PICS & PROVERBS - 2023
Prairie Notes are monthly photo/journal observations from Tandy Hills Natural Area by Founder/Director, Don Young. They include field reports, flora and fauna sightings, and more, mixed with a scoop of dry humor and a bit of philosophy.
They are available free to all who get on the FOTHNA email list.
Pics & Proverbs - 2023
Prairie Notes #205
January 1, 2024
1) Pics & Proverbs - 2023
2) Your Membership
3) New Species - December 2023
4) 15th Annual Manly Men Wild Women Hike is Here!
5) Videos of the Year - 2023
6) Moonwalk Rescheduled Again
7) PrairieSky Report
8) Prairie Proverb - Hildegard of Bingen
01) Pics & Proverbs - 2023
With Tandy Hills more or less at rest, January is a good time to review and reflect on the past year via 2023's Prairie Proverbs and a few favorite and timely pics from each of the past 12 issues of Prairie Notes.
2023 quotations are quirky mix of wise words from, naturalists, artists, poets, scientists, environmentalists, philosophers actors and a Native American Chief. When possible, I try to match the proverb to fit the theme of the issue from Pythagoras to Andy Warhol.
Herewith, for your consideration, Prairie Proverbs I - XII from 2023, with photos of the quoted authors and selected pics from the same issue.
Scroll SLOWLY for best results. Please click on photos to see them full-size. Also, you can also click on each # to see the complete original post from last year. Thanks for reading and for your continued support
DY
Prairie Notes #193, (Pics & Proverbs 2023) - January 1, 2023
“Leave the road, take the trails.”
I had an unusual, winter’s encounter with a Texas Spiny Lizard on January 1, 2024. It was warming up on the trail before a cold snap left it unguarded.
Prairie Notes #194, (Looking Closer: Microscopic Adventures at Tandy Hills) February 1, 2023
“I hear beyond the range of sound,
I see beyond the range of sight,
New earths and skies and seas around,
And in my day the sun doth pale his light. ”
A stunning turquoise sky above Tandy Hills on 1/23/23, as the clouds began rolling in.
Prairie Notes #195, (Triumphant Trout Lilies) March 1, 2023
“You can’t be bored of nature, can you? You’ve endless subjects in nature if you really look. ”
Icy prairie, February 1, 2023
Prairie Notes #196, (One Clover, a Bee and . . . a Brush-Hog) April 1, 2023
“Today, we’re going to explore Tandy Hills at the speed of botany.”
Lots of rain but no tornadoes on the way: March 16, 2023.
Prairie Notes 185, (You Can’t Cross the Same Prairie Twice) May 1, 2023
“No man ever steps in the same river twice.”
A charming meadow just about to transform in early April.
Prairie Notes #198, (Gobsmacking Prairie) June 1, 2023
“Spending time with nature offers us all precious breathing space away from the stresses and strains of modern life, it enables us to experience joy and wonder, to slow down and to appreciate the wildlife that lives side-by-side with us.”
This field of, Wavyleaf Thistle, (Cirsium undulatum) is just one of several “super-blooms” that occurred this year.
Prairie Notes #199, (Back In Black) July 1, 2023
“I’ve been forty years discovering that the queen of all colors is black.”
Don Young unveiled a Black Series of 100 images in June, 2023. (Dainty Super Butterfly on Pink Fluffgrass)
Prairie Notes #200, (20 Years of Action & Raising Awareness) August 1, 2023
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Sunset on July 9th, just before a big rain.
Prairie Notes #201, (News, Weather & Sports) September 1, 2023
“This discovery is a reminder that there’s still so much to learn about our wild world and that humans are one small part of an impossibly vast biosphere. On this planet, all fates are intertwined, and right now, one million species are teetering on the edge of oblivion. We have an existential mandate to mend our broken relationship with nature and protect the places that sustain life.”
A large field of sun-baked, American Basketflower and a few Leavenworth’s Eryngo in late summer.
Prairie Notes #202, (“H” Is For Hawk Encounter) October 1, 2023
“One of the challenges for me in depicting these grasses and wildflowers has been how to express the things they need, such as water, fire, and grazing. Once the prairies have been destroyed it is very hard to get them back. The story of a prairie today is largely about lines humans draw on the land and how nature needs to cross, or trespass, across those lines, themes that I have been playing with my whole life. I fell into it all deeply.”
September 24th: After a good rain the sunsets and cloud formations were stunning.
