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- 5/29/23…a snake in the Grass
“Have you ever studied a snake’s face? How optimistic they look. They have an eternal smile.”
-Tasha Tudor
The term “snake in the grass” was used by the poet Virgil as early as 37 B.C. (grammarist.com). This term is often used to describe a person who is deceitful or has a hidden agenda. The snake in the below photograph may not be in the grass, but it is a great example of deception. This is a gopher snake, it is not poisonous, but it will mimic a rattlesnake when under threat and hiss and even shake its tail – even though it has no rattle. In fact, gopher snakes are beneficial and help to keep rattlesnakes out of the area. One way to tell the difference between them is to look at their eyes, but not too close – use binoculars! Rattlesnakes have vertical pupils whereas gopher snakes have round pupils – you can see this in the picture below. Also be aware that rattlesnakes can lose their tail rattle so the rattle is not always a good way to identify a rattlesnake. And yes, I took this picture with a very long lens. Speaking of safety and wellness, snakes aren’t only linked to being symbols of deception and disloyalty, they are also symbols of healing, of rebirth (‘shedding their skin’) and of wisdom. You’ll see snake symbols everywhere in the world of medicine.
Snakes are captivating. There are approximately 3,900 species of these ectothermic (“cold-blooded”) creatures who rely on their environment for heat. Covered in scales, they range from 4 inches to 22 feet long and a fossil species was 42 feet long! Most snakes are nonvenomous and there is consensus that they descended from lizards. (wikipedia.org)
If you happen to come upon a snake, enjoy meeting one of nature’s most fascinating beings! I certainly do!
Please note all profits from the sale of any of my books, fine art prints and notecards are donated to 501(c) nonprofit organizations, organizations working so hard to save animals, wildlife, and our planet’s biodiversity. To make a purchase please see ‘Fine Art Prints & Notecards’ and ‘Books’ pages of website.)
Stay Inspired!
Wendy
- 4/23/23…for the birds of the beach
“…and he knew with practiced ease that he was not bone and feather but a perfect idea of freedom and flight, limited by nothing at all”
-Richard Bach (Jonathan Livingston Seagull, 1970, page 88)
The month of April always brings me back to childhood memories. When I was young, I had a friend named April who lived right down the street. I grew up in a town on Long Island in New York. When most people hear Long Island, New York they think of New York City suburbs. Shopping malls. Movie theaters. I think beach.
My childhood home on Long Island was only a 20-minute drive to many beaches – Lido Beach, Point Lookout Beach, Jones Beach, and others. My grandparents had a home a half block from the beach in Neponsit, Queens, less than an hour away. It was beautiful there in Neponsit, in every season of the year, but especially in the spring. The wildlife I remember most from my youth were the seagulls – they always made me smile. They still do. Seagulls are coastal birds that live on every continent on our planet. Even Antarctica.
It’s no surprise that I ultimately landed in the South Bay area of Los Angeles, just 10 minutes from the beach. I wake up some foggy mornings and can smell the salty air, just as I did when I was a child visiting my grandparents. And here too I hear the seagulls squawking. I love photographing these charismatic gulls here in Southern California. I hope that you have memories of birds or other animals from your childhood that bring you a smile too.
Please note all profits from the sale of any of my books, fine art prints and notecards are donated to 501(c) nonprofit organizations, organizations working so hard to save animals, wildlife, and our planet’s biodiversity. To make a purchase please see ‘Fine Art Prints & Notecards’ and ‘Books’ pages of website.)
Stay Inspired!
Wendy
- 3/31/23…suddenly it’s Spring!
“The first sparrow of spring! The year beginning with younger hope than ever!”
-Henry David Thoreau (from Walden, 2000 edition, p.331)
After a long winter of rain and snow here in the California mountains, suddenly it’s spring! The sun is peeking back out and the flowers are blooming like crazy. Birds and other wildlife are venturing out so it is a great time to go for a walk and bring a pair of binoculars or a camera. As the days get longer there is a feeling of promise and possibility in the air.
This white-crowned sparrow is a seed eating bird. The shape of the bird’s bill can tell you what a bird eats – long and thin for picking off insects, sharp hooks for meat-eating raptors, and short and conical for crushing seeds. As can be seen from the picture below, many sparrows have distinctive head patterns. Sparrows are said to symbolize joy and community and were considered a symbol of love in ancient Greece.
As we move into these longer and sunnier days, I wish for you endless new possibilities and many happy days full of love!
Please note that all profits from the sale of any of my books, fine art prints and notecards are donated to 501(c) nonprofit organizations, organizations working so hard to save animals, wildlife, and our planet’s biodiversity. (To make a purchase please see ‘Fine Art Prints & Notecards’ and ‘Books’ pages of website.)
Stay Inspired!
Wendy
- 2/27/23…for the beauty of blue
When I was a child, I was allowed to select a color carpet for my room, and I picked the brightest red shag carpet that there was. I loved red. Anything red. Once I had lived with this bright red carpet for a few years, I was done with red. My favorite color switched to blue and it has been blue ever since. Anything blue.
Blue is a deep and stunning color. There are many shades of blue in nature and blue is always with us, during all seasons. Even at this time of the year, as winter approaches spring here in the mountains, there are days with magnificent blue skies or icy blue wintry storms.
I love to photograph blue birds, whenever they appear. The beautiful blue feathers on this California Scrub-Jay certainly got my attention. Photographing jays and other birds always brings me such joy!
I wish for you many sunny blue days and lots of joy!
Please note that all profits from the sale of any of my books, fine art prints and notecards are donated to 501(c) nonprofit organizations, organizations working so hard to save animals, wildlife, and our planet’s biodiversity. (To make a purchase please see ‘Fine Art Prints & Notecards’ and ‘Books’ pages of website.)
Stay Inspired!
Wendy
- 1/30/23…for the new year
The lunar new year arrived in January and welcomed in the year of the water rabbit (in Vietnam it is the year of the cat). The rabbit is a symbol of peace, abundance and prosperity. Rabbits also symbolize longevity despite having a short life expectancy of 2 years in the wild, although some species can live as long as 9 years.
There are times that I have seen so many rabbits in the wild that they certainly seemed to be living up to their prolific reputation. In other years there were so few rabbits in sight that I worried their population was being impacted by California’s drought or a disease. In recent years there has been an ongoing and severe drought here in the west. In times like these the rabbits, like many animals, struggle for survival. Certain physical traits help them to survive such as their large ears which allow heat to escape, cooling them down. Rabbits also survive on the water in the vegetation they eat. They rest and are rarely seen during the hottest time of the day. It seems fitting that a new year celebrating the water rabbit has recently brought much needed rain and snow here in the west.
I love to watch the local wild rabbits running, at play and at rest. They can move so fast and they can be so still. They are a reminder to me that life is a mixture of great action and also of rest.
I hope this year of the water rabbit brings to you a year of creativity, tranquility, and great abundance!
Please note that all profits from the sale of any of my books, fine art prints and notecards are donated to 501(c) nonprofit organizations, organizations working so hard to save animals, wildlife, and our planet’s biodiversity. (To make a purchase please see ‘Fine Art Prints & Notecards’ and ‘Books’ pages of website.)
Stay Inspired!
Wendy
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