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

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

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

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...

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

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

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

While raking, I looked up and saw light

passing through the Japanese Maple leaves

I stopped and beheld

ah...the garden keeps giving

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