Green Healing ~ In Town with Birds

Green Healing in the Rain

We Love Rain!

“You ready for the wind storm?”  my neighbor asked. 

He was carrying a bag of groceries.  I was fiddling around with my containers, thinking about what I might plant in them this year. 

I wondered if I wanted anything, not so much to be prepared, but to go along with a wind storm.

I decided to go out and grab a Coca-cola.  I also decided to take Ruthie with me.

By the time we returned, which was less than ten minutes, the wind and rain were powerful.  Ruthie was afraid to get out of the car.  I felt badly that I had taken her out. 

Ruthie  is terribly sweet and the most sensitive dog in the world.  That’s part of what makes her who she is and incredibly lovable.

We sat inside the car for a few minutes, listening to the howling wind and sound of heavy rain fall on the car.  Things slowed for a moment, but as soon as I opened the door, a gust of rain came down and Ruthie jumped back in the car.  Pretty soon the wind stopped and all was quiet. 

The storm had gone as quickly as it had arrived.

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My yard was a series of shallow ponds, that obviously, the Robins love!

They surprised me with a vigor and ability to stand still, while rain fell in buckets on their red-breasted bodies. 

Most of the Robins took cover when the rain fell harder, but one stood its ground through the length of the storm. 

The persistent and patient Robin kept looking at me and once, when I was taking a photo of a very wet Cardinal, the wet Robin hopped in front of the camera just in time to get in the photograph.

Do You See Me? I AM ROBIN!

I loved the storm.  I also loved that Ruthie and I were home to see the birds that came afterwards! 

All the birds were here!

Most unusual, was a visit from a Bluebird.  Normally, the Mockingbird aka “King of the Yard,” simply will not allow bluebirds to cross the little rain-made creek where the lawn meets the trees.

I couldn’t get a photo because the Bluebird came to the suet hanging by my front door near where I was standing.  I did however have a wonderful macro view!

Thank you for visiting Green Healing Notes!

Butterfly ~ An Invitation

The Tiger Swallowtail arrived before the plants did.  A single large butterfly with tails intact and colorful vibrancy innocent of the inevitable markings to come.

Winged on Verbena

The winds were picking up. The purple Verbena had grown several inches. The blooms moved up and down with each gust of wind.

The big butterfly glided only slightly above our heads.  I imagined it needed nectar and sunlight, the latter of which had faded.

I was glad to have the flowering Verbena.

My son and I had both seen the single butterfly flying around for a few days.  I decided to go get a fast growing nectar-plant.  Arriving home from my short trip to the nursery, a fresh brood of Eastern Tiger Swallowtails greeted me.  Butterflies were everywhere.  I couldn’t believe it!

Two were flying high, playing together, and at least a dozen more were coming down for a visit.  I was delighted to see the butterflies together, flying above and around my little home.

I’m dealing with a fair amount of sadness these days.  Springtime has helped, but my lack of motivation to do the things I normally enjoy lurks in the corners of my days and nights. 

The idea that the butterflies have a genetic memory and know they can find nectar in my little garden lifted my spirit.

I remembered the day, not too long ago, when a flock of Robins came to fetch the lone resident that captured my heart while spending the Winter eating berries from a Holly tree by my window.

It was a grand and exciting scene when those of ‘the same feather’ greeted the Winter Robin.  I don’t know where they were headed when they left, but they sure appeared to have a plan.

I’ve regressed.  Back to the butterfly.

We sat on the patio near the container garden and watched, quietly and still.  The yellow-striped butterfly held tightly, for the blooms really were blowing hard.  I imagine being a butterfly in strong winds isn’t all that easy, now that I think about it. 

I haven’t seen the new brood together again, but I feel sure the butterfly in the wind will tell of the little corner of nectar it found.

Butterfly, you have an official blooming invitation to my yard and the little green garden I planted just for you.

Thanks for visiting Green Healing Notes!

The Resident Robin Leaves Home

My fat little Friend

Dear Robin,

I’m writing to say thank you for being my Winter guest.  I must say, your sudden departure was a surprise, but what a glorious day it was when out of the blue, Robins surrounded my home! 

I didn’t know much about Robins before you spent the Winter here.  I thought you were going to use my yard for mating in Spring, but I realize now, you were here for the berries.  I felt sad when I first realized that you had left.

