Today August 22, 2004 at about 7:30 A.M., enjoying my daily cup of 8 O’clock Columbia coffee after grinding the beans and brewing them in an antique drip coffee maker, a vivid picture formed of ole Juan Valdez himself standing beside his jackass with a hundred pound sack of coffee beans tied to the jack’s back heading for the market.  I suppose too many TV ads for 8 O’clock coffee helped form this mental image as I sipped and savored the hot coffee while keeping the weather beaten swing moving ever so slowly back and forth to deprive an occasional mosquito of his morning meal!

The usual neighborhood birds were waking up to the cool overcast morning and there was a little competition going between a mocking bird, blue jay and wren to see which one could sing the loudest and fastest.  The blue jay had the edge but the mocking bird had much more tenacity and continued long after the blue jay left the immediate area.

The distant sounds of a migrating flock of geese flying south reaffirmed that the autumnal equinox is only weeks away. The tree leaves are taking on a dull look with the vibrant multi hues of green fading into colors of the rainbow with the photosynthesis process heading toward dormancy only to reappear again in the spring.  One cannot but be in awe toward our Creator who put all this into motion with a specific plan for everything on the face of the earth, below and above!  It is very easy at such times to reflect on our many blessings and gives thanks for the start of another day.

    
The morning serenity encompasses the smell of a dew soaked freshly cut lawn, birds chattering, the rustle of the leaves in the overhead limbs of a large white oak tree and the falling debris as a gray squirrel feeds on the immature white oak acorns.

The cup of coffee didn’t last too long and a refill was in order. I decided to get the little digital camera and capture a few pixs of the wild flowers and flora in the yard.

This pix of “Black Eyed Susie” and another sure sign that fall of the year is right around the corner.




The dandelions below are plentiful this year and close their pedals early in the afternoon hours favoring bright sunlight instead.

This is a bloom off a Rose of Sharon tree at the edge of our carport. You can see the stigma clearly on this bloom and the pistil, which has pollen or part of it that has fallen onto the reddish part of the bloom. Can you say “BEAUTIMOUS”. This pix nearly gives off the fragrance of the bloom!

The below  “fruit” of the dogwood tree is about ready for the squirrels and birds to help nature complete it’s cycle once again. Deer will also feed on the dogwood seeds but squirrels devour them until they are gone.  Blue jays and Mocking birds will transplant them through their digestive system without a degree in ecology!




A couple insects are enjoying this wild flower also. If anyone can give me the name of these wild flowers, please do so.

The little blue wildflower and others like it are growing in a small serpentine shaped drainage ditch adjacent to the side and rear lawn.  I have taken several pixs up close of it but can’t get the focus just right with the little digital camera.  The background is what is reflecting the infrared back to the camera and it is off set from the center of the lenses and that is my guess as to why the focus is slightly off with the little wild flower.  A solution will be to try and focus on the leaves (background) and hold that focus and then reposition on the little flower.  I will give that a try at my next attempt.  The blue flower is about the size of a quarter so not too much to reflect the infrared focus information back to the camera’s electronics!

UPDATE:  Commelina communis - Asiatic Dayflower, Mouse Ears, Dew Herb. The blossom of this member of the Spiderwort family lasts for one day. Introduced from its native Asia, it is considered weedy or invasive by some authorities, having spread widely throughout eastern North America.  There are plenty of wild flowers and flora around us; just look.

Later Bill aka Mickey.

Morning Meditation 06-28-09

It has been about five (5) years since the above short story was written and not much has changed since then as far as getting up in the morning.  My normal wake up time is around 0530 even on my off days from work and don't think my internal alarm clock will ever change; or it appears so anyway!

The first thing after my pit stop to the bathroom is getting a pot of fresh ground "decaffeinated" coffee brewing which takes about 15 minutes and a few daily medications to keep my blood pressure and cholesterol in check with a multi-purpose vitamin. 

This morning, I decided to shoot a few practice broadhead arrows into several 3D deer targets positioned near my practice tree stand in the back yard in preparation for the upcoming deer archery hunting season in early September.  Below is a pix taken from the deck showing the placement of the deer targets.  You can see a white object hanging from the tree stand metal platform which is "my bucket" that I put my arrows into and there is also a snap hook attached to the same pull-up rope for raising and lower my bow.  The 3D targets are positioned at 11, 15 and 20 yards from the shooting platform and most of my deer taken are between 11 and 15 yards...so much for making long shots with the bow and arrow....grin if you must.  However, the deer do look much farther than they actually are when you are twenty (20) feet above the ground.  

After shooting around 9 or 10 arrows, I made it back to the house and poured a fresh brewed cup of coffee and went inside the deck gazebo and started taking in the morning sounds with the most prominent one being the singing of several mockingbirds.  A red headed woodpecker was close by also hammering away sounding his high pitched call.  Morning is a very relaxing and serene time and one can meditate and give thanks to the start of another wonderful day that God our creator has allowed!  

