Springing

From 2010

Lawn Biodiversity

Many people here in Ohio take pride in how their lawns appear.  Sadly they do not give much thought to the actual plant, insect, and other life that may rely on this area for survival.

Biodiversity (the diversity of life in a given area) is important for sustaining our environment, but can also be misunderstood on several levels.  For one, if you have a yard with many different plants this does not mean it may be better than a yard with only one type of plant.  One needs to take into account native and invasive species.  Insects and other life rely on resources such as plants that are native to their habitat.  If a person plants species that do not naturally grow in an area they may be removing a life source for natives.

One example of the importance of biodiversity is the availability of pollen for honey bees.  Without the right resources, honey bees are not able to survive and consequently can no pollinate things like crops that we rely on for food.

If you are doing lawn work and are not sure what is native, what is invasive, and what would be the most useful plant life to make available in your yard, please take the time to do a little research.  Your states department of conservation, or department of natural resources should have information listed on their websites.  Also our local agriculture extension office would be more than happy to give you information.

For my Ohio readers, here is some information about Invasive Plants of Ohio.

a joy for today

Today is a shitty day... yes I said it... shitty.  But for the last few weeks I've been able to hear an owl or two out of my windows.  This makes me happy.  Reminds me of God.  Reminds me that yes, I am still alive.  If all I can do is listen to the owl, I'm still alive.

Christmas Tree Gettin'

I went out with Ryan and Glenn this afternoon to get the Bell Family tree.  This consists of taking Glenn's rebuilt Land Rover into the woods with a chain saw and cutting something down.  It snowed quite a lot yesterday so the scenery was wonderful.  I don't know if much beats a Pennsylvania winter.  

I didn't venture far away from the truck, but was able to get plenty of great shots just standing in the woods.  I spent one of those moments you can't really explain in words, but I put together a slide show of some of todays photos.

A Second Look

I already posted this picture, but I knew when I took it I wanted it to say something special.  When I first took the picture I noticed the nut shells amongst the fallen leaves.  Then I noticed the snow from one of the first flakes of the year.  The squirrels had already gathered their nuts for the year, and the snow wasn't yet heavy enough to weigh down the leaves.  And now I know the nuts are hickory.

I hope you like it.

Exercise

Part of my prescribed treatment from my rheumetologist as well as my psychologist is daily exercise.  I'm usually an active girl, so there could be worse things

Yesterday I went on about a 2 mile hike, it was great and I took some pictures.  Yesterday did not get above freezing, but it was enjoyable in all my awesome winter clothes and my new long underwear (thanks mom!)

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

Memories from back in the day with the Reid girls.  Don't worry Penny and Phil, I didn't go inside.  I hung over the edge to take the picture.

Some nuts in the snow.... Don't quiz me because I don't know what they are.

A semi-snowy trail.  It was a nice day.

4 Mile Hike

Ryan and I went on a 4 mile hike at Sharon Woods Metro Park today.  It's the longest I've walked since going 6 miles at the 2007 CROP walk in the beginning of October last year.  I'm tired, and I'd be lying if I told you I felt great, but it was so nice to get out. 

From 2008

I'm sure I will also be feeling it tomorrow, but hopefully I didn't over do it.  I expect to rest the rest of the evening and be ready for church tomorrow morning.  I'm going to try to post some pictures of the day, we will see if I have the brain capacity to do that now.

From 2008

From 2008

Brother Sun, Sister Moon

Canticle of Brother Sun and Sister Moon of St. Francis of Assisi

Most High, all-powerful, all-good Lord, All praise is Yours, all glory, all honour and all blessings.

To you alone, Most High, do they belong, and no mortal lips are worthy to pronounce Your Name.

Praised be You my Lord with all Your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is the day through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour,
Of You Most High, he bears the likeness.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,
In the heavens you have made them bright, precious and fair.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air,
And fair and stormy, all weather's moods,
by which You cherish all that You have made.

Praised be You my Lord through Sister Water,
So useful, humble, precious and pure.

Praised be You my Lord through Brother Fire,
through whom You light the night and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.

Praised be You my Lord through our Sister,
Mother Earth
who sustains and governs us,
producing varied fruits with coloured flowers and herbs.
Praise be You my Lord through those who grant pardon for love of You and bear sickness and trial.

Blessed are those who endure in peace, By You Most High, they will be crowned.

Praised be You, my Lord through Sister Death,
from whom no-one living can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin! Blessed are they She finds doing Your Will.

No second death can do them harm. Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks,
And serve Him with great humility.

Mountain Top Removal

Mountain top removal makes me sad. I am actually sitting here almost crying just to think about it.

The worst part is, it's so easy to not think about. I live in central Ohio where there isn't a whole lot going on mountain wise. Just a few hours away however mountains are being blown up for cheap coal. This process isn't just destroying beautiful mountains, but are polluting the waters of the communities that exist within them.

I always get so frustrated when I'm reminded of how insufficiently I am think about not just my impact on the environment, but what others are doing as well. Especially when it can be stopped.

I'll be posting some information on my blog for you all to learn a little more about mountain top removal and hopefully spread the word. In the meantime go here: ilovemountains.org

Think about how you would feel if your favorite mountain disappeared.

Because I have poor sleeping habits

I don't always sleep during night time hours. So every once and awhile (especially since winter has set in) I like to get up and look out the front door to see what is going on outside.

I just did this, and flipped on the porch light momentarily and flipped back off. Realizing I could see better with it off, I gazed out into the filed in front of our apartment. If you've never been to our place, it's actually quite lovely with a lot of nature around.

I could see in silhouette against the maintenance barn light 4 deer walking along the road. It was really quite spectacular. They just walked single file about 5 feet away from each other, every once and awhile bending their heads down to the ground as if they were looking for food. I'm sure when I turned on the porch light I must have disturbed them, so I didn't get to see what they had been doing just before I intruded on their evening stroll. But I felt lucky, that at that particular moment in time I was able to glimpse into God's Creation without interruption of the daylight and the people that are always around.