204690793822132011-07-13T18:38:00.003-04:002011-07-14T19:50:26.341-04:00Another helping of Botany, anyone?Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpureaThe Midwest Native Plant Symposium brought together a combination of botanical experts, local native plant vendors and plant/nature enthusiasts for a weekend of wild activities of all sorts. Mornings began with bird walks, just as the sun was making its way onto the sprawling greenscape of Mount Saint John. As anyone with an interest in our birds or bugs soon nina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-61313934729012412552011-07-06T10:20:00.005-04:002011-07-10T17:42:25.196-04:00The Natural AthleteExcuse me, while I ramble, but being off-task is something I do well--something that, no matter how earnestly I try to walk that straight and narrow path, always takes me on a detour. I eventually find my way back, but not without having pored cover-to-cover over multiple field guides, browsed internet images, and consulted the text, once again. In the end, I am better for my effort. But, the nina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-54999502507532883222011-07-03T07:12:00.003-04:002011-07-03T10:05:02.569-04:00Have you seen...The face beyond the windowpane,drawn to the light from within, bumps noisily head to glass, as I, on the other side, peer carefully nose to glass, drawn to the darkness of this night, and look out to see who’s knocking.This is a Reddish-Brown Stag Beetle, Lucanus capreolus, and his fearsome appearance at your window on a balmy summer night might cause you to wonder what his intentions are.Who’s nina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-70961754420139008302011-06-29T17:39:00.012-04:002011-06-29T20:38:38.543-04:00A snake in the grass... and some flowers along the wayA summer walk down a grassy path will quickly tell you one thing—there’s far more here than meets the eye. From beneath the tangle of green, field crickets sing, unseen in the heat of the day. Grasshoppers, startled from their hiding spots, lift suddenly with a golden flutter like small birds to a new resting spot, feet beyond my steps. With the rattle of freshly dried wings, a dragonfly frees nina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-61820965676681145242011-06-23T12:34:00.006-04:002011-06-23T12:50:05.590-04:00Solace for the Night OwlSummer solstice is behind us.And with it, have gone the lengthening days that offer me, each evening, a reprise—several hours more to explore the outdoors. The very trails I walked this morning, with fading light, become wholly unknown. Though the path is familiar, the journey never the same.I treasure the long days for their evening hours—their time to watch fireflies light the hedgerows,theirnina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-71783433825192881752011-06-20T22:16:00.006-04:002011-06-21T08:31:26.321-04:00Hope... and things with wings...from a naturalist's notebookJanuary 18th was a day for winter walking.Light rain mid-morning had given way to blue skies, which, in a season best described as a string of predictably gray flannel afternoons that stretches from November to March, was in itself reason to make note. But in the woods where I stood looking up, admiring the unusual brilliance from beneath a tangle of bare limbs, I discovered something even nina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-45983696186406738902011-06-17T15:20:00.012-04:002011-06-17T21:16:05.401-04:00Summer’s really hoppin’ at the ol’ swimmin’ hole!This year’s extraordinarily wet spring may have put a crimp in the plans for your garden, but the repeated soaking rains and slow progression of warming temperatures have provided that perfect world about which frogs usually can only dream.While deep, dark ruts still mark the depths to which the tractor labored against mud and tall grass in the first mowing of spring, the amphibians in my yard nina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-55585203106153085242011-06-07T16:00:00.013-04:002011-06-11T20:21:42.483-04:00We interrupt our regularly scheduled program...I’ll get back to sharing Michigan’s wonderful adventure soon enough.But, let’s press pause, set the cool air and fresh breezes aside for a moment, and catch up with a bit of excitement I found in my very own southern Ohio back yard.After all, what would a sultry summer day be, without tales of long-legged hairy spiders to keep you awake long after darkness has fallen?You know you won’t sleepnina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-1719341412886386662011-06-02T16:14:00.004-04:002011-06-02T17:09:12.984-04:00Meeting the HeathsWetland in Northern MichiganTime in Michigan allowed me a chance to meet more of the Heath family.Nope, not the people...the plants.These members