Let Loose

“When it is my time to create, and I fear that what I have to say will be worth nothing to anyone, I think of these artists who have moved me so deeply….they have, through the years, held me up, sustained me, moved me forward, nourished me, healed me. And this, not because they attempted to fire up the spirit of anyone else, but because they dared let loose their own."
--Jan Phillips, Marry Your Muse

Barred Owl Neighbor

I’m not altogether sure what thrills me so about seeing owls. Maybe it’s that they are so quiet and secretive. Or maybe it’s that each encounter is so unexpected. This particular Barred owl is my neighbor --well, in the neighborhood, anyway. He flew across my path last week as I was driving home at dusk, moving across the road from one wooded area to another. Last evening I encountered him again during the same time of day, same area, perched on a wire. (But of course it was the same owl.)
As I passed, he tipped his head down, in that funny owlish way, having spotted movement, or more probably, after hearing movement in the grassy area below him. His evening hunt had begun.

Egg laying for the Barred owl occurs in early March and incubation lasts four weeks. Young are soon to hatch, so the possibility of seeing them increases. Owls can sometimes be seen hunting in daylight hours while they are feeding young. In fact, my very first encounter with a Barred owl occurred during nesting season. As I paused on a walk, I looked up and there she was, still, quiet, beautiful, perched on a low tree branch in mid-afternoon, giving me a wonderful look at those amazing, expressive eyes.

American Kestrel

While driving on a country road in Cheatham County, west of Nashville, TN, I spotted a kestrel perched on a post at eye level as I passed. Completely surrounded by fields and not another soul in sight, I quickly made a U turn and headed back, pulling off onto a barely-there shoulder of mud and grass. To my delight a second kestrel joined the first and after a brief aerial display, the pair landed on a nearby wire and copulated.
Just as I reached for my camera, I noticed that an older gentleman in a truck had pulled off the road in front of me and was backing up. As I mumbled to myself, “okay, what is he doing?”, he opened his door, placed one foot on the ground and shouted back over his shoulder, “you got trouble?” After a couple of repetitions of, “no, I’m just watching the birds,” he understood and went on his way. And as he did, I watched my beautiful kestrels fly over the rise in the field and disappear from view, my camera still untouched on the seat beside me. --Oh, me. You've gotta' just love the country.

The American Kestrel is a falcon, about the size of a jay, with a rufous back and tail. Kestrels are known for their ability to hover in mid-air on rapidly beating wings while hunting prey, a feat that is spectacular to witness. Breeding season has begun. Eggs are laid in nesting cavities from late March to mid-April and both sexes participate in incubation.

The Moment

Stay present with the moment. Feel it, sense it, become it. Embrace it fully aware. In joy and in pain, this aliveness will never fail you. It will strengthen and heal.

Life's Journey

“Many of us venture out into nature looking for signs of life with our cameras. We’re moved by something and we shoot, unaware that there’s more to the image than meets the eye, that it contains, perhaps, an answer to a question, a clue for our life’s journey.” --Jan Phillips, God is at Eye LevelI think about this intimate look at a crabapple blossom, how exquisitely delicate it is and, yet, how very, very tough; how brief its small life, yet, how everlasting its influence on the tree and other life forms that visit the tree. Is this not the same for all of life?

We sometimes make art, write, photograph, in order to hold time still, to capture a single moment of what we feel in our hearts so that we can revisit it over and over again, so that we can always remember.
These images were taken on day 6, following an entire day of fierce winds, a tornado watch and pelting rain. And still the blossom is beautiful.

Your Best Friend

Of writing, Natalie Goldberg says, “…it is your friend. It will never desert you, though you may desert it many times. The writing process is a constant source of life and vitality…. it offers me a chance to touch my life which always softens me and allows me to feel connected with myself again.”

I sometimes suggest writing as a way of sorting things out, gaining insights and restoring calm. Recently, a young woman brought me a page she had written. She had written it in a moment of feeling overwhelmed. She handed the page to me with embarrassment, saying, “this isn’t my best work,” and yet, I think it may have been just that, her best work. It was spontaneous, pure, open. In less than a page of words, she had expressed her fears, corrected the false assumptions that fueled them and restored calm. And that is beautiful. That is your best friend speaking to you from within.

Whooping Crane Migration

The first whooping crane returned to the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin yesterday. This whooping crane happened to be the first chick hatched in the captive-reared population in 2001 and was part of the first class of whooping cranes taught to migrate along the eastern flyway from Wisconsin to Florida by Operation Migration . The estimated 76 whooping cranes that currently migrate in the eastern flyway are on the move now. They have been sighted in KY, TN and IN enroute from their wintering grounds in Florida to nesting grounds in Wisconsin. All of these whooping cranes were costume reared to keep them wild and were taught to migrate following Operation Migration's ultralight aircraft. At last report, March 9, the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge population of 266 whooping cranes had not yet begun migration. This original population, now at its highest number since the early 1940's, migrates from wintering grounds on the Texas coast to nesting grounds in the Wood Buffalo Reserve, Northwest Territories of Canada.

Creative Possibilities

I had no idea I would get so caught up in this project, the changes, the variations in light, the softness captured by the macro feature of the camera (Canon Rebel Xi). It's been a study of light and of seeing--endless possibilities, endless discoveries, as if painting without a brush.

Lots of irregular shapes and leafing out in day three images.