Witnessing the start of summer's inevitable slide into autumn,
what the poet Archibald MacLeish called "the human season."

[First posted: September 10, 2013]

Arachnophobia aside for a moment,
these are amazing and wondrous creatures,
able to weave delicate and stunning beauty in mid-air.

Okay, back to arachnophobia.

[First posted: September 9, 2013]

Over the summer I've been slowly developing a relationship with a chipmunk.

I find a special kind of intimacy with wild things.

True, this friendship is based largely on peanuts;

still, it's more rewarding than many of my relationships.

[First posted: September 6, 2013]

At a certain time in the late afternoon,
the stones on my study window begin to glow,
infused with sudden light and drawing my attention,
as if reminding me there is magic in the world,
and epiphanies, and miracles amid the mundane,
if I will only take time to look.

They also remind me to wash the outside windows.

[First posted: August 31, 2013]

 It's the dirty little secret the environmentalists don't talk about (pressure from the deer lobby, I suspect), but each year around this time the deer start munching on my trees.

There are always the deniers, those who don't believe in climate change or green house gases or Santa Claus, but now I have proof!

[First posted: August 29, 2013]

On this hillside

a favorite place to reflect on the past week,

or set priorities for the coming week,

or work out a tangled plot line for a chapter.

[First Posted: August 26, 2013]

Occasionally stumbling across the miraculous.

 [First posted: August 18, 2013]

Home from work, I sit by the pond,
comparing notes with its inhabitants.
I completed my To Do List;
they didn't get eaten by raccoons;
all is well.

Their pond presence reminds me
not to worry about tomorrow,
that there is only this moment,
right here, right now.
Always only this moment.

And that it is enough.

[First posted: August 16, 2013]

As the butterfly bushes go,

so too go the butterflies...

I note time's passage,

measured in increments of beauty.

[First posted: August 13. 2013]

The problem:
Squirrels were eating far more of the birdseed than the birds.

So, I researched online for “squirrel-resistant bird feeders,” consulted with neighbors, sought advice at the local feed store.
Yes, there were ways to safeguard the birdseed from the pesky little critters and make them go away. Hooray!

Then I realized that I actually enjoy watching the squirrels more than the birds. The little arboreal acrobats have caused me to laugh out loud at their antics.
Birdseed seems a small price to pay for such entertainment.

[First posted: August 15, 2013]