Monday, November 28, 2011


We had our first snowflakes this morning
hardly noticeable
I put the pumpkins out for the squirrels
The ground is wet from yesterday's rain
It rained most of the day
while I stayed inside putting up the tree
I put a log in the fireplace, put on Christmas Carols
lit candles,baked cookies
But my eyes were always looking outward
through the glass...to the remaining leaves of Autumn
then to the one remaining flower huddling close to the brick wall
The garden is leaving..going underground
dropping its garments....what remains is exposure
enabling me to see the bones of the plants and trees
their structure
Soon it will look like a barren land
not a garden space of joy
But the wards will still come to cheer me each day
and some days I will suffer watching them suffer
bitter cold winds and deep snow
But I must remind myself that winter's blue skies are the best
and seeing my breath on such a day is a thrill
and some days it even feels warm
and winter beauty is a different kind of beauty
it is footprints in the snow...birds at feeders, squirrels with snow covered faces
and of course the stray or two who alway manage to find my door
where they are welcome
On Christmas Eve I put out a special tray for my wards filled with goodies for all
left over bits of nuts and fruit and bread,bits of ham and turkey
to thank them
 for all the joy they bring me
So today I will finish all the house decorating
then I'll take a walk,check out what berries still remain on the bushes

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

who will love the little sparrow...will no one write her eulogy?

The common sparrow
I give thanks for this cheerful bird
ordinary and messy in its nest building
but a tenacious caretaker of its young
And it is nests in my birdhouses
I love to pass by the nursery and hear the peeps
calling for mom or dad
...hungry mouths sometimes reaching their soft yellow beaks out
of the entry
When I stop and speak to them they pull in and mother usually
sits in a branch, mouth full of small moth...and waits
I speak to her too
Don't worry mom...I'm going..thank for nesting here
in my Open Bar of Joy
Sparrows are the birds I remember while growing up in Chicago
No vast gardens in my neighborhood
but the sparrows were always there for this little girl
sometimes dozens of them perching in a snowball bush
chirping so loudly that my grandfather complained
about the noise and the feather and other stuff mess that they left behind
But I loved their cheeriness
...part of my budding love for birds and all things of nature
And then there was the despised pigeon that roosted on the electric wires
in the alley....I loved their cooing in late afternoon sun
This I had to keep to myself....Grandma hated them
I don't hate anything
I now see these poor birds as the underclass of the bird world
brought here by humans.....trying to survive
yes, they are messy....but that must be their way...encased in their genes
and humans brought them here to this foreign environment
and learned to adapt
humans....always messing with things

I will never forget the time I saw one dead in a parking lot
and its mate kept poking it trying to stir it
it did it for an hour

We are all connected in this universe
surely, we must have empathy and concern for such suffering
even in a lowly bird
So this morning I was glad this sparrow
perched and looked at me and posed
 a prince to me
JOY

Tuesday, November 22, 2011


There is always wonder in the garden
even on the bleakest days
It's my attitude that must be adjusted
to allow me to open up
and see
hear
feel
smell
touch it

I wish you could hear the wind bell
so ethereal
I wish you could see the light
illuminating this glass star
or wish that you could smell the wet earth
one of the gardens best fragrances
It is getting colder each day...but on Thanksgiving it will be 58!
the Creator gives
I must open to receive
The little chickadee in the Alder tree
sings away....chick-a-dee-dee-dee
...better than Pavarotti
...my heart wide open
expanding


Saturday, November 19, 2011


It was a delightful sunny,windy afternoon.
...whirling leaves, bending boughs
blustery bird wings
ahhh
and shadow...that glorious companion of light
This may be the best part of season change
the change in light
almost as if it is sent to distract us from the ordinary duties of the garden
Who cares about anything else while in the garden when slanted glorious rays of sun
are penetrating through the ordinary debris of summer?
Oh and the sky was so blue and the wind made itself known by its sound
I just stood and listened to its serenade
Okay, I'm in love...



Thursday, November 17, 2011


I too will turn and face the sun
perch awhile, let my ruffled feathers settle down,
sit in the blue of the sky
Little red feathers...
 help me see the swelling bud
 just at the end of the branch


Wednesday, November 16, 2011

The maple shed her leaves
they gathered around her like a fallen gown
smitten instantly by autumn
true and utter love in his arms

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Not just a tree rat,but a ward

 

I have been without a computer...oh woe
I hope someone has cared, for isn't that the fun of blogging?
The garden is almost put to sleep; we have had some glorious warm days
mingled in with the blasty windy days and chilly nights
This morning I spotted Boo staring out of the patio door
his body rigid ....hmmmm...means something
So I wandered over and sure enough, there it was ..a mouse
hiding behind a remaining flower pot
He was munching on a sunflower seed
unaware of Boo watching his every move
It hasn't been a good week in the garden for me...
one night ago I looked out on the yard before turning in for the night...
I always do.....sometimes I catch a raccoon walking by or a possum
or who knows what else......I love that the wild loves my garden
Well, I spotted two kinds of fur rumbling just beyond the deck....
then I spotted what was a squirrel tail flying around with a possum tail
oh no!
I ...without thinking...ran outside to break up the fight (I have been known to do that with humans too :0 )
but the possum wouldn't let go....so I banged and shouted..until he scampered away
I searched for the squirrel in the dark....couldn't find him
went inside to get a flashlight.....found him.....curled up in a fetal position....a tiny little squirrel
oh dear.....
I covered him with a large flower pot so the possum wouldn't find him
But in the morning he was stretched flat out on the ground under the pot
dead
Oh my little ward...all night I lay awake thinking of ways I could help you in the morning
thinking of which crazy vet would look at you
think of ways to build a nest in the tree to put you in
thinking of everything in order to not feel the great sadness
that I would feel in the morning
I just confess to being a lover of animals...all animals
they are a gift for me from God...they have seen me through many a sad time
they bring me joy.....
I hoped all night
...hope
a great thing God has hardwired in me
but this time he said ...no

My little ward was dead in the morning
I buried him under leaves...I think he would of liked that...
my husband will never understand how hard I take
the well being and death of an animal
....I have been like this since I was little...bandaging a garter snake that had been cut
by a lawnmower.....a band-aide bandage on a snake...really
I lost a moment of joy in my open bar of joy
but I always give into the new moment
and joy is always there
..now how do I tell that little mouse that Harry Hawk
loves mice...and would love to meet him? 

safe journey my little friend

Friday, November 4, 2011

While raking, I looked up and saw light
passing through the Japanese Maple leaves
I stopped and beheld
ah...the garden keeps giving

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Sometimes I think
heaven opens 
and we see a bit of it
or feel it 
or taste it
It is in the slant of light
illuminating the colors of the leaf
in late afternoon
and in the smell of the earth
wet from a rain
almost fooling me to think
 it could be spring,that is the new life guest
 soon to arrive
The wind has blown warm a few times lately
stopping me at the store, in the parking lot,
stopping me to look at lowly pigeons
scurrying around for bits of nourishment
in the scattered debris of human consumption
Lowly pigeons sharing in the illusion of Springtime
in the throws of Autumn
Soon it will be bitter and the daylight will be shorter
and I will scurry like the pigeons...
scurrying in and out of car and buildings
seeking refuge and nourishment
unaware most times that in winter
heaven opens, too
Today, it is going to be 65
a blessing
The colors of autumn are fading
but they are still to be had
I shall walk in the garden today
fill the feeders and birdbaths
rake a bit
and I shall sit
and enjoy your grace
oh dear Lord
for this marvelous day
a day of life
given