Radically Retired

Category: Nature

  • Happiness Is … Spring at Last

    Happiness Is … Spring at Last

    Happiness landed firmly this past week, as more and more signs of spring appeared on my walking trails.

    The showy flowers on the Dwarf Russian Almond shrub in my feature photo made me smile.

    Caraganas are also finally kicking out their masses of yellow blossoms now. These blossoms always bring back happy memories of my childhood home.

    Caragana

    Everything is showing signs of life and rejuvenation after a cooler, dryer, and windier than usual May.

    Striped Squill

    The grass alongside our many trails is greening up, and the trees will soon be completely leafed out.

    Even the dandelions are a welcome sight!

  • There’s Dirt in the Air!

    There’s Dirt in the Air!

    Starting on Thursday this past week, an extreme low pressure system arrived here from the west.

    With it came winds with sustained velocity of 75 Km/h (46.6 mph) and gusts to over 100 Km/h (62.14 mph)

    We had mistakenly left our windows open after the night, and within a couple of hours of the wind starting, hubs mopped up enough dust from the floor, that it looked like the floor hadn’t been mopped in years.

    Winds aren’t uncommon here on the Canadian prairies and we’ve had tornadoes in Saskatchewan almost every summer for as long as I can remember, but this wasn’t that.

    It put me to mind of what it must have been like in the “dust bowl” of the “dirty thirties”. I can’t imagine dealing with something like this for a decade. Two days was plenty long enough.

    Hubs and I had to go out (to purchase a fan of all things) and I could feel and taste the dirt in my mouth long after returning home.

    My feature photo was sent to me by a dear friend. This was their farm yard on Thursday and that’s their topsoil in the air in the distance. They had just finished seeding that field.

  • Spring Has Sprung

    Spring Has Sprung

    On my most recent morning walk, signs of spring were finally evident.

    Greening grass
    and Canada Geese everywhere
    Red Winged Blackbirds are back
    (Robins too but I couldn’t catch one)
    Buds are opening

    This time of year brings the promise of summer, especially along the hiking/walking/biking trails and it always brings to mind the little verse I learned in my childhood:

    Spring has sprung

    The grass is riz

    I wonder where the birdies is

    The birdy’s on the wing

    Now isn’t that absurd

    ‘Cause everybody knows

    That the wing is on the bird

  • Happiest Places

    Happiest Places

    After walking the same six streets over and over again in our south Texas park for the past six months, I’m loving being back to our walking/biking/hiking trails here at home in Sask, Canada.

    There’s just something about the trees getting ready to leaf out, the fresh air, the river, the variety of trails, and the familiarity of home that makes my morning walks here at home so peaceful, meaningful, enjoyable, and special.

    The winding trails are always inviting
    Bridges over the Souris River are plentiful and varied in design
    Our city does a great job of path management and maintenance
    The river views from the many bridges are always peaceful and grounding
    One of the many bridges on this trail – one day I’ll make a post about all of them
    You always wonder what’s around the next bend

    Do you have a place that’s your happiest?

  • Sneaking Up …

    Sneaking Up …

    Spring weather in deep south Texas basically happens all winter long.

    One hint that spring is sneaking up on us here is the flush of white blossoms on our back yard orange tree.

    Soon, we’ll be heading back to our home in Canada, where spring will become glaringly apparent by about mid April to early May.

    There will likely still be snow when we arrive home in a couple of weeks. The nice thing about driving home vs flying is that we have time to acclimatize on the way north.

    Jumping (via a flight) from the current mid 30° C (mid 90° F) temperatures in South Texas to our near or below freezing temps at home in Saskatchewan, Canada, would be too much of a shock to our systems.

  • A Watchful Eye

    A Watchful Eye

    I recall a nature photography class where the instructor (a professional photographer) said, when photographing birds, the key is to get a good shot of the eye and to be sure that the eye is at a junction of two grid lines. He said that this would give the most impact and that if that junction wasn’t set exactly in the photo, a post-processing crop could be done to make that happen.

    I was fortunate that this pelican rested perfectly still on the pier railing, so that I could get close enough to set up the shot.

  • “I Can’t Believe You Just Did That!”

    “I Can’t Believe You Just Did That!”

    Some photos just beg to be captioned.

    What would yours be for this one?

  • Great Gentleness

    Great Gentleness

    Most people with whom I have discussed pigeons hold them in low esteem. I have history with pigeons, or perhaps I would not even have noticed the small creature. The great gentleness I have found seems to have escaped most people’s notice. Of course, like most humans, I did not recognize their true worth at all until I got to know one very well.”
    ― Kathleen Knight, Sanctuary – Exploring the Magical World of Birds

  • Vitality

    Vitality

    vi·tal·i·ty

    the state of being strong and active

    Every morning on my walks here in our South Texas park, I pass this poinsettia plant.

    Because it’s so full and lush and perfect, I wondered if it’s real.

    A few days ago I checked and sure enough, it’s as real as you and I.

    To see the bracts still as red at the end of February as they were at Christmas time made me think of the word vitality.

    1. Salty Squadron

      Salty Squadron

      After seeing a group of 15 Javelinas coming up from salt flats near here (another post coming about the flats), I learned that a group of these characters that look like wild pigs, but are another species altogether, is called a squadron.