Heron....almost

Sometimes I think I should call this blog: "Things I *almost* got a picture of"!

You can sort of see the blurry great blue heron as it flys off. This was right behind my garden, in my backyard.

I was getting ready for work when I heard Betsy give an excited little bark that sounded different from her normal "Let me in" bark. I went to look and there was the heron, fishing in the creek. I snuck around to the back porch with the camera and just caught it taking off.

Sorry this is such a totally crappy picture. It was taken through the porch window at a distance of about 100 yards, and the bird was in motion.

I've seen them in the creek many times, but I've never been quick enough to get a picture.

Sadly, this in no way captures the feeling of seeing this huge bird in your own backyard. I wish I could have shown its shrew efficient zen stillness as it poised looking for frogs and minnows. I wish I could have shown it's narrow tallness, it was as tall as Danny. I wish I could have captured it's nervous awareness that it was being watched, looking around, not seeing me but feeling me watching it. I wish I could show you it's grand prehistoric wingspan as it flew up. But this blurry image is all I have to show.

BTW: If you should ever want to help an injured heron, or one trapped in the ice or in a net: be aware that their first instinct is to aim that dagger sharp beak right for your human eyeball, and pluck it right out of your head.

Corn

Maize Festival by Diego Rivera

I had a dream last night that I was having a long conversation with President Bush about GM corn.

Now, believe me, if I had a chance to have a real life convo with Bush, I'd be giving him a piece of my mind on *many* subjects, and corn would probably not be one of them! However, the person we are in dreams is different than the person we are in waking life, it seems. Shadowy, vague, unsubstantial, yet powerful in ways that we are not, and having motivations that are different from the motivations of the person awake.

So I talked to him about GM corn. Corn is the grain of this North American continent. The original wild strains of maize are thought to have come from Mexico. People there call it "Teosinte" and "Mother of Maize". I told him that this plant was very important, spiritually, to this continent, and that genetically modified transgenes that contaminated it could have a very negative, even disastrous effect on our country.

He actually listened and took this seriously, which surprised me. Perhaps he is different in the dream world too.

Bridal Veil

Pretty, isn't it?

Aphids. Do they really harm roses?

Because we've got a lot of them. Do I need to spray them off with a hose, or some kind of detergent/cayenne pepper/tobacco type thing? If I leave them there, what will they do?

These days, my gardening motto seems to be "wait and see". Watch. Observe. Wait. It seems like those aphids are food for something. They have their own reasons for being too. Why disturb them? The bush looks very healthy and it's covered with buds. It looks so healthy I think it wants to take over the front garden!

Besides, the truth is, I'm curious to know more about these tiny green suckers. Georgia Okeefe said: "No one ever really looks at a flower." I wonder, does anyone ever really look at bugs?

Poppies

These may be Opium poppies. They came with the house. Big reddish-orange things. I used to try to dig them up but they always came back. I've grown to like them.

The buds seem kind of phallic to me.

Weedy weed.

I have a big affection for this fuzzy weed growing by our old well. I think it's mullien? If so, it can be used as a smudge, like sage. Used to treat bronchial inflammation. Also good to make into an oil for earaches. I'll save some for the winter.

When our old well failed in 2004, it was a big trauma/drama for us, so somehow I feel this plant is growing right there as a sign of healing.

Hosta, one of many.

I like this variety, with the big thick leaves. I'm not sure what it is. My garden markers have washed away. Plenty of forget-me- not's growing there too.

Bush on Global Warming.

Will Ferrell - Bush on Global Warming (from Transbuddha) This is so hilarious.

You have to turn on your speakers for this one. It gets funnier and funnier as it goes along.