The Morning Porch

At 52 degrees, hornets are already...

Dave Bonta — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 11:31:30 +0000

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.

Dave Bonta — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:28:31 +0000

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.

Dave Bonta — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:58:45 +0000

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.

Dave Bonta — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 11:16:52 +0000

A cyanide millipede—black segments edged in orange, yellow cilia undulating—flows through the garden like a dangerous amusement park ride.

Dave Bonta — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:22:21 +0000

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.

Dave Bonta — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:07:06 +0000

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.

Dave Bonta — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:45:12 +0000

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.

Dave Bonta — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 11:42:33 +0000

Three hummingbirds circle the blowsy remains of the bergamot at sunrise. One lands on a bare twig and grooms her breast feathers.

Dave Bonta — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:18:00 +0000

Highway noise from over the ridge; a whiff of diesel. A downy woodpecker going up the dead elm passes a nuthatch going down.

Dave Bonta — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:34:19 +0000

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.