Oak Leaf Hygrangea

Still a thing of wonder and beauty
passed its prime
lines,wrinkles and veins
like this face of mine

Cheery red

A thing of beauty
in the midst of waning
A larder still holding food
for the wayward bird who may need it
or to drop to the ground to live again
Whatever its fate
it is a joy to behold...this bright cheery red
on this cold gloomy gray skyed day
in late November....
another thought of gratitude sent to heaven,Stafford

morning light

I leave adornments on my trees
for such a day as this
A cold quiet day after much bustling around
with food and family
I like the way light hits them
and the wind... and how rain can drip off of them
in the most pleasing of observations
a chance stop at stillness
If it weren't for these marvels dangling off of branches
bells,gongs, chimes,colored glass and prisms
I might just miss this moment
of my life

tulip poplar

I'll take it-
this little bit of color along the path
If I look up all I can see is the gray sky
not even a fluffy cloud to cheer me
The chickadees are flitting about
hiding seeds...what do they know?
A new sparrow has arrived with a gray chest
I should know his name by now..but
like latin names for plants...I care only to
know them by their beauty...for it is a fleeting moment
this joy that shoots an arrow into me
as they cross my path
Ah...the tulip poplar leaf...I remember when I saw your
first blossom this year....another moment of joy
in my Open Bar of Joy
rest my dear lady Autumn is leaving
sleep the deep sleep of winter
I will watch over you from the kitchen window
hang a feeder in your loving branches
sleep

windowsill

This crown of thorns spent the summer on the deck
and now it has to come back inside like me.
We both look out wishing for summer again,at least spring.
But we live in a land of seasons
and we must go inside for the winter

I will tend us both little flowering beauty
I have placed you by the southwest window with the oxalis
The kitties will visit you almost daily
wanting bits of sunlight too, and a nibble now and then

I will water you with nourishing water
pick up the leaves I know you no longer can sustain
and we will wait together
watch the grass turn brown
the trees become like skeletons with outstretched arms
and the hungry hawk will return
and you can watch me as I venture outside
and show him whose garden this is
while I fill endlessly the birdfeeders that draw him here
And at night while I'm asleep you might see in the moonlight
visitors who come in darkness
to scrounge in the garden for food,
missed seeds and dried up berries hidden under leaves
And the bitter wind will rattle the windows soon
and snow will fall...at first mesmerizing us with its angelic presence
but then it will spread its thick comforter over everything
and winter settles in like a relative who stays too long
But for today you bring me a slice of the garden inside
....and  joy
and I give thanks

this morning

Oh dear...he's put down his suitcase...that old man winter
I see the signs
So cold this morning I had to put on a coat and scarf
just to walk in my own garden
and there it was...
holding up some fallen leaves...
ice!

You never know what you'll see

walking through the garden with an open heart

I thought today,why walk in the garden

it's spent....and it's chilly and gray skyed

It will only bum you out...chin up old gal

So I walked outside and just "was"

and low and behold

there he "was"

and he gave me a chuckle

wind

The wind speaks to me
through bells,chimes and gongs
that the trees in the garden hold up
with their outstretched serving arms
On a cold and windy day
the dissonance
of the wind moving through
the bare branches
is felt not heard
and all I can do is move the hair in my face
behind my ears

Closing Up

 

I folded my arms against the chilly wind as a river of leaves swirled at my feet and tumbled in collages of reds and yellows against barren branches before me. And no matter how hard I wished, I couldn't make it stop raining leaves. For weeks I have watched as my coneflowers have been pillaged by faded goldfinches and looked on as robins crashed into the grape hollies,intoxicated getting that last remaining berrie before their scheduled flights.

At my feet, the once buoyant day lillies dropped their arms to the earth, a dry stem of their former glory pointing upward like a warning as their energy was drawn back into the earth.

The Horse Chestnut tree's bare branches looked like skeleton fingers against the bleak sky as under it a field mouse scurried beneath a bird feeder grabbing seed after seed,slipping away into the mugos,while above in the sky the sound of honking geese stirred mournfulness within me.

And there are still more days like these and I will roam outside until daylight hours dwindle before me,

and I will reluctantly retreat indoors,

...a cord of memories stacked

winter near the door.

