Pre-Labor Day labor

Hummingbirds (female ruby-throated) are still coming to the feeders. Don’t remember seeing any males for more than a week or so now. I’m not sure what, if anything, is the evolutionary advantage of having the males migrate first.

female ruby-throated hummingbird

Photo by J. Harrington

Yesterday, we noticed a major increase in the amount of yellow showig in many of the local trees. We also saw a couple of swans in the Carlos Avery Wildlife management area. They were the first waterfowl we’ve seen in something like a month. Slowly, the signs of seasonal change are increasing.

Much of today was spent enjoying the beautiful weather while getting started on autumn’s yard chores, mostly pulling weeds from the dog run and burning lots of smaller branches that have come down from the trees in this summer’s storms. So far, that’s been one of my least favorite, almost never-ending, tasks. That, and cleaning up after the dogs.

Speaking of the dogs, they’re enjoying our taste of cooler weather after summer’s heat and humidity. They’re not enjoying the abundance of sand burs that have grown up through the cheap mixture the township used to reinforce the road’s shoulder edges. There were some sand burs when the road was still gravel, but they were fewer and further between. I thought I had removed most of this year’s crop when I mowed with the push mower and bagger, but, apparently, that’s not as fool-proof as I anticipated. Or the dogs are much better at discovering sand burs than I anticipated.

Labor Day

By Joseph Millar

Even the bosses are sleeping late

in the dusty light of September.

The parking lot’s empty and no one cares.

No one unloads a ladder, steps on the gas

or starts up the big machines in the shop,

sanding and grinding, cutting and binding.

No one lays a flat bead of flux over a metal seam

or lowers the steel forks from a tailgate.

Shadows gather inside the sleeve

of the empty thermos beside the sink,

the bells go still by the channel buoy,

the wind lies down in the west,

the tuna boats rest on their tie-up lines

turning a little, this way and that.

********************************************
Thanks for visiting. Come again when you can.
Please be kind to each other while you can.