There is something about circles that draws me to them
little bits of continuity in a world gone frightening
My family is traveling by plane today to California
and I can't help but have my thoughts confined to fear
fear of evil that knows no love of anything or anyone
But it is the eternal circle.. the Alpha and Omega
that draws me to the garden for quiet thought
low I am with you always
and I see this in the birdbath..the circle
the eternal....
here it has caught all the debris and holds it
and i see in this comfort
I love my garden..so full of grace
my open bar of joy
no matter what

taking pity

I say each year that I will not bring in any plants
but each year these chilly geraniums push through their gloom
and burst forth with some last beauties
and I take pity
how could I not?
So in they came this morning along with the oxalis
and crown of thorns
...for a while my heart will be glad in the morning
to see them....bless their blooms

I cannot pretend anymore
the season has changed
a flirty visitor
whose left dreariness
and gray on my doorstep
...rings my bell
and is gone

Blustery out this morning...high winds
no garden today except for this
reminder that everything goes to seed
if it's lucky

last blooms

I gathered the remains of the potted plants
onto the deck.....one last look at them
almost as thrilling to see them each day
as the first snow drop

seeing red

This is the last of it...light through the Japanese maple leaves
They are crumbling and falling to the ground in pink little bundles
But today, this morning, I will enjoy what is
and not dwell on all that was
or long for what may come again...for we never know
what the great plan holds for us
So I will stay here for a while, cup of coffee in hand
cool air on my face, cool wet grass under my toes
and find the joy offered today
for today is all I really have
hamsa

Sky swimmers

This is a very bad photo..but hey, those birds don't care that they flock overhead into the sunlight above my head
I haven't seen this sight in many years...the sight of a flock of birds in flight like synchronized swimmers in the sky
Magical how they turn ..all of them ..on a dime.....over and over again
What a moment to be present
This took me back to when I was a little girl growing up in the city
...at McKinley park...playing on the swings... and all of a sudden masses of birds would appear overhead
doing this very thing
my grandma Sophie wasn't impressed...she was afraid of birds and she didn't garden
but grandpa understood my joy
he was a gardener
...how I miss him.. this very moment

Robins

I saw you running across the lawn
head turned to the ground
listening
Did you hear the wind moving the chimes
the leaves rustling as they broke away and fell
to the ground before you?
Or were you deliberate in what you did
fixing your energy for your journey
focused on survival
I will miss you and your song
my heart, my being
will long for your morning cheer
your evening prayer

The garden is a great classroom
pay attention to the great teacher
Like this morning on my early walk
through the garden I looked down and saw
these Mountain Ash leaves that had seen their time
and had fallen on the lush green grass
and I thought of myself and my place in this world
I am in the Autumn of my time on this earth
beautiful things happen in autumn..but it is all
about progressing into another season
But like the withered ash leaves that will become nourishment
for the green grass it lays upon I too have a nourishing purpose
to my life
Let my years fall on green grass
let me nourish the earth too

The littered ground, joy found

Ah a white feather on the ground!
dropped by who without a sound
Were you rustling through the trees
or preening your feathers in a morning breeze
Twigs and dried leaves are your feather's bed
I won't pick it up, but leave it instead
and hope that tomorrow I'll find one that's red

mourning walk in the garden

Still a daily morning walk in the garden
though it is settling down for the season
Yet there is much to observe if you only will
take the time to just be still
I heard some rustling around in the back footage
among the Goldenrod that has now gone to seed
I stepped closer and schwosh..out of the weeds
some Mourning doves took flight
except for this one all alone on the bottom branch
of the white pine
He sat frozen starring at me with his beady eye
and I said "Hello, glad to see you...I mourn, too"
but he answered not back but just sat and watched
I followed his lead
thinking how one week ago my dear sick kitty had to say goodbye
to the garden, the cool moist grass, the warming light of the sun, the
comforting sounds of rustling leaves as they fell....
the delightful taste of rainwater...and one last stirring of his hunter heart as
a bird flitted nearby his ailing body
The dove was frozen in place by my presence
I was frozen in place by memory
Who would be the first to move and free us both?

