Starting to close the books on September

Once again it's been several days since we've seen any ruby-throated hummingbirds at the nectar feeders. Add to that  the drop in temperatures and we think they're gone for the season. If we see any after this posting it will be the fourth or fifth time they've faked us out this season but, since we're at September's end, this time it feels real.

an interesting mix of cloud forms

Photo by J. Harrington

This morning the sky was full of fascinating and occasionally spectacular cloud formations. We didn't capture but one of them. The field is the same one on which the mist hung in last Saturday's posting. One of the fields in which last week we were seeing flocks of Canada geese feeding this morning had several sandhill cranes foraging.

can you see the three deer in this picture?

Photo by J. Harrington

Whitetail does and yearlings have been feasting on the pear windfalls triggered by recent gusty winds. Others have been lurking in roadside ditches, producing startle responses as the driver or passenger suddenly notices movement along or toward the road. We much prefer to see them under the pear tree or crossing the road well ahead of us.

Many of the maple leaves are now on the ground. The driveway is covered by a mixture of maple leaves, pine needles and a few oak leaves. The local oaks are just beginning to show some real color this year. The bright orange leaves of the black cherry tree near the back edge of the property haven't yet really mad an appearance.

Green Pear Tree in September

By Freya Manfred

On a hill overlooking the Rock River 

my father’s pear tree shimmers, 

in perfect peace, 

covered with hundreds of ripe pears 

with pert tops, plump bottoms,  

and long curved leaves. 

Until the green-haloed tree 

rose up and sang hello, 

I had forgotten. . .  

He planted it twelve years ago, 

when he was seventy-three, 

so that in September 

he could stroll down  

with the sound of the crickets 

rising and falling around him, 

and stand, naked to the waist, 

slightly bent, sucking juice 

from a ripe pear.

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