If Barns Could Talk

This barn makes me smile every time that I see it, which is almost daily because it is near the reservoir where I love to take nature walks with my camera.   I love its Mona Lisa type of grin, which makes me wonder what memories it could share if it were able to talk. How many haying seasons has it housed in it's big loft. What kinds of animals found shelter in those orange walls. And..really, why was it painted orange in the first place?

My own memory about this barn is from a beautiful autumn day many years ago. The owners had a country shop in it, named, of course, The Orange Barn. My mother-in-law took me to a special event hosted by the business. It was the first time I had warmed apple cider, complete with a cinnamon stick for stirring. Such a lovely, simple drink to warm the hands and heart on a cool day. And spending the afternoon there was a nice way of getting to know Marge better.

As I drive around the countryside, I notice that many barns and outbuildings seem to have "faces" as this one does. I usually cannot photograph them because of traffic, or because I need to keep driving in order to get to my destination in time. But, because I think that faces in barns would be a nice collection, I am going to put more effort into recording them before they all disappear, only to be replaced by nondescript metal buildings.

Where do you find "faces"?  Do you record them with your camera? If not..what's holding you back?

Marcheta *about face!

Regal Attire



All Dressed up With Somewhere to Go.
 I found this Monarch Butterfly fueling up
for its long flight to Mexico at Amann
Reservoir in Galion, Ohio.



My original plan for Ohio Country Journal was to record a country year, not only my experiences, but also to profile the lives of the amazing women who have chosen to make their own careers by working in the country. I feel that I did a pretty good job of giving readers a glimpse into the country life, whether it be by describing work, talents, or by sharing recipes, and was satisfied to stop posting.

However, my mind has changed (I am a woman after all *smiles*) because of requests to fire up the blog again. So here it is; a new post. I am starting the new season of blogging on a regal note by yammering about Monarch Butterflies.

Sure, they are pretty. Pretty amazing, that is. I became aware of just how amazing these beauties are when I worked with Cindy Eusey at Lowe-Volk Park Nature Center in Leesville, Ohio.


Since retiring from teaching, Cindy has joined the ranks of full-time country women and was known for a while as the Llama Lady. Ever the teacher, Cindy was also the environmental educator at the nature center, where one of the Monarch Butterflies that she tagged during a program for school children was discovered in Mexico.

Stay tuned to this blog to learn just why Monarch Butterflies are dear to Cindy's heart by reading her story about traveling to Monarch migration grounds in Mexico (teaser...she had to ride a mule for part of the journey!).

Marcheta *float like a butterfly...oops, that's Mohamed Ali's tag line (shhhh...don't tell that I borrowed it)

Happy Winter Solstice!

 

 

In looking for a poem that fits this picture of a gull taken during the Winter Solstice in 2012, I turned to the Poetry Foundation's website. Right off, I came across this poem by a favorite poet of mine, Mary Oliver, who was born in Ohio. Mary lived in the east during her adult years, but many of her nature poems have their roots in Ohio.

 

I love the winter solstice. It is a day to remember ancient people who planned their celebrations of life around the natural calendar. I always take the day off, a welcome break in all the Christmas preparation frenzies. I usually do not have a clear-cut plan of how I will spend the day, I simply drive around to see what I'll see. Last year I came across gulls at my regular nature spot, which was a treat because gulls are not all that common at the reservoirs.

 

This year, I invited Denise to motor around with me. Our loose plan is to meander to Lake Erie, but with heavy rains predicted for the day, our plans may change to staying closer to home. Either way, and with or without Old Sol, we'll enjoy our respite from Holiday Madness.

 

I wish calmness and serenity on this Winter Solstice Day, the shortest day of the year. I'm feeling a little bit like Age of Aquarius right now!

 

Marcheta *let the sun shine, let the sun shine in!

 

White-Eyes

By Mary Oliver b. 1935 Mary Oliver

In winter

    all the singing is in

         the tops of the trees

             where the wind-bird

with its white eyes

    shoves and pushes

         among the branches.

             Like any of us

he wants to go to sleep,

    but he's restless—

         he has an idea,

             and slowly it unfolds

from under his beating wings

    as long as he stays awake.

         But his big, round music, after all,

             is too breathy to last.

So, it's over.

    In the pine-crown

         he makes his nest,

             he's done all he can.

