Archive for November 2011
more black and amber signs
In most Canadian provinces, there are areas where the highway has been built by blasting through bedrock. Often these sections of highway have warnings… Danger, Falling Rock! I have never actually seen a rock falling, but there is always evidence, at the base of the outcrop, of the wisdom of the sign.
danger, falling rock
~
outcrop
massive, at its base
a delta of rubble
~
© Jane Tims 2011
Heal-all (Prunella vulgaris L.)
Heal-all, self-heal, carpenter weed, and, in French, herbe au charpentier are all names for this little weed. Prunella vulgaris L. inhabits waste areas and lawns, becoming small and compact if mowed. The flowers are purple, lobed and lipped and held in a dense head or spike. This is one of many plants belonging to the mint family, easily identified because they have a square stem. The name is of uncertain origin; at one time the plant was called Brunella. Vulgaris means ‘common’.
Drawing this little plant is fun… no matter what you do, the individual flowers resemble small hooded sprites.
Heal-all
Prunella vulgaris L.
~
Prunella vugaris neat little weed
prim and proper gone to seed
~
called Brunella: gatherers found
Prunella purple fades to brown
~
weed, a carpenter busy and strong
mends bare patches on the lawn
~
heal-all, self-heal – your name suggests
herbal secret you possess
~
© Jane Tims 1994
entering november
After the color explosion of October, I feel a little exhausted. Sensory overload. Trees and roadside plants have gone to sleep or seed for the winter. Most of the Canada Geese have left on their southward migration, and I am sure our Groundhogs have eaten themselves into a winter stupor. Not many of us left to settle in to our niche for the coming months.
My November ‘niche’ activities will include:
- daily filling of the bird feeder
- refurbishing our outside fire pit
- acquiring rock for our new project… a rock-embellished woods road (more about this later)
- sorting some of the books in my library
- return to making soups and stews for our meals
Mostly, I want to appreciate November. I am not very fond of the coming month, but I have resolved to find good in it.
November first frost
~
air brittle
a broken sliver of moon
caught among disrobed larches
silence ruptured
by craven’s cry
~
© Jane Tims 1995
nichepoetryandprose 