Luxagraf: thoughts on ecology, culture, travel, photography, walking a...

Things have been pretty quiet in the woods lately. We've watched the world wake up from winter, turn green, pollen-saturated, and lately we've been getting an early taste of the summer heat and humidity that's still to come.
Most of May though the weather was pretty near perfect -- 75 and sunny. The kids have had a blast watching all the birds' nests come to life. So far we've seen three Phoebe chicks hatch and make it out of the nest on our front porch....

Spring arrives in stages. First there are the warmer days. February sunshine brings a welcome change from the chill of January. Still nothing really changes in the land. Everything is bare, stark, skeletal.
Then the first daffodils come. Spots of green and yellow standing out in a sea of brown leaves and pine needles trampled since last fall. A week passes, the daffodils enjoy their time in the spotlight....

The creek is our favorite spot in the woods. But the creek is a mile walk from our house. On days when there isn't time to get down there we have another spot. A grove of huge, old oak trees that serves as our closer to home hangout for exploring, playing...

Warm winter days are best spent at the creek, laying back in the soft sand bed of a shoal, sun on your chest, watching the white tufts of cloud drift across the deep blue sky.
We're lucky to have a creek nearby. Step out the back door and hang a right. Walk past the garden, past the blue bus, past the pump house, and you'll come to a partially overgrown path that twists around a massive, skeletal oak tree before disappearing...