"Thoreau said to look along the bank right

at water level and to stand still for a few

minutes and right where the grasses stuck

up through the water you would see a muskrat

if there were any. I stood still for a bit, and sure

enough in a few minutes I saw a muskrat in the

middle of the city 2,000 miles from Walden Pond.

And I realized that Concord is where you are right now,

 and Walden Pond is the nearest body of water.

Denver was my real Concord."

 

from Channeling Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

an interview with Robert Richardson

 

author of the Emerson bio "The Mind on Fire"

 

                                 Salon.com

“It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by.

How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the

moment? For the moment passes, it is forgotten; the mood

is gone; life itself is gone. That is where the writer scores

over his fellows: he catches the changes of his mind on the hop. “

                                      Vita Sackville-West

 

I have often posted photos of the pond by my office but

until last week it had never occurred to me to take the dogs

there, so this weekend the whole family sans Max the cat were

off. It proved to be quite a nice spot for a walk with critters to

see, benches to rest on, lots of smells and even a puppy to meet.

 

So here it is Sunday in the park.

 

 

The insect catching Waxwings that nest on the small island
and spend the day feeding over the pond.

 

 

 

Clouded Sulphur Butterfly?

 

“To be whole. To be complete. Wildness reminds us what it means

to be human, what we are connected to rather than what we are

separate from.”

Terry Tempest Williams

Some more photos from our July trip to

the farm and cabin. I was watching a program

featuring a entomologist in India. He said each

child goes through an insect phase and mine never 

ended. Mine has not ended, I want to know

the name and habits of every insect and plant I see.

Something I saw when I did not have my camera was

beautiful metallic green Dogbane Beetles. The sight 

of them reassured me that when I can spend more

time at the cabin boredom should not be a problem.

My identifications are based on my best guess, feel

free to correct me.

"The butterfly counts not months 

but moments, and has time enough."

Rabindranath Tagore

White Clover

Fritillary not sure which kind?

Wild Vetch

Common Wood Nymph

Vetch?

Pearl Crescent

Clover?

Canadian Tiger Swallowtail with bits missing.

"Do ye not comprehend that we are worms,
Born to bring forth the angelic butterfly
That flieth unto judgment without screen?"

Dante Alighieri

"No one can tell me,

 Nobody knows,

Where the wind comes from,

Where the wind goes."

from

Wind on the Hill

      A.A. Milne

"She cleared the garden of its weeds

And planted several thousand seeds.

Small creatures picked the flowers at dawn

And danced with them about the lawn.

Until they all, down to the least,

Where eaten by a monstrous beast."

                              From The Eleventh Episode

                                            by Raddory Gewe

                                                   ( Edward Gorey )

I believe I have mentioned that Eastern Phoebes are a

signature bird on the farm. I have included pictures 

taken during our recent visit, some are from the farm, my 

brother in law's home and the cabin. I also noticed that they 

really complete for the highest perch. I was taking a wooden

scaffold apart a favorite perch, some 8 0r 9 feet tall

as it got shorter the Phoebe continued to choose the 

highest remaining perch until it was sitting on a stub 

maybe a 18 inches high. When that was removed 

I substituted a sawhorse which was also popular. We will

be putting up a post to serve as a perch and holder for

some feeders.  I think all these are Eastern Phoebe's but

I always have trouble telling them from other flycatchers

so if I am wrong please let me know.

"Summer is all a green air—
From the brilliant lawn, sopranos
Through murmuring hedges
Accompanied by some poplars; "

     from                  

                                     Summer Music

                                         Mary Sarton

"Yet I have glimpsed the bright mountain behind the mountain,
Knowledge under the leaves, tasted the bitter berries red,
Drunk water cold and clear from an inexhaustible hidden fountain."

                  from

                                         The Wilderness

                                               Kathleen Raine