Sunday, June 22, 2008
Dripping World
thundershowers, rain, a new baby born into our family this morning, world dripping with life.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Summer
first full day of summer.
family up for a visit, children gurgling and playing, all of us in happiness to be together.
torrential downpours off and on today, wondrously wet world. here is our little apple, soaking it in. discovered today that it's growing many apples, in this second year of its pruning.
little house wren has returned! last year's wren house turned into this year's swallow house, so it spent today courting the other bird house, singing in an arc around it, always facing its new little home. glad to have it back, dear little bird, our days to be filled with song now.
here it sits in a rare quiet moment.
family up for a visit, children gurgling and playing, all of us in happiness to be together.
torrential downpours off and on today, wondrously wet world. here is our little apple, soaking it in. discovered today that it's growing many apples, in this second year of its pruning.
little house wren has returned! last year's wren house turned into this year's swallow house, so it spent today courting the other bird house, singing in an arc around it, always facing its new little home. glad to have it back, dear little bird, our days to be filled with song now.
here it sits in a rare quiet moment.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Waxwings in the Strawberries!
no, these aren't in the strawberry patch, and yes, these are actually two photos of the same bird, but there is a flock of them and they do eat the strawberries. such a joy to see such beautiful birds sharing the red berries.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Birds
walked the trail again with the boys.
hawk cried above us, far away up in the sky.
mother duck and seven ducklings hugged the shore as they swam from us, the little ones swimming so tightly together that they made another duck.
hawk cried above us, far away up in the sky.
mother duck and seven ducklings hugged the shore as they swam from us, the little ones swimming so tightly together that they made another duck.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Fox & Owl
perfect weather: warm, breezy, sunny with fluffy clouds.
we walked today, the boy, the dog, and me, our favorite trail these days, along the railroad track. as we looked at the wildflowers, we heard a crow call above us. so loud and ragged, i wondered whether a human was making the sound. but as i looked up, i spotted the crow's subject: a fox trotting alongside the tracks ahead of us by a few hundred yards. it stopped, turned to look at us, with the crow circling and calling above it, then continued on. stopped again, stood still watching us, then on again, all the while the crow calling its location to everyone in the forest. foxes are said to represent protection of family.
sewer pipes going in for the new house behind us. our little blueberry bushes and silky dogwood lifted gently out of the earth by the crane and set down in a cluster on the green grass. so gentle, like a mother bird shifting her eggs with her beak, the crane moved slowly and carefully.
boy, dog, and i spent the whole day outside. pulled up the bolted mustard greens, planted lettuce seedlings, mulched strawberries with pine needles, transplanted marigold seedlings into garden beds, re-seeded strawflowers, mulched garlic with straw. boy sat on his blanket in the garden, alternately chortling with glee at the world (crane operator said he wished he had a picture of him), and then planting his face into the earth in the spaces near him that i hadn't covered with blankets. took his spills well, fussing just loudly enough so i'd turn to see how he was doing, then happy to sit up again.
inside at dusk tonight, looked out the window at the sound of birds shouting. in the evening light, caught sight of three little songbirds chasing and harassing a large, strange-looking bird of prey, which flew directly over the center of our house. realized after it passed that it looked so peculiar because it had a flat face; it was an owl. spoke with my husband about it tonight, he reminded me that modern cherokee culture considers owls to be harbingers of death, but that traditional cherokee culture held them as harbingers of change, all kinds of change. what change will be coming to this house?
getting something from the car tonight, i noticed the moon, round and orange coming up over the trees in the far southeast. showed it to the boy, who looked at it for its light, and we stood and watched it float ever so slowly up, free of the trees, balancing itself in the night sky.
we walked today, the boy, the dog, and me, our favorite trail these days, along the railroad track. as we looked at the wildflowers, we heard a crow call above us. so loud and ragged, i wondered whether a human was making the sound. but as i looked up, i spotted the crow's subject: a fox trotting alongside the tracks ahead of us by a few hundred yards. it stopped, turned to look at us, with the crow circling and calling above it, then continued on. stopped again, stood still watching us, then on again, all the while the crow calling its location to everyone in the forest. foxes are said to represent protection of family.
sewer pipes going in for the new house behind us. our little blueberry bushes and silky dogwood lifted gently out of the earth by the crane and set down in a cluster on the green grass. so gentle, like a mother bird shifting her eggs with her beak, the crane moved slowly and carefully.
boy, dog, and i spent the whole day outside. pulled up the bolted mustard greens, planted lettuce seedlings, mulched strawberries with pine needles, transplanted marigold seedlings into garden beds, re-seeded strawflowers, mulched garlic with straw. boy sat on his blanket in the garden, alternately chortling with glee at the world (crane operator said he wished he had a picture of him), and then planting his face into the earth in the spaces near him that i hadn't covered with blankets. took his spills well, fussing just loudly enough so i'd turn to see how he was doing, then happy to sit up again.
inside at dusk tonight, looked out the window at the sound of birds shouting. in the evening light, caught sight of three little songbirds chasing and harassing a large, strange-looking bird of prey, which flew directly over the center of our house. realized after it passed that it looked so peculiar because it had a flat face; it was an owl. spoke with my husband about it tonight, he reminded me that modern cherokee culture considers owls to be harbingers of death, but that traditional cherokee culture held them as harbingers of change, all kinds of change. what change will be coming to this house?
getting something from the car tonight, i noticed the moon, round and orange coming up over the trees in the far southeast. showed it to the boy, who looked at it for its light, and we stood and watched it float ever so slowly up, free of the trees, balancing itself in the night sky.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Finch Babies
missed a few days.
purple finch mother brought her three teenagers to the feeder yesterday. they spent almost the entire time shouting and shivering their wings at her, begging to be fed. in the ten minutes they were at the feeder, only one of them ventured over and scrambled onto the actual feeder to try for a seed, and then only once mother had flown off. i like this shot for the frantic energy; this one, along with its siblings, was in hot pursuit of their mother through the apple bough on our porch.
harvested three luscious heads of lettuce yesterday for a weston price potluck, along with some garlic scapes.
purple finch mother brought her three teenagers to the feeder yesterday. they spent almost the entire time shouting and shivering their wings at her, begging to be fed. in the ten minutes they were at the feeder, only one of them ventured over and scrambled onto the actual feeder to try for a seed, and then only once mother had flown off. i like this shot for the frantic energy; this one, along with its siblings, was in hot pursuit of their mother through the apple bough on our porch.
harvested three luscious heads of lettuce yesterday for a weston price potluck, along with some garlic scapes.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
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