I don't know the name of this bird,

    I only imagine his glittering beak

         tucked in a white wing

             while the clouds—

which he has summoned

    from the north—

         which he has taught

             to be mild, and silent—

thicken, and begin to fall

    into the world below

         like stars, or the feathers

               of some unimaginable bird

that loves us,

    that is asleep now, and silent—

         that has turned itself

             into snow

Cedar Waxeing

 

 

 

This past week my friend and fellow nature photographer buff, Steve, has been finding hoards of Cedar Waxwings at Amann/Amick Reservoirs.

 

I have not been so lucky.

 

 

Bummer :(

 

 

 

The first time that I saw Cedar Waxwings was during a home invasion of my Hawthorn tree, which is right outside the window where I work.

 

 

Below is part of what I wrote about the experience for the Galion Inquirer. Stay tuned to this blog for chapter 2 for more info on Cedar Waxwings and another friend's experience with these awesome birds :)

 

Marcheta *waxing ornithological

 

 

"Cedar Waxwings (bombycilla cedrorum) are lovely to watch. They sport black masks that I am sure are the envy of area raccoons and spiked crests that resemble those of cardinals. With wings smooth as doves’, these birds are a color mix of soft brown, gray, and lemon yellow, with bright red patches on their wing tips. Being extremely social, they are usually found in large numbers. 

I first noticed cedar waxwings twelve years ago while I was working in my home office. It was early March and suddenly from the corner of my eye I saw a huge flock of birds land in the Hawthorn tree that is close to a window. Since this room is on the second story, my window is at eye-level with the tree’s canopy. 

 

 The tree is so close to the house that I felt that if I opened the window, I could reach out and touch the birds. Those masked marauders were feasting on the Hawthorn berries like nothing I had ever seen. I stood in awe for the half hour that it took the birds to completely strip the tree, which is the pride and joy of my winter landscape. 

 

 I didn’t know what kind of birds those were, nor did I understand what had just happened. Lucky for me, Jim knew. He identified them as cedar waxwings and explained that the bright red berries attracted the huge congregation.

 

 Having depleted our tree, they were off to strip other trees and bushes. I was miffed that my tree was left barren, but the memory of the exhilarating experience of watching the birds is something that will stay with me for my lifetime."

 



Lucy Goosey

Now what? :)

My friend Lucy, who I see almost every day at the reservoir, seems to be thinking, "I don't know! I need  a time out  so I can get everything thunk out and sorted!"

 

And that is what I am doing today...taking time to re-group and re-organize to prepare for my last wave of busyness for this year: Christmas tree and wreath sales. 

We won't be making the greens for at least a week, we like our customers to get them nice and fresh. What I am doing now is preparing what I am able to ahead of time, such as get the price-list updated, make a few posters to put around town, get the ad ready for the newspaper, and other what-not. 

Today's chores don't include any of that, though. I spent all morning getting banking accounts updated, bills paid and out of my way. Now I'm off to the stores to stock up on household staples so that I won't have to be bothered with shopping after a long day of work. I am trying to get as much off of my mind as possible.

Yesterday after our Happy Birdday party, Jim trimmed a juniper that had gone a bit wild at Kerry's house. 

Juniper is my favorite green for fragrance and helped me get it in my head that autumn and all of its glory is disappearing **fast** and I need to gear up for Christmas and winter. The snow flurries that are predicted will help.

Meanwhile, I am going to enjoy being out and about today. One highlight will be meeting up with a few of my writer buds at Barnes and Noble. We're meeting to check in how we're doing and to offer support and encouragement to each other. Like me, most have given up the pressure to be done with NaNoWriMo on time, and to know that others are of a like mind helps me relax about changing the date of my personal goal.

Marcheta *breathing

The Accidental Emerald

Things are pretty quiet these days at my favorite nature spot. The other day I was feeling a bit dejected as I walked the shoreline, hoping to find....well, whatever I would find. I always treat these daily walks as explorations with no goal in mind. Just see what I'll see. But I always hope to see wildlife. And I usually wish that I lived up on Lake Erie.

Because of the wind, the waves in the small reservoir were extremely choppy. This gave me a feeling that I actually was at the Lake. To complete the picture, a group of Herring Gulls began to congregate, giving me hope that I would get a nature picture, but most were too far out of camera range.

Drat.

