The Morning Porch

November 12, 2026 by Dave Bonta

Rain comes rattling on the roof and rustling in the fresh leaf litter. A raven calls in the distance. Bare walnut tree branches begin to shine.

November 12, 2025
Cold and gray, with the wind hissing through the last few oak leaves still on the trees. The male Carolina wren sleeps in past his mate, her ‘response’ preceding his call by nearly five minutes.
November 12, 2024
An hour past sunrise, the sky is half blue. The two-year-old tulip tree inside its cage of fencing waves a last, yellow leaf.
November 12, 2023
Sun through thin, high clouds—enough to make the last few scarlet oak crowns glow. An ambulance wails through the gap.
November 12, 2022
A lull in the rains. The transition from a watercolor world to pencil-brown and charcoal-gray is nearly complete.
November 12, 2021
Clouds scudding against clouds, and here and there faint suggestions of blue: a clearing wind, complete with the obligatory exultant raven.