Monthly Archives: April 2026

Reflections

Reflections

Reflections

Cathy and I went to the property in Pennsylvania today but drove up separately. I went by way of Rural King in Hanover, to pick up a 50 pound bag of red clover seed. We’re trying to get something growing quickly and it germinates faster than grass (which we’ll also plant). We had planned for Jeff’s cousin to be there today with some machinery but he was delayed so I worked with clippers and the chainsaw, clearing some underbrush in one of the fields. These are things that have grown up since dad died. Some were catalpa seedlings of a tree he planted, but they were all much too close together, so I left the large, central tree. Others were sweetgum trees and he may have planted all of them but I took out the two smallest to allow the mower to get in between them all. It was a hot and tiring day and after everyone else had left—Cathy had to drive home to take care of the dog—I took a few photos of reflections on the pond. I spent the night and enjoyed the frogs and even heard a great horned owl (Bubo virginianus).

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White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)

White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)

White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)

Cathy and I took a walk on Cabin John Creek, walking upstream from where the creek is crossed by Bradley Blvd. We went as far as where the creek meets Seven Locks Road, near the Seven Locks Swimming Pool. We heard a few birds but didn’t see too many. I did get a few photos of this white-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) that turned out well enough. I’d prefer to get it from the side, but you often see them from this angle, anyway. I got some pretty poor photos of a little brown bird that was working its way up a tree. They were not good enough to share but they were, thankfully, good enough to identify the bird as a brown creeper (Certhia americana), so that was fun.

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Easter Portrait

Henry, Cathy, Dorothy, and Jeff

Henry, Cathy, Dorothy, and Jeff

We went to the 6:00 AM sunrise service at Fourth Presbyterian this morning. The forecast was for rain but we were fortunate that the rain didn’t come until the afternoon. Instead we had a very pretty sunrise, along with a lovely service. As usual, we stayed for breakfast and then the 8:00 service in the sanctuary, where the music, as well as the message, was wonderful. We came home and then went to visit Cathy’s mom and though I took pictures there, the picture I’m sharing with you is of the four of us, back at home before we changed out of our Easter best and had our Easter feast.

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Erythronium americanum (Trout Lily)

Erythronium americanum (Trout Lily)

Erythronium americanum (Trout Lily)

As we like to do this time of year—and specifically on Easter weekend—we took a walk on Seneca Creek from where it meets Berryville Road. We call this the Bluebell Island Walk, although from this side, we aren’t actually on what we call Bluebell Island most of the time. We walk upstream on the east/north bank of Seneca Creek. One year we walked on the Seneca Bluffs Trail on the other bank, which is also a nice walk but there are more bluebells on this side. In addition to the Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica), there are trout lilies (Erythronium americanum), yellow violets (Viola hastata, more properly the halberd-leaf yellow violet), and, more and more, incised fumewort (Corydalis incisa), a non-native, invasive perennial.

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