Earth and Sky

Winter is the time of silver days...

...when earth and sky are one.

Linked to Skywatch Friday.

Giant Mystery Moth

These photos were taken by a friend last spring in the Garden Center of a Lowes' store. Neither of us have seen anything like this month before and I am hoping one of my readers will be able to identify it for us.

Linked to Macro Monday.

Thank you to Sandy and Farming Mama--This is a Columbia Silkmoth, and yes, it is native to Michigan (as well as many other parts of the US and Canada).

Winter Aster

February Light

All morning in the February light
snowflakes float down
shrouding the ground
and my mind wanders off
in wistful far off dreams

snow covered twists and turns
of unsalted country roads
under my tires jar my mind
back to present and
the cellphone rings and

I wrap the silver February light
protectively around my soul
work to do, people to see
but for the moment I am alone
on country roads in February light.

Linked to Real Toads.

(Today's challenge was to write a poem starting with the first line of someone else's poem. I chose the first line of Telephone Repair Man by Joseph Millar.)

Purple and Orange

Since our skies have been rather undramatic lately, I thought I would dig into my archives for a brighter skywatch photo. This is a sunset from February, 2011.

Linked to skywatch friday.

February Rain

Promises of Spring

The first green buds break

the sandy soil beneath my feet

Overhead the wings of sandhill cranes

beat a rhythm through the clouds

their cry heard long before they are seen,

Returning from the south, two by two,

bringing with them promises of spring.

Linked to Macro Monday.

(Click here for an audio of the cry of the sandhill crane.)

Hocking Hills State Park--Upper Gorge

After visiting Old Man's Cave, we continued up the gorge toward the Upper Falls (post with photos of the upper falls coming next). This section of the gorge is quite short, but still filled with lots of beauty. Since it contains the trail that connects the  Upper Falls and Old Man's Cave, which are the two most popular destinations in Hocking Hills, it gets the most foot traffic of all the trails. From what I understand, in the summer this part of the park can be quite crowded.

There are several bridges that span Salt Creek in the gorge. This bridge made of concrete slabs was one of the most interesting one (though not very safe since it was covered with ice!). I tried to find out more information about the architect, but a pretty extensive Internet search did not unearth any information.

Many icicles adorned the walls of the gorge--the above photo might be my favorite icicle of photo of the entire trip.

Continuing to head up the gorge we crossed another little stone bridge and came to a whirlpool--which has the name Devil's Bathtub.

Another  waterfall and the stone steps that lead up to the visitor's center.

And yet another waterfall...

...and a photo looking up the gorge.

Next post--The Upper Falls.

Previous Posts:

Hocking Hills Park Part one: Introduction
Hocking Hills Park Part two: Ash Cave
Hocking Hills Park Part three: Rock Bridge
Hocking Hills Park Part four: Grandma Gatewood Trail
Hocking Hills Park Part five: Old Man's Cave
Related Posts:
Musings At Rock House (a poem)
Ice Swirls

Celebrating the Ordinary

It is Skywatch Friday, and we are celebrating ordinary skies again here at Dandelion Haven. I snapped this photo on my way home from work today--I love a lone tree in the middle of a farmer's field. Even on a gray day, there is something serene and comforting about a lone tree.

A Rose From Last Summer's Garden

Happy Valentine's Day.

Hocking Hills State Park--Old Man's Cave

Old Man's Cave is a recess cave. It gets it's name from the trapper, Richard Rowe, who made it a part time home. Legend has it that the trapper accidentally shot himself while breaking ice with the butt of his gun on the stream in the gorge in get water, and that he is buried somewhere in the sandy floor of the cave.

The cave and gorge is formed from black hand sandstone and years of erosion from Salt Creek, the small stream that flows though  it.

The floor of the cave is made up of soft brown sand and was nice and dry.

Two views looking while standing inside the cave--the first one is looking south west toward the lower gorge...

...and looking south east...up the gorge.

The small waterfall next to the cave...

A small rock bridge spans Salt Creek right in front of the cave.

The gorge above the waterfall..

Next Hocking Hills post--Upper Gorge along the Old Man's Cave trail.

Previous posts:
Hocking Hills Park Part one: Introduction
Hocking Hills Park Part two: Ash Cave
Hocking Hills Park Part three: Rock Bridge
Hocking Hills Park Part four: Grandma Gatewood Trail
Related Posts:
Musings At Rock House (a poem)
Ice Swirls

Be Still

(Sunrise over the little marshy pond a little way down the road from us on 2/5/12)

Be still, be still...

It has been a week of mind numbing fatigue--falling behind, trying to catch up, using every last minute of the day...and still being behind.

Be still, be still...

Deep breathes, quiet, silence, be still.

Trust.

All will be well.

He holds me in the palm of his hand.

He carries me on the breath of the dawn.

He makes me to shine like the sun.

Be still.

