Posted in Short Stories, tagged buffalo bean, darkness, inspiration, lifestyle, Photography, prairie, shining, short story, Wordless Wednesday on November 15, 2023| 10 Comments »
Posted in Lessons of the Drum, tagged autumn, black, buffaloberry, change, color, equinox, inspiration, lifestyle, Photography, prairie, short story on September 26, 2023| 9 Comments »
It was the eve of the Autumn Equinox. Anna stood in the middle of the vast prairie admiring a hedgerow of wild buffaloberry bushes. Vibrant red berries popped among pale green leaves and thorny branches. Burdened with a bounty of tart buffaloberries, branches bent toward the ground. The stout bushes were loaded with berries ripe for picking. Crimson berry clusters stood in stark contrast to an otherwise colorless, drought-ridden prairie landscape. Anna picked several handfuls of the sour treats, and ate them, her face puckering in delight with each mouthful. Buffaloberries were an unanticipated reward – however, she wasn’t prepared to gather berries and it was getting late.
As the sun began to set, colors glanced off of the smoky horizon adding golden pink and orange hues to the skyline. A crescent moon began to rise at an oblique angle on the eastern side of the prairie.
The evening colors were beautiful; a prelude of what colors autumn would be sharing at dusk. Anna couldn’t resist. She took a snapshot with her camera. Unfortunately though, she was not a professional photographer. The picture, a once in a lifetime moment in time, turned out to be a mere façade of what she’d witnessed with her own eyes. Disappointed, she added the photo to her album and closed the cover.
It was days later when Anna re-opened the album. Feeling dejected, she glanced at the dismal prairie photograph and closed her eyes breathing deeply as she relaxed. As she counted to ten, the world faded to black. That is when the magic happened. When Anna opened her eyes again, she saw the picture anew. It only took twelve seconds for her to change her perspective and see the magic.
Anna’s secret for magical change:
See how a picture can change with a fresh new perspective in twelve seconds:
With the changing season be sure to rest and relax. Discover Anna’s secret yourself.
Close your eyes and breathe.
Calm your mind.
Let the world fade to black. Then open your eyes and see the fresh new colors autumn has to offer.
Enjoy nature’s bounty.
A change of season is much like a change of perspective – it adds color to one’s life!
Thank-you for following, reading, sharing and commenting – The Trefoil Muse
Posted in Short Stories, tagged Alberta, antelope, deer, lifestyle, Photography, poem, prairie, pronghorn, range, serenity, Short Stories, sunrise, wildlife on August 15, 2023| 7 Comments »
My home;
Home on the range,
Where the deer,
And the antelope play…
Where seldom is heard
A discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day,
May your home range be an oasis of serenity,
Have an amazing day!
Thank-you for following, reading, sharing and commenting – The Trefoil Muse
Posted in Compositions, Winged Messages, tagged art, bee, busy, lifestyle, Photography, prairie, rose, short story, stinger on June 13, 2023| 7 Comments »
Spring is always a very busy time of year on the prairie.
That being said, I have been a very busy Bee!
But, don’t get your stinger in a knot; I’ll be back with some new stories soon.
Thank-you for following, reading, sharing and commenting – The Trefoil Muse
Posted in Lessons of the Drum, tagged Alberta, arid, arson, art, blog, fire, moral, north, politics, prairie, short story, smoke, smudge, tramontane, wind on May 16, 2023| 10 Comments »
Alberta is dry.
A heat dome has settled over our province.
The prairie has been an arid desert.
Dust hangs in the air and silt blows through any cracks and crevices of the house to rest indoors on my furniture.
Our northern forests are ablaze.
In the news, no one reports on the arson which caused this fiery tragedy up north, on any charges laid or on the perpetrator(s) set free until their court date arrives. In the midst political campaigns, they’d rather call it global warming than tell the truth. It’s just more of the same political rhetoric.
Meanwhile, fire fighters are busy trying to fight fires and farmers are busy trying to seed their crops. Cattlemen and women are busy tending to their cow/calf operations. People are busy living their lives both in rural and urban areas. At this point, most Albertans have probably already decided on which candidate they will vote for and don’t care about two women fighting over who will reign as Premier in our province. But, the political force with their mudslinging and bluster has left a foul odor in the air.
