Eastern Kingbirds

A pair of Eastern Kingbirds chatted
as I walked past them this morning.

Their "dzee-dzee-dzee" was to each other.

I think they have a nest in the bushes.

There is a Honey Locust tree near the pond at Cave Springs.

I look forward to my morning walk.
I think it might be a habit now.
My body is enjoying it too.

Distracted

I walked in my neighborhood this morning.
It is very humid and cloudy.
I hope it rains soon.
I did not take photos while I walked.
I was distracted.
I was thinking about the work I wanted to do today.
I was thinking about end of July,
beginning of August.

Back in my front yard the bunnies are so tame I could lean down and pat them.
I thought about the wildlife being comfortable in the city.
One of my neighbors has let her backyard go native.
She has small paths through her native grasses and Queen Ann's Lace.
Her clothes line has morning glories vining and blooming.
It is very pretty. Habitat for all sorts of critters.

I saw the natural beauty this morning as I walked.
I just did not take photos.
I waited until I returned home.

For my friend

There is another cemetery near my house.
I seldom go there.

My friend has a relative buried in this cemetery.
She asked if I would find the grave.
I am good at this.

Most large cemeteries have section markers.
The office has maps and will give directions.

I have a notebook I keep of my relatives and where they are buried.
I have directions to the cemetery and to the grave sites.
I have printed photos of each grave.

My uncle is buried in this cemetery.
He was a husband and father and a submariner.
This fact written on his marker made me smile.
Perhaps when I am laid to rest my children will have "birder" on my marker.
I am a wife and a mother. I also am Mother Nature's child.
I love all the flora and fauna, the stars and the moon.
Maybe with signs and symbols they can tell my story.
I have thought about my legacy.
How will I be remembered?

City of Fountains

My city is known as
The City of Fountains.

There are hundreds of them through-out the city.
There are large fountains in parks and roadways and small fountains tucked in grottoes. Many public buildings have a fountain as part of their design.

Today I walked with my friend on the Country Club Plaza.
A shopping district in my city.
It is where she works and walks everyday.

On the Plaza there are fountains, sculptures, mosaics, shops of all sorts and restaurants.

Each fountain has a history.
My favorite changes often.
Today my favorite is the Mermaid Fountain.

Around the block

I walked in my neighborhood this morning.
I looked at my neighbor's Sweet Pea.
I thought of Chris in England.
She grows sweet peas.

Mockingbird followed me down the street.
I find I talk with the birds.
I share my thoughts.

Where ever I looked I saw the Tawny Emperor butterfly.
There are many out now.
I talk with them too.

On the main street, that goes by my house, I have many neighbors.
People I wave to yet seldom speak with.
Today I spoke.
I visited.

One of the ladies has a Trumpet Vine in her backyard.
She has it growing on an old wash line pole.
It is huge. She has clipped and trained her vine so now it looks to be a tree.
The Hummingbirds come and go all day long she told me.

I needed to get home.
I had left the sprinklers on.

Today I am thinking about visiting, socializing and getting to know a few more of my neighbors. I could share some zucchini. I have plenty.

Reflecting

Today I am reflecting on July.
Thinking back one year,
five, ten, twenty-five,
thirty-five years ago.

I was a young woman planning her wedding.
I had dreams and wishes.
I was excited.

Some of those dreams and wishes have come true.
For that I am grateful.
Others I am still working on.






There are things I would have done differently.
Not regrets, just lessons learned.
I am grateful for that.
These past thirty-five years have not been in vain.

I do not think I could ever fit again into my wedding dress.
I do not think I would want to.
I like remembering what I looked like as a young 19 year old.
I like seeing what I look like as 54 year old.
I like the dream and the wish for what 55 looks like.

I like my morning walk.

Staying near

The clouds are heavy this morning.
I took my walk early.

I stayed near home.
I walked to Cave Springs, just a couple of blocks away.
They have a few Memorial gardens that are pretty.
No bees or butterflies this cloudy morning.


A Chick-a-dee kept me company as I walked the trail.
A pair of Northern Flickers watched me watch them.
I looked for the Blue Heron but she was not at the pond.

There are glens and woods.

The deer that visit my gardens live here. I did not see them today.
I can hear the roll of deep thunder. I need to get home. The flies are biting.
I think it will rain today.
I hope so.
We need rain.

