Monday, May 5, 2008

Quote du jour/John Burroughs

I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.
John Burroughs


When we bought this farm I was under two misapprehensions. One, that a lot of stray animals would be dropped off here, and two, that there would be birds' nests above doors, on the porch, and under the eaves. Well, in the twenty-seven years (this month) since we bought this place, we have had one stray cat, and then, Ben. And we have never, ever had a nest near the house. The swallows come year after year to the wooden box we put up on the telephone pole out back, and we've had robins in a nest on the side of the barn, and phoebes in the barn, but this is the very first year we've had a bird's nest really, really near the house. Check this out! It is built on a trellis, which supports the Dutchman's Pipe. I am so, so tickled. I moved the bocce balls and badminton rackets from underneath. I so look forward to baby robins.



This is the nature I have photos of. There are two features I 'just' saw, and heard of, with no photos. I looked out the window today, up the road, and suddenly what I thought was brush started moving, and it was a mother and baby deer. Simply magic. Then, further afield, my daughter was running a couple towns away today, and a baby bear crossed her path. She didn't see the mother, thank goodness.

And then in closing, here is a picture of the animals in the north pasture for the first time this year. They love being there as, I think, shows in this photo.


11 comments:

  1. What a beautiful nest! Art in nature. It's all around us.

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  2. It looks so peaceful Nan. How long have you lived on the farm?

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  3. do you remember me telling you (and maybe showing pictures) of our robin nest on one of the pillars on our front porch? Rod had named the robins Mr. & Mrs. Bob. We liked having them, but they sure made a mess of our porch.

    Thank goodness Mama bear wasn't in sight!!!!!

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  4. I do remember, Les. I haven't seen our robin today. I sure hope she's coming back.

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  5. Great pictures Nan. You must have ideal conditions for the wildlife away from the house since they don't nest right beside your house. Ain't nachure grand??

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  6. "I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order"
    -John Burroughs
    I'll second that John Burroughs.That is exactly how I feel about nature.
    Your post was very soothing as well-thanks.

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  7. I love your daffodil photo. It's a happy one.

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  8. OH!!!!! I just gasped as I saw your new header. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!!!!!!

    Beautiful picture, Nan. It looks like it could be on the cover of a book.

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  9. Oh, this makes me want to go back to the countryside... my bedroom looks out over a farm (so I get the views without the work...!) - all the Thomas family were farmers up until my Dad's generation, when they all went off and did other things, but perhaps there's something in the blood...

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  10. I just read about Ben - such a terrific story, very moving. I am so glad he found you.

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