Today, a barbarous cold wind blew in from the north. They call the wind, Tramontane.
With flying hooves, Tramontane carried smoke from the north, across central Alberta and delivered it south.
The smell of smoke and fire troll mingles with dust to smudge our province of negativity. Once the foul political odor is removed from the air, I’m sure it will rain.
Tramontane, the north wind, promises a change in weather.
Around here, all of the crops are in the ground. They would definitely benefit from some moisture as would the rest of our province.
Alberta needs rain.
And, when it does, I’m going to dance like nobody’s watching!
Hang on a second, let me correct that, why wait?
I’m going to go out in that smudgy, windy air and do a rain dance with Tramontane like no one is watching right now!
I hope you’ll join with me in the dance where ever you reside. The more the merrier! Let’s make it rain, just dance!
The North winds moral lesson is that kind and gentle persuasion always wins over force and bluster.
(May whomever aspires to reign over our province in the future consider the above lesson.)
Thank-you for following, reading, sharing and commenting – The Trefoil Muse
Posted in Short Stories, tagged art, crocus, lifestyle, nature, Photography, prairie, wild on May 10, 2023| 9 Comments »
There are swaths of purple gracing the prairie pastures as crocus bloom.
I found these on a road less traveled.
As you can see, the blooming period of the crocus is coming to an end. I hope you enjoyed this little piece of the wild prairie!
Thank-you for following, reading, sharing and commenting – The Trefoil Muse
Posted in Lessons of the Drum, tagged blog, change, community, hope, lifestyle, migration, nature, peace, prairie, short story, spring, starling, totem animal on April 25, 2023| 8 Comments »
Three weeks ago, a foggy mist of milk white hid the horizon. It was still cold. Spring was here but the tendrils of winter were loath to release their taunting grip on the prairie.
Many migrating birds were overhead. I knew this because I could hear them.
I always tend to marvel at the ability of migratory birds especially, their instinctual ability to navigate blindly through inclement weather and unseen territory while they fly toward their new destinations.
I heard familiar honking in the distance. The recognizable sound was that of the Canadian Geese as they arrived in droves while fog shrouded the land. Other flocks of migratory birds were also flying in. Their types were harder to discern with listening ears because the opaque wall inhibited any clear view of the arriving birds and muffled the sounds of their songs.
The misty cold weather was surreal. Unending fog can be depressing to some but I enjoy the damp, cool weather and find the wall of cloudy white strangely comforting, even safe. I like the idea of disappearing behind a veil of white. It’s private. I especially like walking in the fog, mainly because I am obliged to use my other senses and am forced to pay closer attention to what’s in my immediate circle during the hours before the fog relents to the rays of the mid-day sun.
But, that day, I was imagining what it would be like to spread open the white wall of fog with my hands as if it were curtains and step through it. I was wondering if it would it be a clear day or magical world on the other side of the curtains when a knock interrupted my whimsy.
Knock, knock.
Knock.
“What’s knocking at my front door, it’s not like a knocking that I’ve heard before,” I wondered. (more…)
Posted in Media Room, tagged Alberta, blog, Drumheller, hoodoo, lifestyle, Photography, prairie, Wordless Wednesday on April 19, 2023| 6 Comments »
Posted in Short Stories, tagged Alberta, easter, hares, humor, lifestyle, nature, prairie, rabbits, short story on April 4, 2023| 13 Comments »
White rabbits, white rabbits; spring arrives; winter weather lifts; and there are white rabbits everywhere!
Rabbits are prolific creatures. There are so many of them here that it is near impossible to count their numbers.
The rabbit symbolizes fertility, luck, creativity, compassion and intuition. Rabbits are associated with springtime and new beginnings. They are happy reminders that life is full of possibilities. A rabbit’s foot is a lucky token and rabbits are considered symbols of fortune.
But with the appearance of all these rabbits, is it possible our home has undergone a takeover by Easter Bunny Central?
We have a profound conglomeration of long-eared, fluffy-white-tailed creatures hopping around our farmyard and nearby fields.
