16 September 2012

leaves a-falling weekend

  10AM Sep 15 2012

  About a year and a half ago my dad gave me a laptop for my birthday. Today I'm enjoying it on the back porch, listening to... windchimes, hummingbird wings, wind through the trees, jays and crows and other birds, crickets and katydids, and the occasional traffic. The weather is beautiful and I'm glad I asked for the big screen, lol. Thanks, Dad! love you!

  ...faint music from a neighbor's house, dog barking far away, bullfrog on the hill, stronger wind through the trees, leaves hitting the car, Growler going Prrp? Mau? while he chases the other cats around the yard...

  ...dope 'copter patrolling the Nat'l Forest, lol...

  ****

  10AM Sep 16 2012

  What drew me outside this morning is the call of a hawk being harrassed by crows. The hawk: Peer! Ear! Near! Year! and the crows: Ca Ca Ca Ca!! Ca Ca Ca!! Na Na! Aa! Aa!!!

  I'm sorry I don't have a camera with sound, or I'd capture some of this for my young cousins in Kansas City (yesterday one of them said, "Noooo, that's impossible! No one can hear all of that, and no one LIVES in a FOREST!!!!!!"). I guess they'll have to come visit, instead?

 

  The first thing I noticed when I sat down to boot up the laptop is an odd shape on my car antenna. I went back inside for the camera, thinking "praying mantis," but when I got close I saw it's a "walking stick." I took several pictures in the macro setting.

 

  Dogs down the road started howling. It's a howl I hadn't heard here before, not like singing along with police sirens; and it made me think maybe a predator has come near out of the woods, maybe a coyote or a bear, though I think if it was bear they'd be barking excited yips instead of mournful howls.

  That quieted down the birds too. There'd been a cacophony of tweets and twitters, cheeps and warbles, but for a few minutes after the howling stopped all I heard was a near Pip! Pip! of a cardinal and a distant Jay, jay jay! of --who else-- the jays. (the jays also say Queeeedle! and they imitate a hawk, they sound like a hawk far away when they're sitting quite near.) Lots of insect buzzing, Mree mree of crickets and the bzzzzzzzzzz and stutter of cicadas

  ****

  5PM Sep 16 2012

  Spent most of today doing my favorite chore: yardwork!

  I'd mow a little, check on Bob, pull some weeds, mow a little, feed Bob, mow a little, etc. I've got the front yard done from the front porch to the fence, from the power line to the pines; plus all of the east side of the house from the front fence to the firewood.

  Have started pulling up grasses and jewelweed from around last winter's cut walnut, uncovered the hydraulic splitter and mowed around it. When I've done with the grass and weeds, guess what's next???

  ...splitting firewood! Wheeeeeeeee! I get so excited when chores take me out of the house.

 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love doing yard work this time of year too when the temp starts to drop... I wish I could hear all that here at my house, I hear the crows, hawks, and some song birds, neighborhood dogs and lots of jets heading into and out of SeaTac International Airport... hope Bob's doing better and you're finding some rest.

WynnSong said...

Sounds like you've got the perfect place to enjoy the fall of the year.......
Great Blog...