Category Archives: nature

June 22, 2025

day 171 – drama in the foothills

By Kat Myrman 
I need a ReVerse…can we have a do-over?!

in the deep, I am forever
(as) the dust settles 
a gentle prodding
you cannot wish our souls away
wrapped in grace and trust…
insanity reigns

~kat

The natural world is not always rainbows and butterflies. But it is a just and fair cycle of life. Sometimes I get a front row seat like today. 

The day started like it usually does. A perfect summer morning. A bit of a breeze, which is always fragrant this time of year. This morning I detected a hint of honeysuckle. One of my deer friends came by to say good morning, so a tossed her a bit of corn to munch on. I had some errands to run…before settling in for a little cat nap.

And that’s when I saw him, a magnificent red shouldered hawk perched a few yards away from the bird feeders. It was clear that the finches, cardinals, wrens, tits, cowbirds, and mourning doves had sent out the alarm…best to take shelter…danger from above. (Ironic, isn’t it, that humans in various locations are exercising a similar practice these very days…but for much more selfish, malevolent reasons…power, greed, and hate…but I digress…)

The hawk, though his shadow from above scattered the smaller critters here in the woods, he was not being hateful or vindictive, or even monstrous. He just had an empty belly to fill, and the felled tree trunk beneath him just happened to be home to several smaller rodent-types. Field mice and chipmunks, snakes and lizards. I know he has harvested birds on occasion…the splattering of feathers is a dead giveaway.

But today poultry was not on the menu. He was looking for a snack (I suspect this because there were 1/2 a dozen squirrels collecting seeds under the feeders, and he was not interested in the least.) I stepped away from my window seat for a few minutes and when I returned, he was gone, either bored from the blight of fresh options or he had found what he came for. To my delight all the birds had returned to the feeders, the squirrels were beneath catching the seeds that dropped to the ground. And I thought, what a lovely glimmer…life goes on. 

But that was not the end of mother nature’s glimmer show today. Soon a turkey hen made her way to the feeders to pluck seeds from the ground…and to my surprise and delight she had a young chick I tow, showing it the ropes on this little acre in the foothills.

She even introduced it to the red clay hill nearby and showed it how to take a dust bath. Life does indeed go on! 

One more…a video of the hen-chick spa day!

Much love, peace, and glimmers to you! 

~kat ✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨

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June 20, 2025

day 169 ~ happy solstice

By Kat Myrman
Mid-summer’s Eve in the Bramlett Mountain Foothills ~ Photo by Kat Myrman 2025
fantastical indulgences 
on a mid-summer night

if I never filled another 
feeder with sunflower seeds, 
millet, fruit and wheat berries,
if I never broke bits of bread
tossing them into the back yard 
for the crows…or laid peanuts 
on the edge of the covered porch 
deck for squirrels to snatch …
if I never scattered feed corn for
the deer and wild turkeys who
meander by each day at dawn 
and dusk, or never dissolved  
white sugar in warm water 
for the hummingbird jars 
hanging just outside my window…

the birds on this acre 
on the edge of the woods
would still go to sleep
bellies plump and satiated, 
the crows would have plenty 
to feast on…nuts, insects, eggs,
and even carrion, the squirrels 
would happily gather hickory nuts, 
grains, berries and seeds, 
the deer would munch on 
juniper berries and graze on 
clover with the rabbits, the turkeys 
would busy themselves plucking 
grubs and mites from the red dust, 
and seeds from the soil, and the
hummingbirds would sip sweet 
nectar from flower cups alongside
the butterflies and honeybees

these gentle friends don’t need me
life will go on when I am gone, 
but oh, how I’d miss the little 
community we’ve built, a utopia 
based on kindness and respect 
in this shared green space 
that we all call home sweet home…
and I’d like to imagine that they
would miss me and my rambling
one-sided conversations too.
I wonder if they’d miss the
moments that we share space 
and breath and eye contact 
wrapped in grace and trust…
I like to imagine that they would

~much love, peace and glimmers to you!

✨✨✨💚kat💚✨✨✨

Today’s lovely glimmers…

A latecomer…who wanted to be part of today’s glimmer party…the local bandit! ✨💚✨

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June 18, 2025

day 167

By Kat Myrman 
failure to launch

a phoebe fledgling
fluttered in the rose garden
a failed first flight
her parents hovering close by 
‘til she found her wings and soared

a gentle prodding
is sometimes all that we need
for a leap of faith

 ~kat

Yesterday, there were three phoebe chicks in the nest over my garage side door light. Year after year I’ve watched a pair of phoebes build a nest under the eave of our house. The cycle of life commences. 

The laying of the eggs, one a day over several days. When the laying is done, the mother settles in for the long haul, perched over her precious brood, day after day, rain or shine. Her devoted mate tends to her every need, feeds her, stands vigil nearby, protecting his family. After only a few weeks the moment long awaited comes and the chicks emerge from their shells. Mom and dad spend their waking hours feeding these hungry featherless babies who are all mouth. They grow quickly until it’s time to fly free in a matter of a few more weeks. 

