Saturn and Jupiter conjunction

Tonight is the night!!  Alas, the clouds are spoiling the fun of seeing the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter so I am consoling myself by doing this post with photos that I took last week on December 17th.

Captions are below each photo.  Please click on the photo to enlarge it.

Here is the lovely crescent Moon showing "earth shine", which illuminates the darkened area, and on the far right near the bottom of the image you can see Saturn above and Jupiter below.  

Here you see a close up of the two planets and even two of Jupiter's moons.  You can also notice that Jupiter shows as a circle (sphere) whereas Saturn's shape is elongated indicating the rings around the planet. 

Bent Arrow Studio

Quite some time ago I wrote a poem about a message brought by a crow and I posted it in this blog.  

A few people have mentioned how it touched them in some way and recently I was contacted by a woman who lives in Scotland and designs and makes the most beautiful, soul-filled jewelry - many with a crow (or corvid) theme.

I am so impressed by her beautiful work and her beautiful words that I wanted to share them here.  Her website can be found at: Bent Arrow Studio

I'm sure you will enjoy perusing her site.  Here are a couple of snippets (please click to enlarge them).

Donny Trump Walk

 

Sung to the tune of Jingle Bell Rock

Donny Trump Walk

Donny Trump, Donny Trump, Donny Trump walk

Walk out the door, we won't take anymore

Yelling and telling your bushels of lies

Now the transition has begun.

Donny Trump, Donny Trump, Donny Trump walk

Jingle bells chime, it's now quitting time

Dancing or prancing, just leave for elsewhere

In the frosty air.

What a bright time, it's the right time

To walk, yes walk away

Jingle bell time is a swell time

To go to hell 'cause you need to pay.

Giddy-up Donny Trump, pick up your feet

Look at the time on the clock

The election's over, Biden has you beat

No matter how much you balk.

Donny Trump, Donny Trump, Donny Trump walk

Jingle bells chime, it's now quitting time

Dancing or prancing, just leave for elsewhere

In the frosty air.

What a bright time, it's the right time

To walk, yes walk away

Jingle bell time is a swell time

To go to hell 'cause you need to pay.

Giddy-up Donny Trump, pick up your feet

Look at the time on the clock

Mix and a-mingle but beat a retreat

Go on Donny Trump

Go on Donny Trump

Go on Donny Trump - walk!

I've Published a Book of Poetry

 

"Discoveries in the Dark

Each one of us is born from the dark and returns to the dark.  

I would suggest as well that we live our lives in the dark.  By this I mean that we, as strangers in this world, spend our time trying to understand what to make of everything.  Our life-spans are not very long for us to explore what life is and how to navigate it. 

Throughout my life I have tried to get by as best as I could while sometimes negotiating deep, dark periods.  In the whole process I have made discoveries that have been small illuminations and have been significant enough to prompt me to express my thoughts and feelings in poetry.  

This book is a collection of some of those discoveries."

I recently self-published "Discoveries In The Dark" which is a book of sixty-five poems that I have written over the years.  It was a labour of love and a way for me to reveal feelings that have remained unexpressed for a long time.  Some of the poems are very personal whereas others are observations of the wonders of nature.  Here is an example of the latter.

I'll Know No Better Moment

Alone in nature's quiet woods

I sit in melancholy thought

and feel a soft wind blowing.

 

I turn and see there stands a fox -

his amber eyes are fixed on mine.

 

I’ll know no better moment.

And with a thrill, I see

through amber eyes as well.

 

And feel a change of gravity

and share his light-footed trot.

2019

© Doris Potter

Check this out!  I was #51 on Amazon's best seller list for Canadian Poetry, thereby beating out Leonard Cohen's book at #53!

(You can click on the image to increase its size.)

