Winter Blues ~ Eastern-tailed Blue, Summer Azure and Silvery Blue

Dreaming of Blues fluttering around the garden can shake off the mantle-of-melancholy winter sometimes weaves about our spirits. Today, I gather some delightful, inspiring and tender butterfly encounters, from this past sizzling summer, and toss them on this page of white, that they may bring a ray of light, to warm the inner gardeners folded inside our longing souls. 

Eastern Tailed-Blue Butterflies of 2013

The progeny of these gossamer-wings are now chrysalises, or caterpillars in the Eastern Tailed-Blue's case, tucked away in crevices within mossy mounds, pods of vetches and clover, or along the frozen winter ground. Little fragile beings within their sleepy pupa or larva state, without realizing their fate, without questioning, without knowing, without hoping to survive the onslaught of freeze and thaw, human flaws and sharp bird beaks, simply, sweetly sleep, waiting for transformation. 

Summer Azure Butterflies of 2013

Holding on throughout the bleak winter months, many new Blues will emerge, along with our gladdened hearts, into the warm breath of spring. I hope and imagine hundreds of butterflies surviving the numerous perils that come between them and their completed metamorphosis. Such gossamery treasures tickle emotions and call the caring mind to action in thoughtful ways towards their wellbeing. An added appreciation for subtleties in shades of blues and grays awakens this slothful painter, when gazing upon the pastel Blues.

Silvery Blue Butterflies of 2013

Without snow cover, butterfly chrysalises and caterpillars are more vulnerable. Just beneath the old apple tree, gray birch and blueberry bushes, precious life is quietly in hiding.

I love birds too and they enjoy all the stages of butterflies equally, especially at this lean time of year.  No snow coverage is good news for this little Carolina Wren, who has decided to move in and live year round.

Wren and other bird beaks are perfect for lifting up the leaves and digging for larva nuggets below. Too bad for the butterflies being of the lower food chain, but then, butterflies fasten hundreds and hundreds of eggs to various host plants assuring there will always be trembling gossamer-wings to pollinate and touch our hearts. I say, always, but heedless humans do have a hand in the decline of butterflies of all kinds.

Foggy, frosty, winter morning sunrises are wondrous to behold just outside the windows and doors. I feel blessed to start the day in this inspiring way. A branch of the Mill River runs between the hill where Flower Hill Farm is situated and Carey Hill just due east, making for a great show of mist most every dawn. I am less excited about the sheet of wood smoke that is always more gray.

Millions of unique snowflakes fall, thickening a fleecy snow-blanket, sheltering tiny life. It is heart-warming to know of all the diverse, quiescent wildlife sleeping beneath the surface of snow in layers of detritus deeper below. In the dance of life, all is in limbo, uncertainties abound upon a blanketed earth.

Winter can be beautiful in its frozen snow-blossom way. Creating an ever changing wonderland with a great deal to explore, to ponder and exclaim about. It can soften the mind and loosen binding thoughts of gloom. If its beauty fails to lift our spirits, it may help to remember that the little Blues are placidly waiting too. 

Mountains Dreaming Under Foggy Water Window Reflections Celebrations of Light

There is a blanket of dense blue-gray fog beyond Mount Tom . . . 

spreading east towards . . . 

the Mount Holyoke range . . . creating the illusion of mountains beneath water.

As the earth spins this part of the world towards the sun, bringing a new day, the fiery orb appears to be rising out of an ocean of watery fog. The Mount Holyoke Range seems to be solidly sleeping beneath the waves. 

For me, these images offer a haunting beauty . . . both peaceful and ominous.

Fresh light waves glow and fall like honey into our inner spaces . . .  that so delight in the warmth and reflections of the sun. It is a joy to behold each new singular sunrise and truly a celebration of light. 

Helleborus niger 'Christmas Rose'

Cyclamen

Outdoors . . . Bluebirds are cheerfully chirping . . . welcoming the return of sun and essential heat. 