I so enjoyed your company, especially during a long and rather lonely Winter.  I even reported my sightings of you here!  Your photo is available to the entire world.  You are as good as famous, my fat little friend!

I’m very happy you found respite from Winter in the green covered branches of the tall Pine and a great aerial view of the Holly from the big Sweet Gum tree.  I noticed your friends liked the view from up there as well.

One Robin Waiting

I was outside today looking at those trees, remembering you perched on the branches in the snow.  They have blooms now.  Things changed in such a short time dear Robin.

You were strong to endure those cold days.  I was proud to have you as a guest and honored as well.  Watching you was a true Winter blessing!

Even as I miss seeing you on the porch rail, guarding the red berries with an intensely continuous keen watch, I am glad you have since joined a flock.  They were certainly a beautiful and energetic group! 

I tried to get a photo of several together, but that didn’t happen.  I couldn’t believe how powerful they each flew when I slowly peeked around the corner of the house. 

The sound of Robin’s wings in flight is a sweetness to the ear!

Yummy Holly Berries for Robins!

The enthusiasm you and your feathered friends exuded over the little red berry-filled treasure made me wonder how in the world the other Robins heard about that relatively small tree. 

Did you sing them a message through the wind? 

In less than two days of light, they ate every single berry! 

I bet you are leading them to a special place where your babies will be born. 

Robin, I hope to move before next Winter, so I doubt if we will meet again, but I sure wish you and your feathered brothers and sisters a bountiful Spring! 

Thank you for being my guest.  You brought beauty to my life and graced me with a lesson in acceptance. 

Each time I saw you, which was every day for more than two full moons, there was a Green Healing in my Spirit.

With love, gratitude and admiration, 

Your amateur bird-watching friend,

Michelle.

Green Healing Note:

My friend, the Robin, and the flock it left with, invited me to accept the way of Mother Nature.  Much like my personal life, I cannot expect one thing to happen when something different is in the making.

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• The Winter Resident (greenhealinggirl.wordpress.com)
• Winter Birds ~ Residents in Flight (dogkisses.wordpress.com)
• Baby It’s Cold Outside! Hello Robin Redbreast!! (pbenjay.wordpress.com)

Reflections of a Summer

A Summer’s Reflections by Michelle, from her DogKisses Blog.

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Between Summer and Fall

HORTICULTURAL HEALING

2012, 25 August

August is almost over.  The days of 100 degree temperatures in North Carolina are most likely gone for the year.  A few leaves are falling.  Pale yellows and a few red ones have blown with the light winds landing on my small front porch, where my little Green Healing garden grows.  Amazing how time goes by when you reach a certain age.

Fall planting has begun in Horticulture Therapy.  We planted Kale and Radish seeds.  The soil is still warm, so these will be good plants to start with.  Both are of a variety that will make for a pretty garden.  The Radish are ‘White Ice Cicle’ and the Kale will have wide leaves that are rather pale in color compared to the more common green varieties.  We’ll enjoy a lovely white (and nutritious) garden if it grows well and I sure hope it does.  The garden always offers hope.

Planting seeds is one of my favorite things to do in a garden.  I think it is also one of the most hopeful tasks, because there are many events that could cause the seeds not to germinate.  The first evidence of germination makes a horticulture heart a happy one!  (Click on an image to view Gallery)

Hands Seeds Soil

Planting White Radish Seeds in Horticulture Therapy

I need a bumper sticker that says ‘I’d rather be Blogging’ because apparently, I would.  Alas.  Life calls me to do chores, take care of tasks, make decisions and then, arrive on time for another Green Healing day in Horticulture Therapy! 

One more little note:  My son and I were given a beautiful Sugar Baby (pictured below) as a gift.  Priceless!  We enjoyed our very big Sugar Baby!

I hope you enjoyed the photos and your visit to Green Healing Notes. 

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Sunflowers, Plant People, Big Color

Well, I’m back sooner than expected to share more Sunflower photos.  I really can’t help myself.  If I wasn’t tired, which I am, I’d give fun names to the ones I saw today!  I guess some folks might think if you’ve seen one Sunflower, then you’ve seen them all, but today only strengthened my personal observation that each one is unique.

Note:  Click on images to see the original size.

My friend and I had gone to the gardens to have lunch under the naturally vine-crafted Gazebo by the herb garden.  I thought it would be cool spot to sit, but I used all except one napkin for wiping the out-pour of sweat on my body, and I had on a summer dress! 

