Beautiful Days

 

Don't you just love October? This morning watching the day begin and seeing the sun turn the whole morning to gold. Seeing the blue of the sky. I read somewhere that October is a bright blue month. At the time, I thought that odd, but this morning, it was a bright blue morning. As I walked around and saw the first telltale signs of fall, a leaf turning yellow and watching the first ones drifting down slowly to the ground. I see tracks of things I haven"t  seen all summer. I found the tracks of the multilegged centipede. I followed it as it wandered what looked to me as aimlessly around and back and forth never seeming to go anywhere but working very hard at it.  Then I thought, if someone followed my tracks would they notice the same thing about me?

 

There is a fox that is out there and of course the skunk. There is a raccoon that passes through on its way to someplace else, I noticed the squirrel tracks but as of yet, haven't spotted one. They are just taking in the sights but haven't set up shop. I think I spotted some possum tracks but they too continued on the way to some other place. I think it must be a freeway out there at night. Every tree I pass I hear the odd sawing wood sound of the hummingbirds. I know if I look up to see if I can spot them, they will stop and be quiet and if I continue staring they will fly away. So I kept my eyes down and walked listening to each tree to hear each one.

The Flickers are finally back. I always am so happy to hear them before I see them. I always enjoy the greeting they give as they are establishing territory. The Blue Jays have all been in a uproar as the Flickers are calling back and forth to each other. There is a new Mockingbird. It is a new one as it doesn't have as many songs to sing as its parents. His parents I have noticed get really mad at him or her. When it sees its parents  the almost grown one flies to the top of the fence and flaps is wings and opens its mouth and makes that feed me! feed me!sound. I saw them hit it at full speed the other day and knock it off the fence and it hit the ground, like a ball of feathers. It sort of shocked me. I yelled and Sasha and the cats looked at me like I had lost it.  There is always some kind of drama going on in the bird world.

The crows are doing their quiet sneaking around. They go around inspecting trees looking for a late nest to rob. There have been some Ravens as well. They are so big. The normal crows that live here, hate the Ravens. There have been some pretty spectacular mid-air fights. I am always so surprised at the sound of the birds hitting each other with such force and how violent they are to one another. The Ravens just seem to laugh it off. The regular crows, fly to the top of the old pecan tree and announces to the whole world his misery. It is no wonder I always feel like something is watching me, because well, something is. They are all aware of my movements.

 

I am very thankful always for October. I love the chilly mornings. The clear days. I love the promise of rain.
I am very thankful to be alive. Thank you for sharing with me today, the joy of the simple things and the beauty that surrounds me.

 

" Sometimes the feeling is more important than the word."
---Nobody Stole the Pie, Sonia Levitin, 1980
" You have to stop when your're lonely and listen."
---If  You Listen, Charlotte Zolotow, 1980