Ok, I have no idea why that happened and now I am at #535 but, wow, those 15 minutes of fame were delightful!! :-)

Sold on Amazon.com here

Bad Guys In The Neighbourhood

Last Sunday afternoon I was in my usual bird-watching area I heard what sounded like gun fire. The sounds caused me to pause and take a better look.  I was at a perfect vantage point where I could see two men but they couldn't see me. I realized they were shooting into the wooded area where I had walked just an hour or so earlier.  The road loops around in this area and these men were shooting across the loop thereby endangering anyone walking along that part of the path.  This area is frequented by dog walkers, joggers, and families out for a walk.

I took a few moments to photograph them with my zoom lens and willed them to move away from the licence plate so that I could get a shot of it too.  Here are those photos (with identification indicators marked out):

One man shooting into the area.

One gun lying on the trunk of the car.

The second man is reaching for one of two guns now on the trunk.

I then called 911 and explained the situation.  To me the guns looked like "real pistols" (although the reports were not as loud as I would have expected).  In any event, as I was making the call, the men got back in their car and drove down the road.  I relayed this to the 911 dispatcher and we ended the call after a few moments.  As I followed on foot down the road (which leads to a major boulevard) I began to hear sirens and as I got further along, I could hear the police on loud-speakers presumably ordering the men to exit their car.  They seemed to need a lot of persuading! Finally, when I got closer, I could see seven police cars, several officers standing by, and one of the men in the back of a cruiser - I didn't see the other man.  I identified myself to an officer and showed him my photos.  He told me that they were pellet guns but could easily be mistaken for regular pistols.  He said I had done the right thing to call them.

Later, as I was giving a written statement, I was told that what the men were doing was not criminal (unfortunately!) but that they would be given tickets.  

I hope these guys will not come into this nature area again.  Pellet guns or not, those projectiles can seriously injure people or kill animals.   

Happy Hallowe'en

 

I chose this image for a number of reasons:  the leaf is orange (a Hallowe'en colour); the shadows of the round leaves behind the main one make a face somewhat like that on a pumpkin (at least in my mind); the leaf points above the "eyes" remind me of a cat's ears (another symbol of Hallowe'en) and finally, the leaf is a maple leaf which represents Canada and this is a time to think of our fellow Canadians (as well as people of all countries) while the coronavirus continues to spread.

Another object that I found while touring my local cemetery is this plaque:

Roughly translated, it reads:

Think about what never dies -

Think of the stars and the sun

which always will be present -

Think about nature and its beauty

which always defy time -

Think about love that you hold -

And remember that always

it will live in you.

Happy Hallowe'en, stay safe, keep well!

The Common Blue Butterfly

The Common Blue butterfly (polyommatus icarus) was introduced to eastern Canada just over fifteen years ago.  It was first identified in Mirabel, Quebec. I saw my first one seven years ago in St-Laurent and it was quite a puzzle to me because I could not find it in any of my field guides.  Finally, thanks to the Internet, I was able to identify it as the European Common Blue.

I am very fond of this little butterfly.  It is amazingly strong and resilient and I even saw several today (October 24)! It is also one of the most "amorous" species I have ever found.  They literally mate all season long. :-)

The males are a beautiful shade of blue, and under the right lighting conditions, seem to glow like a jewel.  The females exhibit their own beauty - shades of brown dusted in blue with orange crescent marks.  Both sexes have colorful undersides of their wings.  Even their striped legs and antennae are striking!

Here is a selection of "blues" from the neighbourhood:

Vive l'amour!

And finally, "ménage à trois"?

 

 

Butterflies in the Neighbourhood

Just as I have done with moths and dragonflies, I now want to record the various species of butterflies that I have found in the neighbourhood.  Again, I am amazed at the number of different types that inhabit this small area.  

