Seasons are changing
I can tell
Apples are falling
Leaves are turning (just)
Birds are flocking
Not ready, yet
To fly.
Fledglings hoofed
From out of their nests
Are assembling
Outside my window
Chasing about
Like small children
So sweet
In the birdbath splashing
And scoffing down food.
And the season of sunrise is back
Perhaps it never left
But there's a limit
To how early
I will rise....
The trouble with having all these birds as well as my little wild furry friends, is that pest Pancho. For a while he seemed to be occupied with pursuing some other cat, so my feathered friends were safe…for a while.
This morning I woke to see a sky I could not resist, so I ran around with my camera, in between scooping the overnight droppings of the indoor crowd. I realized then that Grant had not surfaced, so I called to see if he was still alive. A plaintiff voice replied “yes, but my knee is messed up.”
A week ago, with some muttering, Grant decided to do the work required after I had a new floor put down in my “front room”. Ripping out the horrible baseboard radiators made for rather a lot work. I offered to help, but with a crook back and arthritic hands, my contribution didn’t amount to much.
Briefly, though, I was trusted with a paint brush and was reminded of all those times, years ago, when I was supposed to be helping, but the entire time I was being supervised and criticized. You want to say “then do it yourself!”
In the end I was allowed to clean up the mess on the floor, so when I rose to this wonderful sunrise, I was feeling a bit sore myself. And then discovered that I must play nursemaid for the duration of the bad knee.
I had an early appointment, so what with photographing the sunrise, scooping boxes, running tea and toast downstairs, I was not too pleased at having to chase Pancho off. As I was feeding the 5,000…well not quite, but sometimes 13 cats feel that way, I saw the little black and white face looking through the back door. “Can I come in?” it implies.
You can’t mix indoor cats with indoor-outdoor cats. At least I wouldn’t advise it. So Pancho, who isn’t mine, in any case, gets a meal outside. But then the rotten little swine goes round the corner and starts stalking my friends. So now I’m chasing a cat as well as washing dishes etc etc.
As my chauffeur is laid up, I got to drive myself today. I’m not often allowed, so I have to use my smart phone GPS, and doesn’t that give me an argument. Anyone who knows me can tell you, I don’t do technology. I started out so well with computers but all that stuff accelerated past me decades ago. I am strictly manual. Would it were still possible.
But it was a pretty morning and I do love driving through countryside that is just bursting with growth of all kinds. I keep remembering how in love I was with Winter and it’s hard to believe that that was here! I shall love it again, when it returns, but for now I love all this green, and soon the reds and browns and orange of Fall. I love having seasons again.
And I caught a couple of reflections...
It’s good that you do fix a meal for the rascal, Pancho. Maybe he will just get his kicks stalking and teasing, but not killing. My Minnie hides in the bushes and watches the birdbath every morning. Sometimes, I find a few feathers of one that was not aware of her presence until too late. Thankfully, I have never witnessed this in the 10 years of her life.