Nothing’s happening
Yet everything is here Now
I breathe in silence.
I wait in silence
For a small sign from above
To take the next step.
The day goes to sleep
Never to wake up again
Blue silence remains.
Life crafts miracles
In the silence of the night
I trust and exhale.
On the last evening of ‘winter time’, Saturday last week, Dylan and I headed towards the dog park for the first time in almost two weeks. My foot had finally healed and Dylan had overcome his tummy troubles caused by the anesthesia earlier in the week. I carried my smaller camera just in case I’d be able to capture a few moody twilight pictures. Although the sunset still colored the sky in the south-west over the bay, the almost full moon was already high up on the sky.
Arriving at the salt marsh, we saw Papa Stanley fly away from the nest. Perhaps after giving Mama Sandy, who was patiently sitting on the eggs, a good night kiss.
Otherwise the marsh looked deserted for the night. Suddenly I spotted something bright and familiar behind the bushes. Miss Rosa, whom I hadn’t seen for several weeks, was out and about having a late night snack. I was happy to see her even if I couldn’t get a clear shot.
There were no other dogs at the park, but Dylan wanted to run around for a bit. It was getting so dark I could hardly see him, but I got this funny picture of him ‘flying’ past me across the grass. Obviously I had not set my camera properly.
The park is not lit at night and the gate was about to close when we headed back towards the street. We could see Sandy’s head sticking up from the nest right next to the perch.
I’m sure she was already sleeping. Suddenly something big flew low past us. First I thought it was a Night Heron as I have sometimes spotted them this late at night. But this bird was much bigger. I took a shot when I saw him between the bushes.
It was the Mayor, the older and larger Great Blue Heron. No doubt about it. Hmm. My old suspicion that he might have a nest in the middle of the marsh came to mind again. Why would he otherwise visit the marsh at nightfall?
We walked home through the darkening bay side. It was peaceful despite the fact that the ongoing spring break had brought thousands of visitors to our area.
Then this week hit me with tons of work. But I kept on spying on Sandy and Stanley from our terrace from time to time. During the windy cool spell earlier in the week, Sandy was sitting tight with her head against the wind and I hardly saw her moving. Yesterday afternoon the temperatures reached balmy 62 F/17 C and I spotted Stanley on the perch looking at Sandy who was sitting on the eggs.
Suddenly Sandy got up and checked on the eggs for quite a while. Maybe she was turning them to keep them evenly heated. You see, she can feel the temperature of the eggs through the receptors in her brooding patches. Once she was up and moving around, I tried to peek into the nest cup with my zoom. It is surprisingly deep. Even enlarging my pictures by 200% and lightening them, it was impossible to see how many eggs she has. In one picture, I thought I saw three, but can’t be sure. You know my lively imagination. But we will know soon enough, in just a few days, how many eggs will hatch.
Then last night, Dylan and I went to the dog park again to celebrate that my busy work week was coming to a close. The sun was still up over the ocean, painting the skies and our garden in flaming colors. What a difference one hour makes!
The bay was basking in the glow as well. And we found a Great Egret fishing next to the Sailing Center.
And two American Oyster Catchers were having their dinner on the top of the rocks bared by the low tide.
Part of the salt marsh was still basking in the last rays of sun, here seen through one of my usual hideouts. And Dylan had a few friends to run with at the park.
I am hoping to get in a long walk this weekend to catch up with the latest ‘gossip’ at the marsh and its surroundings. And to catch up on your blogs as well.
Have a wonderful weekend. Peace.
I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, unless I spend four hours a day at least, and it is commonly more that that, sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, absolutely free from all worldly engagements. – Henry Thoreau.
Solitude is not the absence of Love, but its complement. Solitude is not the absence of company, but the moment when our soul is free to speak to us and help us decide what to do with our life. – Paulo Coelho
Solitude is aloneness you choose and embrace. I think great things can come out of solitude, out of going to a place where all is quiet except the beating of your heart. -Jeanne Marie Laskas
Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. – John Muir
Solitude in the summer forest, full of leafy trees, urges us to breathe. To enjoy beingness, just like them. – Tiny K.
It is time now, I said, for the deepening and quieting of the spirit among the flux of happenings. – Mary Oliver
Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all the darkness. – Desmond Tutu
Solitude feels like a refreshing shower of light snow. It’s brightening my soul. – Tiny K.
Solitude is the great teacher, and to learn its lessons you must pay attention to it. -Deepak Chopra
Wherever the wave of life transports me, I always seek natural beauty. Back home it was easy to find untouched nature and to feel its ‘spirit’.  Even when people help nature to produce fruits, vegetables and berries it happens in harmony with the wild. Lettuce grows not far from lingonberries.
In my dad’s garden, the apples were still growing, getting more colorful every day. And the healthy buckthorn berries were almost ripe to pick.
On our daily walks, of which at least one went all the way around the lake, I noticed and enjoyed the small things in nature. Like the butterflies, the Peacock and the Mourning Cloak we found around our trail.
IÂ heard the hum of the universe in the Finnish forests, mighty green with stately firs, pines and birches. And rowan trees full of red berries for the birds to enjoy.
And I admired the great variety of wildflowers we encountered on our walks: wild roses, blue bells, clover, dandelions, heather and floating beds of water lilies.
I stopped to take pictures of them and then had to run to reach the others. Great exercise…some days over 12,000 steps. Not that I’m counting  :-).  Although in fairness, our awesome guide would stop and wait for me if I disappeared from sight. He always made sure nobody was left behind in the woods.
Whether it was morning, late afternoon or evening, the lake always spoiled us with gorgeous views.
