Carolina Wren - All Puffed Up

A wonderful realization will be the day you realize that you are unique in all the world. There is nothing that is an accident. You are a special combination for a purpose - and don't let them tell you otherwise... only you can fulfill that tiny space that is yours.

~Leo Buscaglia

Mockingbird - Drying His Feathers

If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Bee covered in Pollen

~Such AMAZING Creatures~

~A Closer Look~

I know no subject more elevating, more amazing, more ready to the poetical enthusiasm, the philosophical reflection, and the moral sentiment than the works of nature. Where can we meet such variety, such beauty, such magnificence?

~James Thomson

Common Buckeye Butterfly

Like a great poet, Nature knows how to produce the greatest effects with the most limited means.

~Heinrich Heine

Monarch Butterfly - Egg Laying - Ovipositing

Monarch Butterfly laying an egg - ovipositing - on the underside of a milkweed leaf.

Cropped closely - but I hope you can see the little egg it laid. It was quite thrilling to see this happening. Only when I got the image downloaded did I realize I captured the egg as well.

Taken Sunday 08-21-11 - Heritage Park - Blacksburg, VA

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

- Unknown

Catbird Calling

The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't being said.

~Unknown

Carried By The Wind

I'm a Wild Seed Again, Let the Wind Carry Me

Joni Mitchell

Scorpion Fly - Wednesday Wings

At bottom every man knows well enough that he is a unique being, only once on this earth; and by no extraordinary chance will such a marvelously picturesque piece of diversity in unity as he is, ever be put together a second time. ~Friedrich Nietzsche

Mantis - After the Molt

As I was taking shots of the Mantis Exoskeleton I found the newly emerged Mantis.

Nature often holds up a mirror so we can see more clearly the ongoing processes of growth, renewal, and transformation in our lives.

~ Mary Ann Brussat

Mantis Molt

One of the highlights of my walk yesterday (06-12-11) was finding the shed exoskeleton of a baby mantis. I didn't even realize the the mantis went through a molt.

This is the same picture. The first picture shows a rotated view but this picture show exactly how I found it - on the underside of a leaf.

We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.

~Joseph Campbell

Eastern Towhee - Beauty on a Branch

A cloudy day is no match for a sunny disposition.

~William Arthur Ward

Sorry for lack of posting but just helped Mom and Dad with the Big Move to my neighborhood! We are very excited to have them close by.

The Eastern Towhee is from my archives - May 2010 - Heritage Trail - Blacksburg, VA

Ladybug in the Leaves

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ladybug ~ 04-14-11 ~ Heritage Park ~ Blacksburg, VA

Chrysalis with Dew Drops

Change occurs when one becomes what she is, not when she tries to become what she is not. ~Ruth P. Freedman

My VERY FIRST chrysalis found Sunday 04/10/11.

Visit Lisa HERE for more Macro Monday images!

The Simple Goodness of a Life

That man is happiest who lives from day to day and asks no more, garnering the simple goodness of a life. ~Euripides

Another one from the archives ~ A Snout Butterfly from last year. 2010 was the first year I had ever seen these butterflies. This looks more like a Southern Snout to me because it is paler - but I am not sure.

Taking a Deep Breath

Smile, breathe and go slowly. ~Thich Nhat Hanh

Another shot from my archives of last summer. Not sure what kind of turtle this is. Seen at the Heritage Park Pond - Blacksburg Virginia - May 2010.