Spitting rain. A small flock of great tits in the elder, jockeying for a chance at the suet. Below, a quiet robin blends into the dirt.
elder tree
Monday September 16, 2019
Overcast. Six pairs of underpants hang on the firethorn—no room on the clothesline. A wood pigeon in the elder tree starts eating leaves.
Monday September 02, 2019
Four coal tits huddled in the elder tree take turns feeding at the suet balls. Two gardens away, a boy sings a taunting song in Portuguese.
Friday June 07, 2019
Gusts of wind salted with rain. A bumblebee somehow manages to hold steady, hovering in front of a kerria rose, then going to the elder.
Monday May 27, 2019
Overcast and cold. A European robin lands on a severed limb-end of the elder and casts a critical eye at the pile of withered branches.
Saturday May 25, 2019
The severely pruned elder tree has one green limb, hidden from the arborist by a rampant kerria. Its covert blossoms draw a few tiny flies.
Saturday September 01, 2018
Sunrise illuminates the hidden rooms of the elder tree. In one, a blackbird grooms, starting the day with the taste of its own feathers.
Wednesday August 29, 2018
I carry a dry chair into the drenched garden. Elderberries dot the ground and raindrops dot the elder. A sudden shuffle of woodpigeon wings.
Friday August 24, 2018
Breezy and cool. A gray down feather floats up and settles on a leaf of the elder tree. A blackbird’s orange beak peeks around the trunk.
Tuesday August 14, 2018
The blue tits depart one by one. Empty now, the elder tree pivots gently in the wind. The sound of a hand saw like something breathing.