Autumn at Patoka Lake

Autumn

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – 1807-1882

With what a glory comes and goes the year!
The buds of spring, those beautiful harbingers
Of sunny skies and cloudless times, enjoy
Life’s newness, and earth’s garniture spread out;
And when the silver habit of the clouds
Comes down upon the autumn sun, and with
A sober gladness the old year takes up
His bright inheritance of golden fruits,
A pomp and pageant fill the splendid scene.

There is a beautiful spirit breathing now
Its mellow richness on the clustered trees,
And, from a beaker full of richest dyes,
Pouring new glory on the autumn woods,
And dipping in warm light the pillared clouds.
Morn on the mountain, like a summer bird,
Lifts up her purple wing, and in the vales
The gentle wind, a sweet and passionate wooer,
Kisses the blushing leaf, and stirs up life
Within the solemn woods of ash deep-crimsoned,
And silver beech, and maple yellow-leaved,
Where Autumn, like a faint old man, sits down
By the wayside a-weary. Through the trees
The golden robin moves; the purple finch,
That on wild cherry and red cedar feeds,
A winter bird, comes with its plaintive whistle,
And pecks by the witch-hazel, whilst aloud
From cottage roofs the warbling blue-bird sings;
And merrily, with oft-repeated stroke,
Sounds from the threshing-floor the busy flail.

O what a glory doth this world put on
For him who, with a fervent heart, goes forth
Under the bright and glorious sky, and looks
On duties well performed, and days well spent!
For him the wind, ay, and the yellow leaves
Shall have a voice, and give him eloquent teachings.
He shall so hear the solemn hymn, that Death
Has lifted up for all, that he shall go
To his long resting-place without a tear.

August 26, 2019
by Elizabeth Melton Parsons 9 Comments

Polyphemus Moth and Others

The Polyphemus moth is a very large and beautiful silk moth-named after Polyphemus, the giant cyclops in Greek mythology. Snapped this picture at work on Friday. It’s the second one I’ve seen this month at work.

The Beautiful Imperial Moth

And my favorite, The Lovely Luna Moth

August 15, 2019
by Elizabeth Melton Parsons 9 Comments

Bee on a Sunflower

This little bee wasn’t interest in me. He was too busy getting the nectar from this beauty at the sunflower field–Patoka Lake.

May 10, 2019
by Elizabeth Melton Parsons 9 Comments

Tulip Poplar

The beautiful Tulip Polar trees are flowering.

April 7, 2019
by Elizabeth Melton Parsons 17 Comments

Osprey Nest

Took this picture with my phone at work last week. It’s an Osprey nest. One of the Osprey flew off right as I snapped the photo. You can see him to the bottom left of the nest. The Osprey or fish hawk as they are sometimes called can have a wing span of 71 inches. They’re pretty awesome. My phone has a pretty bad zoom on it, but wanted to share the picture with you even though it’s a little fuzzy. 🙂 You can click the photo, then click again to enlarge for a little better look.

February 4, 2019
by Elizabeth Melton Parsons 9 Comments

A Walk in the Sun

We were in the deep freeze last week with -5 F temps and -25 wind chill. Then Saturday we had a lovely warm up. It got up to 55 degrees. I thought that was fantastic, but then yesterday it made it to 65 degrees with sunny skies. So I had to take advantage and take a long, lovely walk. Spent two hours walking in nature and found this beautiful little gem. A lovely and unexpected surprise. I love covered bridges.