Category Archives: Nature

Life: Summer Solstice and the Fog

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Raymond Alexander Kukkee
© by Raymond Alexander Kukkee [caption id="attachment_1668" align="aligncenter" width="584"]Fog Lifting Mid-day Fog -Almost Gone[/caption]

Summer Solstice

It was June 21st a couple of days ago, back in the fog of time frittered away, it was  the longest day of the year. Summer solstice, the stuff of legends. Let's play Stonehenge.  Painted faces.  Outdoor parties to sun-up at lakeside all night, everywhere.  Celebrations. Other stuff. In Northwestern Ontario, the longest day of the year doesn't end until the next day.  We have the world's sweetest, fresh evening air to boot, and dark doesn't settle in until 11:00pm or later. Who's watching the clock anyway?  Nobody around the campfires, as sparks blink out on the way up to the universal sky,  that's for sure. No wonder we like camping better. Even in the fog. A few hours and a handful of revelations  later, it's June 22nd, and with the headaches from the celebrations, we suspect  victims didn't  need to  can't see much anyway. Who needs to see anything on Saturday morning? Why would anyone want to see grass needing to be cut? Good thing. it was foggy. Genuine, stick-in-your-eye fog. Caution warranted.  Good old London variety, perhaps. No speeding recklessly across the lawn allowed.

The Fog

In the late morning the fog was stuck  to the grass;  so thick we could have carved it up and stirred it into that life-saving black morning coffee. Muffling all noise,  the eerie silence of fog surrounded, closed in, and made it totally unnecessary to be anywhere. Good thing again. Have you ever noticed fog does that? Brain fog does that too,  I forgot to post this on June 22nd.  I have all kinds of excuses. Busy.  Gardening. Weeding.  Broken lawnmower.  Broken tower. Belt slippage. Out of gas. The human variety of energy waning fast.  I had to fix stuff, being a dedicated self-sufficient DIY'er.  I got distracted.  Great excuses, and everything else was conveniently out of sight-- where the deer prance about in the ever-longer grass, hidden by that stick-in-your-eye fog. No matter. Here we are, smiling happily. Better late than never. Now it's smoking hot out there instead.  Much better.    Is that Incoming I hear? + Photo by author
Posted in Life, Nature, Reflections | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Think Squirrels and Nuts

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Raymond Alexander Kukkee
© by Raymond Alexander Kukkee [caption id="attachment_1466" align="aligncenter" width="584"]Squirrels stick out their tongues at Bad Weather Even Squirrels stick out their tongues at Unnecessarily Bad  Weather[/caption] Today, May 6th --it is finally warming up. Sun's out!  Imagine that! It's been a long, cold spring here in Northwestern Ontario. A major snowstorm on April 12th, and more snow, repeatedly, after that. Unusual to say the least.  Enough already?    Even the wildlife has been complaining about it, only showing their bird-seedy-sunflower-loving beaks and tender noses on even  the best of the worst days. Cabin fever.  A distraction may help. Think squirrels and nuts. Squirrels and nuts. Chant now, 'ohmmmmmmm....ohmmmmm' , got it? Wildlife is smarter than we are; they bunk in for the duration, while we humans look about with wary eye, frowning and thinking and finally admitting this weather is just plain miserable, unusual, bitter, unnecessarily cold, crappy and un-Canadian.  Bite 'yer lip and get used to it, Jack,  think squirrels and nuts instead. Hm..thinking about it,  according to the photo, even squirrels stick out their tongues at unnecessarily bad weather. [caption id="attachment_1467" align="aligncenter" width="584"]Winter Hood Ornament Hood Ornament Waiting for Spring[/caption]     Do squirrels, chipmunks and birds know something about weather we don't? They are incredibly clever, after all. For example in early autumn they snitch all of the nuts from the trees very neatly--and usually just a day or two before we decide the nuts are ripe enough, full kernel,  delicious and well worth  picking.  We rarely stand a chance. That would be with both wild hazelnuts and acorns.  We make excuses.  Squirrels and nuts go together, after all, should we complain about that? Maybe we should just pay more attention to their skill sets,  think squirrels and nuts.   "We are immensely clever, after all..." [caption id="attachment_1470" align="aligncenter" width="584"]We are immensely clever, after all... We are immensely clever, after all...[/caption]   "And we know how to help ourselves.  We even climb down wires into the bird feeder.  How about that? We like the chopped apples and bread bits and oh, don't forget those delicious sunflower seeds too....hm....." [caption id="attachment_1471" align="aligncenter" width="584"]Down the wires and into the Bird Feeder is easy... Down the wires and into the Bird Feeder is easy...[/caption]   "And we're just waiting for  maple sap to start running in this young sugar maple tree, kids, over here, over here!...." (Check this out.....maybe there's something to this after all,  the squirrels are way ahead of us...again... think squirrels and nuts, and maple syrup....) [caption id="attachment_1472" align="alignleft" width="584"]Inspecting the young sugar maple trees for sweet sap Red Squirrels inspecting young sugar maple trees for sweet sap[/caption]     "Are we smart or not?" Hmffjmm..hm.. it seems so.  Maybe there's a genuine lesson here for all of us human types...think squirrels and nuts...squirrels and nuts.. think about it...and the sun is shining too.... ommmm....ommmmm....ommmmmm... Coffee, that ought to do it...   #   Is that Incoming I hear?   Photo credits: All photos  ©2013  wlk photography    
Posted in Home & Hearth, Life, Nature, Reflections, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments