Daisy would like to remind you to leave the leaves unless they create a safety hazard on your walkway or driveway.
Our human desire to meet perceived expectations of what “a nice yard” looks like often contributes to more harm than good. Your shrubbery does not have to be perfectly coiffed, nor does it need to be wrapped around a perfectly trimmed and unblemished expanse of grass.
We must undo the pragmatism of “overdoing it” when it comes to rakes, leaf blowers, chainsaws, loppers and pruning shears. Save your gas and your oil. Let the decomposers do their job. Let the moths settle into the leaves.
One of my favorite computer file folders is entitled “Moths etc.” with the etcetera being dragonflies, butterflies and bees. Beetles and arachnids get their own file folders because there are so many of them. I’m not very good at identifying moths I know what the green ones are and what a Swallowtail looks like, the others are just described by defining features.
A few of my favorite visitors:
Campaea perlata, Family Geometridae
And finally, this rare sighing on July 23, 2015 at 2:35pm (according to my photo metadata.)
All of these pictures were taking on my front porch which is a popular gathering place for moths and butterflies. The porch is covered with a southeast sun exposure and dappled light through a cluster of mixed trees that provide a rich soft slope of humus and decaying leaves left mostly undisturbed.
Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Americans and anyone else who celebrates the day!
While the origin story of the holiday is a myth, the fact remains that for many of us the day has always been about spending time with family and being grateful for what we have. Nature offers a bounty of wonder for those who know where to look. Protect what we have with strength and humility. No mashed potatoes for the nihilists! (<-humor)
Reminder:
November: Fungi/Mushrooms Due: November 30th.
December: Nature at rest Due: December 31st.
Photo Submissions
Email to: natureledlife@gmail.com
Subject line: Photo Submission for [month] (Multiple months of photos in one email is fine.)
Image: Attached as a .JPEG or .PNG file
Captions each picture: Subject in the photo (if known), State/Providence & Country, Date (optional). Your name as you want it to appear, Your blog link (if you have one)
Feel free to add any interesting notes about a picture. I love interesting stories behind things! Let me know if it’s just for ‘my eyes only’ or if I can share any part of it with the photo.
Thank you!
The Nature-led Life 
Dear Melanie,
I love those insects featured by you in your latest post, and would like to resonate with your love of moths, butterflies, beetles and so on as follows:
Some moths have really developed some extraordinary adaptations. For example, I really like the look of the Luna Moth, and remember reading a scientific article discussing the “tails” of the Luna Moth in disrupting the sonar system of bats, such that those with their “tails” cut off or cut shorter by experimenters are much more likely to be preyed upon by bats.
One of the forthcoming posts on my blog to be published in the next week or two will concern moths and Nature, plus other related themes.
Yours sincerely,
SoundEagle
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Thank you, Sound Eagle! That is really interesting about the Luna moth tails and bats!
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Dear Melanie,
Given what you have posted here, I would like to inform you that there are amazing moth sculptures, especially those illustrated in the book entitled “The Art of Annemieke Mein: Wildlife Artist in Textiles”.
I actually own a copy of the book signed by the author in 1992.
Yours sincerely,
SoundEagle
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What a great book! I sew and do other crafts as a hobby though I can’t say I’m particularly good at anything. There is a lot of potential when it comes to fiber arts! Thank you for sharing this book with me!
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Dear Melanie,
And on the subject of November: Fungi/Mushrooms, I would like to resonate with your photography by inviting you to take a stroll with me in the Birch Forest Landscape with Mushrooms:
Yours sincerely,
SoundEagle
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What a pretty picture! Thank you!
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Dear Melanie,
This picture originates from my special post entitled “🦅 SoundEagle Guided Imagery“, in which I have mentioned stories, mythologies and symbolisms about eagles, whose majestic flights can resonate with the (embodied, corporeal and/or transcendental) Imagery and Impression as well as Being and Feeling of soaring like an eagle, whether symbolically, intellectually, aesthetically or spiritually, including imagining oneself gliding above the city and tree canopies. For your convenience, the link is:
https://soundeagle.wordpress.com/2021/11/08/soundeagle-guided-imagery/
In addition, please turn on your finest speakers or headphones, as the said post will be playing my musical composition to you automatically for about two minutes. Please enjoy!
Yours sincerely,
SoundEagle
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Dear Melanie,
For Daisy in the leaves, I would like to acknowledge her with “Autumn Leaves” by the American songwriter Johnny Mercer in 1947.
The following version was sung by Nat King Cole. It is indeed a very nostalgic song. I hope that you and Daisy like it.
Thank you for composing this latest post of yours entitled “A Daisy in the Leaves” as we enjoy the final month of autumn in November.
Wishing you a productive November and a wonderful week doing or enjoying whatever that satisfies you the most, whether intellectually, artistically, physically or spiritually!
Yours sincerely,
SoundEagle
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Thank you on all accounts, Sound Eagle!
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Monsoon! Yay! It’s thumping down now.Like a kumi daiko orchestra on the roof! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7HL5wYqAbU&t=18s And I have to go to the shops
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I love Taiko drums! It’s really something if you get a chance to hear them in person! It reverberates through your bones. The rain has started here as well! The night before the rains came a pair of wood rats scurried up the drainpipe for a date on our roof to watch the moon. They know as well as I do the Great Horned Owls aren’t coming back this winter. Sad for me, good for them.
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I’m in complete agreement, Melanie, on the yard-care. You’ll be happy to know leaves carpet the ground all around the house. And those moths are wonderful. I thought the green one was stunning and then that last blue one was even more beautiful to gaze upon. Thank you for sharing.
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That does make me happy Tracy, Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed the pictures!
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I remember as children our job was raking the leaves but we spent much more time jumping in them than raking. I don’t think my father minded all that much. (K)
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Good memories, Kerfe! I too have a funny picture of me and an elementary school friend enjoying a time of “raking” (playing) in the leaves in front of my house. 🙂
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I wish those moths would visit my porch – they are stunning. Don’t worry – my leaves can go where they like, especially in the weather we’re having right now [gale force winds].
Meanwhile, weather permitting, hopefully I will have a fungi picture to send in.
Sx
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I hope the winds don’t take out your power! I will have to look up “Moths of the UK” to see what kind of moths you get there. At least you get that cool bird call the ‘Nightjar’ that looks like a small fluffy dragon. That would be great if you could find some Fungi!
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The leaves are still covering our lawn! Well, they are under a couple of inches of snow. But we didn’t take them up! The moth photos are amazing. I didn’t do much for moth week this year. Maybe next year I will get back out there and see who comes by to visit.
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Hi Mark, That’s great you left the leaves. It can provide a nice layer of insulation between the ground and the snow. I bet you’ll have a lot of birds picking through the leaves once the snow thaws.
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Very beautiful post 🌷👍🏻your cute dog , varieties of coloured butterflies and moths
are so stunning photography 😊♥️thank you for sharing and Happy Thanksgiving 🌷♥️🌷
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Thank you so much! Moths are easy to photograph since they hold still while they are sleeping during the day. Butterflies and Dragonflies are a bit trickier; they do not like to stay still for very long.
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Very true ,thank you so much for this lovely reply message 🌷🙏♥️🌷
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Aaargh! Fungi! Must remember to sift through my photos (should have time now that the GPE has just about finished).
Daisy is gorgeous – as is her leafy surrounding. And those moths and butterflies are quite spectacular! The ones I see around here are so dull in comparison.
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Thank you, IDV! I look forward to your fungi pictures! We have plenty of generic-looking small brown moths too, but I’ve been taking pictures of lots of natural visitors for years.
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