Springtime

Springtime brings optimism.  It is a time of fresh beginning -- for the year and sometimes for our lives in other ways.  It is a time to clear out the detritus of winter and begin the freshening for what is to come.  It is a time of flowers and budding trees, of yard work and planting, of newborn animals and of re-born hopes.  The air is filled with scents and pollen and the buzzing of insects.  It is butterflies and mosquitos.  Okay, maybe it's a mixed bag in some regards.  But it is Spring and I will let optimism rule.  The Redbud tree in our front yard is the perfect symbol.

 Subtle Differences

It is sometimes the little things that make all the difference.  I'm certain there is some deep application for this minor observation, but this morning as I write, the brain fog obscures whatever brilliant revelation may be hidden there.  Fortunately, I have an illustration.

The bright yellow Tiger Swallowtails have been in abundance here on our small piece of the world recently.  Once the signs of Spring became sincere rather than a quiet creeping of swelling buds and surging stems of daffodils, they began making their way into our view as they fluttered between the early blooms of flowers pushing through the dry mats of last year's grasses, or into the blossoms of early blooming trees.

I thought they were all of the same until I looked more closely at the pictures and did some research.

In the photo is what I believe to be a male Tiger Swallowtail.  He is slightly less showy than his female counterpart and doesn't have the blue and red spots of the female seen below.  Am I correct?

Let me know in the comments.  I know someone out there is bound to be an expert.

 Searching for Relevance

I was once told that the second strongest human emotion is the craving to be recognized/appreciated/seen as important.  Since hearing that statement many years ago, I have noted numerous times that it seemed to drive behavior.

One of the first places to note it was watching a child seek the approval of a parent.  "Daddy look at me!"  It is also sometimes a factor between spouses -- we don't want to be taken for granted but recognized for our contributions -- for the things that we do well.  Too often criticism for failures is more common than recognition of the positives.

I also believe that craving for recognition is what drives many to create on social media.  Arguably, this post might be an example.  I tell myself that I am writing to relieve a compulsion that I feel deep inside me to write my thoughts.  It helps me to organize them, and it is one way that I choose to exercise my mind.

The craving for recognition sometimes leads to competition between individuals that might lead to negative impact on a relationship.  This can happen between siblings or between spouses.  There is nothing wrong with a competitive nature, but it must be balanced.  An individual should find the things that they enjoy and simply do them to the best of their ability rather than being jealous of the recognition others might receive by pursuing the things that give them pleasure or satisfaction.  Instead, jealousies drive wedges.

I don't really know what prompted this post other than it is something that has been rolling around in my mind.  Now, to find a picture to include -- I like the one below which is of three peahens sitting on a fence at Bent's Old Fort National Monument in Colorado.  They were in the shadows, and the photo creates a kind of silhouette that made me think of three individuals sitting and gossiping.  I guess that's a bit like the search for relevance -- gossip tends to put down others in an attempt to make us look better.  It's not healthy for relationships either.

 

Dealing With Obstacles

As I sat at my desk yesterday morning, out of the corner of my eye I caught the movement of a dead tree falling.  The exclamation point of the reverberating crash swept across me as I looked to see just what happened.

The driveway on our small acreage is long and winds around a small pond and through the trees which surround it.  The deadfall occurred about one hundred yards from the house at the edge of the thickest part of the small, wooded area.  It completely blocked the driveway, which is our only way to exit the property.  It had to be dealt with before we could even go into town.

After completing what I had been working on, I loaded up my chainsaw and headed down to begin the process of clearing it.  The upper end of the old dead tree was all that crossed the drive, but it varied in diameter from well over a foot to about ten inches at the narrowest point.

I was reminded of how unexpected obstacles sometimes affect us, creating barriers that must be handled before we can continue our way.  It occurs in business and it occurs in life in general.  There are always reasons for their occurrence.  Sometimes those reasons are obvious and at other times we never understand why they happened.  In this case, as in most cases related to business, the reason was obvious.  It was neglect.

We almost always ask why.  Why did this happen?  In this case it was due to a higher-than-normal wind and a long-dead tree. 

I noticed the tree standing in the small patch of woods a few weeks ago.  We recently bought this place and there is a lot of work that needs to be done.  There are several dead trees that need to be removed, but their urgency is much lower than this one which created the barrier to our ingress and egress.  As I looked at the wooden barrier which lay across the road, I noticed that woodpeckers had been working on it.

