WHITE SQUIRREL

The whimsical creature scampers
like a white cloud
at the breath of dawn
through the inner city trees.

Like a white cloud,
he brushes the dew
through the inner city trees
flickering in the light and shade.

He brushes the dew,
foxgrapes crisscross a rock wall
flickering in the light and shade,
only the shriek of a blue jay.

The ghost of autumn appearing
at the breath of dawn
amazes the sightseer--
a whimsical creature scampers.
                       --Brenda Kay Ledford

Brevard, North Carolina is a sanctuary for the white squirrels and they are protected by city ordiance.  Two squirrels escaped from a circus years ago and these whimsical creatures occupy the inner city trees today.

MAJESTIC MULBERRY TREE

Ranger Jason Guidry and Don Schneider pictured with the largest red mulberry tree in North Carolina.  Schneider owns the tree and received a certificate from North Carolina Big Tree Program in 2012 for his outstanding tree.  (Photo, courtesy of CLAY COUNTY PROGRESS).


A special tree,
you tower above the forest,
catching sunlight with
heart-shaped leaves.

More than an ornament,
you amaze our state
with your unusual size
and grace a century.

You lift a 69-foot crown,
toss your hair in the clouds,
offering milky white sap,
and cradle baby birds.

You hold a piece of history
in your wrinkled hands:
windstorms, fires, floods.
Your feet cleave to Clay County.
                   --Brenda Kay Ledford

Don Schneider lives off Tusquittee Road in Hayesville, NC in a historic home built by Captain Moore during the Civil War.  His majestic mulberry tree is located behind his home. 

FEEDSACK CLOTHES

This is my mama, Blanche L. Ledford, wearing a feedsack apron and old-fashioned clothes.

In the mid-19th century, heavy canvas or linen feedsacks replaced many barrels and tins and transport of flour, animal feed, and other bulk goods.  The invention of the sewing machine patented by Elias Howe in 1846, made these bags practical for repeated use.

Blue Ridge Mountain women took advantage of this source of free fabric and turned the feedsacks or floursacks into dresses, rag dolls, dishrags, or aprons.

My mother made aprons from floursacks.  She even created dresses for my sister and me from this fabric.  I recall a pretty, pink-flowered dress she made on her peddle sewing machine.  I wore it to school.  My classmates also had floursack or feedsack clothes.

BIRDS MATTER

The songs and colors of birds fascinate me.  I enjoy watching ruby-throated hummingbirds drinking nectar at a feeder.  Their acrobatic dances and wings rotating like helicopters amaze me.

Birds inspire poets and wordsmiths.  One of my favorite poems is:  "Be Like the Bird," by Victor Hugo:

Be like the bird who

Halting in his flight

On limb too slight

Feels it give way beneath him,

Yet sings

Knowing he hath wings.

The lovely songs of birds also inspire composers.  I love the hymn, "On the Wings of a Dove."  Another favorite is, "I'll Fly Away."

Our feathered friends also inspire painters, craftspeople, and photographers.  Quilters even create patterns after birds such as:  "Turkey Track," "Ducks and Ducklings," and "Flying Swallows."

I know my blogger friends who are very talented, can add other quilt patterns created after birds.

Besides inspiring quilters and artists, why do birds matter?

According to Nikki Belmonte, education coordinator, for the Atlanta Audubon Society, birds matter because:

They help disperse seed

They pollinate flowers

They clean-up dead animals

They are ecosystem engineers

They help control pests and insects

They indicate what's happening in the nature world

What can we do to attract birds?

Birds must have food, water, shelter, and nest sites.  Many of my blogger friends have bird feeders and take beautiful photos of birds.

These are great ways to provide sources of enjoyment and important connections with the natural world.

Birds Matter!

FRANKIE'S FLOWERS

Miss Frankie's flower garden welcomes parishioners to Pilgrim Baptist Church in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  She plants, waters, and weeds her flowers with loving hands.  It's like a taste of heaven savoring this rainbow of flowers at this country church. 

 

I hope my blogger friends have enjoyed Miss Frankie's flowers.  She loves to work in them and to  provide a beautiful setting for folks to worship and to commune with nature.

WILDFLOWERS

Coneflower

Pink Coneflower

Tiger Lily

Daisies

  Could anyone identify this flower?  I think it's a Lobelia.

Honeysuckle

A Field of Poppies

Wild Lupine

I hope my blogger friends have enjoyed the wildflowers found in my region--the Blue Ridge Mountains.

HIDDEN BEAUTY

Sometimes we fail to recognize the treasures of nature.  Usually I  rush past the wildflowers peeking from weeds beside our road.

Yesterday I took a walk and observed the wildflowers.  They danced with streamers in the wind.

The performers wore colorful costumes of lime, lemon yellow, tangerine, grape, and vanilla.  Each little flower played an important role in this show.

Suddenly deer appeared from the woods.  They flicked their tails and savored the grass.  Honeysuckle perfumed the mountain air and carried the cooing of a rain crow.

Wild turkeys took center stage in our neighbor's soybean field.  The birds pecked at seeds and bobbed their heads as they high stepped across a banquet table.

After my walk, I decided to water the petunias on my porch.  I started when a brown thrasher flew past me.  I discovered a nest with eggs in the flowers.

I'm glad I took time to enjoy the beauty of nature.