Juncos in Abiquiu ~ images courtesy of Milo Nikolic

Milo, the Bondy's grandson, is a budding biologist,  or perhaps he will become an ecologist or a wildlife photographer. After his very astute grandparents gave the sixteen year old a camera, Milo began taking pictures of animals and birds all around Abiquiu, and I can attest to the sensitivity of his photography because I have seen it myself, thanks to Carol.
 
I am always excited when I meet a young person (even virtually) who has been swept into the arms of nature on some level. These are the young people that give us hope. We have not left them with an earth legacy to be proud of, and yet, so many are reaching towards the future with an open heart. I celebrate these young people with every fiber of my naturalist’s being.
 
Milo doesn’t know it yet but he has been given a gift that will help sustain him through, what I hope, will be a long and meaningful life. Nature has a way of supporting us when all else fails. His attraction to the natural world will also provide him with joy as well as turn him into an earth advocate, no doubt.
 
 In this picture Milo is holding one of my favorite birds – the junco. The original snowbird, according to John James Audubon (and most sources) because so many of these birds do migrate. The Slate colored junco breeds in forests from Alaska to Newfoundland, north through the boreal forest and south through the Appalachian Mountains to Georgia. The male has a gray head (sometimes closer to black, sometimes tinged brown), chest, back, and wings, and a bright white belly; a female is similar with a paler brown wash.

Just a couple of days ago I went into the forest to gather balsam to make my wreaths as I do every thanksgiving weekend –weather permitting. It was a beautiful mild, sunny morning as I cut the boughs giving thanks to the trees while breathing in the intoxicating scent of sweet balsam. Some years I also add fir boughs to my baskets for thicker wreaths. But because I have been in Abiquiu for the past four winters I have missed balsam too much to blend scents this year.
 
While tipping, my mind wandered back to the Pedernal, the place I have gone to gather greens for wreaths while living in Abiquiu. The Pedernal is one of my favorite haunts. My dogs and I have spent so many hours exploring the mountain where the Navajo “Changing Woman” was born. I suppose it was natural that I would choose to gather my greens and pine cones from there…
 
There are many evergreen trees to choose from but I learned that fir boughs made the best wreaths. For cones, I deliberately sought out the Ponderosa pines; these seeds littered the open forest floor. Every year some found home on wreaths or elsewhere around the casita.