The woodpecker damage is a symptom of a much deeper problem – wood-boring insects that likely killed the tree.  The woodpecker holes are obvious in the fallen trunk, but many of the exterior rings looked like the small piece of rotten wood lying in the foreground.  Again, I am reminded of how we often notice symptoms of a problem – the woodpeckers avidly drilling into the tree – but sometimes fail to address the systemic problems that are truly causing damage to our lives and our business organizations.  Woodpeckers should alert us to the termites and beetles which are constantly burrowing into the trees just like symptoms such as a tire which frequently goes flat should alert us to the need for a new tire.  Usually, we deal with the symptoms but fail to pursue the root cause of the problem.

The first step is to remove the barrier to progress.  In this case, it was to remove the fallen tree from the road.  It required a little bit of work but was accomplished expeditiously.

Once the obstacle is removed it is a matter of figuring out how to prevent the problem from occurring.  Fortunately, in our case, it is simply a matter of getting rid of all the dead trees that might fall.  It is going to require some work, but it is certainly doable.

Even after spending the morning clearing the fallen tree, there was a significant portion of it left to deal with.  The tree was well over sixty feet tall and we only cleared the top half of it which was blocking the road.  The bottom half – the largest half – which is over two feet in diameter at the base, has yet to be cut up. 

It will be a task for another day.  Again, I am reminded of the business applications.  Once we remove a barrier and can continue operation, we still need to deal with the root causes which created the problem.

Now, there is plenty of firewood for the fire pit.  It’s still going to require some work to transport it to where it is needed and to split the large pieces into usable sizes, but at least something good can come out of it.

Maybe it’s time to do a little campfire cooking!

Fall Calf

 "Look, over yonder,

Close to the treeline,

Do you see that little dark spot in the grass?

It looks to me like some cow

Just had a new calf!

I'll bet its legs are still wobbly

And its Momma ain't far

But, let's ride on over

To make sure it's fine

This baby's the first; at the head of the line!

Why, look there;

She's several days old!

Solar Powered

 As the early morning light

 greets my journey, 

I am struck by the fact

 that the sloshing liquid

stored in the passing train 

holds the same energy 

as the refracting light 

of the dawn.

From the Top

 The road is often rocky

As to the heights we climb

But, the view from on the mountaintop

Is often quite sublime.

Sometimes you have to climb to the top of the mountain to see clearly what you have traveled through.  But, if you don't make it to the top, what do you do?  Make the most of the climb.  You never know what you might see or, experience along the way.

The photo above is from the top of Mount Scott in the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge in Southwestern Oklahoma.  I was there when I was very small and vauguely recall watching artillery exercises at nearby Fort Sill from the top of the mountain.  On this recent trip there were no exploding artillery shells, but the day was clear and the temperature comfortable for late August in Southwest Oklahoma.

Symbol of a Bygone Time

 

I know this is not the first time I've led off with the photograph of a Longhorn.  They are picturesque critters and I enjoy seeing the colorful beasts in the pasture.  This one is in fact a Corriente Cross cow and not a pure Longhorn -- whatever such might be.

Painted and splashed with colors galore
She grazes the Great Southern Plains
Not know how symbolic she stands
Of an era dimmed with age.

Once great herds of clicking horns
Trailed up from the brush 
To markets the railways had reached
On their transcontinental quest

Of populating the western reaches
Of a country just beginning to feel
The strength of the mightly economic engine
Swelling with power of imagination

Into the vast unknown lands
Of bewildered tribes who found a new enemy
Much stronger than their ancestral nemises
With whom they had fought for ages.

She and her kind fed the westering hordes
As well as those left behind 
In the growing cities where
Food must be imported from elsewhere.

Today, she is as much a relic
As the American Bison
And the painted natives
That she helped to displace.

Inspiration

We must first still our

Thoughts,

Mind,

Body, 

Until in quiet contemplation,

Inspiration

Lights gently upon our conciousness,

Preparing to burst forth

In the brilliant colors of action.

Hoofprints

It has been awhile since I left any tracks upon this page.

The past year hasn't been one to inspire much creativity.

Maybe I should ask,

"What has inspired you this past year?"