Glimpses of Life – Page 77

Nerstrand Big Woods State Park

Nerstrand State Park is in Nestrand, Minnesota.

When we arrived, there were very view cars in the parking lot. There is a campground here yet the place looked deserted.

The park has many beautiful large and tall trees.

My husband and I decided to take a hike to Â the Hidden Falls Trail which is said to be the most difficult. The terrain gently sloped downwards with arrows to guide us.

Oops! A large branch had fallen on the trail that we were on. Fortunately we don’t let it deter us from our getting to the falls.

This boardwalk means that our destination is just ahead.

On the right side of this ledge are the falls.

And here they are!

I could hardly contain my laughter. There is no comparison between these falls and Snoqualmie Falls in the state of Washington. I was glad that we didn’t have to walk far to get to these falls (less than a mile) or I would have been very disappointed. Although — they are very pretty.

Back on the trail circling back, it was a little more steep than what we had anticipated but still very doable. A bench waits for people who need respite.

The brown headed cowbird makes its home in this park — not a good thing. Apparently, they lay their eggs in other birds nest and then desert them — leaving the other birds unaware that they are going to hatch birds that aren’t theirs. A cruel joke. Because of this, forest bird populations can decline.

The rest of the walk back had beauty of its own. We ran into a couple of mushrooms. I’m pretty close to identifying one of them — but the other I have no clue. Any ideas?

or Hericium coralloides — Hericium-coralloides ???

We saw pretty flowers along the way.

Â Can you guess what’s hanging from the branch of this tree?

Did you guess a bat house? Nope. That’s not it.

A bee collector? Nope. That’s not it either.

A birdhouse? Nope …

Alright, alright — it’s an Emerald Ash Borer Detection Trap. The tree is an ash tree.Â I had never seen one of these before so I was intrigued by it.

A sign attached to the tree made it clear we should not disturb it. One would have to climb the tree or have a really really long stick to disturb this.

P1060482 — Emerald Ash Borer Detection Notice

It was a nice day. And for the ride home, we passed lots and lots of farms with fields of delicious corn.

Way to go farmers!

Click below to hear the sound of the falls — they sound beautiful. I enjoy the sound of water.

Hidden Trail Falls in Nerstrand, Minnesota

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Great Grey Owl

We had the privilege of seeing a great grey owl in our backyard today. He flew one way and then another. I was only able to capture this picture of him through our window.

Looks like he’s looking right at me.

Since these owls don’t build their own nests, I wonder if he is using the nest of the falcon that was on our property before.

This owl mainly Â feeds Â on rodents. Yuck! When we bought our house, there were rodent traps already here. Our pest control company has come over twice and told us that the rodent food is being eaten. Well, now the owl can eat them also.

In Minnesota owls may not be shot, captured, transported, or owned without a permit. I don’t know who would want to do that to such a pretty creature.

In spite of all the bugs, I’m glad we live on a treed property where we have so much wildlife that visit us.

Pinkish Mushroom

There is a large pink or peach colored mushroom growing in our sandbox.

I looked at a few websites and was not able to identify the type of mushroom it is. Very odd — very large.

Anyone know what type of mushroom it is?

The Stone Not Thrown

He admitted to committing a crime. Depression, embarrassment and fear all set in. “Will I lose everything and everyone around me”, he wondered. The thought made him cringe and he wanted to be alone.

But when love poured out from the people around him, he understood. How can I be so loved in spite of my weaknesses?

That question is one we all grapple with because we all have weaknesses. From murder to lying to stealing to selfishness – we all fall at one time in our lives. No wait. We all fall multiple times in our lives.

How do we treat all of fallen humanity? Will I extend my hand and lift a person up or will I cast the stone that sends them into a spiral of death?

The easy way would be to cast the stone. After all, we could reason, that they are deserving of death not life. And yet by throwing the stone, anger and hate build up in the soul.

Easy on the outside — devastating on the inside. That’s why society is so angry all the time. We seek revenge — an eye-for-an-eye.

Not casting the stone means we have to deal with the internal conflict that might arise — no, that does arise. Pain, resentment, questions that go unanswered, embarrassment, shame, betrayal — all rise inside of us and we slowly try to push them down.

The saying “what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger” is not an easy one to swallow.

Seeing beauty in humanity makes my heart proud.

He admitted to committing a crime. And the response from the people around him was to lift him up out of his despair — unafraid to say “I love you in spite of what you may have done.”

Now — that’s love!

When they kept on questioning Him, He straightened up and said to them, â€œLet any one of you who is without sin be theÂ firstÂ to throw aÂ stoneÂ at her.â€ John 8:7Â

(Jesus speaking as a crowd gathers to stone a woman caught in adultery)

Working In A Treed Lot

I bought my first pair of knee boots to work in the yard. I felt much more at ease working on our property as the tics couldn’t bite my toes. I still sprayed the rest of my body with repellant as we have many deer that have been frolicking around.

