Category: Nature

Yellow, gold, orange, scarlet … the colors of Autumn

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Autumn … one of the many reasons why I will never leave New England. While out on my lunchtime walk on the Brook Path in Wellesley, the color orange followed me everywhere.

It began with this:

This fungi really intrigued me, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen such a brilliant color of orange on a mushroom!

If you know what kind of mushroom this is, please comment and share your knowledge.

Emerging from the Brook Path, the red and orange leaves made their presence known:

It seems appropriate then to close this post with a short poem about this lovely time of year:

Autumn

Alexander Lawrence Posey

In the dreamy silence
Of the afternoon, a
Cloth of gold is woven
Over wood and prairie;
And the jaybird, newly
Fallen from the heaven,
Scatters cordial greeting,
And the air is filled with
Scarlet leaves, that, dropping
Rise again, as ever,
With a useless sigh for
Rest–and it is Autumn.

What signs of Autumn are you seeing in your world?

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Susan Bailey, Author, Speaker, Musician on Facebook and Twitter
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Parrot Lovers – check this out!

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I found this on The Cornell Lab of Ornithology Facebook site. If you like parrots, you’ll love this!

Quoted form the site: “One of the benefits of studying parrots is learning how they develop their complex vocal abilities. Another benefit is… baby parrots!!! Watch this fascinating video about how Green-rumped Parrotlets learn their “names” in the wild:”

Go here to see the video: http://bit.ly/PwDSHA

It seemed appropriate to include this short conversation between two parrots: 🙂

Click to Tweet & Share: Parrot Lovers! You have to check out this video from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology @CornellBirds Baby Parrots! http://wp.me/p2D9hg-cU

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Susan Bailey, Author, Speaker, Musician on Facebook and Twitter
Read my other blog, Louisa May Alcott is My Passion

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The secret lives of backyard birds

Published on by susanwbailey2 Comments

I received this from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and if you’re a bird lover, you’ll want to subscribe to their newsletter. Cornell offers many wonderful videos about birds including live cams of nesting birds. I’ll feature their best one after we expose the secret lives of your favorite backyard birds! Continue reading “The secret lives of backyard birds” →

Close encounters of the Bird kind

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Kayaking is such a great way to sneak up on birds! Here’s a couple I was able to capture in a picture. The setting is Mill Pond in Westborough, MA. This place never disappoints!

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Bidding a fond adieu to summer in a local paradise

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You can see the upper cottage at the top, built into a knoll.

This was the best summer I’ve had in many a year and a lot of it was because I started walking during my lunch hour.

I work in Wellesley, MA in the center of town where there are a treasure trove of walking trails (which I’ll share with you in a future post).

The walking plus frequent kayak trips have reconnected me with nature in way I haven’t experienced since I was a child. When I can find the words to share how this connection has fed me, I will share it with you.

On to The Outermost House to prepare for winter.

I’ve started re-reading The Outermost House, a poetic classic of nature writing of one man’s year spent on the outer Cape. The author, Henry Beston, knows how to express connections with the natural world. I think once I immerse myself in his poetic words, I will find my own.

In the meantime, I’ll share with pictures.

On Labor Day, my husband Rich and I drove up to the northern Massachusetts town of Ashburnham where the family camp of my brother-in-law is located. The two cottages were built by relatives back around 1920 on 5 wooded acres overlooking Lake Winnekeg. The air was crisp and cool, the area bathed in sunlight and the sky a deep blue. Needless to say it was very hard to leave this paradise, but it was the appropriate way to bid summer a fond adieu.

Here’s my photographic memoir of the day.

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How was your summer? What memories can you share?

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Frodo and Hobbiton: Kayaking on Lake Waban at Wellesley College

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Easily the best trip of the season. Can’t wait to come back!

This was a trip to fairyland, to everything I imagined Hobbiton to be.

It was hard to leave, reminding me of the great courage Frodo Baggins demonstrated in forsaking all this beauty to set out on his quest.

His life’s flow brought him to extreme danger, ugliness, terror and ultimately, heroics.

He had the courage to let his river carry him.

Kayaking has shown me in a graphic way how to let my river carry me. Some of the time the trip is bucolic, like this one to Lake Waban at Wellesley College.

Other times the water gets rough and it can get dangerous.

For today though, I want to share photos of a trip that was easily the best of this season. The conditions were perfect (90+ degree day, sunny and breezy) and the lake was teaming with families/clusters of birds.

Enjoy the beauty and see if you can imagine your river.

Click to Tweet & Share: Kayaking teaches me lessons about life and letting my river carry me http://wp.me/p2D9hg-10

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