Shades of Blue

When I took these images yesterday afternoon, I had originally intended to entitle this post "Tawny," but in looking over the images, and others, below, I decided to call it "Shades of Blue" instead.

Kali and I haven't walked in "my" preserve for several weeks because it's been so muddy.  But yesterday Kali didn't have to go to work, the skies were cloudless, and the paths had dried enough so that Kali wouldn't complain about muddy shoes, so we hit the trails for a late afternoon walk.

We've hardly had any snow this winter, so most of the native grasses are still standing tall and beautiful.

Most of the early spring birds have arrived now - especially flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds and a few American Woodcocks.  Just last Sunday, a pair of American Kestrels hovered over the fields in search of rodents hiding in the high grass.  Though we may be in for a snowstorm tomorrow, spring's approach is unmistakable.

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Last weekend (Saturday, February 23), Kali and I drove 2-1/2 hours to Baltimore for the American Craft Council Show at the Baltimore Convention Center.  This is the largest fine art craft show in the country (650 craft artisans), and it was spectacular (as always).  Since Kali and I are in our de-accession stage of life, we only bought one decorative piece for the wall, a piece of jewelry for Kali, and a holiday gift for Kali's boss.  We look at the show as if we were going to a craft museum, since all of the work is of the highest quality.

In the "blue" motif - a detail from "Aspens," an etched and illuminated glass wall sculpture

And, finally, just last Saturday evening, we attended a performance by Parson Dance, one of our favorite contemporary dance companies.  The image below is from the first piece that the company performed, "In the Round" (2012), and it was breathtaking.  Even when the dances weren't as spectacular as "Round," the dancers were so perfect that they elevated the works to high art. Bravisimo!

Perfect Summer Meadows

Took another walk in "our" natural area after dinner and just before sunset last evening. This time, we sauntered through an old farm that has been planted with wildflowers and native grasses to create diverse grasslands that will attract meadow-nesting birds. While the meadows have not yet attracted any of the meadow-nesting birds (except Red-winged Blackbirds), they are spectacularly beautiful this time of year, with a profusion of wildflowers growing amidst luxurious stands of magenta purpletop (Tridens flavus) and russet Indian-grass (Sorghastrum nutans).

At one point, as we rounded a corner in the mowed trail through the tall grasses, we were startled by a group of about 30 migrating Bobolinks (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) that ascended noisily en mass from their hiding place in the grass, flew a few dozen feet, and then disappeared back into the grass.

Summer returns on Sunday with 90+ temperatures and high humidity each day through at least Thursday. It's been wonderful to enjoy this late summer reprieve for the last few days.

Ozark Winter

Since we're still pretty much buried in icy, thick, treacherous snow that makes visiting my local natural areas challenging, I thought I'd share excerpts from a letter I received from my best friend, a professional gardener and naturalist who lives in extreme northeast Oklahoma on the edge of the Ozarks.

As it was, I didn't work outside today; I cheated. I suited up warm and walked to yonder pond I've known since age 11. Ilex decidua (possomhaw to the laity) still in good berry, possibly thanks to having each its vigilant sassy mockingbird.

The sun had gone under but an entire large field of little blustem, redgold ripe, was a vision nonetheless. A Great Horned Owl was commenting softly in the forest fence that runs along the far west side of the pasture. Those woods have grown into such a fearsome tangle I no longer go to the pond that was my wildest haunt in the 1950s. Hackberry Pond I called it on acount of the massive old tree, lightning-struck picturesque and incredibly still alive the last time I checked a couple of years back...

On the airport side of the road leading downtown, the city does more and more building. Just this last year, they destroyed the last bit of quasi-original prairie.