Peonies are to death what roses are to love. After this afternoon’s predicted storms I’m sure they’ll all be bowed, poor thornless things.
The view from my front porch every morning, in 140 or fewer characters
Monthly Archives: May 2010
A rose-breasted grosbeak flutters up...
A rose-breasted grosbeak flutters up from the creek singing clear, cool notes. A cranefly drifts through a sunbeam, carrying its legs.
Tagged cranefly, rose-breasted grosbeak, stream
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A pileated woodpecker explores a fallen...
A pileated woodpecker explores a fallen tree in the meadow, the scarlet arrow of his crest appearing and disappearing in the dame’s-rocket.
Tagged dame's-rocket, pileated woodpecker
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The first four peonies burst their...
The first four peonies burst their buds in the night and open to a sky of hazy pink. From under the house, a cat’s hollow cough.
Mid-morning. Already I am too warm...
Mid-morning. Already I am too warm in my big mammal body, but the oriole’s cheer is relentless. Such a small adjustment from heat to hate!
Tagged Baltimore oriole
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Up before dawn, I watch the morning...
Up before dawn, I watch the morning star climbing through the treetops. The birds awake: fragments of song like an orchestra tuning up.
Tagged Venus
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Wood thrushes dart back and forth;...
Wood thrushes dart back and forth; three squirrel species briefly converge. My yard is less comprehensible to me than a street in Bangkok.
Tagged gray squirrel, wood thrush
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The female towhee chitters until the...
The female towhee chitters until the male flies in, mates, and flies off. Again. Once more. Then she craps and goes back to foraging.
Tagged towhee
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Light rain. A female towhee carries...
Light rain. A female towhee carries load after load of dead grass into a rosebush while a yearling male redstart sings and noshes in the treetops.
A dandelion-seed parachute drifting...
A dandelion-seed parachute drifting past the porch shudders, hit by a raindrop. The streambank grass ripples where a chipmunk runs.
