Some Spring Images

[Mistwalker]

We have a lot of Mulberry trees here in SE Tennessee, my favorite are the Red Mulberries I grew up eating

But the more invasive White Mulberries taste good too. I'm looking forward to them all being ripe next trip to the field.

Lots of Blueberry flowers this year. but the storms were hard on them and knocked a lot of them off

The blackberries are coming along nicely, and lots of them this year.

Lots of Dewberries also, it's like they and the blackberries are trying to make up for the lesser blueberries

The wild lettuce is doing great, this Lactuca Virosa was over 4 ft tall the last time I walked by it.

Sometimes the L. Floridana can look like a giant Dandelion, when it has a large Dandelion growing right beside it, because they are in the same plant family and have similar looking leaves, but a closer look will reveal the rosette of the Dandelion and it's much smaller leaves.

By the time it gets taller it's easier to tell the Lactuca Floridana isn't a Dandelion

But speaking of giant Dandelions, some of the ones I've seen this year have had some very tall flowers, taller than I have seen them in a long time. Some of them nearly 2 feet tall out in the open.

I thought it was pretty cool watching the water flow out of this tree after a storm

There are a lot of members of the carrot family growing in the parks here; Queen Anne's Lace, Wild Parsnips, Wild Parsley etc. But if you see any whose stems look this this, blue-ish green with maroon and purple spots and splotches, stay away from it. It's been used to change the course of history, and there is still no known antidote for Poison Hemlock, and all parts of it are poisonous.

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[Aardvark]

Obviously, a fledgling Druid. Or, perhaps not fledgling...
Thank you.

 

[Mistwalker]

Obviously, a fledgling Druid. Or, perhaps not fledgling...
Thank you.

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the post! My flora fauna database that began 17 years ago, when I got my first digital camera; after decades of initially just studying some plants and animals from a survival perspective, now has 121 folders that contain 11K images. I've done a lot of research in those 17 years, and modified my diet quite a bit because of it. And I have been making my own own nutritionally medicinal extracts and concoctions for the last 6 years. And at 60 my immune system is a lot stronger and my joints, other than the recently injured ones... feel better, than it was and they did in my 40s.

LOL, in a bit of irony... when I began this learning adventure, it was not through any particular philosophical doctrine and had no religious connections. I had encyclopedias, old plants ID books, the Fox Fire books, and some books on Druid herblore. Though I suspected creation over accident all my life, and never bought into the big bang theory, I grew up largely alone on the streets after age 12 when my Dad had his accident at work.

He was a man who claimed to be an atheist, and said we shouldn't need a book to tell us how to be decent to each other. Yet looking back at always seeing him stop to help someone get their car started, or how he always stopped to help anyone he saw in a bind trying to fix something, and how we always cooked meats and fish and seafood on our grill for a potluck dinner for all our elderly neighbors on a fixed income every weekend, and other things about him, he lived a more Christ-like existence than anyone else I've ever known.

Over the years I kept finding what I still see to this day as evidence of creation, evidence of intelligent design in in the creation of the parts of the plants and animals and insects that all work together flawlessly in harmony in nature.

So today, for me personally, my database is as much a labor of love I do for God to show people the brilliance his handiwork as it is anything. And connected with Genesis 1:29.

Like how the structure of the passion flower and the structure of the bumblebee's body are literally designed to work together

Or how the skeletal structure of a spikey seedpod of a very dangerous plant does not look like an accident

Or how squirrels are designed perfectly for living in their natural habitat, and performing their job of tending the trees; helping them flourish through their predation on the buds in the spring making the tree fight harder to produce more. And their job of planting more trees.

But as a survival instructor, it's also my way of teaching people the most nutritious foods available in any given time of year, because Dandelions can be found in the south even in the winter, and they are edible from seedpod to root tip, and not only packed full of vitamins like A, C, D, and K, and contain beta-carotene, they are also packed with polyphenols which are anti-inflammatory as well as anti-carcinogenic. Because the more we know about our world, the less susceptible to fear and manipulation we become.

 

[beeinak]

I really enjoyed your posts and photos. I am a nature lover and always found being surrounded by nature was as close to God as I can feel. The wonders of nature are amazing.

 

[Aardvark]

Probably best if we don't start a religious discussion, but I respect your opinions (both of you), and learn much from your pictures and thoughts.

