Oh, the weather, it be a'changin'

Illinois is one of those states known for its drastic change in weather

within only a few hours. This is apparently what we have in store for us here, yet again.

Above are pictures from a winter's walk I took on

Christmas Eve at Ballard Nature Center

 to gather some snowflake photos for the archives.

 Temperatures were in the 20's, F.

New Year's Eve, however, brings temps in the 60's

during the day with severe thunderstorms.

Forecasters predict we will wake up on

New Year's Day to temps in the 20's again.

Oh, what a difference a day makes!

See more great pictures around the world at

SkyWatch Friday.

A Holiday Wish

Wishing everyone locally and around the world the very best the holiday season has to offer.

This is a photo I took last year of one of the many bridges at Ballard Nature Center. I used the free online Picnic photoshop to add the frame, snow and words. I'm still looking for a photoshop program with a wonderful selection of text choices.

Visit great blogs at That's My World! and Skywatch Friday.

Observation Tower Work Begins

I took this picture last month to show that work has begun on the new observation tower at Ballard Nature Center. True, this is only the connecting trail between the Wetland Prairie trail and the tower, but it is a strart. The tower will be handicapped accessable and will allow a person in a wheelchair to get a better view of the beautiful ponds and woodlands that make up the nature center.
We've had snow and ice since this picture was taken, so work on the tower is progressing slowly, if at all.

Winter Chill

    Winter has not officially begun here in Illinois, but around here the weather never goes along with the calendar. It's just downright frigid! Not winter? It takes ten minutes to get myself dressed to give the dog a five minute walk.
     Today I put a coat on my dog (yea, I know, but she doesn't have much fur) and took her for a brief walk to do her business. I tried the old trick of putting Vaseline on her paws to protect them from the snow and ice.
     After a few yards of walking, she limps and whines. So I kneel to give her lots of lovin', and we head home. On the way, she jumps into a snowdrift in my neighbors yard, and I think she's going to do her "thing", when suddenly she drops and lays her head down in the snow like she's ready for a nap. The little trickster! She was just fine all along, and had fooled me into thinking she was hurt. Finally she jumped up and continued on our walk with pep in her step and a grin on her face!
     I guess winter days are not so bad when you can share them with a friend.

Check out My World Tuesday                   SkyWatch Friday               Sepia Scenes

The wind is much calmer today then it was yesterday! This flag looks like it took a beating during the 50-60 mile per hour gusts that we had, but the evening sun seems to make the stripes glow, despite the tear. 

December Blizzard

This pompus grass bends under the strain of blizzard conditions in the back yard. The white-out conditions are much more apparent on the roads then they are in this picture. 60 mph wind gusts and real-feel temperatures expected to be at -16 tonight make this weekend a dangerous time to be outside. And yet, snow levels in this part of Illinois are minimal compared to that of the northern states. I snapped this picture and quickly returned to my warm abode.

Blizzard!: The Storm That Changed America

Life isn't fair.... Get on with it.

Visit great blogs at That's My World!

     I have always had a tiny, antique wooden placard in my home that reads "Keep Looking Up". So all my life I have read that placard, looked up to my higher power, lifted my chin, and enjoyed life.


     Now, however, I have been having to "keep looking down" and constantly watch my steps due to a serious vision problem that has developed, so it's been hard not to feel down a bit more than I'd like. Especially since this problem affects every part of my life, including my beloved nature photography.


     No self-pity allowed here. I know there are may people out there who are a lot worse off than I am. My latest mantra has been "Life isn't fair - get over it...and get on with it."
    
     And so this is my own photo of what I saw one day last month when I laid on my back with that clear, blue sky overhead, and just kept looking up.

     Life is precious.  (get on with it)

     Do you ever feel stressed and wish you could just close your eyes and be transported to a trail or a path far away? I have.
     The following is a true testimonial. Yes, if you click on a link I may make a few pennies, but I really DO like this little sound machine, and I really want to tell you about it.    
     Like all nature lovers, looking at beautiful scenes is a kind of therapy for me. 
     When I can't be looking at waterfalls, birds, or trees blowing in the wind, I love to listen to peaceful sounds of nature to relieve stress.
     Two years ago I bought a little relaxation sound machine because I was having trouble sleeping. I loved it so much that I bought another one for my classroom. This really has some beautiful, calming sounds of nature. I tried more expensive machines and this one sounds more realistic than anything else I've heard.
     Thanks for reading my blog, and remember that whatever you do to help you cope with the pressures and stresses of life: taking a walk, talking with friends, reading, listening to music, or anything else, just....

Keep Looking Up

If You Could Wander

    If you could wander on the earth during any time

in history, what era would you most like to visit?

     I first posted this photo, Frozen Limbs, in February of last year. It was taken at Ballard Nature Center's Second Creek, around sunset. The picture already had natural blue tints to it, so I added more greys using Picnik. It now reminds me of pictures that I've seen of the Illinois woods during the time of early settlers of the 1800's.

     One does not have to go very far into any woods, to get a glimpse of the struggles they must have gone though to clear the land and build their homesteads. My own grandfather was raised in such a home not far from where this photo was taken. So, my first intention was to tell you how I would love to wander through the woods of the past. And then............

    I took the same photo, deepened the colors and stretched some portions to give it an entirely different feel. Were I to wander through these woods, I would hope to see an entirely different type of creature then an early-American settler. (But I would borrow his ax, just for protection of course.)

     I fully realizze that the bottom picture is a feeble, if any, attempt at manipulating a photo to show emotion. For a real, professional look at the art, I checked out Digital Art Revolution: Creating Fine Art with Photoshop. After seeing what can REALLY be done, I feel I must offer my sincere apologies to all true digital artists out there.