The majority of rabbits inhabiting the farm are jackrabbits but somewhere during the winter months a bush bunny family moved in as well.
Bush bunnies, otherwise known as mountain cottontail are the only true rabbit in Alberta. Despite its name, it is not actually found in our mountains. It is restricted to the prairie regions of the province, where it can be found in areas with sufficient brushy cover. I suspect our newly arrived cottontails fled from a nearby coulee to take up residence in our hedges mid winter.
I usually spot my little bush bunny or cottontail friends closer to the house not far from the hedges, whereas, their larger counterparts, the jackrabbits like kibitzing out in the open.
Jackrabbits, otherwise known as snowshoe hares, are larger than rabbits, have longer hind legs and longer ears. An interesting fact to note is that rabbits or baby bunnies are born hairless and blind whereas baby hares, (called leverets) are born with fur, can see, and are mobile within an hour of birth. As well, hares turn from brown in the summer to white in the winter; rabbits do not.
Our prairie jackrabbits are well camouflaged during seasonal changes. Right now, most of them are still wearing their white jackets and blend in with the white covered landscape. Some have begun to shed their white fur and have a brown patchy appearance and are hard to see against the barren spring earth. Jackrabbits will hide among and under rocks, outbuildings, hollow logs, and other covered spaces or even in plain sight. When faced with danger, rabbits tend to freeze and/or run for cover, while hares will usually try to run away and out maneuver their pursuer.
The jackrabbits around here love to taunt my dogs. They have even been known to run right through our legs during a daily walk to induce a game of tag. Jackrabbits can run up to 55 km/h (34 mph) and can leap up to five meters (16 feet 5 inches)! They are agile athletes who elude predators from following their scent through a series of large bounds, sometimes even moving at right angles to their previous direction. My poor good natured dogs don’t stand a chance. They get out distanced and out maneuvered by the jackrabbits during every competition. Still, they love the chase and it seems to be great exercise for both the rabbits and the dogs.
To be honest, I find the bush bunnies to be much cuter than the jackrabbits but the jackrabbits have afforded me plenty of comic relief over the years due to their antics with my dogs and their Easter exercise regimes.
To be a successful Easter Bunny candidate, one must assume that a rabbit or hare needs to be white or well camouflaged, agile and fleet of foot to deliver all of those chocolaty candy eggs across the Alberta prairie.
The training sessions around here must have produced plenty of successful Easter Bunnies and gained popularity with the rabbit populous. Rabbits have great listening skills and word seems to have spread that our remote Easter Bunny Central location is top notch. It seems very fortuitous that more and more white rabbits keep appearing from out of nowhere.
With all of these white rabbits hopping around, I’m beginning to feel like Alice in Wonderland.
Which makes me wonder; if I utter the words white rabbit three times will they all magically disappear like a puff of smoke to be hare today and gone tomorrow? Or have I myself fallen into a rabbit hole?
Happy Easter every bunny!
Thank-you for following, reading, sharing and commenting – The Trefoil Muse
Posted in Lessons of the Drum, tagged blue, blues, freedom, health, horses, inspiration, lifestyle, nature, prairie, resilience, short story on January 17, 2023| 10 Comments »
I am chasing the winter blues.
It’s hard to create a work of art when you are feeling under the weather. Fever and delirium make sentences nonsensical. Your spirit seems to float away from your body – out of this world. You feel completely disconnected. The most talented of artists use the dark times in their lives to create beauty. It takes fortitude and resilience to recover from illness let alone create art.
I haven’t been feeling well – not at all.
I am not a good patient. I do not like being under the weather, I’d rather be in it, outside in nature.
The blues are pulling at me like a magnet. I can see them from my window. They taunt me as they dance and skip along the snow drifts daring me to catch them.
The day is early. The sun is only beginning to rise. I slog into my winter gear surprised that I am not collapsing under its weight and head out the door.
The air hangs softly in the distance a paler color of white than the snow lying on the ground. ‘Angel’s breath,’ I smile at the thought of it as some blue disappears with the sun’s first rays.
‘Most people chase rainbows in order to discover magic and I’m out chasing the blues. But, why limit one’s self,’ I think bemused. (more…)
The Trefoil Muse 
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