a journey through landscapes real and imagined
Wren played He Leadeth Me for her hymn of comfort tonight. I write a lot about my walks on the blog, but this hymn reminds me that I’m never walking alone. God walks with me, and he leads me! I think Wren is starting to understand this, which is wonderful! Tonight as she went to bed, she asked me if she would have a cello in heaven…. what a lovely thought!
I look forward to my long rambling walks on the weekends! Today I went out to my favorite spot to see what was happening. There has been a big turnover in blooming plants over the past two weeks! The prairie has shifted from a sea of blue to pink as most of the spiderwort is gone and replaced with phlox. The dragonflies are still really busy, and I added a new species to my list today! The coneflowers were blooming! I love them, and I’m so happy to see them again! The ones in my yard are a little behind what I found on the prairie.
Wren played Just a Closer Walk with Thee for the hymn of comfort tonight. I thought it was appropriate since my walks are good times to pray.
Tonight we decided to go on a sunset walk. We were hoping the Saharan dust plume would make for some beautiful colors. We also were treated to some other surprises.
Just as church ended tonight, we had a huge downpour! It seemed appropriate to go out and run in the evening rain! This was just the thing to cheer up this kid!!!
Wren picked another hymn from my childhood for her hymn of comfort today – God Will Take Care of You. He certainly does!
One of the nice things about staying close to home this year is that I get to chronicle the happenings in my garden! Normally I’d be heading to South Dakota and missing the bloom of my backyard. I’ve been collecting native plants (some seeds provided by biologist friends, some seedlings purchased from the native plant sale). I don’t use chemicals, so I try to choose plants that will outcompete nuisance plants (i.e. weeds). I have a thick patch of Bee Balm (Mondarda) and Joe Pye Weed. I have tons of Phlox and Coneflowers and Cup Plant (looks like a sunflower). This time of year it mostly looks like a cacophony of green, but some things are starting to emerge!
Wren’s hymn of comfort today is Sometimes a Light Surprises. Light definitely results in some beautiful surprises in my garden!
We still love these! A few weeks ago we went on a sunset walk and Rick found a cell phone out in the soybean field. Yesterday when we were out at the same place, we saw someone on a tractor, so I stopped and asked if anyone working the farm had lost an iphone 5? He laughed and said, “it’s been missing for 2 years!!” He told us that the person who lost it has been having kind of a tough time, and would be very encouraged that we not only found it, but that we returned it! So last night, we took another sunset walk and left the phone on the tractor. We found a thank you note and the promise for a private hay-ride when the pandemic is over! Tonight, we’ll take you along on that walk. The soundtrack that goes with the photos was written by Wren.
We went to Rock Cut State Park on Sunday to visit with some friends who were camping. We felt a little silly wearing masks, but we wanted to be safe! We knew our friends hadn’t been around others, so we felt pretty safe with them. It was really nice to hike in some mature forest and Rick and Wren even got to spend some time in a kayak!
Wren is back to a hymn for tonight. It is Come, Ye Disconsolate. This seems appropriate because Rick is so good at consoling us when we are down!
Wren has been writing a lot of music lately. She’s inspired by birds, and has a project inspired by them. This is a tune that will ultimately show up in that work. I’ve added photos of birds (and a butterfly) in flight! I can’t wait for you to hear all of the other things that she’s writing, but for now – here is the start of an idea.
Sorry for the little break in posting. I was tired… and I just didn’t have the energy to post. Wren recorded Feeling the Pulse (2014) by Juwon Ogungbe (b1961). He was born in London and that is where he started learning music. When he was 9 he moved to Nigeria and became interested in much more diverse musical styles. He lives in London now and writes music for orchestras as well as pop music! The tune Wren recorded makes me feel like I feel when I’m out on a hike – so I thought I would put it together with some photos I took while hiking over the weekend.
Things are changing fast out in my favorite places. Migration is done, so I’m not seeing so many birds, but it is really nice to see the same ones every time I visit a place. There are 2 hawks that always start calling (they sound like screams) every time I walk out into a particular field. Last weekend, one of them kept calling for quite a while after I passed. When I finally turned around to head back to the car, they were at it again! I’m not sure if they are “yelling” at me, or for another reason, but these hawks are the most vocal I’ve ever experienced. I also love that they have been acting this way since April! I was able to get a good picture of the “screaming” bird!
Now that we are moving into summer, so many more plants are flowering and the pollinators are out in full force! I really love macro photography, and I am planning on working on this skill over the summer. Right now my favorite walk is through a field just covered in red clover and Ohio spiderwort. The gray dogwood is also blooming, and quite a few asters are blooming. I saw Rudbekia (brown-eyed Susan) and some fleabane as well as some beautiful members of the rose family including wild strawberry!
I also saw so many bees and dragonflies! It was so much fun to try to “catch” them with my camera. I saw a few Yellow-legged Meadowhawks, lots and lots of twelve-spotted skimmers.
Historical information and arrangements from Music by Black Composers (MBC) Violin Volume 1. Published by Ludwig Masters Publications 2018. Rachel Barton Pine Foundation.
Tonight we have another composition by Ignatius Sancho. You met him on June 7th with Just So in the North.” Fairytale was written around the same time – 1767. Wren picked this because it “reminds (her) of a fawn hopping through a mystical forest”. She says it was really fun to play!
Historical information and arrangements from Music by Black Composers (MBC) Violin Volume 1. Published by Ludwig Masters Publications 2018. Rachel Barton Pine Foundation.
Wren wrote this little tune tonight. I only recorded the sound, so I made a video with some of my photography.
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