     To learn more about the early settlers, go to  An Open Land: Views of the Midwest Landscape by Early Travelers and Settlers, Prairie School Artists, Photographers, Poets, and Musicians 

Festival of the Trees #54 Arboreal Mysteries

    



As many of us walk our favorite paths through parks and woodlands, its easy to take for granted the weathered old trees that seem to have stood forever.
     One such tree was was this gnarled cottonwood, estimated to be around 80+ years old. Other than the mysteries of unknown that this silent giant has witnessed in the city park where it stood, this tree held another secret deep inside.
     Hidden in this tree, unknown to anyone at the time, were three complete, active bee hives. The first hive was discovered when a large portion of the tree snapped off during a wind storm, revealing a hollow trunk. When a tree service crew brought down the rest of the tree, the other hives were exposed, and angry bees swarmed the workers.
     I wish harm to no one, but I am glad that this beauty did not go down without a fight, even if its defenders were its inhabitants. This tree has stood for generations providing shade to visitors from all walks of life who frequented the park. Standing as a young tree before the park was created over sixty years ago, the road was actually built around it. In other words, it had more of a right to be there than any of us.
     Now, sadly, there are no physical signs left that this tree existed. All logs and branches have been removed, the stump has been ground to sawdust and hauled away, even the mystery inhabitants have been moved to a new home.
     At this time, I know of no other pictures that have been taken of this tree. I snapped this one with my LG Voyager cell phone camera at dusk about a year ago. It has since become one of my favorites; a testament that life is worth fighting for.

If you like this entry, you may also like these:

 

    

For more great blogs about trees, go to
 Festivial of the Trees.

To help children learn the importance of trees in our ecosystem,

check out this book and its great reviews:

Happy Thanksgiving, USA!

Big Bluestem grass in autumn, above.

Big Bluestem in summer, below.

Angel Wing

This beauty was on top of a fallen log, deep in the woods on Second Creek Trail. It measured over 18 inches, side to side.  If anyone of my fabulous readers can reallly identify this fungus, I would love to know! 

Welcome Skywatchers!

It was a cold, overcast day here in Illinois, normal weather for November.

This photo from my files keeps me thinking days gone by.

Another autumn of the past --

For even more fantastic Sky Watch photos, click here.

That's My World!

A walk around the lake before the sun went down, and all I had was my cell phone camera working. What the shot doesn't show is how cold and windy it was on the trail.

The shots were taken only two minutes apart,

with no changes in the camera settings and no photoshop.

This shows how important the position of the sun and clouds can be in a photo.

Go and check out more MyWorld images at the MyWorld Site!

Golden Bridge

A golden autumn view from the the top of the hill looking down on the Second Creek Bridge.

Root Philosophy

     Roots found in the 2nd creek are exposed in the top picture.  This tree just endured a week's worth of howling, gusting, high winds. And it stands, thanks to roots, seen and unseen.

       The tree knows that to weather the storms and still keep reaching for the light it must secure roots to keep grounded. As the tree grows, the roots must grow deeper and stronger, and new roots branch off the old.

        Roots remind me of our young as they need the strong, loving arms of a family; a foundation on which to grow their new lives.

The hot, dry summer and fall produce a creek bed flowing only with sand and leaves.

Altamont City Park~ A New View

Welcome Festival of the Trees #53

The footpath bridge in autumn

at the Altamont City Park.

      The bridge on the west side of the park is now fully visible from the welcoming bench or the picnic table.

     This week city workers removed two rusted and unsightly pieces of 40-year-old playground equipment. They took with it the memories of my little brother playing on it for the first time, my own kids sliding down the slide, and my grandkids making themselves dizzy on the merry-go-round.

     The old equipment may be gone, but look at the view that is left!

   "Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts."

Arnold Bennett

Hope Poster

Shades of summer still can be found as the evening sun glows warmly on these wildflowers along the Wetland Prairie Trail at BNC.

One look overhead reveals a nearly-bare tree,
decorated with a crimson vine against a cloudless blue sky.

I look up, I look down, never once
taking for granted the array of lines, patterns, textures, and colors
offered to me by nature.
 It's as if my eyes are privileged to their very own nature documentary
by the master filmmaker.

ROE Institute at BNC

     Many teachers had a educational day at BNC yesterday learning facts about birds to help peak their own students' interest in back-yard biology.

     Others were busy discovering the truth behind the misconceptions many children (and adults!) have about local plants and wildlife, and learning the importance of diversity in nature.

     Karen Grueuel and Patty Gillespie, co-directors at BNC, did a fantastic job preparing the materials and teaching the teachers during this workshop. Many thanks, Karen and Patty! And thanks to the ROE for coordinating this effort, complete with food!

Evening Light

Evening light on the first day of summer.
A picture that didn't take my breath away.
In fact, it helped me breathe again.

How every child's summer should be.
And every child-at-heart, like me.

Yosemite Memory

To my few loyal blogging readers:

A short time off from blogging is necessary as I deal with "end of semester" occupational deadlines.

Until the summer weeks provide more time to devote to blogging, here is a picture from my 2008 personal archives. This photo is of one of the beautiful falls at Yosemite National Park near Merced, California. The haze near the top of the photo is from the many great California forest fires that took place that year.

Dry Pond

Along the trail today I startled a rather large goose swimming on a small pond just a few feet away. The lone bird then startled me as it stretched its neck and spread its magnificent wings to take flight. It was quickly joined by its mate and they both complained loudly for several minutes as they flew off to a far-away pond.

This picture is taken in the same location as both a previous post and the Spring Peepers You Tube clip. You can see that the pond has now been drained.

You can check out my latest You Tube 2 minute video clip from Ballard's at April Showers. Someday I may actually get faster at the uploads if I can quit making silly mistakes-- like accidently clicking off the page two minutes before a 22 minute upload is complete!