For more Sunday Stills....
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Life on a family farm in the wilds of Upstate New York
Our county fair was last week, spilling over into yesterday as well. Peg took a lamb and she and her mom showed some bunnies and a duck too.
Peg and her friends also had a good time setting up elaborate farming, ranching, and fancy stable facilities in the dirt neat the lamb pen.
I am envious of the wonderful horses and other assorted animal figures available to horse crazy little girls these days. I had to save my popsicle money all week to buy one at the five-and-dime and there were only a couple of choices available. I still have one of them though and he is a pretty fierce looking little guy. Can't lie, I nabbed a few of Peg's from another corral they had over on the other side of the lamb pen and put them in this fence. I do love to mess with her that way.
For more Sunday Stills...
And there he came along behind, bow drawn the fullest, belted dagger dangling.
Ida swept away summer last night, let him out of his cave to run and fight.
To sport across the sky all winter, and dance victory on the barn roof after each and every night.
They say he travels east to find his eyesight, blinded once in someone's anger.
Will he step on that scorpion again tonight or live to hunt another?
Will moon escape to fly again the summer skies, a pirate ship with sails unfurled?
Will we somehow stay warm when the wildwinds whirl?
Ida's broom seems to have tumbled away the misty, smoky morning clouds that overhung us every day all summer. We've seen a star or two sometimes, poking dull, skinny beams through the blanket, but for the most part this year's only summer stars have been fireflies dancing in the garden.
In the clear, cold of the first unofficial, but very real fall morning (O' dark thirty...there was a four involved in there somewhere) as I took the dog out, I saw the first satellite I have ever observed, sailing steadily among the stars. There is normally way too much light pollution and dirty diesel air to see such things from our riverside home.
Before first coffee had time to cool a faint blue glow stained the horizon, palest pink to follow. Orion slunk away to hunt again another morning.
Not ready for this, nope, nope, nope. I am never ready for this.
But there is consolation. #warblermigration.
Common Yellowthroat Nondescript but noisy in the shrubbery |
They used to call out to one another in their later years....or maybe forever as well, but I only learned about it in the past few years...
"I love you," I would hear Dad yell from somewhere upstairs or out in the office when I was talking on the phone with Mom.
"Love you," she would holler in her scratchy COPD voice. Then she would go right back to what we were talking about when he called.
How about that? Wish they were here to enjoy their 70th, but wherever they are, I'll bet they are still together, still calling out, some way somehow...
I love you....
I love it there!
Below is another shot of the straying sheep that appeared in the first photo. They were in a big hurry, but not nearly as much as the farmer chasing them. Driving the roads around here is rarely boring...glad we are not usually in a hurry, and kinda sorry for the folks who are. It can get pretty western just traveling from place to place.
Through a rainy windshield......again...
For more Sunday Stills......
Getting there was, in some ways, half the fun, as we had many chances to talk in "real life" person, as opposed to Facetime or just on the phone. And that was great. We have always been close....
The traffic however, was brutal. Five hours of Hell south of Quantico. However, both kids are excellent drivers and we all got there, and back to our various destinations, safely.
The first thing I saw when we went down to the beach from our hotel was a Ruddy Turnstone. Although I saw some in Florida during the early 70s eBird doesn't know about those so technically it was a life bird.
First day with the new hat |
Took me two days to find this stuff Might need it this weekend |
Wonder what this is saying about the season after next.... |
Immature Song Sparrow |
Not the best of summer at all |