For those that celebrate . . . it is the week of Hanukkah and Christmas. If you still have last minute shopping to do, might you consider giving gifts to the wildlife around you. Bluebirds would greatly benefit from a safe shelter. A new Bluebird house for your garden is a delightful gift for anyone who loves birds and might just save the life of one of these dear creatures . . . especially if you live in the colder regions. In early mornings, I often see six or more flying out of one nest box. 

Happy Holidays! Enjoy your last minute preparations and safe travels to all. 

December Sky Delights Swallowing Moon and Sun

Delightful skies for Katarina. 

Millions of Miles Away A Venus Duet

There are advantages to insomnia... such as catching up with blogs I love. So... too early this morning I enjoyed Suzie's post on her amazing renovation project in Italy... staying in that magical country heading north, I imagined myself sailing along with Woodland Fay on her watery entrance into Venice and find I cannot wait for her next post. A island in Greece called out to me just before dawn and I visited Oia Santorini and was swept away in Michael's shades of blue sea. I feel so thankful for these lovely people sharing their worlds and all of the incredible folks I have met this way. A special fondness for my Swedish garden colleagues, who have become part of most of my days. I started my blog (I just cannot get use to this word) ... my web journal about eight months ago... and could not have imagine... that in such a short time, I would connect with so many great gardeners... here in my country and out in the wider blue.

Blogging does take a good deal of time and I am happy for the exchange of habits that allows me to write and edit more photography... to share my world. I was once a news junkie... could not stop reading papers, from all over the world. I just had to know all the gruesome details... of injustice mostly... the world over. I gave that up, though stay in touch with my Representatives in Congress... concerning important issues. Then there was Facebook... it did not take me long to let go of that addiction too. I feel the hours I now spend organizing my thoughts and photos for my 'hopeful' book, and reaching out to the world through my land and the life upon it... is time well spent. So when I find myself wide awake, I stroll through my blog list and travel to other worlds... as I did this early morning.

Once I pulled myself out of the blue of Santorini's sea... I notice a few marvels in my own realm and watched the day push away the night light. A lovely predawn with touches of yellow ochre spreading across the sky caught my eye... but wait let me go back to around 3AM... still pitch black dark... Venus hangs like a diamond in the sky wearing a silver gown and is engaged in a duet... or so I like to imagine ... with Regulus (brightest star in Leo), who is all lit up in a suit of sequins. I am looking East... I am amazed at the sparkling colors of Regulus next to the silver light of Venus (both of course are atmospheric illusions and they are maybe trillions of miles away from each other). Dawn light soon erases their bodies from view... Regulus is the first to go. I think the wiggles my camera makes are fun (even with a tripod), and hope it is not just sleep deprivation making me think something idiotic is cool. In any case Venus is around 26 million miles from Earth... at its closest point and about 160 million miles away... at its most distant point*. Knowing that fact .... makes all of us here on Earth seem a bit closer! There is a soft thick blanket of fog settled in the valley ... adds a mystery to the Mount Holyoke Range and Mount Tom is up to its nose under the covers ... which is where I think I will go. Have a lovely Sunday. *Thanks to Curious About Astronomy a great site!

Early Morning then Evening Water Vapor and Sky Painting

Each day the sky, snaking river below the forest and all it's trees create a new painting. These photos were taken three days ago, in the early morning and then the same day at sunset, and they will show the true vibrant colors once clicked upon. An ocean of green runs before the spectacular ancient mountain range and hills ever changing in the light as well. I am sharing part of the library garden tour here featuring Thalictrum 'Lavender Mist' within the misty morning rising up to around seven feet I am guessing. A beauty while still in bud form, its lavender stems holding a film of moisture above it's lovely spread of leaves... a gem in the garden. Mock Orange too is lovely and mirrors the striking form of the White Birch. June has faded into July days, which may bring sunshine soon but for now more like a wet monsoon.