Tromping through the Wetlands

 This past Saturday I headed out without a particular destination in mind.  The perfect clear day in the forecast was ultimately foiled by the outer most edge clouds of Hurricane Irene, which was several hundred miles away!  So with the light cloud cover I headed to the Mill Creek Wetlands.

Seemingly not all that grand, it did end up offering a nice warm walk with a few interesting finds.  I can see the spot will be a haven for birds come fall, with tons of large brush with berries and cover, and plenty of thistle.  So I think a return trip in the fall may be in order.  Until then enjoy the hodge podge of shots taken this time around.  Just remember to look closely as you walk around even the most mundane looking fields...you never know what you might see!

By C.H. Spurgeon:

Wise men can readily find a thousand subjects

for contemplation abroad in the open country.

When a man walks in the fields, having the Lord in his heart, and his whole mental faculties directed towards heavenly things, all things aid him in his pleasing occupation.

If we look above to sun, moon, and stars, all these remind us of the grandeur of God, and make us ask ourselves, "What is man, that the Lord should be mindful of him, or the son of man, that Jehovah should visit him?"

 

If we look below, the green meadows, or golden

cornfields, all proclaim divine care and bounty.

There is not a bird that sings, nor a grasshopper

that chirps in the grass, which does not urge us

to praise and magnify the name of the Most High.

While the plants, from the hyssop on the wall to

the cedar which spreads its boughs so gloriously

on Lebanon, exhibit to observant eyes the wisdom

of the great Creator of all things.

The murmuring brook talks to the listening ear in

hallowed whispers of him whose cloudy throne

supplies its stream. And the air, as it sighs amid the trees, tells in mysterious accents of the great unseen, but overactive Spirit of the living God.

Just on a side note, I really liked the reference Spurgeon made to the chirping grasshopper in particular, because the one thing in abundance at the wetlands were grasshoppers...as I tromped along the path they would scatter from in front of me and rustle the dry grass as they landed.  But mostly I heard their chirping resonating through the whole wetland...and it was loud!  Interestingly only male hoppers stridulate...or chirp.  Their cricket cousin does the same thing, but only at night.  What are they doing?  Calling the ladies of course!  Serenading with song like a violinist, these creatures use stridulation, which is the act of scraping two body parts together  (with crickets it is their wings, and with grasshoppers it is the pegged inner leg rubbing against his thick forewing) to produce that pastoral song of summer.  Now if we only hear the males...think how many hoppers must be out there!  But for all the singing and hopping I heard...catching one with my eye and camera proved difficult!  They blend in very well as it turns out!  But if they are as multitudinous as they sound...perhaps it is better that way!