Tag: pond life

Mother Nature Pulls Out the Stops

Tagged , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Today was the first full day of spring and today was my birthday. Mother Nature pulled out all the stops and gave me a glorious day at the pond. It was so beautiful, I went for two walks. If you follow SilverLining you might recall that when I posted about my last birthday it was a snowy and dismal day. I wrote last year about the extremes in weather that have occurred on my birthday through the years. If you look at last year’s photos and the photos in this post, my point is made!

I marvel each year at the buds on the trees and wonder as I look at them how they will unfurl and become leaves.

The bottom of the pond is already showing signs of things growing and the soil beneath the water looks rich and ready for the myriad life forms that rely on it.

Birds have begun nesting, as the morning dove below shows. It holds a stick in its beak, one of many it will use to assemble its home for the season.

While the male red-winged blackbird has been here for over a week, the females have just arrived. This flock of females made a constant cacophony, sure to draw the attention of the males.

This dangling left-over from last season always makes me think of native girls who must have used them as earrings and necklaces. 

Fish by the scores are swimming about – so early in the season! And in the photo below, you can see what I imagine to be the rich film of whatever it is that floats atop a pond and provides sustenance for the soon-to-hatch bugs of all manner.

While the picture below won’t make you feel the heat of the day, 
I can tell you it was a hot one!

The muskrat is luxuriating in the heat of the sun, submerging only when it decides I’m too close to it. It leaves a splash behind but no other sign that it’s below the surface.

Now, before the leaves block my view, I can see into the tangle of branches and take pictures of the birds that are gathering to make their home for the summer.

It’s always a happy day in spring for me when I first see a turtle! So, I considered it a special birthday gift that I saw my first turtles of the year on my birthday! 
First, a painted turtle, and minutes later a snapper!

Below, a fish lazily moves along, as if it were a long summer afternoon. It is remarkable to me that these scenes are all from March 21st.

I’ve come to see the American robin in a whole new way. Because the bird is so common, I’ve never given it much of a look. But it has lovely lines in its tail, a distinctive ring around its eye, and the color if its beak in contrast to its body color is outstanding!

And it cooperates for photo-shoots!

I believe the posture above is one of the distinguishing characteristics of a bird – the swivel of the head fully around.

Notice the eye in the photo above. It has a film over it. I wonder if this is the bird blinking. Is that film the eyelid?

While the reflection of trees in the image above might make you think it’s a mirroring of birches, actually the trees are all grey colored. But the light of the sun – on the trees themselves or on the water’s surface (I’m not sure which) – create this lovely bit of art.

Sometimes the camera captures what I see. Sometimes not. My eyes were drawn to the intertwining trunks of these young trees and the play of light upon them. I hope you can see it as I did.


Happy spring!

(Click on the first image in the post and scroll through the collection of photos.)

A Time for Every Season Under Heaven

Tagged , , Leave a comment

Mum and me BI
I’ve been distracted from blogging for the past several months but hope to return to it now. 2011 brought unexpected sorrow for me. Though my mother was 89, her death in November caught me by surprise. Throughout all of last year, my care for her increased and took me from my usual schedule. I’m so grateful I was able to attend to her. But her loss still has me so sad. She was a great person in addition to being a wonderful mother to my siblings and me. I wrote about her at my blog sublimedays.com.

I look forward to sharing more about the pond with you soon.

Fall Inspirations

Tagged , , , , , 2 Comments

This past year, the fall, like the prior two seasons, achieved near perfection in weather and sensory excitement. At the height of color season, I enjoyed the visit of long-time friends through a weekend and, more than once, we enjoyed walking several laps around the pond as we caught up on the status of each others’ lives and thoughts. As we walked, one friend’s eyes worked in a way different than mine. While I tend to look toward the pond and sky, she kept her eyes just ahead of her feet. I suspect she did this for just the purpose she achieved – to avoid stepping on a creature. Thanks to her watchfulness, I have these two photos to share, and neither reptile was crushed by our step. Walking with her has inspired me to cast my eyes to the ground more often.



