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The Morning Porch

Daily short takes from an Appalachian hollow

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leaf-footed bugs

June 13, 2020 by Dave Bonta

Crystal-clear and cool. A leaf-footed bug squats atop the dial thermometer, unmoving over the “50” even as the pointer inches toward 60.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags leaf-footed bugs 1 Comment
May 27, 2016 by Dave Bonta

A large leaf-footed bug stalks up and down a porch column, its shadow at its side. Two carpenter bees clash like airborne sumo wrestlers.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags carpenter bees, leaf-footed bugs
September 3, 2015 by Dave Bonta

A leaf-footed bug lands on the railing, orange-tipped antennae glowing in the sun. From the edge of the woods, a blue jay’s raspy cry.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags blue jays, leaf-footed bugs
June 17, 2012 by Dave Bonta

The leaf-footed bug walks slowly and jerkily as a Mars rover on my shoe, antennae shining, then flies straight as a comet across the yard.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags leaf-footed bugs
May 25, 2012 by Dave Bonta

A black leaf-footed bug squats head-down on a porch post. Two silver-spotted skippers circle and chase, eponymous spots glinting in the sun.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags leaf-footed bugs, skippers

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On This Day

  • October 4, 2025
    Another classic October morning, crisp and clear. From the sun-struck treetops, a brown-headed cowbird’s liquid note. In the still air, a falling leaf spirals and somersaults, taking its time.
  • October 4, 2024
    More clouds than sun. A smell of woodsmoke. Stillness haunted by the distant sounds of wheels and engines.
  • October 4, 2023
    Half moon high overhead at 5:00, half-illuminating the ground fog and darkening the shadows into which walnuts thud down.
  • October 4, 2022
    How can it be so yellow out and yet so cold? But the winter birds sound happy: chickadees, nuthatches, a red-bellied woodpecker.
  • October 4, 2020
    A shimmer of moisture in the air, interrupted here and there by an actual raindrop. The roof drips. It’s cold. The lurid colors appall.

See all...

Related book

Cover of Ice Mountain with a linocut of a big ridgetop tree.

What I do after I sit on the porch. One winter and spring's daily walks distilled into short poems with linocut illustrations by Beth Adams.

Header image: detail from Paper Garden by Clive Hicks-Jenkins (used by permission)

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