August 26, 2015

Helloo-o-o, birdbrain!

By judithclarkewrites ¶ Posted in I'm not techno-savvy, Uncategorized ¶ Tagged OMG!, Uselessness ¶ 8 Comments

Walking along briskly early this morning, I heard a bird call, an almost human-sounding whistle. Wheeee whoo wheeee whoo. It seemed to be coming from the tree tops in the little woods I was passing.

Wheeee whooo wheeeee whoooo wheeee whoooo.

On and on it went. Persistent little thing, I thought. Hm, so persistent, I realized, that it couldn’t be a bird. Probably a car alarm, I decided, although it was too pleasant a sound for an alarm…

Oh-h no, who’s the bird brain? It was my phone which I carry in my pocket on my walks as dictated by my daughters. As I walked, listening intently to the “bird,” I missed a call that I only just now remembered to check, a call I didn’t want to miss. Nuts.

So now my ringtone is a “classic” that sounds just like the phones I grew up with:
ring-g, ring-g, ring-g, ring-g.

‘The Dodo’ drawing, Birdadorable Bonanza, 2009
Cartoon, Mike Keefe, The Denver Post, 2011

August 23, 2015

This is a bluebird day!

By judithclarkewrites ¶ Posted in Natural beauty ¶ Tagged Blue Ridge, Colors, Inspiration, Sunshine ¶ 2 Comments

This morning started well. When I asked Nobby if he wanted to go for a walk he leapt right up and did his happy dance. Usually he waits for Peter, but sometimes it’s a long wait. My husband is not a morning person.

Across Main Street we went and up the hill towards the golf course. The humidity of recent days had evaporated. What a pleasant, sunny morning.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

While Nobby sniffed every blade of grass, I had plenty of time to gaze at the mountain views and enjoy the day. Suddenly, a bluebird flew out of a tree a few feet away, followed quickly by a second.

We walked a bit further, then two more bluebirds zipped out of the next tree, and further still, I saw fifth and sixth streaks of blue, then seventh and eighth!

OK, I suspect it was really two bluebirds times four sightings, but it’s still a bluebird day.

As long as there are bluebirds, then there will be miracles and a way to find happiness.”

— Shirl Brunnell, I Hear Bluebirds, 1984

Woolwine House Bluebird Trail, Patrick County. Virginiabluebirds.org photo

August 14, 2015

Education, cultivation, imagination.

By judithclarkewrites ¶ Posted in Fun, Natural beauty ¶ Tagged Flowers, Gardens, imagination, Inspiration ¶ 2 Comments

The only thing better than having tea and homemade peach muffins in a wisteria-covered pergola with daughter Leslie would have been to have tea and peach muffins with both daughters in that same pergola, but with the wisteria in bloom. Carolynn lives too far away for spur-o-moment outings.

Leslie and I visited the inventive, wildly imaginative “Simply Elemental” installation at the Hahn Horticulture Garden this week. It was fantastical.

Local artists used varied materials — mannequin parts, oil drums, fabrics and ribbons, glass, construction project remains, and rust — to create the show. One goal that inspired the group was to demonstrate that art doesn’t have to be framed or permanent to be enjoyed.

We enjoyed.

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The “Best College Review” website recently featured the one hundred most beautiful college campuses in America. Virginia Tech, number 52, was characterized with a photo of the iconic Burruss Hall. Here’s an excerpt from the text:

The Peggy Lee Hahn Horticulture Garden is a stunning spot on [Virginia Tech’s] 2600 acre grounds, adding considerable natural beauty to the school’s main…campus. Maples and dwarf conifers grace the lush, almost six-acre cultivated space, as do eye-catching wisteria flowers and a fish-filled stream that is 200 feet long. …

We who live here already knew about the Garden’s “considerable beauty.” Now we know about its considerable sense of humor, too.

The installation will be in place through September 30.

August 11, 2015

A garden as autobiography.

By judithclarkewrites ¶ Posted in Natural beauty, Travels, Where to go ¶ Tagged Colors, Flowers, Gardens, Where to go ¶ 5 Comments

Beautiful gardens aren’t just about the flowers. Last month’s Friends of the Library Garden Tour was memorable for more than just the plantings. Yes, the flowers were lush, the colors, vivid, but it was the settings and the expanses, that captured my husband and me.

We drove along roads we hadn’t traveled before to visit seven gardens scattered across the county.

It would be hard to pick favorites, but the 1800s farmhouse lorded over by huge sycamores was special. A swooping green swathe to one side led to a gazebo perched atop a spring. The tiny stream, crisscrossed by little foot bridges, caught my fancy. Old-log guest houses nestled around the original house like chicks to a mother hen. A cellist and a violinist kept time with the breezes.

Oh, and the rope swing, did I mention the rope swing hanging high from the tallest sycamore? I wanted try it, but when I attempted to lower myself onto the wooden seat, my knees wouldn’t cooperate. Its height was set for little children. Just as well, I might have launched myself into the next county if I’d been able to soar as high as it could go.

Another garden’s entrance was framed by an old catalpa tree. Set against a hillside, the back of the original farmhouse was ringed by brilliant day lilies as colorful as ladies’ hats at an English wedding. Conifers, hardwoods, and shrubs intermingled perfectly. Interesting rocks and glittering crystals lay amongst the plantings — jewels on grandmother’s Sunday dress. Best of all was an old log cabin set into the scape. The vast field up and away to the right and back of the house hinted at more joy beyond.

A third garden, edged by a stream, had a decidedly fairytale look. Large trees hovered and whimsical touches all ’round made me wonder if three bears or maybe seven little people lived there. The large koi pond was punctuated with stepping stones and bright orange table and chairs. The owners accessorize their garden with “hand-me-downs, found objects, and thrift store purchases.”