Liz's Latest

Longhorn Cattle

4/22/2025

This place still exists. The longhorns are really enclosed, but not so much that if you got out of your car and angered one that you'd have a fence to protect you. Nope. You'd be on your own.

In fact, I don't think I ever even found longhorn cattle interesting until I saw these in the Wichita Wildlife Refuge. They acted peaceable enough while I was there, and I think the area is a better place for having them. They meander about and I've never even seen them notice a tourist.

Wichita Wildlife Refuge near Lawton, Oklahoma.

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Thistle While You Work

1/26/2025

I've written other blogs on thistle, but this really isn't about thistle. It's about what you can find when you study the plant. But watch out, thistle is rather like a large thorn bush. Or a large city with a lot of inhabitants.

Don't keep reading if spiders scare you.

I prefer green snakes over all others, I believe. They tend to leave as quickly as possible when I find them...which I often do when I see any other snake.

Writing 101 - Get Help For the First Book

10/19/2024

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It's possible today to publish a first book on Amazon without anyone else reading it. What's possible isn't the same as a good plan.

Get an editor for your first book before you do online publishing. A good one. It needs to be someone who has published a book or who has been in the industry a long time.

Talk to some other people you trust who've self-published a book. Ask them privately about the pitfalls and rewards. If you don't know any people who've done that, start trying to find online groups.

Think back to the past. Have you ever seen a friend wearing something you thought wasn't right, but you kept your mouth shut? Have you ever agreed that something was lovely but inside you didn't think it was as awesome as the person who owned it.

It is possible that your dear friends who read your work and say they can't wait to see it in print....can wait.

Getting published isn't the dream now. Writing the best book you can have is the dream.

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Something's Always Lurking

9/14/2024

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I didn't realize how many photos I had of things lurking.

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Meteor Showers

8/13/2024

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Meteor showers fascinate me which really isn't surprising. A lot of things catch my attention.

Last night, I wanted to see the Perseid meteor shower. It wasn't even dark, but nothing else was on my agenda, so I went outside, got a large cushion and put it on top of a picnic table so I could recline and watch the sky, and I settled in for a long wait...because it wasn't even dusk yet.

At roughly 8:45 pm, a large meteor streaked across the sky overhead and it appeared to shatter into bursts of light.

Even though I did see some smaller meteors after the sky darkened and the dew settled around me—that first meteorite was the most amazing. It really was the only incredible one I saw. And it wasn't even dark.

Since I'd seen a big meteor, I really could have returned inside before nightfall, but I didn't know what else I might see, so I had to stay longer.

I saw a lot of planes and maybe some satellites and I heard a cacophony of frogs and a few coyotes or dogs howling, and a deer snorted at me, and an opossum was sniffing along the ground in kind of a zigzag motion getting a wet nose.

When I left my perch to return to my doorway, I watched not the stars, but the ground.

I realized how insulated I am inside my house at night. That insulation helps me sleep better, but living for a moment as people might have lived BI (before internet) made me happy I had stepped outside, and yes, when I walked inside, I did watch the ground very carefully for snakes.

I'm so thankful I can see the stars over my house, and I wish the world could always feel as peaceful as it did when I watched the stars.

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Hoover Hogs

7/14/2024

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I heard the phrase Hoover Hogs, and I wondered what it meant...

During the depression era in the USA, right at 100 years ago—people were starving, and President Hoover was blamed for the economic woes.

Armadillos were then called Hoover Hogs. Starvation makes people eat different dishes than they're used to.

Perhaps the slow-moving armadillos disappeared from the south during the depression era. I believe it. I was probably nearing my teens when I saw my first one and it was an oddity to me, and that was long after the end of the Depression.

They're plentiful now in the woods.

Built for their job, they are designed to root and dig. Their shell is protective,

Now when I think of Hoover Hogs, and our history, maybe I'll have a little more respect for them. And maybe, someday, I won't see them as so incredibly ugly, but designed for a purpose. as we all are. Perhaps they were created to remain around in case they were needed.

They're so perfectly designed, but not for beauty. Today, I decided not to post my picture of one.

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The Maybe Do Someday List

6/21/2024

If you have a Maybe Do Someday list, then it can always seem like a road beckoning you that other people get to drive on while you are stuck in the same routine.

The list can be a simple as reading a book you've thought about reading.

Don't let the need for a little sacrifice and discipline keep you from attempting that list.

It's your journey.

Or what if writing a book is on the list? How would you approach it?

If you write every evening after your day job in order to craft that story, you're sacrificing time that you could use in other ways, and it takes discipline. But it can be temporary sacrifice and discipline.

If you write 300 words a day for six months you'll have enough words for a book manuscript. That's about a page and a half if you use a computer, even with good-sized margins. (Tip: Start at the point where the plot starts. Have something happen, and it leads to something else which leads to something else...)

So if you've always thought about writing a book, and you discipline yourself for six months, you can check it off your Maybe Do Someday list, and you can think about another thing on the Maybe Do Someday and spend six months preparing for it. It might take a temporary job to save the money or an agreement with the other people in your life.

Consider the event, and how much closer you would get if you just spent a little bit of time preparing for it or working toward it every day for six months.

Adding a few journeys in your life might lead you somewhere interesting that you can't even see right now. You might be creating a A Fun and Finished! list or even an Ain't Never Going To Do That Again list.

