lloydslensphotographyllc

New Life On The Farm

Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “New Life 41820a” and is available for purchase by the instructions at the bottom of the article.

The big blue truck takes me along the stretch of road that had so much influence on my life. I remember when the road was about 2/3 The width it is today. Because most of roads in my life at the time were either gravel roads or jeep trails we called this section of road “The Hard Top”. It runs past the front field that now belongs to my uncle. I can’t really remember a time when it wasn’t full of cattle or standing hay. Even with the old one room schoolhouse that we used for a barn I relive my childhood every time I pass through. But today was special. Today as I slowly drifted by a band new calf came sprinting up to investigate the truck. The baby is only a few hours old and already able to run and play. She’s in love with life!

Image Titled “New Life 41820b”. This is the Carl’s second approach to my truck.

The calf is still wet and testing out her legs. She runs a few zig-zag patterns and figure eights through the pasture and slows to a trot before walking back to the truck.

The new calf will feed on mother’s milk for about 2 months but already she seems to be investigating the taste of the fresh grass in the field of her birth. The world is full of new scents and sounds for her. She licks the grass a little and then in a sudden burst of energy she starts running her figure eights through the pasture again.

I got the distinct impression that she was thinking “Look how fast I can run!” Her Jack Rabbit take off throws small bits of grass into the air as she kicks up her heels.

The rest of herd looks on. The looks on their faces say “There she goes again!” As she zooms through the middle of the herd.

There she goes again!

She makes a dash for the other newborn and cuts away at the last second as her mother steps forward trying to get control of her runaway child.

Finally, the new calf circles around and presents herself to me once more.

Image Titled “New Life 41820e”.

By now her mother is looking frustrated and I decided it was time to remove the big blue truck a little farther down the road. As I pulled away I could see the calf return to her mother’s side in the rear view mirror.

I was energized by the calf’s antics and there’s something very satisfying about seeing new life finding a new would to explore and play in.

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that graduation will be here before you know it. Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

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To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

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Disruption Precedes Regeneration

Color Photography

Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Regeneration 41320” and is available for purchase by the instructions at the bottom of the article.

The floods came and the river raged. The huge maple tree withstand the force of the water because it’s roots were strong but it’s trunk was hammered with debris. When the storm finally broke and the Kanawha River returned to her banks ut was revealed that the tree had lost a branch. The clouds parted and the sun caressed the wounded tree until the first bud formed. The new leaves opened to receive the healing light needed for the branch to regenerate.

The world is full of disparaging news and we have suffered a loss but the storms don’t last forever. Eventually the flood recedes, the sun shines and healing begins. The new branches won’t look like the old ones because they’ll grow to need the needs of the moment but they will come back.

I want to close tonight’s post by asking you to be of good cheer and have faith. Our roots are strong enough to keep us grounded and when the sun shines we will regenerate. Disruption precedes regeneration! 💪

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that graduation will be here before you know it. Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

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To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

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If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/

https://youtu.be/FDcrY6w8oY8

Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simplymessage me on Facebookoruse the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.

Thank you again for your support of my page!❤

Forage Friday #54 Spicebush

Color Photography, Forage Friday

Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Spicebush Flowers 32420a” and is available for purchase by the instructions at the bottom of the article.

Cold air spills over my mountain as I brave the rain and gloom that threatens to chill me to the bone. Desperate for a sign that the gloomy season will be over soon my eyes scan the wilderness for subtle changes in the color of the twigs and buds. I Am not disappointed as my gaze lands on the sunny colored tufts on the fringes of my forest. The Spicebush is in bloom! That was actually a month ago. I was so thrilled to see them that I ran straight up the steep grade to get closer.

The flowers are similar to Witch Hazel but the easiest way to tell the difference between them at,a distance is that witch hazel blooms in late fall and they are more frilly. For comparison, I covered witch hazel on December 14th 2019 in Forage Friday post #37.

While witch hazel yields a terrific astringent Spicebush yields a sweet lemony tea. The flavor is in the leaves and inner bark and is available all year. However, the inner bark is easiest to harvest in Spring when the sap is up. Otherwise, just prune off the smaller twigs and rinse them well to remove any debris. The flavor isn’t really like lemonade. It’s more like lemon candy.

The tree itself is in laurel family and was a sign of good agricultural land in the settlement days. I have only tried it as a tea but I imagine that the leaves were probably used by Native Americans in preparing fish. A lot of things that I’ve read about the way primitive cultures worldwide cook fish is by first wrapping the fish in ” aromatic leaves”, then sealing it up in wild clay so that it has it’s own little terracotta style oven and it’s dropped right in the coals or even buried in the ground with hot coals. I don’t know for a fact that Spicebush leaves were used but once you crush a handful of the fresh leaves and inhale the scent it makes perfect sense that it would be a prime choice.

It’s also said that Native Americans used the tea medicinally for a variety of health issues.

The berries were made into a tea for coughs, cramps and to induce the menstrual cycle. And an oil from the berries was made into an ointment for rheumatism.

The bark was used for a “blood purifier”, rheumatism, colds and to induce sweating.

I should mention that when I was introduced to Spicebush it was under the name of Carolina allspice. The flavor of the berries is more like allspice from the store and not lemony at all. One of the group’s members when told that the berries were edible yanked several off of a nearby branch and popped them into his mouth. It wasn’t nearly as pleasant as he expected. The face contorted and before anyone could say anything he spit the berries a good 20 feet into the forest. Here’s the trick. In order to get the allspice flavor only the flesh of the fruit is used. The seed is discarded and the flesh is dried, ground into a powder and sweetened before adding to a dish.

