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Pre-breakfast drama this morning came in the shape of a Cooper’s hawk swooping out of the blue.
It seized a young grackle and as it banked away from the house it apparently lost its grip, so the grackle shot across the porch where it fell stunned, having hit a window.
Grant examined the bird and as it seemed only shocked, placed it on the grass to finish recovering. Eventually it flew off.
Coop needs to eat, but I do wish it wouldn’t target our friends. This is the risk of having seed trays, of course.
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Subtle and less subtle signs of Fall.
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How is it that those few small clutches of leaves are already bright red?
Good scientific reasons, no doubt.
But it’s nice to imagine the artist at work, making daily adjustments to their canvas, a touch here and there at their whim.
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It isn’t only leaves that mark the season.
It’s the abundance of flowers along the roads and that pale yellow vine which only appears at summer’s end.
Invasive it may be, but it is very pretty.
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Everything I like is either:
Fattening, illegal, overpriced
or invasive!
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Ah, not quite.
It was time for a scenic outing…
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…despite the heavy overcast.
Periodically, the Sun shone through.
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Ever since I retired and no longer have to get to work, Winter has been my favourite season.
By that I mean a proper, cold winter with plenty of snow.
Not the dreary grey, wet kind.
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Living in New England, I am equally keen on Fall.
New York is not part of New England in fact, but Vermont is and Cambridge is just over that state line.
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This morning, we had no particular destination in mind.
The driver turned south and west, vaguely in the direction of Albany though we had no intention of going there.
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It had been some time since we came this way.
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As I recall, the last time was when we went to pick up an item Grant had purchased. We had to wait for the seller to get home and being winter, it was dark.
Off the beaten track up here it gets very dark and these days it’s not recommended to find yourself in the wrong driveway after dark.
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Ah, a pool of light!
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It’s lovely, seeing light through the trees and soon it will all be golden.
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It can be exciting, not knowing what is around the next corner.
If you’re in the mood for adventure.
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My adventures are very tame now.
To be honest, I couldn’t call any of my travels adventures. I always knew when and where I would end up and the journeys were never awful.
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Except for the camping trip in Sudan.
There were moments then that seemed like an adventure and when the truck fell in the Nile, we did wonder how we’d get home.
I’m not even sure is was the Nile, but if you’re going to be undone by a river, it ought to be glamorous.
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Meanwhile, back in not New England, we had turned this way and that and somehow found ourselves completing a circle, passing the same energetic woman still running.
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It’s developing into a pattern, passing the same people on the road. Often it’s on different days, which makes one feel a bit like that stuck record I mentioned the other day.
What is life but a repetition of daily activity?
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For the average person, anyway. Certainly not all.
Long haul airline crew for example seldom have two similar days, even when things are running to plan.
Perhaps the reason I love all these straight lines is because I like consistency and order.
Thank you, Carolyn, for your philosophical musing! I like consistency and order too, which is why I have settled in this country which was all about order and not as chaotic as it is now, Beautiful photos of the countryside, thank you!
Joanna
It’s always a dilemma watching a hawk in action. We know they have families and they all have to eat. Their flight and attack modes are so graceful and acrobatic but, as you say, do they have to target our friends?
Repetition like that is the story of my life in Beetley. I call it ‘routine’, and actually find it very comforting. My wife says that if it wasn’t for having to buy groceries or go to the doctor’s, I would probably never venture outside of Beetley any further than I could walk. She’s probably right about that. Autumn is well under way here, as hundreds of acorns are falling from the Oak trees every day. They sound like small bullets hitting the house and cars.
Best wishes, Pete.
It must have been the grackle’s lucky day! Oh, I can’t wait for Fall’s colours in your part of the world – I believe it’s going to be just as beautiful as previous years! Camping in Sudan is definitely an adventure – you wouldn’t be able to describe it any other way.