Walking a portion of the newly opened Indian Rock Trail at Mount Tabor, NJ on a fine spring evening. Included are the ambient sounds of chattering at a picnic celebrating the 150th anniversary of the founding of Mount Tabor being held in a small park at the entrance to the trail. June 1, 2019.

Thistle, with Coyote. Long live the weeds, continued. June 3, 2019.

“What would the world be, once bereft
Of wet and of wildness? Let them be left,
O let them be left, wildness and wet;
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.”
-Gerard Manley Hopkins
https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Poems_of_Gerard_Manley_Hopkins/Inversnaid

New growth hops, with shadow. June 5, 2019.

Three brief scenes on a lazy morning, June 6, 2019.

Sunset over Mount Tabor, NJ, 8:37 pm, June 7, 2019.

Serious morning ritual ablutions, Amelia with shadows and masks. June 8, 2019.

Vine dance as viewed through screen window. June 9, 2019.

Local wilderness with quick cameo appearance of Basswood Fox, continuing in the “Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet” tradition. en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Poems_of_Gerard_Manley_Hopkins/Inversnaid. June 13, 2019.

Brief meditation on green with some interwoven wind, sunlight, and shadow. Oh, and a fine persistent robin. June 17, 2019.

Our next door neighbor welcomes us to visit some of their wilderness, which we enjoy, along with cats, even out our bedroom window and when it’s raining. June 19, 2019.

Yesterday was next door neighbor to the west welcome to wilderness. Today, next door neighbor to east, lovely rose archway. June 20, 2019.

The thistle down by the barns in Mount Tabor, NJ, Episode 2.

“What would the world be, once bereft
Of wet and of wildness? Let them be left,
O let them be left, wildness and wet;
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.”
-Gerard Manley Hopkins
https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Poems_of_Gerard_Manley_Hopkins/Inversnaid

Celebrating the solstice with a little shadow walking in the shadows of trees. Oh, and those are sheep bells in the sound track. June 22, 2019.

Dancing clover with ubiquitous NJ Transit train passing by and a lone bumblebee. June 26, 2019.

Brief entanglement in front porch sight and sound after a thunderstorm in Mount Tabor, NJ, 6:58 PM, June 29, 2019.

I began a project this spring (2019) of documenting weeds, inspired by the last stanza of Gerard Manley Hopkins poem Inversnaid,

“What would the world be, once bereft
Of wet and of wildness? Let them be left,
O let them be left, wildness and wet;
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.”
-Gerard Manley Hopkins
https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Poems_of_Gerard_Manley_Hopkins/Inversnaid

I’ve ended up focusing on an amazing thistle that was down by some barns near where I live in Mount Tabor, NJ. My partner, Liza, was especially fond of the thistle and wasn’t able to get out to see it due to terminal illness. She took great pleasure in seeing my videos. There are five episodes. Here are the basic descriptions as I posted them on Facebook.

1. Thistle, with Coyote. Long live the weeds. June 4.
2. The thistle down by the barns in Mount Tabor, NJ, Episode 2. June 21.
3. The thistle down by the barns in Mount Tabor, NJ, Episode 3. July 4.

4. The thistle down by the barns in Mount Tabor, NJ, Episode 4. July 12.
I have been documenting this thistle for Liza Trent Savory, who loved it along with thistles and weeds in general, but was not able to get out to see it in person. Here it is on the day of her dying, July 12, 2019, with its first beginning blossoms.

5. The thistle down by the barns in Mount Tabor, NJ, Episode 5. July 19.
Shock, sorrow, disappointment, anger even. It’s gone. The correlation with Liza’s death, for whom I had been documenting the thistle, I have no words for other then to refer, in one word, to one of her central interests: ephemera.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail at White Meadow Lake in Rockaway, NJ, which I visited yesterday, July 14, 2019, as a favorite summertime haunt of Liza Trent Savory and me. Audio is sound of the nearby feeder stream with tiny waterfall.

From where I sit of a summer evening, contemplating the mundane mysteries. July 26, 2019.

A moment of hope, as the clocks strike 9:00 AM Sunday, July 28, 2019. Buddha sculpture by Trina Paulus, author of “Hope for the Flowers.” She signs her books “. . . in hope ALWAYS.” July 28, 2019.

One loud invisible cricket, unedited. Recorded down by the barns in Mt. Tabor, NJ, Sunday, July 28, 2019, 8:30 PM.