turn

We have experienced hot, record breaking weather the last week or so. Driving in to the morning meditation, and the sun was just coming up over the Green Mountains. At that time of day it's possible to see just how much further south the sun is rising now compared to sunrise in summer. Having to turn the lights on in the meditation session. Coming out, the temperatures seemed cooler. Winds coming out of the north. Temperatures are supposed to be nearly 30 degrees cooler this evening, lows in the 30's overnight.

sumac

Leaves of the sumac starting to turn. The sumac bushes might be at the absolute bottom of the totem pole when it comes to valued plants in the area. It grows everywhere, mostly where you don't want to see it. Nothing about it is really shapely or elegant. It's about as ordinary as they come. Even the word sumac seems slightly distasteful. However, if you stop for a minute and really look at it this time of year, the leaves are about as intensely red as the  more iconic maples and oaks. Reams have been written about the breathtaking colors of the sugar maples in Vermont this time of year. I'm sure nothing has every been written about the beauty of the sumac.
The red conical seed pods also become prominent in the fall. Doug says that they provide valuable food for birds during the cold winter season.
I first started writing this, whatever it is, in 2007. I'm sure that at that time I never associated the word ordinary with the word miraculous. Now I realize they are often simply two sides of the same coin. Dandelions, snowflakes, blackbirds, sumac; highly ordinary but miraculous nonetheless.

another

Season of mushrooms

revenge of the day lilies

Was out mowing yesterday and noticed that Allyn's day lilies had blossomed again in the back where they had been eaten by cows earlier in the year. It was interesting to see that the blossoms were much lower to the ground, and, therefore, out of reach of the cows. Wondering if there might be some day lily intelligence involved in this change. This morning I checked out the day lily patch in the front. At this point, all the lilies have transitioned into seeds except for one which is of the short stemmed variety. This seems to blow a hole in my otherwise elegant theory about the intelligence of lilies.

For Weezie

Shrewsbury, Vermont

Pumpkins for sale along roadsides, taste of apple cider, sound of an owl.

By September the day breaks with little help from birds. A song sparrow may give a single half-hearted song, a woodcock may twitter overhead en route to his daytime thicket, a barred owl may terminate the night's argument with one last wavering call, but few other birds have anything to say or sing about...

The disappointment I feel on these mornings of silence perhaps shows that things hoped for have a higher value than things assured. The hope of hearing quail is worth a dozen risings in the dark.

September

A Sand County Almanac

Aldo Leopold

racket

Came out the other day to a familiar autumnal racket. Pine cones were tumbling out of the trees in the front in rapid fashion. I actually stopped for a minute to watch the activity. A couple of squirrels were busily scrambling from branch to branch, knocking off the cones. One squirrel stopped for a minute and gave me a piece of his mind. They eat some in the trees, but knock most of them down for winter storage I guess. There have to be a couple of hundred on the lane and lawn which makes Allyn mad. 

season of apples

It's the season of apples, the iconic food group offering here in Vermont along with maple syrup and cheese. I've been doing a lot of mowing in our fields lately, and dodging over a dozen wild apple trees that have sprouted up over the years. They almost grow like weeds here. It's interesting to see the wide disparity in yield. Some trees produce  many apples, some not so much. Some drop their apples early in the season, some late. It's my understanding that the late droppers are especially valuable to wild animals as fall transitions into winter.
Of course, people like apples, too. Seeing signs for U-pick apples in the area. I fondly remember apple picking with my kids, and my parents at this time of year many years ago. John and his family were here for a couple of days recently, and Owen enjoyed feeding apples to the cows when he wasn't busy riding in the truck, sitting on the tractor, or throwing rocks in the creek.