Day 321 Unexpected Seasons

October 26, 2015

(If we live with an open and grateful attitude, every day will bring a gift. This is one of 365 gifts during the year I turned 70.)

It is fall but we were looking for the vernal pond. My friend Brycia and I were walking on a nature path near her place when we saw a sign for a vernal pond. A vernal pool or pond is a depression, usually an impermeable ground area, that fills up with water in the spring and dries up in the fall. In the spring, these areas are often rich amphibian breeding areas. From them emanates one of my favorite spring sounds—peepers. Several years ago, I followed the sound during a spring visit with friends in Virginia. I discovered many bubble-like spots in a small body of water. As it turned out, these were the eggs that would hatch even more peepers to delight my ear.

I would expect that at this time of the year, any vernal pond that Brycia and I found would be an ugly dried up muddy area. As it turned out, we discovered a small, peaceful pool of water with fallen leaves floating on the surface like multicolored gems. I suspect it is more beautiful right now than it was earlier in the spring.

Sometimes the seasons in our lives bring unexpected beauty and peace. Years ago when I was going through a difficult time in my life, I did not anticipate that I would experience the depth of joy that I have found in a later season of my life. 

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”         ~ Albert Camus

My gift today is an autumn walk with a friend.

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> Day 322: Aligning

You can find links to my other posts on this project here:
http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html

Day 203 Clitellum

June 30, 2015

(This is part of a 365 project during my 70^th years where I write and illustrate a blog on each day’s gift.)

It’s not that I love earthworms so much but rather the sensory awakening that occurs when they crawl onto the sidewalk after a rain. I like the darkened drama of a summer storm—gray sky, cracking thunder, rhythmic rain, earthy scent of freshly moistened soil.  The gyrations of the annelid’s tiny glistening body remind me of the slithering of seasons through a lifetime and the comfort of seasonal repetition.

I wonder why this creature has left its natural surroundings for hard concrete. Many people believe it is to avoid drowning in the rain but it was not in danger of drowning. The rain actually makes travel easier for earthworms because they can move without drying out—a matter of life and death for them. They breathe through their skin, which must remain wet for oxygen to pass through it. 

My high school biology class dissected a worm. At that time, I thought it was the most uninteresting thing we could have dissected. I missed most parts we were supposed to identify, with the exception of the girdle, which is the organ near the middle of the body. I never learned in high school science class that this is called a clitellum, which swells and secretes nutritive liquid that makes reproduction possible. Was this too delicate for an all-girls high school class in the 60’s? Our teacher missed an opportunity to spice things up with a little sex and make us wonder if these two words have anything in common—clitellum and clitoris.

My gift today is a seasonal slither.

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> Day 204: Among the Weeds

You can find links to my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html