Summer is here and our temperature is in the mid 90's now and the high 60's early in the morning and an excellent time to sit on the deck enjoying the cooler morning temperature and taking in the early sounds.  Pix taken from the gazebo looking across the deck:

The Rose of Sharon blooms are one of my favorites and had to take another pix of them.  We have called this small tree or large shrub a cottonwood, however it is actually a Rose of Sharon and has grown quite a bit in the past four or five years and will probably have to trim the one next to the carport which we planted too close.  The Rose of Sharon shrubs are from seedlings from our neighbor Johnny Hildreth (deceased) yard and he later cut his "cottonwood" tree down because it was getting too large.  We have several other smaller Rose of Sharon shrubs planted on our lower driveway where we had our Halloween parties, etc. which is about taken over by poison oak and will get the area back in shape come cooler weather.  Pix of a Rose of Sharon bloom:

The Rose of Sharon is called "Shrub Althea."  Its scientific name-Hibiscus syriacus-implies it comes from the Middle East, but Its true origins are India and East Asia. The Rose of Sharon is the national flower of Korea.  Theses days the rose is widely grown worldwide as a ornamental.  In the United States it tends to do best east of the Great Plains.

The Rose of Sharon comes in many colors-especially white, lilac, and pink: it blooms like a single flower, or as a hybridized double.  Blooms first appear in late spring and continue through early fall, making this rose one of the few summer-blooming shrubs.  Their blossoms open in early morning and close at night, and usually last no more than three days.  No matter,  the Rose of Sharon's color always has an intensely maroon central spot formed at the bases of the five large pedals.  This rose is a special rose in that it attracts hummingbirds to feed from it.  Gardeners welcome this flower for the purpose of attracting these birds to their flower gardens.

The almost-rectangular leaf of the Rose of Sharon is semi-glossy dark green and is about 3" long. After the leaves drop in the fall the Rose of Sharon goes into a long resting period being one of the last shrubs to green up in the spring.  Some gardeners think that their precious rose has died because of this.

Also called Althea, a widely cultivated shrub or small tree, Hibiscus syriacus, of the Mallow family having showy, white, reddish or  purplish flowers.

The plant mentioned in the Bible (Solomon 2:1).  Apparently the rose referred to in the Bible and in part being symbolic to Jesus was a bright red or crimson color, or a white rose with red pedals.

My most favorite smell has to be the honeysuckle vines when they are in full blossom.  At this time of the year, they are blooming across the street and behind our home and the smallest gentle breeze will bring that wonderful fragrance permeating the entire surroundings and it is near heavenly!  Pix below of the honeysuckles:

Our six (6) deck tomato plants are beginning to bear their "fruit" and we have already enjoyed a couple BLT, Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato sandwiches served on toasted wheat bread, slathered with Dukes Mayonnaise, fresh piece of lettuce and seasoned with salt and black pepper.  To my bride and myself, the BLT sandwich made from a fresh "home grown" tomato is an indicator that summer is here.  We definitely enjoy them as long as they are in season and when our deck tomatoes are depleted, we resort to the local farmers market and others that have them available.  Below pix of three of the six tomato potted plants:

We used a special moisture release type potting soil by Miracle Grow and  with all the rain we had last month, I believe too much nitrogen was released causing the plants leaves to die off prematurely but they are still hanging in there.  

When the temperature gets too high for my bride and myself in the gazebo, we turn the overhead ceiling fan on and it keeps the air circulating very well with a breeze that cools you down.  Pix below:

Our only complaint with the gazebo which we purchased from Sears, the small and large canopies will last only a couple years before the sun's UV causes them to deteriorate and simply dry rot and fall apart. 

Well, I know I have rambled enough and will get off the keyboard.  We just finished up a meal consisting of Venison cubed steak with onion and mushroom gravy, sticky rice, stewed yellow squash and onions, sliced tomato and Mary Bee's T biscuits.

later,

Bill aka Mickey Porter 06-28-09.

Took this pix of the Asiatic Dayflower on 08-17-12 that comes back each year in one of our upper yard drainage ditches.  Our son William, Jr. sent me his older Canon DSLR camera outfit that he no longer uses due to a serious Canon upgrade of which I had to give the camera a field test this morning.  It reminded me of my ole Nikon F2 days with the 35mm but with digital capability.  I like the options available on the DSLR since if goes far beyond the point and shoot mode with a tremendous amount of flexibility. 

Web published by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 08-17-12 and updated on 03-29-17.

IN GOD WE TRUST - GOD BLESS AMERICA - "FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE"   JOHN 3:16 KJV