Tag Archives: outdoors

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life on the water

I used my zoom lens for this water strider, about fifteen feet out in the lake. It was the leaf that caught my eye first:

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I thought it was an insect stranded on a leaf, but no. It left the leaf quickly. How amazing! Family Gerridae, here. A college friend from Florida calls them Jesus bugs: they can walk on water. Over 1700 species have been identified. Think of being out in the waves on the water, no boat.

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And prayers for those in the storm’s way and flooding.

 

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truck with doors

For Norm2.0’s Thursday doors.

Two weeks ago I was visiting family in Dodgeville, Wisconsin. This is an art installation in town and the multitude of doors made me think of Thursday doors! Hoods, too. What day would we choose for hoods? I am afraid that many of the hoods I think of are grim, but these hoods are fine…

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merganser blessing

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: bird.

This is the second time that I have been blessed by mergansers! I am sitting on the front rocks, which face east, with P in the early morning. Tea, journal and camera. Camera just in case. The family of mergansers swam around the point and we froze. They came up on the rocks, about 15 feet from us. I took pictures and otherwise we held very still. The family groomed themselves. One settled facing the woods and the others slowly settled, the parent bird still on the alert. After they rested enjoying the early sun, the parent led them back in the water and they swam along the rocks in front of us.

I read an article about productivity yesterday. It talked about taking breaks and more importantly breaks outdoors. A study of work after breaks showed that people thought an outdoor break was better than an indoor one for relaxation, but the measured effect was even greater than expected.

I can only be blessed by mergansers if I go outside and wait and am quiet. I feel so blessed.