But something else caught my eye...a glimmer bounced up from the ground. A brief ray of sun had hit a shard of green glass. 

Again, I was reminded of a favorite place on the Lake where I always find lake glass, sometimes called "sea glass" or "beach glass". No matter what moniker it goes by, it is simply pieces of glass, broken by the waves and polished by the sand as it gets washed ashore. It has no control over where  it will land, but after being tossed about in stormy waters, the glass becomes transformed from "litter" to "value", as it is highly sought after by jewelry makers.  I just put my collection in a vase.

I did not take the "emerald" that day; I left it to its fate (hoping that it would get pulled back in the water and given a proper polish).

My brief encounter with the faux emerald made me feel transformed, too, that I have value here in farm country.

Marcheta *green with envy

Just Passin' Through...Fall Migration

 

 

As often as possible (almost daily) I like to begin and end daylight hours with a trip with my camera to my favorite local nature spot, the twin reservoirs Amann/Amick just south of Galion in Morrow County.

This past week an Osprey has kept me entertained. Ospreys are not a common sight, and to have one hanging around has many people all a-flutter. I may not get the best pictures of it (after all, these raptors move !!!FAST!!!), but watching it cruise along, taking a high road, then bomb-diving for it's meal revs up my energy, too. 

Usually I arrive near the end of its fishing expedition (if I see it at all) and have no hope for any sort of decent picture because it stays too far from shore.

This morning I was lucky. I went to Amick first. What I first saw gave me hope, for just inside the parking lot, three pickup trucks were clustered together. Each driver was standing outside his truck, and one had binoculars pointed skyward. 

Instantly, ***I KNEW IT***

I knew that the men were watching something big and wonderful. It had to be the Osprey or the equally magnificent Bald Eagle that has been fishing there daily, too. I took my eyes off of them as I slowed to enter the parking lot and looked at the sky over the water, and there it was. With a slight tilt of extended wings and moving full speed ahead, the Osprey rounded the far shore and made a bee-line towards us lowly humans.

 

I forgot all about the sandwich I had brought for an al-fresco breakfast picnic and parked the car near the boat ramp so that I could run up and down the muddy, rocky shore if needed. The engine barely had time to shut down as I grabbed my camera, which I've learned to keep loaded, turned on, and ready to fire for these types of photo emergencies . I don't think I've ever exited a car as fast as I did today :)

I could not believe my luck as I took steady aim as I could muster and began to pan in sync with this magnificent bird. I stayed right with him, vicariously and enviously enjoying the freedom of flight.

 And the best part? Mr. Osprey came *almost* in my 300mm camera lens range, the closest that I've been able to get so far. And the better part? It circled around several times, giving me more than one photo op. Not quite the "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille"...but, hey, I'm still a happy photography camper today!

 

I'm telling you, the res is where it's at for nature lovers as well as fishermen and the picnic crowd. And it is going to get better. Although not on a high migration trail, we do get variety of weary travelers looking to dine and rest on the waters. Two years ago I got a nice picture of a horned grebe, for instance.

Now is the time to look for migrating waterfowl. This online article on Crane Creek-Magee Marsh Birding by world renown birding expert (and fellow Ohioan) Kenn Kaufmann explains what to look for this fall; month by month. Seeking these visitors is a rewarding way to spend a beautiful autumn day, like today. I cannot think of a better way to spend a country drive than to head out to marshes and nature areas looking for birds of a different feather. Can you?

A few nature place to try in Crawford and surrounding counties are: Garlo Nature Preserve (Seneca County), Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area (Wyandot County) and Big Island Wildlife Area (Marion County).

Marcheta *happy hunter

National Symbols

Here are a few of the wild turkeys that we see a few times each day when they come to wet their whistles at our nature pond. So far, they keep me at a distance and I haven't been able to get a very good picture of them. Who says that turkeys aren't smart?

Later, at the reservoir, I saw a Bald Eagle. It was up high and moving fast. Even though my pic of it isn't fantastic, it is my personal best to date.

Seeing turkeys and Bald Eagles within an hour seems significant, somehow. Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be our national symbol. I do like them, but I am glad that the majestic eagle won out. When I watch one soar to great heights; when I think of how keen their senses and natural instincts are, I agree that the Bald Eagle is the perfect symbol of what our forefathers had in mind for our nation.

Marcheta *bird lover