Small Talk

What I get from my love affair with nature

Jul 16, 2025

I wander into my back yard daily, especially attentive to mornings when the whole biome is abuzz with the joy of waking up. We hike the woods near us and walk the roads and trails everywhere we go. I capture sunrise, sunset, and the brilliance of flowers so bright they almost hurt my eyes. While these nature ‘mixers’ are occurring, the music plays softly in the background (elevator muzak) until I stop moving and intently, intentionally listen. Then I can hear the base, the tenor, and the alto-soprano’s; the drums, the strings, and the woodblock things. The orchestra is quite entrancing, leaving my spirit renewed, almost a rebirth. In recent weeks the party had several rooms consisting of my backyard, the country roads of northern PA, driveways and their draperies, and porch-top parades. Walk with me, and fall in love all over again.

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I was powerless to resist the looky loo’s, my pet name for an overwhelming urge to stop and photograph all the minutiae that catches my eye, on our Saturday morning walk through the rolling hills near my sister’s home. There were wondrous surprises everywhere I looked, some of which even my brother in law Jim had never previously noticed.

Good morning, Glory. Magnificent 'Merica.

Simply looking further afield, as we passed the openings in the roadside underbrush, revealed perfect little vignettes I still see in my dreams.

Quintessential boathouse on a hidden pond, and the stream that feeds it.

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Clearly I’m obsessed. Help an addict out by spreading nature, not bs, around to your friends.

Nap-ish ferns. Painfully blue sky. Home too many. Lichen for everyone. Moss makes magic. Storybook clearing.

Insects, flora, and fauna stole the show, some of it downright prehistoric looking.

Pollinators took advantage of every room in this nature scape. These bumble and honey bees were especially busy. I was so excited to get good pics of their drinking in a roadside ditch, and grazing on the flora along the road, along Beth’s driveway, and all over her front walk and porch.

Must love thistle. Resting on porch vine. Drinking from a perch in a ditch. Incoming, on approach to the floof zone.

It was early in the morning when we walked this winding road, so there was very little traffic. Hubby and Jim walked on ahead leaving me to photo-document, like a Nat Geo photographer who spends hours in the blind to catch the perfect shot. They were also very obliging when I shouted for them to move from one side of the road to another, enabling me to capture a perfect shot without them in it. LOL.

Luring us onward. Time is told by the old barn and the rolling hills in the distance.

Even the barns and silos, not to mention ancient rock walls, were silent movies of their own, each with unique stories to tell. And the old house - it’s an obvious victim of nature’s takeover.

On the way back we found the hidden silo on the first barn. Rock walls were a thing in PA like they are in Ireland. That white house literally has trees growing through it.

Back at Beth’s homestead, I captured the moss I had noticed growing on the garden wall on our way out. The flowers along the driveway and on the porch were stunning with their dew still evident in the morning light.

And there’s something to be said for catching the sun playing peekaboo as it sets on the lake we passed at dusk, driving to Beth’s. Simply stunning. Then, on our way back home, we saw a message from God.

A peekaboo gift on the way there and a message from God on our return.

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Our own backyard was both an art and a recording studio these last couple weeks. The flowers and trees and the wild birds - catbirds, chickadees, mourning doves and such - and neighbor’s chickens, all had something to share. And with these pics and videos, I’ll serenade you off to your own nirvana.