The seasons shed new light and cause different framing to almost any view of the pond. Here, the variations of color, visual texture, and depth caught my eye, at a place along the walk that, through other seasons, I might pass without notice.


Often I have wondered, as I look at reflections on the pond, if the term ‘water color’, used as a description of an art form, was inspired by the image reflected in the lower half of the photo below – after the method of painting was established. Or, did an artist see what this picture shows, and, using water mixed with color, try to recreate water color.

As the days shortened, the colors dulled, and the leaves fell to the ground. Then, on came the winter.

The Great Blue Heron

Tagged , , , , 2 Comments


What struck me most when I first saw a great blue heron in early spring was her height, about three feet, and her color, which is slate blue. I can’t think of another living thing in nature that has her color, a color that could be considered dull. And, although it contrasts to every shade in its surroundings, its dullness helps it to blend in.

Now, after more sightings, and with those features absorbed in my mind and familiar, what leaves me dumbstruck still is her wingspan and the structure of her wings. While they lay flat by her side when not in use (as they were the first times I saw her), they unfold for flight into perhaps five feet in span, and they have a remarkable width. The wings also have a crook or elbow, leaving the outer expanse to appear limp as the wing rises in stroke. Watching them in action, you can imagine the power of the thrust forward as the air finally catches under the outer segment of wing on the down stroke.


It is a treat to be near enough to see her awkwardly launch her body as her wings stretch out and support her in a motion that could be describe as anything but graceful. Still, as gracefulness is absent, dramatic power is present. She makes grand sweeping flaps of her wings which propel her large body on a slight incline into the air. There is no rocketing into the heavens for this bird. With effort she lifts and skims over the water with a slight, incremental rise with each beat of the wings.

As I study the creatures of the pond, I learn things about myself as well. For instance, I attach gender to some of the individual animals.

If the turtle is ‘he’ it is because I view him as old, and as the keeper of the history and lore of the pond. This I attribute to a male role, perhaps because of my, admittedly, inaccurate default to the ‘medicine man’ or shaman as being only male.

To me, the blue heron is a she, like the female monsters of Greek mythology, such as the Medusa, Scylla, and Charybdis. She leaves a trail of destruction whenever she’s at the pond and any small living thing within her reach is at risk of death.

There are times I know she’s nearby not because I sight her but because I come across a dead animal or a broken nest on the ground. Often, too, there are feathers scattered about in one area and I wonder if there has been a fight. When she’s in the vicinity, the birds are frantic, exhibiting erratic flight and calls of distress. Their cacophony is my first clue to keep an eye peeled for her. I have walked to within six feet of a bird when the blue heron is around. The bird is clearly overprotective of her nest, which I know to be in a tree just above us, or she is confused with the loss of a newborn, which I’ve seen on the ground.

I thought it was my lucky day the one and only time I’ve seen a snake at the pond. I figured I’d come upon it at just the right moment, when it dared to venture from cover. Again, it seemed I was able to get much closer than I imagined a snake would allow. Once, in the 20 or more minutes I watched it, it raised its head in warning. And, once, it slithered, but for no more than ten feet. And, there it died. It was injured. Its neck was crushed. As I had seen the heron fly away from the pond, on a flight path just above where I found the snake, I had to wonder if she had had it in her grip but lost hold as she flew away after I startled her.

The first carcass I ever saw at the pond was that of a fish. I had not yet put together that these sightings of destruction coincided with the presence of the heron. I puzzled a long time, wondering how a dead and half eaten fish got several feet up onto the shore.

The day I took photos of the snake, the heron perched in a tree some 200 yards from the pond after I had inadvertently frightened her and she flew off. Stubbornly she sat, even allowing me to get close enough to capture her in a photo. I suspected afterwards that she was waiting for me to go away
so that she could finish her snake lunch.

In my observations of the pond I know I shouldn’t allow emotion to influence anything I see. I think excitement about things I see is alright. And, perhaps disappointment might even be okay, such as when I go days without seeing a turtle. But, should I dislike the heron? As thrilling as seeing her is, I don’t like her. As soon as I spy her, I’ll hear myself mutter, “Well, look who’s here, Trouble.” I guess all’s fair as I suspect she thinks the same of me when my presence interferes with her feeding.