Prairie Notes #203, (An October To Remember) November 1, 2023
“People should think of their words like seeds. They should plant them, then let them grow in silence. Our old people taught us that the earth is always speaking to us, but that we have to be silent to hear her. Do you hear the sound of the prairie? That is a great sound. But when I’m talking, I can’t hear it.”
Big clouds above the Tandy Hills on October 5th.
Prairie Notes #204, (Taking Stock: 2023) December 1, 2023
“I think having land and not ruining it, is the most beautiful art that anyone could ever want.”
November 29th, and the autumn leaves were beginning to turn.
02) Your Membership Matters
Your donations gratefully accepted HERE: https://www.tandyhills.org/donate
03) Field Report - December
I don’t usually do a Field Report in the January 1 issue, but there were quite a few things to share from late December. The fall colors came a few weeks later than normal but they finally appeared. The weather was on the mild side which may help explain why I found a Purple Paintbrush plant blooming 6 months later than normal. There were quite a few flying insects for December, too. Finally, there was another major Privet push on the east end of View Street. Click the photos for captions.
Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) closed and opened wings.
03) New Species - December 2023
The species count increased by eight in December from 1981 to 1989. All were found by Sam Kieschnick who most of these by turning over logs. New species include, a beetles, spiders and a snail. See three of them below and see them all 1775 at the Tandy Hills iNat Project Page HERE.
04) 15th Annual Manly-Men Wild-Women Hike!
Celebrate your NEW year with a hike on the NEW trails at Tandy Hills. January 1, 2024 at 10 AM sharp. Check the LINK below for complete details. May the force be with you.
https://www.tandyhills.org/manly-men-and-wild-women-hike-hills
05) Videos of the Year_2023
If you prefer moving pictures, four short videos showing the amazing diversity and wonderment of Tandy Hills were recorded throughout 2022. Access these and many other videos, HERE: https://www.tandyhills.org/video
06) Moon walk/Talk Rescheduled Again
Third time’s the charm, we hope. Overcast skies put the kibosh on the December attempts at Moon-walking with Amy Martin. After two attempts, we will try again on January 16 starting at 5:45 PM. Meet at the trailhead near the playground. Dress warm with a cap and thick socks and a jacket that blocks wind.
Take a walk in the surprisingly bright Quarter Moon light with Amy Martin, the Moonlady and author of Wild DFW: Explore the Amazing Nature Around Dallas-Fort Worth, and Don Young, steward of Tandy Hills.
Before, during, and after the walk-and-talk, Chris Emory will offer viewing of the Moon through his Moon telescope and talk about how he as a photographer captures the night sky.
During the walk, Amy will guide participants into a deeper appreciation of the Moon by exploring the nature of moonlight and speaking some Moon haikus. We'll stay aware for wildlife, including owls, which are more active on Quarter Moons than Full Moons.
Amy will relay some of her favorite interesting Moon facts and insights ranging from synchrony and the formation of tides and life on Earth, to Moon holy days and gardening by the Moon. Plus plenty of Moon-shadow dancing, Moon song singing, and howling at the Moon.
Amy Martin and Wild DFW https://Wild-DFW.com/
Chris Emory photography https://www.facebook.com/SundogArtPhotography/
07) Prairie-Sky Report - January
The star party will return in March 2024. Until then, I will share a monthly sky report for home use. Thanks to John McCrea of, Fort Worth Astronomical Society, for providing the content.
January, named for the Roman god Janus (transitions, time, new beginnings) starts our winter months of cold evenings of sky watching. The nights may be cold, but the seeing is better because the cold air is drier, making the sky seem to be ablaze with stars. The Milky Way will stretch from southeast to northwest instead of arching overhead from south to north as it did in the summer. We will have our familiar winter constellations.
Among the constellations visible will be Orion (the Hunter) and Gemini (the Twins) rising in the east. Cassiopeia (Queen of Ethiopia). Pegasus (the Winged Horse) and Andromeda (daughter of Cassiopeia and Cepheus) will be high in the sky. Perseus (Rescuer of Andromeda), Taurus (the Bull) and our friend the Pleiades (the seven sisters). The winter triangle (Procyon (11.5 LY), Betelgeuse (500 LY), and Sirius (8.5 LY)) will in the east. Our circumpolar friend Ursa Major (the Great Bear) will be nose-up on the northeast horizon.
08) Prairie Proverb
“Glance at the Sun.
See the moon and stars.
Gaze at the beauty of the green Earth.
Now think.”
Prairie Notes© is the official newsletter of Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization. All content by Don Young except where otherwise noted.
