I devote a lot of my writing to mornings. There is always a feeling of anticipation as the sun reaches the horizon and a new day unfolds. Mornings are busy... feeding animals, opening all of the bird roosting houses to allow for free ranging, re-filling waters, and cleaning up the night's de-poo-sits.
This gives me the best seat in the house for the morning sky show!
Afternoons, on the other hand are silent and still - with the sun perched so low in the sky. We repeat the morning steps, but this time the equines get just a snack... a little hay breaks up the day and staves off hunger until their last big meal of the day before bedtime.
Afternoons no longer have a soundtrack - no singing birds, no chirping insects, no rustling leaves... just the silence of a world heading towards its long winter's nap. Well, actually, there is one sound... the rhythmic chewing of hay - equally peaceful!
Pete appears in the barnyard, and I gently place him on Moonie's back.
Pete is the only one who rides our one-eyed Moonie now that he's in retirement.
"So, when do we go?" he asks as Moonie stands still eating hay.
I explain, "He's more like a couch than a ride, dear Pete. Just enjoy the warmth!"
He nestles in and sits there until I remove him. It's pretty far to the ground (maybe not for a cat), and we take no chances. I love that everyone feels safe with each other, so I try not to jinx that.
As I finish up around the barn, I see that Pete has found a spot in the warmth of the setting sun.
It's the last bit of warmth for the day. Nights are cold now, and barn kitties huddle beneath heat lamps once again.
With chores finished, I take the dogs for their daily walk in the woods. These walks help to keep us all sane with a pup like Forrest who needs lots of exercise.
On our way over to the woods, I notice (something I have just learned about this autumn) a sun dog in the sky to the left of the setting sun.
A sun dog (also called a mock sun or a parhelion) is an atmospheric optical phenomenon made up of one or two bright spots lateral to the sun. Ice crystals in the atmosphere refract the light (here, into a partial rainbow). It's been quite the season for celestial phenomenon. It's hard to believe that in all my years I hadn't seen a comet or the northern lights until they appear in our sky over the past few weeks! Now this... something perhaps I have seen before, but didn't know what it was. I love that no matter how many years I accumulate, there is still so much to learn!
By the time we reached the trail into the woods, the sun was sinking low behind the silhouetted trees. Having found a deer bone, Forrest ran way ahead of us in a rousing game of keep-away. You might notice how wintry our woods are looking now. All of the leaves are lying brown and crunchy on the forest floor. It's hard, now, to sneak up on any wildlife with the crunch, crunch, crunch beneath our feet. And so, though the wood seems deserted, I presume there are lots of silent eyes watching us from the bramble.
By the time our walk ended, I was able to steal Forrest's treasure and stick it safely high in the crook of a tree. No doubt, by the end of winter, he will, instead, be finding antlers on our walks through the woods.
On our way home, we stopped by the mailbox and I was delighted to see that this finally arrived.
If you have never seen this seed catalog, you are missing something truly wonderful.
Not only is it filled with all sorts of seeds to order - things that you might not find other place, but it also has recipes and stories and articles for the garden enthusiast. Planting a garden is many things to many people. To me it signifies hope, health, regeneration, life. I will be spending many hours perusing this catalog and dreaming of next summer's garden!
Comments