The pond is a little cosmos of a natural hierarchy, where the great blue heron is king, or, well, queen.

The Turtle

Tagged , , Leave a comment


Twice I’ve seen now-a-day creatures that turn the pond into something akin to a scene in Jurassic Park. They are a turtle and a blue heron. Here I share about the turtle. My next post will be about the heron.

On an otherwise nondescript day in early spring, while I was still enjoying seeing the fish nests for what they actually were (see Craters posts), I nonchalantly registered with mild interest that a shadow in one of the larger nests resembled a turtle, a huge turtle. Just as I got that far in my thinking, the shadow moved, like a turtle. Truly, I think my jaw dropped. It was an astounding site. The shell of this particular reptile was the size of my torso. I’m sure I startled him from his rest, and with lumbering motion he rotated his enormous self and plodded away from where I stood in a stupor – wondering if time were playing a trick on me, and if I had been transported to another age, a prehistoric age. After taking ten or so turtle steps he surfaced and stuck his craggy nostrils out of the water and remained still for about twenty seconds, I imagine to get air. Then he went under water and as he swam or walked away (I could no longer see him) he left a trail of small bubbles on the water’s surface for some distance, probably fifteen feet.

I have watched in vain since then to spy him again. I’ve had to settle for smaller turtle sightings, those with fourteen inch shells, or somewhat smaller. And, I have attempted to take their pictures, but, so far, reflections in the water hide them from photo view. But I can see and capture the digital image of their nose and the telltale bubble trail as they sneak away. (There is a turtle in the photo above, but I seem to be the only one able to see it! Please comment below and let me know if you see it in this shot. The turtle had about a twelve inch shell. And, here are photos of the same turtle’s nostrils and then the trail of bubbles.)

No other creature of the pond has enchanted me as much as the large turtle. It’s to the point that my eyes are so trained to the water for any hint of his presence that I have to remind myself the turtle might just decide to meander up shore where I’m likely to trip over him as I eye the water. And, I have had to on occasion, reverse my circular direction around the pond, as my neck stiffens in my intense watchfulness!

A fisherman tells me it’s a snapper and that it’s been seen a long time at the pond. Another fisherman shared that he brought his toddler granddaughter to accompany him one afternoon. She had a child’s pole with a toy lobster at the end of a string, which she dangled in the water. The big turtle came right up and snapped the lobster from her rod. The story teller was most impressed by his granddaughter’s indignation, which she bellowed for all to hear, especially the turtle.

Today, determined to get a quality turtle photo for this post, I walked the perimeter of the pond. As I studied the shallow water at the shoreline, I was startled to see in my peripheral vision, the blue heron make her cumbersome lift off from the far shore and soar over the water to awkwardly alight about sixty feet in front of me. I’ll write about her next.

Craters, Part One

Tagged , , , , Leave a comment

The winter was mild. Infrequently was the pond covered with either ice or snow. It was early in this season that I became aware of numerous craters on the floor of the pond. They varied in diameter from approximately 14 to 30 inches. At first I was puzzled by them. But, assembling all my knowledge about natural pools (of which there is scarce quantity), I settled with pride and contentment on my conclusion that the origin of these markings in the terrain were the effects of natural springs. My pond was ‘spring fed.’ I’d heard that phrase somewhere in my past and I was comfortable with that characteristic assumption about the pond. I went so far as to decide that this meant my pond was old and it was healthy. With the naivety of a true amateur scientist, I built my conclusion into a visual image of pure cool water seeping up from layers beneath the Earth’s crust, and springing forth with such eager force as to push the surface silt into neat little circles.

With that mystery solved, I had pleasant walks around the pond as often as I could. My theory of what lay beneath the water was only reinforced when ice finally formed. With the commonness of the craters below, black patches, with dark tentacles reaching away from them, littered the frozen surface. With my continued ignorance leading my thoughts, I was sure these were places where the ice was not as well frozen, due to the water’s motion from the springs below.


