falling when not held.
Leaves still bright grace roads and lawns;
they danced to distant wind chimes.
Leaves still green.
Intrepid seed wings
lead the way.
Leaves drop one by one,
each with a story to tell.
But can we listen?
With more shades of green
than I can easily count,
trees hail Labor Day.
Reach up to the sun?
Not that far, just far enough.
Photosynthesis
Red maples flower
and greet returning warmth with
rubies in the sky.
Big and little stones
could lean on each other for
mutual support.
Soon after solstice,
angry year nears end with hope:
“Peace on Earth, Good Will …”
Early morning sunlight can make a frosted window (or clean snow) sparkle like myriad tiny diamonds. I have tried and failed to photograph that look. Editing one recent try produced an image that struck me as interesting and subtly hopeful, appropriate for a Xmas greeting after a grueling year.
Cattle breed with swine,
just in someone’s playful mind.
Belted Galloway pigs!
Nature~ Pic and a Word Challenge #390
The farm near my house does raise Belted Galloway cattle; it does not raise any pigs. My guess is that someone wanted to decorate the farm’s entrance with an outdoor sculpture of a Belted Galloway cow, then found one of a Hampshire pig at a flea market or garage sale. Close enough: black-white-black (but with white forelegs). BTW, I found an image of a pig with black-white-black arranged just as on the cattle. Nature can sometimes be playful, too.
“I must grow.”
“I can’t move. Sorry.”
“No problem.”
Kneeling on one knee to capture the image for §1 was no problem for me, but my old legs stiffened in the time it took to get a few photos of the tree’s workaround for the stone. To get up again, I depended on my own workaround.
After a few scares with stiffness from kneeling and balance on slopes earlier this year, I had bought a monopod and then replaced the monopod’s wrist lanyard with a clip that was intended for attaching a key ring to a belt loop.
Having taken the monopod on the walk leading to §1, I extended two of its four sections and used it to get up w/o drama. When collapsed and clipped to a belt loop, the monopod leaves my hands free for wiping sweat or taking photos. Like a good assistant, it’s there when I need it and unobtrusive when I don’t. Remembering to take it when I go for a walk is the hard part.
Stone ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #387
With mollusc long gone,
this abandoned shell becomes
beachcomber’s treasure.
Abandoned ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #384
Nesting kestrel turns
to see whose approach it hears.
Medusa quits birding.
Long after making a small cairn from these three stones, I noticed a slight resemblance to a nesting kestrel. Long after that, I recalled the old myth about what happened to people who looked at Medusa’s face. Kudos to Medusa for seeing the effect of her hobby and changing course. She switched to making stoneware pottery.
Two leaves did not wait
for cool nights after short days.
Turned on Father’s Day.
Old branches long gone:
broken by wind; cut by saw.
New branches coming.
~ ~ ~ ~
Refuse to die? No can do.
Like this tree, refuse to quit.
Red, yellow, and green
did not tell the whole story.
Now, five years later …
Warmth and light transform
dark sausage to bright flowers.
Magnolia opens.
Glow ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #367
Mellow Curmudgeon 