One tends to think of the falling of leaves in autumn as a process. It certainly is with cottonwoods, maples, elms, and oak. A few here. A few there. Until suddenly one day the trees are bare and the view turns dull and grey.
However, when it comes to mulberry trees it is more of an event. At o' dawn thirty this morning you could hear them pattering down so thickly that it was almost like popcorn popping. Jade said they were doing it when he left for work before dawn and it took him a while to figure out what he was hearing.
By noon there were only a few stragglers left, when this morning the trees were in full foliage.
Crazy.
And about that headline. Since we got the pup there has been an ongoing battle to keep him from eating chicken poo.
He loves it like I love maple sugar, but it makes him barf.
The result is singularly unappetizing.
Thus I try to discourage the loose chickens from coming up to the bird feeders.
This morning I thought I would kill two birds...no wait, that is a terrible choice of terms.....
I thought I would use the dog to remove the chickens. I mean why not? Other than that I probably shouldn't encourage him to go after chickens.
But still....I am sick of the whole poo issue, and he thought it was a great idea. Even better than eating....well, you know.
The chickens were not happy to be assaulted by a Jack Russell Terrier though.
The rooster took to the air and landed in the middle of the garden pond, whereupon he promptly swam to the side...sort off...and flew off.
It made for a rather pretty tableau. An almost maroon Rhode Island Red rooster, his comb brilliant in the late season sun. The pond surface nearly covered with shining golden honey locust leaves like thousands of glittering coins...him splashing around in the middle...it was like poetry in a puddle.
Plus it was really good for a laugh.
Perhaps the last laugh of the season as the boss and I drained the pond this morning, Jade caught all the goldfish for me and I am refilling it for winter......
You really need to have a documentary filmmaker in house.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like rain. Our black walnut does something like that...Leaves in the morning...zoom they all come down...bare at night. Weird.
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh at your Rooster tale!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
Such a wonderful time of year - despite the mixed feelings it engenders. Leaf drop. And the sound of crows calling in the distance.
ReplyDeletePerfect.
Jan, how I wish I could have had a film of the rooster in the pond. It was so funny!!! It was probably a mistake to let Mack in on the secret of chickens, but it was so satisfying to chase them away. lol
ReplyDeleteLinda, it is almost uncanny. Sunday the trees were coated with green leaves....heck, yesterday morning they were still completely leaved out. Now they are bare. And blah.
Cathy, yeah, I am doing my darnedest to savor every day. The best thing that has happened in my personal health world in years was Alan getting me the phone with the pedometer. Self-challenge gets me out every day...or else I feel guilty...and I see and enjoy so much more than I did before I felt that I had to walk every day. A puppy doesn't hurt anything in that department either. lol