It would be some months before the real cause of the craters would be explained to me by a reliable source, a fisherman.
(This I will share with you in ‘Craters, Part Two’, a few postings from now.)

I Am Smitten As Winter Approaches

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
We moved to this property in the fall. With boxes to unpack, painting to be done, utility details to unravel, I can’t say my focus was the pond. But each time I drove by, on my way on or off the premises, I would think how pretty it was. I realize now, that the colors we chose for the inside of our new home were inspired by the ring of foliage surrounding the pond when we arrived.
I first saw the pond up close on walks with our dog. Although this move was a default plan to accommodate my health, when I was near the pond, I could see there might be some redeeming value to our relocation. When I was close to it, it piqued my curiosity. It was teeming with flora and fauna, with bugs and mire. As I observed these things, I fell gradually, but seriously, for this little life force. It was a big, beautiful Petri dish.

As the busy fall blended into dreary winter, I remember one day in particular when, although winter was approaching, it was unseasonably warm, and I was out for a late afternoon walk. It was a good day, (i.e., a day when my legs are strong) and I circled the pond six or seven times over the course of an hour and a half. The whole time, the sky became more and more ominous, spitting rain off and on, as a harsh wind kept me wondering if those who were tuned to the airways knew of an impending tornado. The sky was churning billowy cloud masses, and it felt as if Armageddon was upon us. There was an eerie darkness, but, something about being near the pond made it all feel invigorating.

I think that’s the day I became smitten by the pond, as it sat black and silent, not competing with the natural elements surrounding it. It dared me to take another lap each time I passed the path to our house. In total confidence and full comfort, I repeatedly did, until it became too dark to see my footing. Only then did I walk away, and I did so reluctantly.

The Pond

Tagged , , , , Leave a comment

This is the first post on this site. I’ve created this blog to express, as best I can, the upside of my life after having been railroaded by chronic health concerns. In one brief sentence, I woke up from a surgery five years ago a changed person. I have tumbled into a life of chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia (stiff, painful muscles). It stinks. I guess that’s three brief sentences.

In any event, last year we sold our home because I could no longer care for it, and I left work, because it consumed all my energy, leaving none for my family. I am now reconstucting a manageable life, living in a condo (which is a fairly large stand-alone house, and quite pleasant), and I’m establishing a home business, writing and editing. Where in my former life I worked out for a strenuous one hour, four to six times per week, I now do 30 minutes of stretch and strengthening exercises, in bed each morning, to prepare my legs to tolerate standing and walking. And, I try to walk outdoors too – but, that comes a bit later in this writing.

It’s been a major head trip, finding myself riding sidecar to my former life. I think two things most bother me. First, people who do not have this condition really cannot understand it. It doesn’t help that I’m the picture of health! Second, I can never predict how I will feel on any given day. So, it’s hard to plan ahead. I used to love to travel. Now, I worry that if I book a vacation, I won’t have the strength to actually go. But, it’s more in the day to day living that not being able to plan ahead becomes a problem. I’ve become a less reliable friend, as fairly often I have to cancel out of tentative (I learned to set that expectation) plans.

But, the purpose of this blog is to focus on the silver linings I have found in my new life. Amazingly, there are two big additions to my life!!! And, I am loving them both.

Since leaving work, I am able to listen to music every waking minute of my day. This is the first silver lining. I have always loved music, so this is a huge treat. I really don’t remember ever having this luxury before, except perhaps those lazy, hazy days of childhood summer. Immediately, with that thought, “I Think We’re Alone Now” (can you hear the heartbeat?) comes to mind! That’s the first tune I remember singing with friends in front of a mirror, whiling away a hot summer afternoon.

The second silver lining, I reveal hesitantly. I would never, in a million years, have expected this. I am mesmerized with the pond life which shows itself daily in a little water hole on our new property. I study it as often as I can get my legs to take me on a walk around its perimeter, which I estimate to be just short of a half mile.

Please visit this blog again as I will share with you my completely amateur, but delight filled, observations of the sights this pond reveals to me.