Image Titled “Spicebush Leaves 42420a”

One of the “field uses” if Spicebush is that the lemon scent helps hide you from biting insects like mosquitoes. Especially if you have some wild mint to mix them with.

Image Titled Spicebush Leaves 42420b

The tree itself is also used in landscapes. It seems to be disease resistant and doesn’t seem to mind being pruned at all. The one in tonight’s feature image is too surrounded by other trees that are in leafing out so I wasn’t able to get a good shot of the whole tree but it’s growing almost sideways out of the mountain with interesting twists in the branches and trunk. I think it would take well to being planted in partial shade and shaped like a Bonsai tree.

Do you have any use ideas for such a Bush? If so let me know in the comments below.

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that graduation will be here before you know it. Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

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To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

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https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/

https://youtu.be/FDcrY6w8oY8

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Common Grackle Encounter

Color Photography, wildlife

Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Common Grackle 41320” and is available for purchase by the instructions at the bottom of the article.

A few days ago I happened to be in Glen Ferris on the banks of the Kanawha River. Since the shutdown I’ve mostly stayed in the big blue truck when I’m out and used my long lens from the truck windows. I’d stopped here hoping to catch up with some ducks but after a few minutes of looking at the empty water I knew that that had missed them. I was about to pull back onto the road when a movement in the bushes caught my attention.

Image Titled “Common Grackle On The Kanawha River 41320” shows the Green Sheen of its feathers.

It was a glint of green feathers that I noticed. Thinking that it might have been a mallard I eased the truck forward to change my angle and get a better look. What I found was a bird that wasn’t really a water bird and not nearly as large as my fleeting glimpse had lead me to believe. If not for the bird’s diminutive size I might have thought it was crow with an oddly iridescent sheen. The head actually changed color depending on the angle of the sun. I have heard of the common grackle but I’d not really paid much attention to them until now. I knew that they were around but I didn’t bother to learn more about them.

So when I got home I started to read up on them. They’re pretty adaptive and it seems the human activity favors their spread. They will hunt insects, feed on vegetation and even pull minnows out of the shallow waters. They’re in the same class of birds as the mocking bird but their songs are shorter and their voice is harsh but they do mimic other birds and they can even learn human speech. My short amount of research shows that some people have them as pets and the YouTube videos show that the bond pretty well with humans. Their iridescent plumage and long tail feathers also make them quite attractive. I’ll have to do a little more research but for now they definitely have my attention.

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that graduation will be here before you know it. Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

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To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

If you would like to Follow me on Facebook the web address is

https://www.facebook.com/aviewfromthelens/

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/

https://youtu.be/FDcrY6w8oY8

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Thoughts On Earth Day 2020

Color Photography

Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Natural Love 4220” and is available for purchase by the instructions at the bottom of the article.

Typically, I don’t really make a big deal out of Earth Day. The biggest reason for that is that like everything else in culture today the objective gets lost in political opinions and debates that seem to be more about who is right rather than what is right. It’s a difficult topic for me to cover and maintain a focus on the positive. But there are a few things that everyone seems to agree on. The biggest issues of the day is all the plastic in our waterways. We see the images on T.V. and the internet of plastic in the ocean and on the beaches but at least some of it came from the streams and rivers of our inland. Even Little Elk Creek that runs through my yard is laden with the debris of so called civilization. The truth is that it’s human nature to simply discard waste. Archaeologists have built careers on the study of Midden Mounds. The main thing that has changed over several thousand years is that our debris and artifacts have become incapable of being recycled by nature. Prior to 1907 most things were either made from wood, ceramics and glass or metal. If anyone discarded these items in the wilderness natural processes dealt with them. Wood of course would rot while the other materials had little more impact than stone. Steel rusted and the resulting iron oxide would be used by nature even if it took a long time. When I was a kid we’d pick up the glass bottles and turn them in for a cash reward. It was usually enough for bottle of Coke and a Hershey bar. Glass was the currency of children in those days. I have the recollection of the pitch for plastic of glass. We were told that it would be easier to recycle plastic because it required less energy to melt it down and reform it into a new product. But soon the deposit was discontinued and picking up bottles out of ditches had no value. We actually have to pay people to haul away the very same items that we once got paid to pick up ourselves. 3D printing might change that. A quick Google search turned up a few articles on a class of 3D printers that consume shredded plastic and turns it into new useable items.

But you don’t need to go high tech. As an example here’s a Howcast video about using a hot iron along with needle and thread to convert disposable plastic bags into a resizable tote.

Another example is this guy who used a toaster oven and recycled plastic to create a woodworking mallet.

Once you get the concept down you’re only limited by your imagination. I have a close friend who’s scrap built starship models are second to none.

But it’s not just the litter in our waterways. There’s enough things like controlling erosion, planting forests and even urban farming that would bring us back to a more natural way of life. For every challenge there’s going to be multiple ways to resolve it on a personal level. We just need to look at the options and set a course. If we wait for someone else to fix it then by default we’ll be the last to benefit from the solutions offered.

Image Titled “Natural Love 4220”.

My last thought on Earth Day 2020 is that I don’t want to focus on the problem as much as I do the solutions and specifically a solution that you can implement all on your own. Even if it’s just bagging up the trash in a park and sending it to a landfill you’re getting it of the wilderness and that’s a good thing.

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that graduation will be here before you know it. Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

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To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

If you would like to Follow me on Facebook the web address is

https://www.facebook.com/aviewfromthelens/

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/

https://youtu.be/FDcrY6w8oY8

Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

Thank you again for your support of my page!❤