It was a Robin that flew like an experienced aviator
to the berries of the nearby Mountain Ash
and the moment was broken
mercifully for us both

I will rake some more today
wash a few pots
bring in some chairs
gather up my hidden stuff
scattered and tucked all around to amaze
the garden wanderer...it's time
to do all this while nature holds back
the old man....winter

fun stuff

Now it's time to have some fun with the new season at the garden door
So I put out my lovely witch and her three little companions in my front yard
spread out pumpkins, Indian corn and many scary things
waiting for the day, in late October, when the cutest little goblins and monsters and princesses
will approach my door (if they dare!) for the biggest candybars I can buy
It may be cold and rainy and windy or it might just be 80 degrees and sunny
but nontheless....time will march on with the season in hand
heading into deep fall..............when everything fun happens inside
So enjoy ..... soon Master Autumn's tailcoat
will follow Lady Summer's hem over the horizon of days

bee havior

I spotted these cosmos
blooming in a corner
where yesterday I missed them
I must have been filled with the beauty
of Autumn
and wasn't open to the remains
of summer....
But today bee and I
found them growing and were happy
I... ready to say goodbye

enjoy day

A beautiful autumn day
Okay so he whispered in my ear this morning
enjoy!
So I will
The sun is bright
the clouds are white and fluffy
and the sky is that glorious shade
of blue that breaks my heart open with joy
No work today
just pure fun
walking around taking in the wonders of the
season
and later I will go and visit my grandson
while his mom and dad go see the
Blackhawks play
Maybe I'll snoop around and see what is going on
in her garden
...what...I'm her mother
I can snoop..pull a few weeds
:)

end of season work

Much work to be done in the garden
beauty is slipping away
so I will not be stopped by an opening bud
or a leaf pushing its way through the earth
or flowers opening to bees and hummingbirds
or vines reaching and curling up the trellis
in shades of red and blues
No, nature is taking a breath
and soon will pull up the comforter of snow
and rest in shortened days and long nights

Ordinary day

I am comforted by the ordinariness of this day
in its unordinary beauty that thrills my eyes
A quiet street that explodes with the season of Autumn
The smell of burning wood was to be had
in the air if you chanced going out last night
to be alive in the season

This morning my little squirrel charges
were busy burying acorns and stealing seeds
from the feeders and the robins were filling their beaks with fresh water
from the birdbaths...and picking around for worms and bugs in the
leaf litter....and I saw a warbler...its flicky behavior through the bushes
giving it away...and the geese honked overhead
ordinary
ordinary life
praise God for it
and its ability to uplift the human heart
now to go rake

lit up leaves

It is the light
passing through dying leaves
that thrills my eyes
But I guard my heart from falling in love
like a teenage girl
'cause for certain he will leave me
after the dance
and I will look around all dizzy
and find nothing but the isolation of
winter

pumpkins
and a few good words
made my weekend
now to take Webster in today..  my heart breaking
but he is in pain so much pain
it's time
lucky animals we can end it for them..the pain
but our love for our companions
leaves us empty and hurting for a while
I took him in the garden one last time
to bask in the sun and to feel the grass
under his feet and the lilly leaves at his face
he drank rain water from a dish
it was enough to carry him on his journey
He was a great feline

This week I have had many new birds arrive
though my camera was always somewhere else when they appeared
Like the wood thrush, chickadees, white throated sparrows, juncos
and a flock of my favorite bird..the robin
soon if I'm lucky I will see warblers
and maybe a kinglet or two or a cuckoo
and maybe just maybe..oh I hope hope
the long eared owls will return
Okay I am getting excited about the changing season
no choice..her majesty has indeed left
So why be stubborn?
I will fall in love again
with the new season
Monday...it's clean up time
but this weekend it's Galena
oh my Kitty is in the good hands of my mom
who loves him dearly
So I can get away and recharge
and see some hills and valleys
not just feel them
love to you all........

next year

Next year the bird houses will be filled with life
now they hang as quiet testaments to what they were
It my job to make sure that they are cleaned out
and securely hung for the new season of birth
that will surely come
and I take solace in this thought
life goes on
with or without us
amen

A place of refuge...light

My kitty is dying
...slowly the body starving itself
The organs, I'm sure, unable
to hold out much longer
And my heart is breaking with
each passing hour
as I wait for mercy
Reassuring this precious companion
that I love him
that he has been the cutest little stuffed animal hunter
I have ever known ,that I remember
him as a kitten with large ears and boundless energy
who we discovered was born with a deformity
...and I rejoiced that he was ours
He is as comfortable as I can make him now
take him home and love him the vet said
I needed no instructions to do that,but it was all he had to offer
It is my aching discomfort
that is the problem today
I do not want to let him go...
but the choice is not given to me
So this morning I sought light in the garden
It has mystical properties to me...let there be light
It came as a result of the Lord's command
and I find comfort in this connection with the oneness of creation
Webster,me,God and light
I will take him outside today to bath in one of the
remaining warm days for both of us...me of Autumn
him of his life
God bless all the creatures that would suffer and die alone
if not for his presence in the light