Thursday, October 17, 2013

AFTER THE RAINS

Clouds have taken over again.  Days of rain(2.5 inches total) and cooler temperatures, transitioned  to beautiful bright warm fall, and now we are back to the gloom. The air is still the perfect temperature, but sun would be welcome.
The birds have sprung back to life after the rains.  A new creature is evident everywhere along the edges of the woods, if we get out early enough.  Bats.  I have wondered with all of the bugs around why I have never seen bats, but now they seem to have tumbled onto the fact that they can eat here.  Glad to have them here to snack on those pesky mosquitoes.  The eagles are busy carrying new nesting material into their nest, getting it ready for raising new little eaglets next year.  A Carolina wren was trapped in the garage, but easily freed by opening all the doors.  A Goldfinch smashed into the window of the bedroom, I went out to get him up off the ground and watch over him until he was capable of stand on a tree limb alone with out falling.  I often wonder if they have a memory of the help, like maybe one day they would fly over perch on my shoulder and say thanks.  I guess not.  One member of our bird family that is definitely not in evidence is the Hummingbird.  I have not seen that little fellow for about a week, he left for warmer territory. I am happy to have given him the feeding resources to get him tanked up and ready for the flight.
The garden is a busy place right now.  The never ending pursuit of removing weeds, divisions and transplant of clumps of perineals that have become to large, pruning of trees and shrubs,  and small renovations here and there to recover an area of the garden that has become overgrown and chaotic.  Most of the work that I now do in the garden is editing whether it be friend or foe, there is always a need to remove something or at least move it around.
The look of fall is becoming more prominent, there is color in the leaves, and increasingly less color in the flowers of the garden.  Still some plants refuse to give up their stunning show, giving the remaining butterflies, bees and other assorted bugs something to exist on.