24 July 2012

revelation

every morning, within a few minutes of waking, i think about this blog, and how i've neglected it this summer. truly, i've been really busy with work issues and personal matters, my mind has been scattered for weeks, and i just haven't found much inspiration. but, for a brief time at the start and end of the day, i've felt so badly about not posting. guilty even.

so this morning, as i'm stumbling around making coffee and mental to-do lists, i'm thinking maybe it's time to just quit blogging and move on to instagram or pinterest or some other social site. or abandon my web presence, such as it is, altogether. and i happen to glance out the window and i see this: in the still morning air of my backyard, six turkey babies, inches from my door, casually pecking their way through the rain-soaked grass, making soft clucking sounds to each other as they hunt for their meal. on the hill above, the mother, standing watch over her poults as they feed. i stop. i stay still. i lean into the doorjam and i watch for a long, long time. and as i stand there, coffee pot still in hand, it dawns on me: i've just been too damn busy this summer to even take the time to notice. and that is shameful and sad.

 

17 July 2012

milkweed up close

so that's how milkweed pods form from the flowers! 
and look who's already feeding on the plant!

11 July 2012

the circus

this past week, the circus came to our town. the little girl and i had had our tickets for weeks, and we had talked of little else. we drew circus pictures, read circus books, looked at circus websites and we counted down the days.

the morning of the circus, she and i were up and out early with a picnic breakfast to watch the big trucks roll in to our small town. in the clear morning air, we watched the lead trucks park and saw the first workers disembark, dressed in jeans and sweats, with ponytails and caps, ambling around slowly, yawning as they drank from big paper cups. presently more long red tractor trailers arrived, some with clowns painted on the side, some with windows suggesting animals on board. we watched while workers swung wide their trailer doors, popped the sides on campers, released small dogs into pens, and began the work of setting up the cages for the tigers. in a while, animals emerged from the backs of trucks, slow-moving and old, plodding down ramps to be tethered or caged. tigers. camels. a zebra. llamas. we so hoped for elephants, but we could not wait. in time, we needed to move on to other less exciting events of the day.
by late afternoon, we were back for the first show, elated to see the ball field transformed with cages, canopies, and wagons. in the middle sat the giant circle of a tent, reaching high above the midway and festooned with pennants. inside the big top, we sat high in the bleachers, laughing as pink cotton candy dissolved in our mouths while we waited for the show to begin. to our delight, the ringmaster appeared, calling out, "la-deez and gentlemen, and children of all ages...", just as we knew he would. for the next two hours, we marveled at acrobatic tricks and laughed at the slapstick antics of clowns. we hooted as a swashbuckling pirate balanced on two, then three, then four cylinders. we held our breath as the aerialist swung so high and so fast, she touched the top of the tent with her toes. we applauded elephant tricks and the sequined ladies who climbed up high and rode astride them. we were amazed by the tigers, standing and dancing on hind legs as they pawed the air and roared for the crowd.

all too soon, the show was over. a wobbly camel ride and the purchase of an overpriced inflatable elephant finished the evening. reluctantly we walked from the circus grounds, stealing glimpses back, knowing we would have been happy to attend still another performance, to visit again with the elephants, to experience the magic well into the night.

and as quickly as it came, the circus was gone. the next morning, the field was empty, with not even a discarded ticket stub to show that such an amazing event had taken place there the night before. the circus trucks and trailers were gone, taking the animals and the clowns and the sequined performers to some other rural spot to thrill some other little girl - and perhaps her grandmother, even more.

08 July 2012

seaside plants

going through vacation photos tonight, i realize just how many pictures of plants i took! i know the rugosa rose, of course (the whole place smelled like them!) and orange jewelweed and tiny not-yet-gray bayberry. but i don't know the name of the green berry that matures to red. it grows high on a bush, not close to the ground. any ideas?

06 July 2012

on the walking path

this is the view at the end of the trail that leads from the house to the water. this lighthouse, rebuilt and renovated, was originally commissioned in 1806 to guide sailors safely to shore. it's awe-inspiring to think that two hundred years ago, on a clear summer day much like this one, someone may have stood on this very spot to gaze across the channel at this same sight.




05 July 2012

beach flowers

not at all sure what these diminutive flowers are, but they thrive here on the rocky outcroppings of the north atlantic.

04 July 2012

fireworks!




over the calm ocean, the day old full moon competes with a lightning storm at sea. nature's fireworks for the fourth!

independence day

gotta love small town parades. kids on bicycles, decorated convertibles and pick-up trucks, candy tossed to the crowds from makeshift floats, and lots of red, white, and blue! happy fourth of july!


03 July 2012

shell moon

amazing the colors of the full moon in the evening sky over the ocean. the full buck moon is what the july moon is called in new england, named for the time when the new velvety antlers of deer begin to push through their foreheads. but deer and woods are so far removed from this place tonight. the rising moon i see is the pale pink of the inside of a slipper shell and i am renaming it after that. just for tonight.

02 July 2012

not yet full

but still so beautiful, especially because it's over the ocean. i'm so looking forward to full moon rise tomorrow night and hope the skies are as clear as they are this night.