Black Swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes

Possible Northern Crescent, Phyciodes cocyta

Acadian Hairstreak, Satyrium acadica

Clouded Sulphur, Colias philodice

Cabbage White, Pieris rapae

Common Ringlet, Coenonympha tullia

Banded Hairstreak, Satyrium calanus

Eyed Brown, Lethe eurydice

Monarch, Danaus plexippus

Long Dash, Polites mystic

Silver-spotted Skipper, Epargyreus clarus

Peck’s Skipper, Polites peckius

Northern Cloudywing, Thorybes pylades

Eastern Tailed-Blue, Cupido comyntas

Silvery Blue, Glaucopsyche lygdamus

The following photograph will act as a bridge between this post and the next.  It introduces the Common Blue butterfly (Polyommatus icarus) which is an abundant little butterfly with an interesting history here in Quebec.

Silvery Blue above and Common Blue below

  

The Rock Pile

Sometimes when wandering around the neighbourhood one can find oneself on the "wrong side of the tracks".  Such was the case recently when I came upon a bad-boy establishment known as "The Rock Pile", just next to those very tracks.

Local tough guys (introduced below) hang out there and this is an account of one afternoon in their company.

There are the two brothers, Dekay and Brownie who pretty much dominate the place - lounging about wherever they please.  Then there's Spider, a wannabe tough guy, who cozies up to Dekay every chance he gets.  Jumpy, Spider's cousin, is too afraid to get so close but sits on the outskirts watching the action.

While I observed the goings-on, Dekay made a sudden move which sent Spider (who had been at his side) bolting across The Rock Pile and running smack into Jumpy.  Jumpy, being … well … jumpy, panicked and likewise bolted.  Once the action all settled down, the various hangers-on came crawling out to enjoy a few vicarious thrills.  There was Beetle Boy (a derisive nickname bestowed by Dekay) who got his kicks by walking all over Dekay daring him to react; then there was Woolly Bear who liked to live on the edge; and finally Tiny whose biggest thrill was to get right up in Brownie's face!

The most memorable moment of all was when a stranger arrived on the scene.  Tall and lanky but with a fierce glare, he surveyed the place and looked for potential prey.  Dekay and Brownie were passed out at this point so there were no major skirmishes on that front but everyone else became fair game as the stranger (known as The Preyer) advanced slowly and methodically.  His attention became focused on a member of the Grasshopper Gang who frequented the place and I was transfixed by the unfolding drama.  I was expecting a rumble!

All of a sudden the whole place was subjected to a violent rumbling as the afternoon freight train passed and all the inhabitants scattered.  In a matter of seconds the place was deserted, the train was fading away in the distance, and I turned and walked away.

Just another afternoon among the denizens of The Rock Pile …

Cast of characters:

Dekay (Dekay's Brownsnake)

Brownie (Dekay's Brownsnake)

Spider (Ant-mimic Sac Spider)

Jumpy (Bold Jumper, jumping spider)

Beetle Boy (walking over Dekay)

Beetle Boy (close up)

Woolly Bear (living on the edge)

Tiny (right up in Brownie's face!)

The Preyer (Praying Mantis)

One fierce dude!

Interesting and Funny Sights in the Neighbourhood

During these serious times, it is important to find some humour where we can.  So here are some interesting sights that I have come across during my neighbourhood outings. (Captions are below each image).

A novel way to social distance. (Student on a college campus)

This is a fire hydrant just outside my apartment building on which someone put a Provigo (supermarket) shirt.  One dark evening, with no working streetlight, I mistook it for a kneeling person and talked to it.  It did not answer me ...

On the back of a parked car.  I love this!

I'm not sure what is the story of this little, forlorn looking guy.  He is sitting outside the doors of a closed day-care center.  He sat there overnight and was gone the next day when the center opened.

Now this was a surprise! Our weather has been unseasonably warm so this fellow was not the result of a freak snowstorm but was actually "snow" scraped off a local indoor hockey rink and dumped at the edge of a parking lot.  I have to confess that I was the one to give him eyes and a smile. :-)

Now here is a very strange creature that has been spotted prowling about!  You probably guessed that it is the blogger herself - all decked out in a ball cap to hide my gray roots, sunglasses to protect my eyes and a "raccoon" mask to protect from COVID-19!