Be Careful What You Wish For

 It may reach ninety degrees fahrenheit today, but-on the other hand-should you ask for cooler weather, it could eliminate mowing the lawn.

If only the choice was ours......

WHY DOES ONE WRITE A BLOG???

Why does one start a BLOG? Have you ever been urged to “write it down” before you forget everything and memories of the past are lost forever? Some people are motivated to write simply to share their innermost feelings with everyone. That would only apply to the people with enough nerve to share those things.

I guess my motivation evolved from the desire to share, or rather expose, people to the pleasure I have absorbed from my frequent wanderings to and fro through mother natures pathways. I recently started such a wandering, but I do use the word recently with trepidation, since it may reflect months or years rather than hours or days.

Just think about it. Whenever you start to reminisce on the past, your thoughts evolve into memories only of nature, beauty and serenity. That is exactly what my blog stimulating strolls through the Forest do for me. It is surprising what a stroll through a mere thirty acres of serenity can do for the soul. Here we go again. Parenthetically, we don't replace our everyday life with illusions, but we can create positive thoughts during our stroll. And we can do it every time we read a chapter or take an actual walk through the woods. Whichever path we choose, we can find serenity. And with every venture we find some new wonder of nature, be it from the changing seasons or the change in environment. There is always something new to find.

I have recently decided to “evolve” a portion of my BLOG into a child's book. Only because I believe that children need some additional prompting into science, nature and language, and their curiosity is the key to their success. With nominal help from teachers, mentors and especially parents, curiosity may have killed the cat, but it will build the child. I felt that these discovered wonders should be shared with both my friends and “the children” before they pass them by.

I can share them with my friends in a BLOG, but with kids, I thought it best to go with simple but challenging reading. The challenging part may require some mentor or parental assistance to start, but that is exactly what I meant to create.

I'll keep you informed.

ps. “Parenthetically” A six syllable word that I use too often, but whenever I strain myself into thinking, my mind wanders into other similar but parenthetical subjects; you know-like butterflies/airplanes, noise/mausers, logs/chainsaws, and on and on.....

IT WAS HER KIND OF GARDEN: A Portait Of A Forester

There it was. A plot of rustic, rock strewn land, covered in sinister blackberry bushes and looking like a street wise orphan longing for a plush foster home. And there she was, a pure garden loving naturalist, longing for just such a needy orphan. It was a match made in heaven just ready for the starting bell. The bell rang and it was off to the races, though be it a race in slow motion.

No, no trip to the store for new clothes for the orphan. Instead, a trip to the Campbell Tree and Land Company to arrange for clearing and planting plans.  Roundup and seedlings, rather than new clothes.

Thus started the transformation of the ugly duckling into Cinderella, a fete requiring nearly thirty years and not yet finished. But the duckling is now a flourishing and lovely garden of pines, awaiting its transformation into a mature forest, stately and proud.

The entire encounter reflects a similar scenario in which the pure naturalist played the same role, but rather than adopting a blackberry covered, rock strewn piece of land, it was the creation and nurturing of her own family.

During the Cinderella transformation , as little Pine Trees grow, it was accepted practice that the lower branches be pruned off as they died each year. Presumably, this would allow creation of clear, knot free wood at some time in the future when the tree was harvested. True to form, our loving naturalist would systematically be there each year to effect the required pruning, regardless of some questionable urging to the contrary that such action may not be necessary.

It may be obvious that similar pruning might be a prudent action in other familial developments. I am sure that our naturalist utilized such techniques in all such endeavors. At least, it is apparent that the same keen techniques were applied in the nurture and development of her primary family, obviously with outstanding results.

Her Garden Of Pines is a treasure to walk through. Her family is a treasure to meet and know. All of her efforts have rendered beautiful harvests, and the fruits of those efforts continue to multiply.