One evening we spotted a couple of Whooper Swans very close to the shore, but of course that time I didn’t carry my camera. The next evening I could only find one of them at the far end of the lake.
We often came back from our explorations around the magical ‘blue hour’ after sunset. Then, soon after night fall around 10 p.m., the moon climbed up onto the sky painting the lake in magical colors.
My last evening ‘back home’ I went out to the lake and got a surprising goodbye gift. A Loon swam quietly out through the reeds fairly close to me. What a treat!
The next morning I had to leave at 3 am to make my early flight to London and further to the US. The archipelago outside Helsinki was just waking up to a new day. I felt deep gratitude for having had this wonderful time with my dad, my sister, my niece, aunts and cousins.
The next morning after coming home, I found a welcome committee from the salt marsh right here in our garden. Snowy Egrets, White Ibis and a Northern Mockingbird had gathered to welcome me home.
That was wonderful, but nothing compared to the reception I got on my first walk at the salt marsh this morning. Can’t wait to tell you all about the welcome back party.
I wish you all a wonderful weekend and a great new week.
Man has created beautiful architectural curves. One prime example is the Dali Museum building in St. Petersburg. It is a curved masterpiece of glass and cement. The large free-form geodesic glass bubble known as the ‘enigma’ is made up of 1,062 triangular pieces of glass.
To add to the curves, the museum garden also boasts a statue of Dali’s curved mustache.
As you can imagine, there are many beautiful curves inside the building as well, but the only example I have been allowed to photograph is this impressive ‘fire horse’. It stands tall right in the entrance lobby, showcasing its many lit curves.
But how do the man-made curves compare with the curves created by nature? Like this giraffe on the savannah with its soft curves.
Or this Great Egret with its long, curved neck.
And how does any manmade curve, however masterfully created, compare with the perfect curve of the rainbow that hangs there, freely suspended in the air over the bay. Just like that.
And not to talk about the celestial ‘buildings’. The sun just about the dive into the ocean. Flawless, well-lit curves.
Or the moon laying on its belly in the evening sky. An impeccable curve, even when captured by a mere human on the ground.
I appreciate all beautiful curves, but I’m sure you can see what inspires me more…what about you?
Rising high on the sunset sky
The reddish moon of tonight
I quiet my mind and it moves closer
That’s a beautiful sight.
My conscious world grows smaller and smaller
Thoughts come to close with ease
They drop away one by one
I feel nothing but Peace.
Hi friends! This is Bumble again. I posted this story from last weekend on my blog earlier today, but since mom doesn’t feel like writing today, I generously promised to post it here too. Mom is a bit sad. Muted. She said she’s lost an actor, who always made her laugh. I love it when she laughs. Who’s gonna make her laugh now? I hope this will cheer her up at least a little bit. So here we go.
“It all started in July. Mom told me she’d been bitten by a bug.  A photo bug, to be exact. I’m sure the bug was hanging around the birds she always shoots in the nature reserve. Anyway, she ordered a new camera. I was wondering why she was wasting money when the old one still was in one piece. It wasn’t broken. She said she wanted to get closer to everything she shoots. That sounded less than safe. Think if she wanted to take pictures of a snake! Or a lion when she travels to Africa! How dangerous is that?
So the new camera arrived. But mom still wasn’t happy. She ordered a tripod. I had no idea what that was. Anyway, when the package arrived, I saw it was very small. About my size. But then mom shook its legs and it became very tall, almost her size. Exactly like the other three-legged tower I’ve seen in the walking closet on my house inspection tours. Why did she need another one? She said the first one was dad’s and too heavy for her to carry! How can that be?  She can carry a 15 pound dog! Sometimes mom doesn’t make sense to me.
Soon I saw mom put her camera on the top of the new tower and spend lots of time on the terrace. She said she was trying it out to get good pictures of the supermoon in August. But she took pictures of the osprey nest in the nature reserve! She showed me the “close-up” of the nest, but that also didn’t make any sense to me. The nest was empty! She knew that the baby bird had grown up long ago and the whole family had moved away for now. I couldn’t figure it out, but if she’s happy, I’m happy.
Fast forward to last weekend. On Friday we went for our last walk for the day around 9 p.m. Mom took a picture of me with her iPhone. You can see it was dark. She was looking up and looking up. I was getting worried she might step into something undesirable. She said the moon was behind too many clouds. And that she was afraid she couldn’t get any pictures of the moon this weekend. I couldn’t help but wonder if she had bought the wrong camera. A good one should be able to see the moon anyway, right?
Then, on Saturday night we came out just after 9 p.m. But we didn’t go for a walk! As soon as I had done my first item of business, just around the corner of our garage, mom wanted to go in again. The moon was visible every now and then between the clouds, and mom wanted to get her camera! So out we came again with the tall tower in tow. And the camera clued on the top. I did my second item of business. Then we walked on the grass and mom planted the “thing” there. I had to sit next to it.
Then mom started shooting. The camera lens was pointed all the way up to the clouds. And the moon, when it made a few short appearances. I saw the moon too, but to me it looked just like it always does. A bright ball in the sky. Nothing super about it. But it was super hot and I started to get sweaty! Finally mom said we needed to move a little bit so she could get the moon from between the trees. Now I started panting. We had just parked under the trees where I used to chase squirrels, when it started raining. Phew! Mom grabbed the tower under one arm and me under the other and in she ran! We made it into the garage just when the huge drops hit the ground.
Luckily it was cloudy on Sunday. I got my evening walk again. Everything was back to normal. I hope it’ll be long before mom wants to chase the supermoon again.
Keep well now. Love, Bumble”
TINY LESSONS BLOG 