Subtraction

The wind is from the east this morning.
Once in awhile a gust from the south turns my neighbor's rooster.
Wind from the east means rain could come.

I walked early just in case.
I like to walk in the rain but the camera needs to stay dry.

As I walked past my neighbor's garden I was reminded how I chop wood and carry water. Where ever I am in life I still have chores.
I need to thin the sunflower seedlings.

I thought about the properties of subtraction. While I walked I realized how my sub-conscience has been influenced. I have worked hard not to lose. To know where the keys are. Loss has always meant pain of some sort.
As I walk my way to slim and trim, fit as a fiddle, I am subtracting what I do not need. I am using stored energy.

I am subtracting.
Practical math in action.

Back home I checked the seedlings. They do need thinning.

I see the deer have begun the job.
Perhaps it would be best for me to leave the extra seedlings for deer food.
Maybe some will survive for flowering.
There are other subtraction problems to solve.

Perhaps I could rest a spell and walk again.

Second time around

The grass was dry early this morning
when I went to feed the birds.
No rain was in the forecast,
but the grass was dry,
no dew.



I knew it would rain soon.
I grab my camera and went for my morning walk.
Only to find my battery was dead when I went to snap a photo.
I finished my walk with the reassurance
I could walk again.
It began to sprinkle as I rounded the north curve
in the cemetery.
I cut across the lawns and came home.
A brief shower filled the bird baths.

A fresh battery and a change of lens and I took off again.
I had seen wildflowers in a section that is left native.

As I walked I listened to my inner thinking.
The inquisitive voice, "What's that?" As my eyes darted from one flower to another.
The kind and patient voice, "I don't know. We will look it up when we get home."
As I walked and took my photos I became aware that the body voice has become gentle and kind. I could almost see her silver hair, tidy and pinned into a bun.
Her words are slow and somewhat drawn out, a southern grandmotherly sound.
I love her.

I heard, "Poke weed."
I started to sing,
Poke Salad Annie

For the plants

This morning as I walked I thought about plants.
I dedicated myself to my plant based diet.

The only animal product I am eating now are chicken's eggs.

I found a feather for my basket.

There were clouds today to study.
My cloud chart did not show these.
I need a cloud field guide.

Rice-Trimonte Home

My walk this morning
took me out of my city limits.

I walked pass the Rice-Trimonte Home.

It is one of the National Historic Homes.

I live in an area known as Three Trails.
At this location
the Santa Fe and the California Trail
overlapped.
The Oregon Trail overlapped just south of my house.

Aunt Sophie's cabin is near the main house.

The homes and grounds have been restored.

A piece of History remains in this urbam landscape.

Mimosa

Mimosa Tree

A fifteen minute walk from my house,
across the overpass and discount center, an old Mimosa grows.

It is in full bloom.

In my backyard a Mimosa grows in my neighbor's Forsythia hedge.
It has been cut down many times.
Now that my neighbor is in a nursing home it has a chance to flourish.
Perhaps it will yet bloom this year.

The birds planted a Mimosa tree near my front porch two years ago.
We need to remove it. It is consider an invasive tree, non-native.

I think they are pretty.

The butterflies and Hummingbirds like them.

Five Lobed Leaf

An old growth tree

with a five lobed leaf.
I thought I was standing under
an old Maple Tree.

I shall check again in the Autumn when the leaves begin to turn.
This huge tree could be an Oriental Plane.
Although I did not see any fruit clusters.

The cemetery is rather large, 125 acres.
There are many trees.
There are many paved roads to walk.

There are many sculptures to enjoy.

Catawba-Catalpa

I walked this morning in the cemetery.
There were no clouds to study.
I turned to the trees.

This is a Catawba Tree also spelled Catalpa.
It blooms in the spring.

The seed pods are sometimes called Indian beans.

It is a beautiful shade tree and the leaves are host to the sphinx moth or hawk moth.
There are fifty-six species of sphinx moths recorded in my state.
My Missouri Butterflies and Moths book says the Tersa Sphinx larva feed on the leaves.
I shall keep an eye for the moths.
They also are beautiful.

My walk each morning is good for my body and my mind.
My spirit soars as I plant my feet firmly.
I found my exercise bliss.