This morning I noticed that the nest was empty. Another brood joining the flock that returns every spring to our acre. I noticed though that the parents were still near, agitated and not at all happy to see me. Then I saw it. A lone fledgling on my front porch stairs near the roses fluttered as it looked at me while the mom and pop swooped around me. I was concerned little tyke was exposed where the crows frequented, so I moved it under cover on the wicker settee. Soon after the parents came over, I suspect to encourage it to spread its wings. When I checked a few hours later the little family had moved on. 

I have seen nestlings fail to survive on occasion and knew the sound of the parents mourning. (yes even tiny phoebe parents mourn the loss of their young who don’t survive.)  But today, the sky was blue and sunlit. And it was silent but for the soft rustle of wind through the trees.  I like to think that this little family is somewhere riding the wind. At least that’s my hope. 

It reminds me that all families are precious…every single family. Every single soul. It reminds me that life offers us opportunities every day to recognize this fact, to be kind, and sometimes we are honored to help too. It costs nothing to lend a hand…to show kindness. May we seek those opportunities and rise to the occasion when presented with them. 

much love, peace, and glimmers to you! 

~kat

✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨

A Tanka / Haiku Combo. 🙂

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in 2025, Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Haiku, Life Lessons, nature, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Spirituality, Tanka

June 16, 2025

day 165

By Kat Myrman 
becoming

said stone to the river,
“how soft you feel as 
you wash over me…
but after a long season
in the deep, I am forever
changed…my soul revealed.”

~kat

The weather forecast is calling for a week of rain, and flood warnings. There is a spot in my yard where grass refuses to grow. On hot, dry days it is a slope of powdery red clay; a favorite spot frequented by turkey hens who take in a dust bath and lounge in the sun. On rainy days it becomes a mudslide with the rain water transporting the top layers down to the grassy areas. It’s a slow erosion. Over the years more and more red clay is exposed with trenches where the water has streamed through.

Our lawn guy has asked us if we want him to try planting the area. But he knows us and our love of the wildlife we share this space with. Because the turkey hens love it so much, he knows we’re good to let nature landscape our yard. And the clover? Let’s not clear that either. The bunnies and deer love it too much.

Like rocks eroded over the years into smooth pebbles by rushing river streams, this place has softened and changed us too. Well manicured lawns are for urban spaces…but here in the foothills, I am content to let moss collect in the shade. Let the rain change the landscape on the hill. It feels like home.

much love, peace, and glimmers to you!

~kat ✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨

Magnetic Poetry – Nature Kit

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June 15, 2025

day 164 ~ Time for a ReVerse

By Kat Myrman 
pausing a moment to smell the roses
remember(ing) home
here, with my heart
transformative
a popcorn popped reality
clouds obscure chaos
it was a beautiful brief bubble
off the preplanned path
sweetness fills the air
my heart remembers
this day silenced voices shall be heard
lung to lung, I inhale the universe in

~kat

It was time for another ReVerse. And I think this one captures perfectly our detour from the day to day routine for a big adventure (traveling thousands of miles to celebrate a wedding with my sister’s family). It was not without challenges. We navigated two airports and two 5 hour flights with my wife in a wheelchair, 3 carry-ons and two checked bags. We did it (in the days leading up to our departure I wasn’t sure we would!) and we survived the ordeal relatively unscathed! 

I am proud of myself. It’s okay to admit it. Truly. There was a time when I couldn’t, wouldn’t dare say out loud that I was proud of myself. It felt like a braggadocious thing to say. But dammit! I did it. I have survived and navigated the past three and a half years like the fierce human I always hoped I would be. I stepped up to the plate and hit it out of the park. Okay…now that that is out of my system…a few more thoughts. 

This is not the life we envisioned for our retirement. But it is our life now, and it is the best life we could have imagined even though it is doubtful that anyone in their right mind would imagine a plot twist like this.

It is our best life because we cherish each beautiful moment together and hold each other up in the dark times. We live in a house in the woods now, and the animals that we share this space with have come to trust us. The trees shade us in summer and the rains sustain us all. Our metal roof sings during storms, the clear sky is a symphony of stars at night and the breeze always carries the fragrance of the seasons. Life is good. Not for any other reason than that is how we see it. Intention and gratefulness for each moment is the reason why I am content. 

much love, peace, and glimmers to you! 

~kat ✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨

A ReVerse poem (a practice I started many years ago) is a summary poem with a single line lifted from each entry of a collection of work over a particular timeframe and re-penned in chronological order as a new poem. Unlike a collaborative poem, the ReVerse features the words of one writer, providing a glimpse into their thoughts over time. I use it here as a review of the past several weeks.

2 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in 2025, Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Life Lessons, nature, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Reverse Poem