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.
Wounded bird in flight
casts shadow of fear and hope?
No, autumn leaf falls.
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.
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.
Warmth and light transform
dark sausage to bright flowers.
Magnolia opens.
Glow ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #367
Flowers first
when cherry trees wake.
Leaves later.
Fungus, moss, and lichen
share bark space in peace until
wind takes them all down.
The sound of cyclists
comes from somewhere behind me.
Just wind in dry leaves.
It really did sound like 1 or 2 cyclists were behind me on this rail trail. I stood off to the right so they could pass, but they kept coming. I turned around, saw that nobody was coming, and then saw/heard dry leaves make the noise as the wind made them move.
Mellow Curmudgeon 