The Gorilla Cart that we bought worked really well as we moved the chopped wood that the previous owner of the house left us to a new woodpile that we made. I’m not sure we’ll have to chop any wood this year as we have so much throughout the property.

We have a woodpile with lots of wood further back on our property where the deer like to sit. Our new woodpile is closer to the entry to our garage. Convenient to get to when the Minnesota weather turns cold. Not too close though! There is a driveway in between.

Covered with a brown tarp, one can hardly notice it’s there.

Now — when will I use that chain saw we bought?

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Garden Landscaping

I’m getting the itch to do more landscaping. I started in the front yard removing half of the grass. I have the other half of the front to do. Then, I will head to the backyard. So much clean-up to do there.

The deer like our property. Yesterday they were seen frolicking and a doe was having a dispute with a buck. One of the fawns got left behind. She spooked when we headed out to check on her and took off for the woods.

I signed up for a Minnesota library card. How exciting! The library is small but they have lots of computers. I’ll take pictures and post them at a later time.

I checked out my first Minnesota book — Landscaping for Dummies.

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Unfortunately, as I read through some of it, it’s not specific enough for Minnesota so I’ll have to weed through what is relevant.

I fully expect it will take 4-5 years for our property to look the way I would like it to look.

Coleus Plant

My coleus plants have been doing really well on our shaded back deck.

In spite of all the rain we get in Minnesota — 2 inches at a time sometimes — the coleus has proven to be a great plant. And, it doesn’t appear to be deer friendly. Yes! I wish it were a perennial instead of an annual though but I’ll settle for what I have — a plant that likes rain and shade. A good plant for Minnesota weather.

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Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge

This afternoon we went for a walk at the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. It is located in Bloomington and there is no charge for admission. The visitor center was open and there are lots of brochures to choose from. In addition, they have Field Packs that follow the numbers along the trail. The packs are free and include binoculars and an audio trail guide.

P1060122 — Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge

P1060082 — View from the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge

The bees were having a good time on this bush.

We went on the Hillside Trail that is considered “strenuous” and is a 1/2 mile loop down the side of the bluff. The trail starts with some nice steps heading downwards.

Then the trail became a smooth gravel.

Just a little ways down the road, a bench awaits those who need to take an early respite.

Further down the road, the area was a little swampy. Luckily we didn’t have to walk in that direction.

A viewing area was just ahead. The walk downhill was not very strenuous at all but good walking shoes are a must.

This area was very pretty. To the left was a pond that looked like it was filled with algae. One could almost inhale the green color.

And now to make the return trip to the visitor center. If one takes their time walking uphill, the trail is really not that bad — although, it is the equivalent of climbing 12 stories.

On the return walk, we had the pleasure of seeing a monarch butterfly.

And some coneflowers – echinacea?

Driving to a different part of the refuge, we came across an old bridge that we could not cross.

This next trail went all the way back to the visitor center — over 40 minutes away. At first we decided not to take it but then we saw the small trail to the left and thought that it might be less of a walk.

We took the very narrow trail being careful not to go into the grassy area to avoid any ticks or other bugs — the bug repellant was in the car but we didn’t think we’d need it.

Another murky looking pond …

The highlight of this trip was a bush that had a large bumblebee on it — notice the ant in the background also.

Overall, a pretty day, a nice walk and only one mosquito bite.

Immolate

Immolate – to sacrifice, to destroy by fire.

I had never heard the word used until I read a New York Times article on a Buddhist monk who did just that — killed himself with fire.

The article made me sad. Do people really believe that setting themselves on fire for a cause they believe in will bring change in government? Sacrificing oneself for a cause is admirable — but to the point of death? Perhaps the monk believed that his sacrifice would inspire other people to stand up in protest.

Immolation is different from martyrdom – with immolation a person kills himself, in martyrdom a person isÂ putÂ toÂ deathÂ orÂ enduresÂ greatÂ sufferingÂ on behalf of a belief or principle. And yet, a person who immolates oneself has suffered — they just bring about their own demise in the end.

It makes me think of Christ who “laid down his life” for us so that we might live. The cross stands as a stark contrast between those who endure to the point of death and those who can’t endure anymore and cause their own death.

My sympathy to the family, friends and the community of the monks (this is the 2nd one). I know there’s always more to the story than what meets the eye.

New Cure for the Common Cold?

Pills (image courtesy of Microsoft Images)

I was recently sent an article found in Wikinews regarding a new drug that could “treat virtually all viral infections.”

“The new drug, known as DRACOÂ (double-stranded RNA activated caspase oligomerizer), is able to discriminate between healthy cells and those infected by viruses.” And “it signals the infected cells to die.”

Now, I don’t know if the medical world has really come across a cure or not but I wonder if somehow we could find a way to use the same principle in life, i.e. discriminate between healthy people and those “infected” by bad manners, contagious diseases or the person who is hard to get along with. And, if they could “die” in the spiritual sense, that would be great too.

Truth be told though, sometimes I feel like I’m one of the infected people who needs to “die.”