All will be well.

Linking to Five Minute Friday and Sky Watch Friday.

(Thanks for the many comments over the past week! I'm looking forward to catching up with you all over the weekend. It has been a hectic week.)

"...a barn is a whole universe..."

"Inside a barn is a whole universe, with its own time zone and climate and ecosystem, a shadowy world of swirling dust illuminated in tiger stripes by light shining through the cracks in the boards."

--Carolyn Jourden (Heart in the Right Place)

Embrace

Linked to Macro Monday.

Hocking Hills State Park Part 4: Grandma Gatewood Trail

 I have a confession to make. You don't want me to be your tour guide on a sightseeing trip. I didn't do much in preparing for this trip in the way of looking up maps and getting a feel for how we would spend our days. I figured when we got there we would just stop by the visitor center and pick up some maps and figure out where to go from there. Well, we got to Hocking Hills late in the evening in the middle of a rainstorm. When we woke up in the morning the rain had turned to ice and a light dusting of snow. That didn't stop us from going out, but the park service decided the ice and snow made for a good day to take off--and since the visitors center was closed on Saturday and Sunday as well, we spent our whole trip without a real map or any good idea of where we were going. To complicate matters, the signage along the trails can be confusing. There would be places where three trails connected--but only two signs with arrows vaguely pointing off in the distance--but not necessarily directed toward any of the trails. As a result, on our second day we took a very long unintended hike with no food (my husband will never let me forget that part of the day!), but the good part is, we saw got to see all kinds of things on the way, and even managed to find our way back to car all in one piece and before dark.) The first part of  our unintended long hike took us along part of the Grandma Gatewood Trail.

The Grandma Gatewood Trail is a 5 mile rim trail that runs from Ash Cave to Old Man's Cave. While is a relatively easy trail, Grandma Gatewood who it is named after, was a tough little lady. A farmer's wife and a mother of 11, she took up hiking in her older years. She was the first woman to hike the entire Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Main--solo, in one season, and at the age 67 to boot. And her hiking didn't end there. Later she hiked 2000 miles of the Oregon Trail and traveled every state in the US. She traveled light, eating very simply and sleeping under a plastic shower curtain and an army blanket. All in all, she gives me something to aspire to when I get older!

The trail follows the rim of gorge through hemlock woods. Many small streams wind through the wood and tumble down into the gorge. We passed many mini waterfalls and some larger waterfalls--and some that we knew were there, but didn't dare get close enough to the edge of the gorge for fear of falling over to be able to see them.

Rose Lake (a man made reservoir) is about half way between Cedar Falls and Old Man's Cave. This photo was taken while standing on the dam.

There were lots of icicles along the rocks overhanging the streams...

...as well as many twisted interesting roots along the way.

This is the top of a waterfall that plunges deep into the gorge. I believe it is Whispering Falls--photos of the waterfall from the gorge trail coming with another post.

Another small gem of a waterfall...

Next Hocking Hills post--Old Man's Cave.
Previous posts:
Hocking Hills Park Part one: Introduction
Hocking Hills Park Part two: Ash Cave
Hocking Hills Park Part three: Rock Bridge
Related Posts:
Musings At Rock House (a poem)
Ice Swirls

Remembering Summer

After yesterday's rather chilly photo and poem, I decided I needed some color to warm me up. What better place to look for color than last summer's yard and garden?

Basket, basil, and vegetables. I wove this grapevine basket to share as part of a blog giveaway last summer--it ended up in California with Heidi at My Simple Country Living.

One of the of my many mystery roses. I'm looking forward to seeing how my mystery roses do over the winter and to many more blooms this coming summer.

We got the hammock up a bit late last summer. This year it is going up as soon as the weather warms up and I'm going to put my feet up and read among the butterflies and chickadees every chance I get!

I didn't see many Monarchs last summer, and most of the ones that I did see didn't stick around for photos. However this Monarch stayed still for several minutes allowing me to get several photos. We encourage milkweed on our property for the Monarchs.

And what could say warmth and color better than a Baby Bear pumpkin? I'm still thrilled that was able to outwit the Squash vine borers last summer and harvest fully ripe pumpkins and squash for the first time since I have lived in Michigan.

Winter Sketch

Stinging snow pellets

bite through gray air

erasing color

 from landscape and sky

Sagging lines

stretch across fields

wooden supports leaning

tired and cold.

Eyes squinting though the snow

Head down against the wind

hands in pockets

I hurry towards warmth

Nothing of beauty here,

to catch the eye

In this treeless land

of lifeless cornfields

 and leaning telephone poles.

Or is there?

Linked to Skywatch Friday.

(Inspired in part by Stewart's skywatch post last Friday over at Paying Ready Attention...finding beauty in  the common everyday skies. Our skies the past several days have for the most part been pretty colorless--yet, even then there is a certain stark beauty to be found.)