ruby-throated hummingbirds | Winged Beauty Butterflies

Ralph Waldo Emerson And . . . The Garden I Said Goodbye To In ’12

I have read this often, and attempt to emulate it in my own life, whether gardening to attract winged beauties, or with family and friends, in my spiritual life, and in the field, as I attempt to capture ever more beautiful images of butterflies, darners, wildflowers, whatever . . . .

Success
To laugh often and to love much . . .
To win the respect of intelligent persons
and the affections of children . . . To earn
the approbation of honest critics and to
endure the betrayal of false friends , , ,
To appreciate beauty; to give of one’s self . . .
To leave the world a bit better whether by
a healthy child, a garden patch, or
a redeemed social condition . . .
To laugh and play with enthusiasm and to sing with
exultation and to know that one life
has breathed easier because…

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Cardinal flower wildflowers, photographed by Jeff Zablow at Jamestown Audubon Center in New York

Enjoying the images shared by so many on Facebook these recent days, it reminds how patiently we endure these cold, snow-showery days. Blessed we were to so enjoy our 2016, with its sunny days, and luxuriant fauna and botany.

These years, we travel more, bust-out more, and if you’re here now, want, want to see more butterflies, fresher butterflies and butterflies just NOW re-discovered in the corner of some not too far away privately-held farm or tract. ’16 in the butterfly-bank, we allow ourselves the luxury . . . thinking ahead to that place you will, will, get to in 2017, and get there not to early, nor too late, but just when they are aloft.

I’m certainly with you there, and there are several places I have in mind, so long as life, and fund$ and folks to guide, remain good for this. Pardon the slip, but I much want to see very, very rare Showy lady’s slipper orchids this year, and I have a very good chance of success.

This was met at Jamestown Audubon Center in western New York state. Their reserve included sizable wetlands, and I just had to stop and admire this tight little stand of cardinal flowers. I grow natives in my home garden in Pittsburgh, but these were so richly red, so hotly sensuous, that I clicked away. I was there for some minutes, but no ruby-throated hummingbirds showed up. Back in Pittsburgh, it’s every hour on the hour.

The steady march to 2017 is in progress.

Jeff