Uh...double WOW for prehistoric scorpion tracks, fossilized of course

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Wow! 

i do like fossils, 

Really, really want to see this. 
Roadtrip!  

 

 

 

GIANT SCORPION OF HALLTON

By Bob Imhof

In 1948, scientists discovered a strange series of tracks embedded in rock along Spring Creek near Hallton. The rock was removed by paleontologists and taken to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh for study. Through the years it has been determined that the tracks had been made by a 7 foot-long relative of the modern scorpion 350 million years ago. A cast of the track resides at the Elk County Historical Society in Ridgway and the original is still displayed occasionally at the Carnegie Museum. The photo shows the scientists examining the tracks that were filled with plaster to make them more visible prior to their removal from the hill side.

 

 

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/visitPAGO 

haiku

 

 

 

 

 

 leaves dusted with snow

the blanket for the flowers

secretly growing 

The last Soup day of the Season

So last night was the last "soup day" of the season.  sop Season is of course my way of saying soup is for cold weather only. As a child we hardly ever had home made soup, at that time it was mostly Campbell's or the store brand with may-be some leftovers added in,  poor man's food.

UH, well that was then and this is now!!!  Years later soup is a work of culinary art, or at least as close to it as i can get. For soup is not to be rushed, either in the making or in the enjoying.  However it is still very closely related to clearing out the refrigerator.  

Being influenced by Beverly Nye i try to use leftovers when possible , i have some large peanut butter jars   in the freezer which contain leftovers that are usable in certain soups.  One contains left over bits of cooked meat, please separate the red meat from the chicken, turkey etc...why?, may-be it's just me but i don't like they way they taste when they get blended.  And one jar that contains homemade bread crumbs, no the bread was from the store, but i toasted it in the oven and ground it down with my mortar and pestle.  But i do digress, often. And  now  have lost my train of thought.  Oh yes, if you have leftover cookies at your house, they can be ground up to use in crusts, or in toppings.  But really does anyone ever have left over cookies???? And don't forget the de-greased drippings and broth, uh i don't mix these either, but remember that bouillon comes in many flavors when you don't have enough broth saved up.

This years choice for the last "soup day" of the season was last night.

 tortellini soup!

 Since i "wing it" with most recipes, here goes!!
-brown some finely chopped onion{1 medium} in some light olive oil and butter
-add some finely chopped celery and carrots if you like, about 1/2  to 3/4 cup, more or less as you like it,
also add a bout 1 1/4 pound of meat, we like beef cubes cut small, and dusted with Italian seasoning,pepper and garlic powder but you could use anything from burger to Canadian bacon after all it's your soup!!!! stirring until meat is nearly cooked,please don't precook the beef but stir until the meat is nicely browned

-add a couple o potatoes, trimmed and cut to bite sized cubes/pieces

-add any beef broth or sock you might have, or prepare some using your favorite bullion cubes or powders, you will need at least 1-2 quarts as it cooks down also add roughly half a cup or small can of tomato sauce, or diced tomatoes in tomato sauce.even a couple of chopped up tomatoes would work it you don't mind the seeds and skins

continue cooking until potatoes a nearly cooked

-turn down the heat add seasonings, Italian seasoning, more garlic if you want,  pepper, dehydrated sweet pepper flakes, some beef flavoring {the powdered kind with NO SALT}, 

- once it reaches a nice simmer and sir in fresh or packaged tortellini, and simmer until they are done 

 

Yup, i said "wing it" and but remember to watch for too much salt, don't add any, if it even needs any until shortly before serving. As the liquid cooks down it will strengthen/concentrate the flavoring of the seasoning.

walking with nature

 

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 "In every walk with nature one receives far more than one seeks." ~ John Muir

 

 On the far side of those trees is a place called "the Grotto".  There is a stream and a pasture surrounded by some stately old overhanging pine trees.  A green and growing cathedral were some old kitchen chairs are secreted behind the low hanging limbs of those massive trees standing as gaudeians.  Thier overhanging limbs screen out the everyday world,and smell so good in the warm spring sun, even better than the fresh smell of earth.  There was an old kitchen chair  further out into the meadow, but weather and use have reduced it to  interesting looking bits of wood half buried in the ground.  There must have been a house here at one time, at least i think so, because there are a few old bottles inreek bank.  I have no interest in digging them out.  I don't think i should either.   If there are any other signs that there was once a house in this peaceful place  they are long gone.  Perhaps I am not the only person to have enjoyed this spot, stopped here on his way to and from work in the woods or the mines.  Some one who knew who also sought the solace and solitude of trees.

 

Cirrus clouds , and a blue sky, a  background to watch the birds of prey at work, as they soar gracefully and dive with a vengeance, then ascend back into the sky. The Masters of the sky are the scavengers of the of last years brutally cold and snowy winter.

 

 Winter was long, bitter cold with days and days of snow accumulating. Walking in deep snow is much more like exercise than it is contemplative rambling.  This short walk from my home, it was not a trip i would make often.

 Today is different, a supernatural feeling that winter had dropped from my shoulders and spring is truly here wrapping itself around me.  The warmth of the sun is something i have missed.  Winter weary, i most certainly am!  The sun warming my soul, reassuring me, as it did the Ancients that it's warmth and light is returning. 

 

So i will sit here for awhile, thinking, day dreaming , in wonder of those who were here before me, of the  stores they told and the stories of everyday things they past down to me {we}.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

The full flower moon, haiku

 Friday, May 1 — 1:23 p.m. — Flower Moon 

 

I don' t know about where you live, but here in the piney wood it's cold, grey and rainy, for a few days anyway.  It really does snow !!!  as in several inches of it on the ground here in April, sometimes even in May, but it never lasts very long.  

OK, OK back to the whatever it was i going to say.  The cold and damp, sunless sky covers a countryside dotted with daffodil's, snowdrops, violets and  flowers i don't know the name of.   There are wild violets growing around the garden and yhe slightest hint of sun shows that the tree's in bud will have leaves any day; and then it will really feel like Spring.

"April showers bring May flowers"

 

 

flowering full moon 

earth and trees blooming with color

air fills with birdsong 

haiku snowdrops in an old cup

  bulbs planted last spring

 return to the garden  now

others take their place 

 
 

earth day, a Ute Prayer

 

 

Earth teach me stillness as the grasses are stilled with light

 

Earth teach me suffering as old stones suffer with memory.

 

 

 

Earth teach me humility as blossoms are humble with beginning.

 

 

Earth teach me caring as the mother who secures her young.

Earth teach me courage as the tree which stands all alone.

 

Earth teach me limitation as the ant which crawls on the ground.

 

 

Earth teach me freedom as the eagle which soars in the sky.

 

Earth teach me resignation as the leaves which die in the fall.

 

 

Earth teach me regeneration as the seed which rises in the spring.

Earth teach me to forget myself as melted snow forgets its life.

 

 

Earth teach me to remember kindness as dry fields weep with rain.

~~~~~~~~~~~Ute Prayer