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The Morning Porch

Daily short takes from an Appalachian hollow

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tufted titmouse

February 3, 2008 by Dave Bonta

A clear sunrise, and every twig and blade of grass still wearing its coat of ice. Two titmice drone back and forth amid the glitter.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags sunrise, tufted titmouse
November 23, 2007 by Dave Bonta

Titmice and chickadees inspect the lilac, which lost half its leaves overnight. Déjà vu: they were in my dreams, these birds. These spirits.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags black-capped chickadee, lilac, tufted titmouse
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On This Day

  • November 4, 2025
    The red of the oaks gets an assist, first from the dawn and then the sunrise, blazing scarlet, copper or burgundy in each vase-shaped crown.
  • November 4, 2024
    Another large oak has de-leafed, leaving more room for the overcast sky and its patchwork of light and dark. A screech owl trills one last time before full day.
  • November 4, 2023
    Thin clouds turn livid for the sunrise. A chickadee twitters. Two minutes later, we’re back to gloom.
  • November 4, 2022
    Cold sunrise. The green hippogriff of a lilac just starting to yellow. Dry leaves whispering of deer in heat.​
  • November 4, 2021
    25F degrees at dawn. A bat flies low over the meadow as the white-throated sparrows tune up. Frost-encrusted blades of grass seem to glow.

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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