At 52 degrees, hornets are already going in and out of their gray globe in the weeds. I watch the sunrise by inference on the western ridge.
The view from my front porch first thing in the morning, in 140 or fewer characters.
Monthly Archives: July 2010
At last the garden cricket has...
At last the garden cricket has a rival. They creak slowly back and forth. I scan the western sky for what’s left of last night’s moon.
Tagged crickets, moon
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It starts to rain. A hover fly...
It starts to rain. A hover fly lands on the rim of my mug, its thin, yellow-banded abdomen twitching like a nervous and anorexic bee.
Tagged syrphid fly
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A cyanide millipede—black...
A cyanide millipede—black segments edged in orange, yellow cilia undulating—flows through the garden like a dangerous amusement park ride.
Tagged millipede
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In the springhouse marsh, 13 cattail...
In the springhouse marsh, 13 cattail spikes are turning brown. When I go over for a closer look, a deer pops her head up, swivels her ears.
Tagged cattails, deer, springhouse
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The small cross of a plane against...
The small cross of a plane against the blue, its distant drone. A flicker climbing the dead elm loses his footing on a patch of sunlight.
Tagged elm, flicker
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The vibrating of a dead branch…
The vibrating of a dead branch from which a bird has just flown. In a funnel spider web among the weeds, 14 raindrops from the last storm.
Tagged funnel spider, spiders
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Three hummingbirds circle the...
Three hummingbirds circle the blowsy remains of the bergamot at sunrise. One lands on a bare twig and grooms her breast feathers.
Tagged bergamot, hummingbird
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Highway noise from over the ridge...
Highway noise from over the ridge; a whiff of diesel. A downy woodpecker going up the dead elm passes a nuthatch going down.
Tagged downy woodpecker, I-99, nuthatch
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Two male towhees trade tweets...
Two male towhees trade tweets from opposite sides of the yard. At the top of the dead cherry tree, a goldfinch swivels back and forth.
Tagged cherry tree, goldfinches, towhee
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The catnip’s in bloom beside...
The catnip’s in bloom beside the porch: clusters of tiny white blossoms dotted in purple, each with a front stoop to tempt passing bees.
Tagged catnip
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Rain like a drunk at a broken...
Rain like a drunk at a broken piano whose green keys all play the same note. The hornets still hide their hoard in a gray paper sack.
Tagged bald-faced hornet, rain
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A woodchuck waddles down the road...
A woodchuck waddles down the road, pausing every few feet to poke its head into the weeds. A fawn bleats up in the laurel. The sun goes in.
Tagged deer, groundhog
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A tiger swallowtail is laying...
A tiger swallowtail is laying eggs on the lilac and black cherry, dabbing each leaf with the tip of her abdomen, wings fighting the breeze.
The dawn chorus is quieter now...
The dawn chorus is quieter now, and at least half-catbird. A squirrel carries a leafy twig through the treetops at sunrise like a flag.
Tagged catbird, squirrels
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A little wood satyr—brown...
A little wood satyr—brown butterfly with yellow-rimmed eyespots—lands on the glass door and pivots at the center of its reflection.
Tagged little wood satyr
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Fresh buds have appeared on one...
Fresh buds have appeared on one of the two wild grape sprigs I planted at the base of the dead cherry. A nuthatch calls in the growing heat.
Tagged cherry tree, nuthatch, wild grape
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With the power out, my house seems...
With the power out, my house seems unnaturally quiet compared to the warble and hum of a humid summer morning. A cicada’s buzzer goes off.
Tagged cicadas
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Tansy blooms beside the porch....
Tansy blooms beside the porch. Black ants and harvestmen wander the allegedly insecticidal leaves; only the yellow flowers remain untouched.
Tagged ants, harvestmen, tansy
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Cloudy and cool. Up to its snout...
Cloudy and cool. Up to its snout in grass, a deer sneezes. The quiet squeaks of a hummingbird circling the beebalm.
Tagged beebalm, deer, hummingbird
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On the garlic tops below the porch...
On the garlic tops below the porch, the skins are peeling back, burst by the pressure of insurrectionary mobs with wild green hair.
Tagged wild garlic
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A tussock moth caterpillar dangling...
A tussock moth caterpillar dangling in mid-air turns pendulum in the breeze, its silk line visible only as a sliding gleam against the blue.
Dark burgundy leaves on a dame...
Dark burgundy leaves on a dame’s-rocket, browning seedheads of dock, the one yellow bracken—autumn is making inroads despite the heat.
Tagged bracken, dame's-rocket, yellow dock
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The first bindweed flower has...
The first bindweed flower has opened low to the ground, its white ear-trumpet pointed toward the rising sun. The whine of a cicada.
Tagged bindweed, cicadas
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A phoebe’s spiraling dive...
A phoebe’s spiraling dive ends with an audible snap of its bill. A catbird improvises from the lilac, switching branches after each line.
Tagged catbird, lilac, phoebe
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One tulip tree limb is a-quiver...
One tulip tree limb is a-quiver: a pair of squirrels nibble on each other’s fur. Love or parasites? A cricket calls from under the bergamot.
Tagged crickets, squirrels, tulip tree
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The ornamental cherry’s...
The ornamental cherry’s last leaves are dying. A silent wood thrush watches a tanager so scarlet it throbs in the light-drenched crown.
A rustle from the top of a tall...
A rustle from the top of a tall locust: two great blue herons jab at the thorny twigs, spread their wings and launch into the bluest sky.
A small yellow flower lures me...
A small yellow flower lures me down off the porch to find a new species for the yard: fringed loosestrife. Sounds like a biker-chick brawl.
In the deer-ravaged rosebush in...
In the deer-ravaged rosebush in the middle of the yard, I spot a bald-faced hornet’s nest, its dark opening fixed on the half-dead cherry.
My mind drifts. At what precise...
My mind drifts. At what precise angle of sun, I wonder, does the light lose its magic? I glance over and meet a deer’s unreadable eyes.