nature

Don’t forget the joy

/ Tracy Abell

Always leave enough time in your life to do something that makes you happy, satisfied, even joyous. That has more of an effect on economic well-being than any other single factor. ~ Paul Hawken

Raven. March 13, 2022

One of those pandemic days

/ Tracy Abell / 5 Comments

This day started off pretty well — among other things, added 20 minutes to my yearly hoop-dancing total — and then Zippy and I went out to deliver food boxes to people via Rocky Mountain Mutual Aid Network. And I think that’s where the day began to feel not-so-good, when we were out and about, and saw that the vast majority of people were unmasked in indoor spaces. It wasn’t news: this is how it’s been for months and months. For some reason, it hit me harder today. How can we as a society normalize mass death and disability? How can we sacrifice our health for “freedom”? What will we do when our healthcare system collapses beneath the weight of our selfishness?emot

Anyway, here’s a pretty flower.

Wild aster. July 13, 2022

Wishing you and yours a safe and healthy weekend.

Thankful Thursday: ungulate edition

/ Tracy Abell / 4 Comments

We camped at Mueller State Park last week and were gifted with this view out the back windows of our campervan:

October 21, 2022

It’d started out as “Hey, look! There’s a deer. Wait, there’s another one.” And then we lost count of them browsing and moving through the trees. Zippy saw two bucks with their antlers locked, but I missed that sighting. Still, I’m grateful to have seen these beautiful creatures.

Twofer Tuesday: Gray Jay edition

/ Tracy Abell

One of the friendliest bird species out there, here are two Gray Jays at our campsite in Mueller State Park. I know they have a reputation as “camp robbers,” but I enjoyed their presence and was glad whenever I had another sighting or heard them making their assortment of sounds off in a tree somewhere.

October 19, 2022

While running on the trails one morning, I nearly had to come to a full stop to avoid running over a jay in the middle of the trail. Not even my 9,000-feet-elevation huffing and puffing could scare it away.

A friendly and self-assured species, those Gray Jays.

A squirrel tale

/ Tracy Abell / 2 Comments

Yesterday I spotted what I thought was a chipmunk on the back fence. But when I got out the binoculars, realized it was a very small squirrel. And when I saw how tentatively it moved on the uneven fence pickets, guessed it was maybe a youngster.

October 17, 2022

Then I saw this:

Definitely a youngster.

Nut-Munch veterans know exactly how to get at the food. This young one made several failed attempts, sometimes moving even farther from the destination. Eventually, they figured it out and moved closer.

And then . . . success.

Hooray!

I researched so you wouldn’t have to

/ Tracy Abell / 2 Comments

I photographed this bee in the open space in early July and hadn’t looked at the image since. But I was intrigued enough just now to go down the online research rabbit hole. “Green bee” gave me too many hits, but “metallic green bee” narrowed the responses.

July 2, 2022

 

I’m pretty darned sure this is a Hymenoptera-Halictidae-Agapostemon melliventris, otherwise known as the Honey-tailed Striped Sweat Bee.

Oh, and that pink thing is a thistle. Just kidding . . . it’s a Musk Thistle (Nodding Thistle).

You’re welcome.

Gratitude

/ Tracy Abell / 8 Comments

This morning started out rough as the weight of all we’re enduring hit me. Sometimes I wish I could live in a happy state of denial (“the pandemic is over and X, Y, Z aren’t happening, either!”), and eagerly greet each new day. Alas, I’m not wired that way.

The good news is, I’m feeling better now.
The birds are singing and the sun is shining.
Gratitude!

Backyard. August 4, 2022

And I’m forever grateful that sunflowers exist.

My Five Touchstones

/ Tracy Abell / 6 Comments

Like many others, I’ve been struggling under the weight of reality. (I started to list the many crises here then realized there’s no need to drag me or my readers down yet again). The point it, stuff’s really hard. Some days I’m not sure how to keep going. Those feelings were so strong a couple mornings ago that I was compelled during my intuition activation session to ask “What’s the point?”

I received five words:
Joy              Nature               Compassion               Justice               Peace

They immediately resonated with me and are my new touchstones for keeping me afloat. When I start feeling overwhelmed and defeated, I return to those five words. Today, I dedicate this post to them.

For instance, the JOY I felt when watching Emma enthusiastically splash and drink from the stream while hiking last September.

Cataract Lake. September 27, 2021

And on that same hike, glorious NATURE completely rejuvenated my soul.

Cataract Lake. September 27, 2021

The best way to live is by showing COMPASSION for others, as exemplified by this child as he helps a lamb reunite with its mother.
https://twitter.com/yoda4ever/status/1533782002964393984

This morning I rejoiced in the news of JUSTICE served in Louisiana after the community organized to defeat Formosa Plastics in its attempt to build one of the world’s largest plastics plants in a Black community. Solidarity!

Finally, there’s always a sense of PEACE when watching birds in our yard, especially in the quiet after a snowfall.

Goldfinch in backyard.  October 24, 2019

Yes, life’s a hard row to hoe. But there are always glimmers of good along the way. Remember: JOY. NATURE. COMPASSION. JUSTICE. PEACE.

Twofer Tuesday: nuthatch edition

/ Tracy Abell / 4 Comments

Last week I spotted a White-breasted Nuthatch at the feeder and snapped two quick photos. All I got was a blurred image followed by an empty feeder tray. As I peered out the window, trying to locate the nuthatch again, it hopped up onto the window sill right in front of me. My subject was just inches away! Once again, it moved too quickly for me to photograph, disappearing as quickly as it’d appeared.

But then the nuthatch took pity on me and posed on the rail with a safflower seed in its beak.

September 8, 2022

And it even gave me a profile shot.

Such a thoughtful feathered friend.

Climate Movement Monday: stop the Willow Project

/ Tracy Abell / 4 Comments

Welcome to the second “Movement Monday” post in which I provide info on how to take quick and direct action in support of frontline communities. As I posted here, the Inflation Reduction Act includes “poison pills” that adversely affect poor communities of color and Indigenous people. It’s vital that privileged people such as myself lend support and voice to their fights. I hope you’ll join me.

Today’s climate action is in solidarity with Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic (SILA) in their fight against the Willow Project, a massive oil project pushed by ConocoPhillips in Alaska’s fragile western Arctic. (Here’s more background info on the Willow Project).

More then an oil reserve. This land is rich with what has sustained the Iñupiat Peoples since time immortal.
Photo by Keri Oberly

What I’m asking today is for you to take a couple minutes to demand the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) revoke ConocoPhillips’s permits. Here’s where you can find the letter template to submit your comments. As always, it’s okay to send the letter as-is! It’s also much appreciated if you can personalize the letter a bit. (Note: I often rework the first paragraph or two, and then leave the other wording as is or delete it. The point is, you want your message to be “NO to the Willow Project!”)

Thank you in advance for taking climate action on behalf of a frontline community!! ✊🏽

“This project being pushed in our current climate crisis is devastating. The Bureau of Land Management continues to be the yes-people for oil and gas exploitation, no matter the cost to health or our climate. Although oil companies are making record profits, the message being pushed is our administration needs to open more leases to reduce gas prices. We do not have time to debate overseas or domestic oil extraction, we have to transition away from new fossil fuel projects. Biden made a promise to the people who voted him in and is failing at keeping his word. Biden can still be on the right side of history, someone who stood up for a livable earth for future generations.”

– Siqiñiq Maupin; Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic