Karen B. Shea's Blog

Introducing Monday Morning Musings! For your Nature Escape …

I recently read about a term called , hence my Monday Morning Musings. The premise is based on research that shows by taking time to purposely notice nature that is already in your life—for even a few minutes a day, such as looking at a tree or flower or critter outside your window or even gazing at a picture—we can strengthen positive emotions such as hopefulness, peacefulness, rejuvenation and awe. 

In other words, spending time in or looking at nature improves our collective well-being.  

When I read about this, I knew I wanted to help spread hopefulness and inspiration! And with a love of photography, I thought this would be a win win.

For that reason, I will be sharing simple weekly emails of photographs I have taken. Sometimes it may be a poem or short story I have written. All of which will hopefully uplift and inspire you. I hope these emails are a simple reminder that Nature is all around us.

To subscribe for your simple Monday Morning Musings (if you aren’t already), scroll to the bottom of this page and subscribe to My Blog Posts. Then sit back and relax. Your nature escape will be delivered effortlessly to your inbox each Monday.

So when you need an escape, stop and admire a tree or flower or bird outside your window or on your screen. Take in its beauty to soothe and inspire your soul.

Indian Paintbrush & Cinquefoil Flowers : Photograph by Karen B. Shea

The post Monday Morning Musings appeared first on Karen B. Shea.

May 29th may not be Mother’s Day but it is My Mother’s Day – for this was the day my Mother was born. I don’t often share the depths of my feelings for my Mom in public, but in the soon-to-be two years since her passing, a small crack has appeared on my horizon and a light has begun to shine through, and with that light the desire to once again share my Mom with the world. 

So today I celebrate my Mom, Mary Zilinsky. She would have been 95 years old today! My siblings and I are eternally grateful to have had our Mom in our lives for so very long. Her entire story is not mine to share, but what I can share is what my Mom meant to me.  

Karen B. Shea with her Mother

I realize, how we often see ourselves is not necessarily the way the world or those closest to us see us. Self-perception can be a foggy and misguided experience. 

When I think of my Mom, I think of her strength and resilience. I think about how strong she was to persevere through her health challenges later in life. I think of how strong she was to raise six children, often as a solo parent while Dad was away on trips. I think about her tough love talks with me when she thought I was going astray in my early twenties. I think of her hopes and dreams – were they fulfilled in this lifetime? I think of the special moments I got to share with her – just her and I – even when they took place in a hospital room.

When I visualize my Mom, I see her with her anticipatory grin as she sits in front of a penny slot machine at Harrah’s in Joliet, IL. How she savored the cherry in her Manhattan as we dined at Jameson’s. Her proud smile as she looked across the table at her three daughters after spending a day together. I see us going to the movies and sharing in a passion we both loved. I see her sitting in her favorite chair, crossword puzzle in hand filling in clue after clue. I see her laughing with her friends as they share coffee and pie in the late afternoon. I see her beauty and grace in the pictures of her and our neighbors when they celebrated a night away from us kids, all of them looking so youthful and full of joy. I see her every now and then in my dreams….and each morning I awake from one of those encounters, I know she is watching over me.

Dance Party!

I feel the love she had for me and the pride she felt when she would tell me I was her creation! Although I was her fifth child, I was the first she raised away from the watchful eye of her Mother, my Baba. My parents moved into our house in Hinsdale just before I was born and that is the home she always remained. I feel the love I have for her for she truly is my greatest inspiration and hero. I can only hope I am half the woman my Mom was in life.

After two years, I still long to hear her voice in person and to share a conversation, I suspect I always will. I often listen to the voice messages I saved of her telling me how she misses me already after leaving from one of my visits home. The feeling was always mutual. Or the stories she shared of her youthful endeavors while my sisters, niece and I hung on every word only to end in gasps and laughter. I miss sharing conversations about everything and anything with her. Although I talk to her every day, I have yet to perfect hearing her talk back to me. I miss hearing her laugh. 

Mother’s Day 2017

I know she felt as if she had nothing left to teach us, but she taught us every day just by being her. Actions always speak louder than words and her actions were those of…

Strength when you feel you have little to give.Perseverance despite the obstacles before you.Determination to see your challenges through.And grace, always grace, for she never complained or called out Why me? 

Who wouldn’t be grateful for a role model such as this? A Hero to call their own in Mother form.  

I am so grateful to have had a wonderful Mom, I know not everyone is as fortunate in that department. Mary Zilinsky raised six children, a husband, two dogs, numerous cats, a rabbit named Pinkie, chickens, a ferret, a chinchilla and fish, as well as our numerous friends to boot. She showed me the world, literally, and through our shared love of books. She knew more than I will ever know – that I do know! We loved to play scrabble and it never failed with each game she would choose words my sisters and I never even heard of. Of course we would challenge her with That’s not a word! and low and behold, each and every time it was a word. 

At the end, I was again very fortunate because I was able to spend so much of it by her side. Watching the foundation of your life slowly succumb is not an easy thing to do, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. To care for my Mom after a lifetime of her caring for me was a privilege. Our conversations became more real. Immediate. Meaningful. Heartfelt. 

Mom & I enjoying the colors of Fall

My Mom gave me many lasting gifts throughout my life, but one that I hold most dear was towards the end of her beautiful life. Late one afternoon at the hospital I said to her, I should probably go, I know how you don’t like us to stay too long. Mom lovingly said, You can stay forever. I wish she could have stayed forever, but that is not how life works. 

My Mom will forever be a part of me – for without her, I wouldn’t be me. I love you to the moon and back and my pride for you exceeds the furthest galaxy.

Happy Birthday Mom!

My amazing Mom!

The post My Mother’s Day appeared first on Karen B. Shea.

When you write a book about bugs, people naturally assume you are crazy about bugs. But it’s not that I am crazy about bugs, I am crazy about nature! I love the beauty, mystery, wonder, grandeur and even minuteness of it. I love its strength and unpredictability. For something that encompasses us so completely, how can one not admire and respect nature?

As for bugs, I will admit since writing A Bug-Lightful Discovery, I have grown to appreciate bugs even more. And I do love that something so tiny, in the scheme of things, can teach us such grand lessons.

Nature is one of our greatest teachers. Humans, in fact, have studied and observed nature for centuries incorporating some of its greatest wonders into our lives. This is called… 

BiomimicryBiomimicry is a practice that learns from and mimics the strategies found in nature to solve human design challenges—and find hope.The Infamous Robert F. Zilinsky – pilot extraordinaireBald Eagle in flightFlying was born from watching birds and how air increases lift as it flows over the curve of the bird’s wing. Other aspects of flight were inspired from whales, dragonflies, and moths! Click here for more interesting details.The Bullet Train was modeled after the long-narrow beak of the Kingfisher bird not to mention aspects of owls and penguins. Click asknature for a fascinating video.Velcro with its hook-like structure was mimicked from the burrs of the Burdock plant.Micro needles used by doctors were inspired by the elongated appendage from a mosquito’s head, called a proboscis. The proboscis penetrates the skin unknowingly and painlessly.

Many things are born from nature’s example and inspiration, including my new children’s book A Bug-Lightful Discovery! Now throw in (not literally, of course!) a seven-year-old girl for an added dose of inspiration. Now you have a story!

A Bug-Lightful Discovery was a year in the making.

Very quick for the literary world. A year-long process that began from a brief unexpected moment in nature. The four of us—neighbors Ellery, Jacqueline, Emelia and myself—were standing on my cabin porch soaking in the beauty of the morning. A black dot appeared in the air coming directly towards the cabin and us. When….THUMP! The black dot clumsily landed on one of the steps below us leading up to the cabin.

Illustration from A Bug-Lightful Discovery by Karen B. Shea

The size of a half dollar but oblong not round. Black as can be with six spindly legs and two antenna the length of its entire body that stretched endlessly towards the sky. In short, it resembled a big alien-looking critter sent from a far-off galaxy here to deliver a message to us. And with all that swirling through my brain, as we gazed down at this intruder, Emelia without hesitation states, “I’m going to STOMP on it!!!” 

Much to my horror—at the seven-year-old not the alien intruder—I immediately exclaimed boldly, “Oh no you’re not!” 

And with all the innocence a child possess, she asks in a puzzled tone, “Why not?”  

Taking advantage of this teaching moment I stated, “It has a purpose and deserves to live as much as you and I do.” 

And like any seven-year-old, her puzzled tone turned to a puzzled look and now I am the alien from another planet and Emelia STOMPS off the porch to her Gramma Jane’s cabin.

The end….

Or so I thought, until I couldn’t stop thinking about this encounter and our exchange. It was really only a matter of seconds that we shared, but I will admit I was rather surprised that Emelia’s first instinct was to stomp on the beetle for no good reason. When I look back on this encounter now, however, I am not sure why I was so surprised by her reaction. The adolescent mind doesn’t exactly think through the consequences of their actions. Growing up I know I had done my share of stomping on a bug for no good reason. But my adult mind knows better! And as Maya Angelou said, “…when you know better, do better.”

As the day progressed, I shared this encounter with Gramma Jane and her friend Suzie, and it was then I knew this was a lesson worth teaching other children. After all, I write childrens’ books to teach children about the wonders of nature and to help them gain a better appreciation for nature. But even I would have never imagined – from a few second encounter – that a new children’s book would be born, and another journey into the literary world was about to begin…

Sketch from A Bug-Lightful Discovery
illustrated by Luella Jane Wright

The post Biomimicry & Nature = Children’s Book appeared first on Karen B. Shea.

Much like each new day is a day of new possibilities, a new year holds an endless stream of possibilities. When I think of a new year, like many of you, I think of the changes I can make to better myself and the world around me. Then I look at nature and wonder, what does a new year mean to nature?

The post A New Year Dawns appeared first on Karen B. Shea.

It's a Sci-Fi world when alien-looking creatures invade the earth. Join me on a peaceful morning that takes a sci-fi turn with the emergence of cicadas!

The post It’s a Sci-Fi World appeared first on Karen B. Shea.

my soul yearned for a walk in the rain 
my mind pleaded this is not rational 
but echoes rang throughout as each raindrop called my name 

fresh damp air filled my lungs with possibilities 
each tiny raindrop washed away my fears 
a cleansing was in the mist... 

The post I Could Breathe Again appeared first on Karen B. Shea.

It sounded exotic and interesting, and it was definitely outside my comfort zone. Which is exactly why I wanted to go. Joshua Tree National Park! A vast desert spread across Southern California where dirt and sand drapes across the landscape like a large woolen blanket. A place where the Mojave Desert meets the Colorado Desert. […]

The post Stepping Outside My Comfort Zone first appeared on Clark the Mountain Beaver.

A raven is my companion as I sit beside Jackson Lake eclipsed by the magnificent Teton Range. Ripples upon the lake are the only known movement, until the honk of two Canada Geese turns my gaze upwards to catch them flying overhead. Their ruckus causes the raven to take flight. For now, it is only […]

The post Silent Reflections: A Tranquil Moment in Grand Teton NP first appeared on Clark the Mountain Beaver.

Silent Reflections: A Tranquil Moment in Grand Teton National Park A raven is my companion as I sit beside Jackson Lake eclipsed by the magnificent Teton Range. Ripples upon the lake are the only known movement, until the honk of two Canada Geese turns my gaze upwards to catch them flying overhead. Their ruckus causes the […]

The post Silent Reflections first appeared on Clark the Mountain Beaver.

What makes a weed a weed? I often ponder this question, especially when spring arrives and the many new shoots begin to sprout up everywhere. By definition a weed is....

The post What makes a weed a weed? first appeared on Clark the Mountain Beaver.