We’ve all heard how important it is to eat a diet high in roughage. Likewise, “roughaging” (spending time outdoors) is essential to our mental health. Even if it’s a settee on the porch, we need it, gotta have it. I aim to be the reason you pulled your bedding out the back door last night.
We got a glimpse of talking trees in The Hobbit series movies … remember those wise forest giants, the Ents? As far as we know, trees don’t talk in real life, but apparently, they can make music. Artist and engineer Bartholomaus Traubeck noted that the rings on a cross-section of a tree closely resemble the grooves on a vinyl record. With that in mind, he developed a record player that plays tree slices instead of vinyl, resulting in different melodies for trees of different ages and species. Listen to one of his eerie-but-beautiful compositions:
Didn’t we do another post awhile back on the tree records? I remember because it was so strangely wonderful
MaryJane says: I did! Good memory. Good morning, Lisa!
Krista says: It’s beautiful how much hidden music there is in our nature and surrounding world. I would never guess that a tree slice could play music like a vinyl. It was a very nice musical piece.
Susan Sargentini says: Love it!
Winnie Nielsen says: There is something rather beautiful about an outhouse. It is a place apart from other living spaces where the household distractions aren’t there and one can truly be alone in thought .
Leona says: The pic is of a fancy outhouse, ours didn’t have a window.
The natural world is abuzz with beauty as flowers begin blooming
and bees begin …
well, buzzing.
You know the sound, right?
It stirs thoughts of lush gardens on warm summer afternoons …
Photo by Counselling via Pixabay
But did you know that some bees’ vivacious vibrations are more than simply the beating of wings as they move from flower to flower?
Yup. When it comes to the big, beautiful bumble bee, “buzz” is the sound of pollination in progress.
Photo by P7r7 via Wikimedia Commons
This is yet another little bit of magic that happens right under our noses, and the Smithsonian Channel managed to capture some fabulous bee’s-eye footage of the bumble at work:
Love, love love bumblebees. Be sure to read the essay on them in Sharon Lovejoy’s wonderful book of nature essays ” A blessing of Toads” . She calls this essay ” the Bumblebee Rumba”.
She begins the essay with this little poem:
“Once there was a bumblebee
who slept ’til spring has come
When winter broke
She then awoke
and her wings began to hum” – Edith Patch 1926
Krista says: I really enjoyed the slow motion and up close video of the bumble bee. It was nice to see how they do their work and have a better understanding of why they buzz. I love bumble bees and the wonderful work they do for the world. Very interesting.
Winnie Nielsen says: This was the coolest video!! I love to watch the big bumblebees . In Spring, our blooming azaleas are alive with the humming of dozens of bumblebees every day. It is a beautiful sight!!
Wouldn’t this have been a great way to learn in school? I would not have forgotten this lesson!
Buy props used in MaryJane’s books and magazine!
5% of profits will benefit www.firstbook.org, a non-profit that provides new books to children from low-income families throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Here’s how:
MaryJane will post a photo and a description of a prop and its cost along with a few details as to its condition here: https://shop.maryjanesfarm.org/MaryJanesCurations. It’s a playful way to be the new owner of a little bit of farm herstory.
Is this what lilacs look like when opening up?
Yes, with last year’s pods down to the right of the photo. Peonies are coming on now!
Beautiful! I wish Lilacs grew in Florida. In Germany, I saw several colors of purple Lilacs too. They look so gorgeous in a bouquet.
How I miss having these in my yard! The young couple who bought my home, tore out all the flowers, even the 107 year old ” seven sisters rose bush”. Very sad when I drive by there, and my home looks sad also.