We don't generally hear about other peoples' failed lists, but having a few of those in your memory might mean you're on the right journey.

Watching My Outdoors

5/19/2024

I never know what I'll find in the world around me. But I do know one thing. If I don't open my window, I won't see the colors change, birds flying—or landing.

Sometimes I don't realize it, but the animals can be watching me as much as I watch them.

Once I went outside at night, into the woods, while wearing a strong headlamp. That night, I was surprised at how many eyes were reflecting back at me.

I think I tried it a second time and was pleasantly surprised to be alone.

But during daytime hours, watching nature from a safe distance can be a wonderful way to spend a day.

Bison Babes

4/21/2024

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I don't know why it was so important for me to visit the bison babies, but it was. A lot of nature interests me, and if bison are available almost in my backyard, then I want to see them.

A few months ago, I'd been bison photo hunting and a photographer I didn't know looked behind me...and gave me a warning—which I heeded. In my opinion, the bison below looks a lot more cheerful, happy and peaceful than the one behind me had appeared. I was fortunate! (The photo below was taken from inside a vehicle with a roll bar, and while using a long lens. Luckily the roll bar wasn't needed.)

So when I went in search of baby bison, I remembered my rule of thumb: If a wild animal is dangerous, it's deadly when it has little ones. Or: Make the baby cry—you might die.

This trip, on the only time I stepped out of the car for a photo—I didn't trek beyond the road or even more than a few feet from the vehicle. I also had a spotter to warn me if any bison appeared agitated or closer. Brave I am not. Especially when it is a 1000-pound plus animal behind me almost within spitting distance. Or even a wriggly one that weighs only a few pounds near my feet. Fangs and horns pointed my way override photo ops.

But I am fascinated by the beauty of the bison.

I would have been to the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve North of Pawhuska, OK, earlier this year had I not been delayed. And sometimes delays are a good thing because more of the 30 to 70 pound babies were available to see. My earlier anticipation had almost caused me to arrive before most of the babies did. As many as 500 newborns could be on the prairie this year.

When I travelled the road, the herd was close enough that I wondered if the mothers did want to show off their little ones.

And I wondered if a few of the little ones were just as curious about me as I was about them.

Even if they weren't, it was fun watching them play.

And seeing a mother corral her baby under her chin was a surprise.

We're so fortunate the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve is watching over the bison.

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Eclipse...and the Path to Experience It.

4/14/2024

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Irony is being at an event you've waited months on, and yet you don't have the glasses to look at it. I'd ordered them, and I'd been certain to check the date, but the glasses were now scheduled to arrive...after the eclipse.

The morning of the eclipse, I was on a full-speed schedule, and had to run an errand before I could start on my journey toward totality so I didn't even think to see if Wal-Mart had any glasses before I raced away.

I didn't know exactly where I'd stop but my wish was to go to Broken Bow, Oklahoma, because it's beautiful even on cloudy days.

Cloud clover was immense, and I didn't make it to Broken Bow because my husband believed we should stop at Lake Hugo. Hugo was scheduled to be a 100 per cent totality area so I agreed.

I decided to have the best day possible. My picnic basket, camera, and spirit of adventure were all at hand and I took photos of the nearby clover. Everyone else was also making the best of it more-or-less even if they weren't smiling. It didn't seem like the glasses were going to matter.

Cloud cover stretched across the sky.

More vehicles arrived and the parking area filled.

At one point, three men stepped out of their car, and they were laden down with viewing equipment, and they laughed...and it seemed they were laughing at the futility of expecting to see the eclipse. One other observer voiced his total lack of excitement for what he seemed to think was a washout. The clouds were lingering.

My husband teased me about the clouds parting, and his attention wandered to something else.

I looked up and thought, "God could part the clouds...for these people here." It wasn't a prayer. It was just a thought. "God could," I told myself and I had a feeling of faith in His power. The sky didn't change as I considered the view. It didn't diminish my faith. In fact, perhaps it did the opposite. I felt that a higher being could have that ability to part clouds. Pretty impressive.

Nothing happened immediately.

And then, the clouds started to part. They did. I really couldn't look at the eclipse because I didn't have glasses, but the clouds were parting. The eclipse reached totality and maybe I did glance up for half a second, and I kept pointing my camera that direction and hoping.

It didn't get dark immediately like I expected...and then it did. I took a photo and then about four minutes later I took another one.

After the sky brightened someone started a round of applause, which faded quickly, and then another round of applause that I participated in. My husband kind of teased me and I responded with a happy-lifetime-event-deserves-applause type answer.

He noticed I was tearing up from the emotion of the moment. And so was he.

For me, it was a heavenly event. Even without the glasses. I had seen the eclipse.

And one of my first photos when I pointed my camera lens above gave me a great view.

For me, it was as bright as any rainbow.

The photo kinda looks dark now, but this was underneath it.

I don't have to wait for decades to see an event like butterflies in the clover, but I hope to appreciate the everyday wonderful sights around me as much as I do the rare eclipse...or maybe I should appreciate them even more.

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<<Previous

Longhorn Cattle

Thistle While You Work

Writing 101 - Get Help For the First Book

Something's Always Lurking

Meteor Showers

Hoover Hogs

The Maybe Do Someday List

Watching My Outdoors

Bison Babes

Eclipse...and the Path to Experience It.

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