The Quiet Corner - that's where it's at! While we are still a site under construction, you are welcome at any time for relaxing intervals from the cares of this life. Let us help you escape to 'The Quiet Corner' and be refreshed with our photos and narration. Most of our personal travel has been along the East Coast, but we recently relocated to Mid-America. Though our trips may be brief at times, we will keep the camera engaged and try to pass on to you interesting vistas that will help you muse on another time or another place. We welcome comments. We are not professional photographers; just a retired couple trying to stay in touch with the world.
"You put your camera around your neck along with putting on your shoes,
and there it is, an appendage of the body that shares your life with you.
The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera."
...........Dorothea Lange
Please pull up a chair and visit with us for awhile!
Like a nectar of the gods, bees and birds are attracted to this sweet liquid secreted by flowers of various plants. Nectar is consumed by such pollinators as bees and hummingbirds, and happily collected by the bees for making honey. Flowers actually produce nectar to attract pollinators such as ants which, in turn, defend the plant from harmful insects.
  Nectar is produced in structures called nectarines. Some plants have the nectarines located outside the flower. The nectar composition is primarily water and varying concentrations of many different sugars, including fructose, glucose and sucrose. Honey is made from these elements plus the oil and special enzymes produced by the bees. It is one of the easiest foods to digest and comes in all types of colours and flavors.
 (spot hummingbird in lower right)
The hummingbird gets the energy it needs to maintain its astonishing metabolism primarily from the nectar of flowers. Of course, there’s the sugar water one can make for the feeder. But even if a feeder is present, the hummingbird will not delay its migration as it is driven by more powerful forces than hunger. Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds will fly 2,000 miles every fall when their migration route takes them from northern climates to their wintering grounds in Mexico and Central America. It’s amazing that these hummingbirds will cross 600 miles over the Gulf of Mexico to reach their winter home.
Bumble bees at home at Shaw Nature Reserve.
Hummingbird at home at the 'Quiet Corner'.
If you have a talent for sewing, this article is a fascinating read. It divulges famous people, particularly actresses, attracted to this craft with more than just a passing involvement. It is a rather inspiring piece, giving a glimpse into their backgrounds with some expressing desire to one day market their distinctive creations. Some reference to Betsy Ross would have been patriotic, but the remarks do not fail to include two male musicians who also enjoy sewing. Overall, it’s a brief look at celebrity personalities who share a sewing passion which may well stir interest in the handiwork itself.
There may be different kinds of swan, but the one that most often comes to mind is the beautiful and graceful white bird, the Mute Swan. This bird was domesticated early and used for its meat. Now, it is prized for its beauty.
 The swan is often a symbol of love and fidelity because of its monogamous relationship to its mate. The graceful bird carries its neck curved and the wings fluffed rather than flush. Swans are the largest members of the duck family, Anatidae, and among the largest flying birds, but also one of the heaviest and need a good take-off area. To become airborne, they make a lot of commotion and flurry. Likewise, their landing may present less than dignified.
 Swans can live a life span of up to 80 years.
Young swans are known as cygnets, males as cobs and females as pens. Most birds do not generally have teeth, but swans are an exception, having jagged teeth as part of their beaks which they use for catching and eating fish. So, keep a respectable distance to avoid their becoming annoyed and nipping at your person.
(At the Bok Singing Tower Gardens where these images were taken,
one became a bit annoyed with my husband who unintentionally crossed over his path.)
Perhaps Ysanne of Los Angeles put it best when contemplating what bird she would best like to be……”I’d be a swan, because they’re ugly when babies, beautiful when grown, couple up for life, are gnarly when angry, and serene when all’s good. And they don’t do much flying, instead effortlessly gliding on still waters that run deep."
 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I
have the gift of prophecy, and
understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains,
and have not charity, I am nothing.
 And though I bestow all my goods to
feed the poor, and though I give my
body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not
itself, is not puffed up. Doth not
behave itself unseemly, seeketh not
her own, is not easily provoked,
thinketh no evil;
 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but
rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether
there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part
shall be done away.
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child:
but when I became a man, I
put away childish things.
 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then
face to face: now I know
in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
I Corinthians
verses 13:1-13 KJV
Living with Multiple Sclerosis is one of many articles which appear on this website dedicated to dealing with the disease. It is written with practical focus on how to cope with and manage daily schedules and activity for MS patients or their caregivers. It addresses the fact that there can be a range of symptoms from one individual to another that may help to allay anxiety for those who begin to question their doctor’s expertise and handling of their particular complaints. This is a good article with some helpful tips to more easily accommodate daily routines. For someone who suffers from the restrictive and progressive nature of this autoimmune disease, it provides a matter-of-fact approach.
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