I may be a mountain woman in my heart, but I’m not sure.  We lived in the mountains when I was a toddler, but soon moved to the Piedmont area of North Carolina, which is where I’ve spent most of my life.  We’ve always had rather hot and humid summers in NC, but they’re hotter now than they were twenty (or so) years ago.  I later moved to the mountains with my teenage son.  After living there for several years, I learned that I like temperatures around 72 degrees.  We had to move back to the Piedmont area for medical reasons, but I’ve never forgotten those beautiful blue hills.  I’ve regressed.  Back to Sunflowers…

My friend, Camila, who is also a volunteer in Horticulture Therapy at the Botanical gardens, was watering the Sunflowers when my friend and I arrived for our lunch outing. 

Camila likes the heat.  I salute her for enduring it because she is now solely responsible for tending the Horticulture Therapy gardens, which includes the Sunflowers.  Yay for Plant People, especially ones who volunteer their time.

As much as I love the ‘Drop Dead Red’ variety of sunflowers, an amazingly large yellow one in the back of the garden overlooking the hill and the woods where the nature trails are was most worthy of our attention.

Camila had earlier tied the plant’s thick stem to a bamboo pole.  “That one is so big it was falling down,” she said with a loving little laugh.  We’re a lot alike in our love for the Sunflowers, as for all plants.

SUNFLOWER SMILES

Is that a hummingbird hovering above? 

I think perhaps the big bloom (above) is prepared for a special event.  I mean who knows what goes on in that garden when the humans are sleeping and the Moon is shining.  For all I know they have parties and beauty contests!  I especially like the blown petals with fashionably curled tips on the big one with a very heavy head (above), but I must say, they were all beautiful!

Below is the tallest flower in the garden, not yet blooming, and Camila, a special one of the Plant People.

The Horticulture Therapy group is harvesting Watermelons today, so I gotta go!

Thanks for viewing my Sunflower and Plant People images!

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• A Sunflower Summer (greenhealinggirl.wordpress.com)
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I love this image! What a colorful and truly beautiful winged water garden friend!

(From my other blog, “DogKisses”)

Flora, Fauna and Notes in Carolina

A good strong rain finally came.  We needed it and personally, I’m glad because my heart-strings have been pulled around a bit lately and I’m tired.  Rain and mist go well with a melancholic mood or a time for quiet reflection.

My most recent time in the horticulture therapy gardens was several days ago and already,  I miss them.  I wonder how the lettuce is doing.  I bet the garden where they accidentally planted flowers with leaf vegetables is blooming and making good food too.

Although the gardens are not mine, nor on my property, my heart has a place in it especially for them.

Synchronistically, while traveling to the country over the past week, I’ve continued having ‘Green Healing’ experiences.  Healing has been the subject of conversation with people whom I met and a continuous metaphor in events that occurred.  Each event had to do with land and nature, and many times, for different reasons, I had to talk about why green is important.

Note:  Green Healing isn’t always easy or pleasant.  My week has challenged me, to say the least, but I also saw beautiful places, spent time with my mother, and met some nice folks.

We traveled near my hometown, which is a beautiful part of our state.  I love the land in North Carolina, particularly that which hasn’t been developed.  We have beautiful rolling hills of green and relatively, there are still many trees.  I’ve lived in other places for short periods, and each time I returned, it was the trees I was first glad to see again. 

My mother’s backyard (above) always lifts my spirit and without a doubt, offers me delightful views. 

She doesn’t particularly care for the view and would rather be around people.  I understand that.  I’ve lived in spectacular places full of natural beauty, but without other people, life gets too lonely.  Nature, like dogs, has a lot to offer us, but neither replaces our need for friends and companionship. 

A few weeks ago after my son and I watered the therapy gardens, we took a walk along a habitat trail displaying native plants and trees from the Sandhills, which is where the Piedmont ends and the Coastal region begins.

We stopped at a bog, where I later discovered I had received about four ticks.

Along the trail, we saw the most awesome Ferns ever,

and learned that our state tree is the Long-leaf Pine.

Our Beloved Trees

My son isn’t usually interested in taking pictures, but when he saw a little lizard with an orange throat sliding along the edge of the bog’s viewing deck, he was immediately engaged with Nature.

Another Green Healing happening!

Thanks for visiting Green Healing Notes! 

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