of Ericaceae, whose species number over 3300 worldwide, are primarily small shrubs, often with leathery or resinous evergreen leaves. And because they dislike limey soils, they’re not likely to be found where I spend most of my time hiking, the till nina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-76809206110113346002011-05-30T19:31:00.004-04:002011-05-31T00:24:24.606-04:00Heard OnlyLake Nettie in the MorningI wake this morning to the sound of tree frogs.Warm, heavy air has been spread over the Ohio River valley like a scratchy wool blanket that I would peel back and crawl out from underneath, if I could.The weight is almost stifling—the dampness on my skin, constant.But in the hush of dawn, those few brief moments before daylight brings the rustling of leaves and the chorusnina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-18590075380839679012011-05-16T21:34:00.001-04:002011-05-16T21:43:55.748-04:00Taking TimeBlue-Gray GnatcatcherA tiny bird sings incessantly from the highest branch of the tree beyond my window—a blue-gray gnatcatcher…that seemingly miniature mockingbird, with his wispy, whistle-y song. Oh, how he teased me to watch him weeks ago, playing his tiny kazoo, as I fussed with preparations for my trip to New River—a week of nature camp for grown-ups, as I’ve come to think of it.He’s still nina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-24079284812471803962011-05-14T13:03:00.010-04:002011-05-14T17:46:44.439-04:00What's underneath it allMay apple blossom in the RainA blue school bus makes the steady climb along a narrow gravel drive in West Virginia.From behind its steamed windows on a chilly morning, a group of birders looks out into the Appalachian woods, rich and wet from yesterday’s passing rain.Higher and higher we climb.The Bobolink FieldWe’ve just come from a field in “High Country,” where bobolinks burst like popcorn nina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-75066771647832588182011-05-11T16:44:00.000-04:002011-05-13T16:38:14.676-04:00The Birds of Sugar Creekphoto courtesy Jim McCormacWhat’s wrong with this picture?It's a group shot, from the Sugar Creek field trip at the New River Birding and Nature Festival where I spent the last wonderful week...a picture of fellow-birders, gladdened by a very birdy morning, hungrily having taken in long, lavish looks at a prized warbler as we wove a slow path down this gravelly West Virginia mountain road.I’m nina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-42239328128617748682011-04-16T15:13:00.009-04:002011-04-16T19:36:38.467-04:00Little men of the spring woodsDutchman's BreechesI climbed the hillside and sat among pole after pole of tiny trousers, waving in the breeze of an April afternoon.But for as long as I waited there on the leafy bank for her return, not one little laundress came to collect her things.Where are these little half-dressed men of the spring forest?And why do they never wash their jackets?Dutchman's Breeches, Dicentra cucullaria nina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-16034967117791909732011-04-11T09:03:00.000-04:002011-04-11T09:03:00.887-04:00Time with Trout-liliesWhite Trout-lily, Erythronium albidumI seldom worry that what is found in a day outdoors will not be in some way extraordinary.In early April, especially, when daily change makes the new of yesterday instantly old, I hate to miss even one day of it.Sessile Trillium, Trillium sessileAbove the earth and from beneath its surface, life creeps back into a resting landscape.Birds cross the sky.Leaves nina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-30321152836758188952011-04-09T08:09:00.018-04:002011-04-09T14:14:52.155-04:00Catching Mice in the Dead SeaFallow FieldAdams County OhioThe fallow fields along the Ohio River may be waiting for seed or plow, but they’re anything but empty on this early spring afternoon.Covered by a giant purple carpet, they glow from edge to edge with the bright, pink-lipped flowers and soft, fuzzy leaves of an alien mint, Purple Dead-nettle, that quickly moves in to these resting fields, leaving only a few toe holds nina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7757093280387768593.post-13237392365676805532011-04-04T13:50:00.018-04:002011-04-09T14:50:39.973-04:00Searching for springDraba verna"He who hopes for spring with upturned eyenever sees so small a thing as Draba.He who despairs of spring with downcast eyesteps on it, unknowing.He who searches for spring with his knees in the mudfinds it, in abundance." — Aldo LeopoldFor much of the world, the arrival of spring is a showy occasion.Like the young girls in brightly-colored, petticoated dresses, we expect the nina at Nature Remains.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07888238636692649668noreply@blogger.com13