Theme day: Solitude

The theme day for March is Solitude.  

Even on a busy Saturday you can find solitude in the park.

 

Ghost trees

Beech trees don't lose their leaves in winter.  They just turn brown and dry up.  They look ghostly and sound like they're whispering in the wind.

 

Red tail

This Red Tailed Hawk swooped high up in the loblolly pine and scanned for prey.  He flew off when the blue jays started to harass him.

 

Turtles

The turtles are back out, sunning themselves on a log.

 

Kingfisher

We could hear his laughing call as he flew across the lake.  He went back and forth and finally landed on a post.  

A Belted Kingfisher.

 

Cedar Waxwings

A small flock of Cedar Waxwings descended on the berry bushes.

 

Tap tap tap

We heard a little tap, tap, tap and searched the trees until we saw him.  A little brown headed nuthatch making his home.

 

Stephen Hayes

Stephen Hayes is a Durham artist who focuses on issues of social justice and economic justice as applied to Black people in the U.S.

The clenched hand in a field of bullet shells was especially effective.

 

Low bridge

A low bridge and a graceful arch.

 

Taking it easy

It was a hammock kind of day.

 

Silhouettes

A hammock, one loop of the Gyre and a lot of visitors make up this silhouette.

 

The Doors of Jerusalem

These figures loom over the stairway at the NC Museum of Art.  They are the Doors of Jerusalem by Jaume Plensa. The words inscribed on their arms are excerpts from the Song of Solomon.

 

In progress

This installation still has caution fencing around it.

 

Soon it will be a mirrored labyrinth.

Artistic greenway

The greenway that runs near the NC museum of Art has it's own art.  A billboard.

The greenway itself is decorated like a henna tattoo.

A busy day

The last sunny day before a storm, everyone was out at the NC museum of Art sculpture park.

 

Mental health

This installation at the NC museum of Art, is called Medication Artifact by Julia Caston.  It is made up of medication bottles and notecards submitted by participants documenting their mental illness.

This one was particularly poignant.

 

A gathering place

There must have been a lot of fish gathered.  The herons, cormorants and gulls were looking for something.

 

Hiding in plain sight

The heron was hard to spot. He looked like a tall weed.

 

Happy Valentine's day

Happy Valentines Day.

 

The eagles return

The eagles are back at Shelly Lake.  

 

Feisty birds

The cormorants were fighting for their place.  

 

Finally!

The leaves from this fall are still in the street.  The crews have been hampered by rain and snow and are just now getting to our neighborhood.  They suck the leaves up into big trucks and bring them to the city composting facility.  They're almost compost already.

 

Song sparrow

The forest was quiet, but filled with song sparrows.  Why weren't they singing?

 

A new word

Pareidolia is the tendency to see images, often faces in random patterns.  When you see shapes in clouds, or faces in burnt toast.  (see here)

I've always seen a frightened face in the electric plugs.  I just didn't know it had a really cool name.

 

Yellow belly

This yellow bellied sapsucker was checking out the trees.  Maybe looking for a good spot to make his nest hole.

 

Deer me

Three deer beside the greenway, didn't run away when they saw us.  Instead they slowly crept closer.  I wonder who's been feeding them?

 

Nippy morning run

There weren't many people out running on a chilly morning.

 

Kinglet in the longleaf

This little golden crowned kinglet didn't budge when we walked right up to him.  He was intently working on the pine branch.  

There was something there that he really wanted.

 

Candelabra

The cattails in the wetlands looked like lighted candles.

 

Reflective swamp

The murky dark water reflected the sky very well.

 

Big snow?

Another "big" snow came through last week.  Cancellations were threatened, people hunkered down.  This is what we saw the next day, a light dusting.