Late Summer Beauty

American Lotus (Nelumbo lutea)

"God has sown his name on the heavens in glittering stars; but on earth he planteth his name by tender flowers."
 Jean Paul Richter (1763-1825): German Novelist


Often overlooked because of where it grows, this lotus abides in ponds and lakes. The flower is large, about the size of a dinner plate. Beauty is everywhere if we just train our eyes to see. After maturing, the yellow cone shaped part of the flower(first picture) turns into the black head that holds the seeds on the stalk in the second picture.

Setting Evening Sun

Snapped this shot near Red Bay, AL just before sun set. I was using a point and shoot with no lense or filter, just natural light and composition. Is God not the most awesome artist you have ever seen? One day several years ago, I was in a favorite spot and trying to do some writing but my mind would not focus and I was having trouble generating anything worthwhile to put to paper. Frustrated, I looked down at my paper and noticed it had a golden glow as the setting sun cast it evening rays on me. In a matter of minutes I had wrote the  poem below. Thank you Father, you always show us a way when we seem to have trouble finding our own.

Writers Block
As I take pen in hand
The words won't seem to flow
But as I stare at this paper
It has a warm and gentle glow

For what is the reason
There can only be but one
There's nothing quite as splendid
As the setting evening sun

I have sat all day long
And nothing has gone well
I scratched and I scribbled
And there is nothing I can tell

And as I sit here and struggle
To find the words to write
I am constantly reminded
By this precious golden light

My mind may draw a blank
And I'm the weary one
But there's nothing quite a splendid
As the setting evening sun.

               Randy J. Schultz:  November 22, 2003

On Heaven's Breath

Tawny Emperor (Astercampa clyton)

A member of the Hackberry Butterfly group decided to lite upon my truck bed so I was obliged to grab a quick shot of this beautiful member of God's creation. Thanks for stopping by and sharing a moment with me long enough to admire your beautiful coloration. Butterflies go through an extradinary migration every year and they are at the mercy of everything they come in contact with, thus the poem below.

Happiness is like a butterfly which, when persued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you sit down quitely, may alight upon you.

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864): American Novelist

On Heaven's Breath

On Heaven's Breath I flutterby
Framed against her deep blue breast
Over lake and stream I tarry nigh
Through field and wood I rest

True course I hold through wind and storm
A journey far from start to end
Constant dangers are endless born
Waiting, lurking, round every bend

I cast my lot upon the breeze
And pray a gentle hand it give
By fate it carries me where it please
Through countless battles I must live

And when I cross your path one day
On Heaven's Breath I flutterby
Cast your eyes upon my way
And say a pray for butterfly
                            Randy J. Schultz    August 24, 2010

Posing for a Handout

Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) also known as Pine Squirrel, North American Red Squirrel and Chickarees. They are very territorial and prefer a diet of seed from conifer cones but eat a variety of things.
On a recent hike up the Rainbow Falls Trail to Mt. LeConte Lodge, I happened upon this Red Squirrel who posed long enough for a few shots. It was obvious he was hoping for a handout of some morsel of food but by the plumpness of his body, I think he is getting well fed by all the hikers that come by his home in the woods.

"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin."
William Shakespheare (1564-1616):  English Playwright and Poet

Mayapple

Mayapple ( Podophyllum peltatum)

is the name of a low growing plant that pops up in colonies in the spring. Mayapple usually grows in a well shaded, rich, deciduous woodland soil in a mountain or hill area . It has a single flower that can be edible and has been used to make jelly and jam. Small amounts of the root were used by Native Americans and early settlers to treat jaundice, hepatitus, fever and syphilis, constipation and as a worm expellant. "Any part of this plant used incorrectly could be dangerous. All parts of the plant are considered poisonous" Some other common names for this plant are "Duck Foot, Devil's Apple, Indian Apple, Hog Apple, Ground Lemon, Mandrake, Racoonberry, Umbrella Plant, Wild Jalap, Wild Lemon, Wild Mandrake and Yellowberry among a few others.

If from a woodlot near we find
A flower of beauty there
And later thought brings to mind
Many uses it has to share

Should we not pause and thank the Lord
Whose creation we behold
And lift our arms to heaven toward
All praise to God be told
                            Randy J. Schultz:  August 7th, 2010

The Weatherman

While driving down a woods road near Michie Tennessee I

happened to notice a Hornets Nest about 8 feet from the

ground in a young oak sapling. I didn't see any evidence that the owners were home nor did I knock on the door to confirm their presence. But it was evident they had not been long gone from the condition of the paper nest. Hornet nests are made from the worker hornets chewing up woody fiber from plants and trees and making a pulpy material and then forming it into layers which make up the nest.

It is possible for up to 700 hornets to occupy a single nest. Some say

you can judge the severity of the coming winter by how high the nest is above the ground. Normally hornets nest are built close to eye level. The ole saying is that the higher up the hornets nest the colder and deeper the snow will be. With this one at about 8 feet above the ground we should have a close to normal winter.

"The trouble with weather forecasting is that it is right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it."

Patrick Young

Seeking Shelter From the Rain

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

It was during a very nasty lightening storm last week that I heard a noise on the outside of a window in our house. When I opened the blinds to see what it was, to my suprise, this bird was perched on the window clinging on with breast pressed against the glass. It was lightening terribly and raining pretty hard also and I guess this little female House Sparrow was seeking shelter under the eave of our house. It sat there long enough for me to grab this quick shot and then it flew off into the storm.

"I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt I was more distinguished by that circumstance than I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn."
Henry David Thoreau (1817- 1862):  American Author, Poet, Naturalist, Philosopher

(by the way a epaulet is "a shoulder ornament for certain uniforms, usally military uniforms used to denote importance or some special honor or significance)