 

[beeinak]

Aardvark:
I did not mean to offend anyone. Maybe these photos will make up for my comments.

 

[Aardvark]

Rest easy, you did not.

 

[Mistwalker]

I really enjoyed your posts and photos. I am a nature lover and always found being surrounded by nature was as close to God as I can feel. The wonders of nature are amazing.

I have a similar experience, the more immersed in nature I am the closer I feel to home.

Probably best if we don't start a religious discussion, but I respect your opinions (both of you), and learn much from your pictures and thoughts.

I agree, faith is a very personal experience. I found my way more easily once I got away from the book thumping and browbeating. I know all to well how off -putting, and detrimental the proselytizing is. Long story, and this isn't the place. I just wanted to clarify that I don't consider myself a pagan though my DNA does partly come from that bloodline, and Cherokee. My signature says enough about who I am.

But nature is an experience we can all see with our own eyes, hear for ourselves, touch, taste, and smell. And my personal goal is to teach as many as I can as much as I can about what is out there in whatever time I have left here. I only bring my religion into the discussions when the person I'm talking to brings it up first, or when I teach church youth groups, and obviously when I'm asked directly. Because the goal is to share knowledge our world, because knowledge is power, and the more knowledge we have the less power others have over us.

 

[Mistwalker]

Aardvark:
I did not mean to offend anyone. Maybe these photos will make up for my comments.
View attachment 2875553View attachment 2875554

I have a buddy who lives just outside Tok Alaska, he's always sharing videos of a female moose and her young grazing in his yard in the spring. And one video of her sticking her head in the window to say hi. Cool stuff! I'd love to go that far north just once for a visit.

 

[beeinak]

I have a buddy who lives just outside Tok Alaska, he's always sharing videos of a female moose and her young grazing in his yard in the spring. And one video of her sticking her head in the window to say hi. Cool stuff! I'd love to go that far north just once for a visit.

Moose are amazing. We had lots of winter kill near my cabin (90 miles north of Anchorage) the last few years, but this last winter had less snow and we have had a few visitors already so it is promising. Calving season should be any time now.

I had a cow come into my garage in Anchorage and I had to push her out by her muzzle. She was looking for snacks.

Alaska is beautiful and I have been fortunate to have had some close encounters with some neat critters.

Heading to my cabin in the morning and looking forward to some Devil’s Club tea. I like harvesting some of the stems in the spring as it is easier to obtain before they are too bushy.

 

[Hurrul]

Mistwalker Looks like life is popping off in various displays. Spring's is magic has just began in MT, so not much but early flowers, no fruits..., I due know of some dire Hemlock not far from where I live; these are now earnestly greening up along a walking trail and a winding creek/ riparian area.

Always enjoy your photos and earth insights - thanks.

 

[Mistwalker]

Moose are amazing. We had lots of winter kill near my cabin (90 miles north of Anchorage) the last few years, but this last winter had less snow and we have had a few visitors already so it is promising. Calving season should be any time now.

I had a cow come into my garage in Anchorage and I had to push her out by her muzzle. She was looking for snacks.

Alaska is beautiful and I have been fortunate to have had some close encounters with some neat critters.

Heading to my cabin in the morning and looking forward to some Devil’s Club tea. I like harvesting some of the stems in the spring as it is easier to obtain before they are too bushy.

My buddy has his own sort of small farm going with his green houses, garden and his chickens. It's beautiful in the Spring and Summer.

Mistwalker Looks like life is popping off in various displays. Spring's is magic has just began in MT, so not much but early flowers, no fruits..., I due know of some dire Hemlock not far from where I live; these are now earnestly greening up along a walking trail and a winding creek/ riparian area.

Always enjoy your photos and earth insights - thanks.

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoy the posts!

We are having the most amazing spring I have seen in the 15 years I have been documenting the plants here. Wild Lettuce stalks already over 6 feet tall. pink clover flowers over 3 feet tall, Dandelions 2 feet tall, and Henbit and Dead Nettle not far behind them. All with such intensely bright and vivid greens and flower colors. The only other time I've seen anything like this was back in 2020 when the planes quit flying. This year it may be because our skies have been for the most part clear of airplane trails after our state passed legislation banning geoengineering and chemtrail in Tennessee skies. Now we see them mostly in our southern skies where we border Georgia and Alabama. I'll know more on all that when I travel further into the interior of the state later in the summer and see how things are there, and then check it all out all over again next year.