Art, and Music on the Wind...

     The chilly breeze stirred the windchimes in the night.  Overdue for packing them away for the winter, I just had not been ready to give up hearing the gentle sounds for the next several months.  But tonight the lonely sound left me feeling as if the ghost of Christmas Past  was about to visit.  Actually, Christmas Past wasn't so scary.  It was the thought of the other two ghosts that made me a bit nervous. 

     This afternoon I went walking at the Seiberling Nature Realm. The sun was shining, though it was a little chilly.  Still no snow on the ground.  I needed reinvigorated and a walk in the cool air and sunlight was just what I needed.  Finally I had managed to catch the art showing at the nature realm  All of the art pieces were made from recycled materials.  I was impressed at the offering.  Wonderful little explanitory cards next to each piece told about the materials used and from what source they came.  There were weavings and collages, quilts and pillows.  Upon entering the building hundreds of origami paper cranes adorned the area.  All of the birds were constructed from recycled paper.  I had been trying to catch the art show, but had always managed to go on days when the building was closed.  With only a few days left to view it, I was so very glad I managed to finally see the artwork.  After viewing the show I began my walk on the trails at the Nature Realm.  Though the landscape was looking a bit dreary in its browns and greys a few spots of bright color flew from tree to tree.  Ever faithful cardinals adorned the tree branches and flew from place to place as if on a mission of decorating the whole forest for the holidays.  A few feet ahead of me a lady was standing feeding the birds by hand.  Both cardinals and black-capped chickadees perched on her hands to eat the wild birdseed she was offering.  "You've done this before, I'll bet," I quietly said to her as I passed.  "Oh, yes. Isn't it wonderful how tame they become."  She offered me a bit of seed to feed them, but I declined for the time.  I had photography to do today.  I'll bring seed with me another time.  The trails were quiet with only a sound of the winds disturbing the dry papery leaves that were still clinging to some of the trees.  Sunlight sparkled through the dry grasses and through the ghostly leaves.  I enjoyed the subtle colors of creamy whites, pale tans and light browns with touches of greys and black and browns along the trail.  At one point of the trail as I was finishing up my walk, I decided to walk along an area of the trail I had never before taken.  That short trail area reached to the back properties of the condos that sat next to the Nature Realm.  The gentle sound of windchimes came from one of the decks of a nearby condo.  Well, it looks as though I am in good company with wanting the windchimes to play their music on the breezes one more time.  We are a week before Christmas and the weather has given us the gift of wind music for the day.  A fitting present for such a fine day.