***

presence known

Burning bush indeed
what a match was lit...
in my heart that is
Nothing says blaze of glory
like this late fall show of grace
hallelujah
and yes, take your shoes off

Rare blooms

My my my
look at the last bloom of the baseball plant
hidden under the cottoneasters
In the back garden I also have had a few rare blooms
of the football plant and the bottle rocket bush
and why just yesterday I discovered
a Frisbee hidden under some fallen leaves...what a find
It's a good thing I'm not Mr McGregor
I just threw them all back over the fence
Besides...my little squirrel friend ,who lives in my River Birch tree,
well, I spotted him hiding nuts all over their yard
and I saw..but won't swear to,to the fact that I saw him
gnawing on their wooden playhouse.....and stealing their pirate flag
and dragging it into his leafy,nesty abode (hee hee)
ah revenge is sweet
or is that
revenge is mine saith the Lord
nah... that's vengeance
and I have none of that

the invaders can stay

Deadly nightshade berries
deadly invaders of the garden
But the birds love them
so I leave a few
and the rest just push their way in
Actually, as I think about them now,
I have a fondness from childhood concerning these vines
I loved when they bloomed in our yard
not a garden you see,but a small lawn filled space behind our house..
.. so any flower was a joy for me
Their flowers looked like little yellow bananas with purple hats
Maybe that is the reason I look the other way
when I'm weeding.
.....they once brightened this little girl's heart
a long long time ago
.....and my birds love them too

Sidewalk art

Behold
the beauty
...sidewalk art
It fell from the tree
after the workers had gone
His tree mates raked and bagged
...but this one got away to declare
he once belonged to the mighty maple
standing next to the spreading mighty oak
but in their season even mother trees must
let go

I can't help it
I just love Robins
in the bathtub!

Berries

So much abundance
the robins ignored the hawthorn berries
they knocked on the ground
Fat little rascals
full of grape holly,
moutain ash,
choke and hawthorn berries
The honeysuckle already picked clean
Mother nature is fooling you
with 70 degrees today
.....she is a trickster
I too smelled spring in the air
but it isn't so
so pick up the last of those berries
and give me a song before you leave

Looking

Busy day today, Bookclub and all

but I took a moment to walk the garden

on the lookout for light and beauty

and it...My Open Bar of Joy never fails me....

or maybe it has taught me to look...really look

for it is there

 It is always there

Warm Joy to you this day

enjoy what I saw

Let there be light,I mean seed

The chickadees love my chandelier birdfeeder
I place seed in the candle cups
and they flit in and out of it until
the squirrel sees it....game ender
My kitty Boo likes it too
especially now that I've moved it closer to the window
Can you see the lone chickadee resting between nibbles?

Preening

I have a few more things to put away for the coming winter
but the garden is just about put to rest
And on my walk this morning looking for joy, I stopped
before one of my favorite places of meditation,
the birdbath
A simple circle of water that calls to me
What would the garden be without them
The Robins fled to the high branches annoyed, I'm sure,
at their interrupted baths...really how many baths do Robins need?
But I was fascinated with the fallen leaves in the water
parts of them just below the surface
Oh just below the surface
This spoke to me as I have so many things so like this
things floating in my inner circle of life's water
I need not bore you with my stirrings
doesn't matter if anyone knows what they are
I must look at them and find beauty, just as I see
the still water holding a broken part of life's cycle
and it is beautiful
Soon enough the water will freeze and I must help
my dear feathered friends by placing a heater in the water
so they can preen their feathers to stay warm
But today, this morning, I preened my own feathers
in the comforting warmth of joy found


  

Robins robins everywhere

taking drinks,having to share

Happy that you stopped by me

...quenching your thirst

for your long journey

A Blue jay flew overhead
but didn't stop to dine with the others
I called out to him 
there's acorns
but a crow
was hot on his heels

The branches are almost bare
and the air is chilly
Today the last of the goodies will have to be put away
the pots emptied and stored
the bird feeders washed and filled
the birdbaths too
The season has a way of making it easy to say goodbye
It leaves all by itself
in the night as the moon looks on