Everybody Likes Apples

This morning's orchard walk was sublime - brilliant blue skies, blazing sunshine, a little Indian summer. I was not alone in the orchard - there are a few workers harvesting the remaining apples before the next hard frost. But there were others taking their ease among the trees... a blue heron, strolling between the rows, watching the pickers with curiosity. I was about 50 yards away, and he wasn't in any hurry. A few rows away I saw a troop of turkeys. I like to say they were creating their own apple stuffing...

Autumnal Meanderings

The leaves are turning. Some low-growing bushes are that lovely soft yellow-orange now. The maple helicopters have mostly dropped. I never noticed before that those are a favorite food for chipmunks. They get so focused on eating the nut from the center that they ignore peanuts tossed inches from their nose. Squirrels dare to reach to the very end of the maple branches to get the most tender ones. The pine tree needles are turning, ready to drop like a yellow blizzard any day now.

Long Time, No Write

It has been a long, strange year. Twists, turns, hiccups, speed bumps, passages. Too much to replay. Some things never change: the fox still visits, the chipmunks are still peanut-crazed. The morning sunlight filtering through the leaves creates beautiful dappled patterns on the grass. The tiger lilies bloom right on time, and the fireflies create fleeting sparks in the deep dusk. Ahhhh summer.... stick around for awhile!