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The Morning Porch

Daily short takes from an Appalachian hollow

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no-see-ums

May 20, 2024 by Dave Bonta

Fog lifts to reveal blue sky, the sun in the treetops. A scarlet tanager hurtles past the porch with a second in close pursuit. The morning’s first itch prickles the back of my hand.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags fog, no-see-ums, scarlet tanager, sunrise

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On This Day

  • March 19, 2025
    Cool and clear. At sunrise a red squirrel appears on the end of my porch instead of the usual gray squirrel, spots me, and moves over to the stone wall where chipmunks always sit, nervously peering all about.
  • March 19, 2024
    Four hours before the equinox, the ground is white, with more snow swirling down. The miniature daffodils dangle from their stalks like deflated balloons.
  • March 19, 2023
    A dozen dead leaves circle the yard as the clouds’ bellies turn orange. A phoebe calls once, sotto voce, from a branch above the creek.
  • March 19, 2022
    Humid and cool. The sun keeps finding new holes in the clouds. The woodpeckers keep drumming.
  • March 19, 2021
    A ray of sun strikes the lilac, setting its yellow buds aglow. The sound of water gurgling under my yard. The back-and-forth of nuthatches.

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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