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A storm blew through last night, and it left fallen branches and leaves in its wake. When I was refreshing the pigs’ water (the “pond” above is their water bowl), I was struck by the image created by the multicolored leaves that had been swept into the water: it so clearly was, to me, a harbinger of Autumn.
It’s been very dry here – so dry, the grass is beginning to look like hay, wan and crispy. Clouds gathered this afternoon, angry and threatening, displaying the glowering undersides that portend storms. Unfortunately, we’ve had near misses with storms recently, so I refused to get my hopes up. And then, it came.
I was walking by the patio at the back of our house and a stray stone (and something else) caught my eye. When I looked more closely, it became clear that a frog was looking back at me. It was the essence of stillness, as motionless as that rock. The frog didn’t move as I took photos, and was still in the same spot when I left.
The big sunflowers are in the homestretch, and looking a bit peaked. Soon, there will be mature seeds in those heads – seeds capable of becoming a whole new field of sunflowers. Though I admittedly anthropomorphized in verse, viewing those heavy heads created a definite feel – perhaps even an understanding – that they knew their time was ending soon, but willingly sacrificed themselves to live on in their seeds. I’m sad, however, to see their cheery beauty fade.
Thank you, volunteer sunflowers, for gracing our pasture with your shining faces. You will live on.
Interested in learning more about the stages of sunflower development? Check out this brochure from NDSU Extension.
Disclosure: this pre-dawn scene is from Monday. The moon is now a waxing crescent, of course…and the new moon has come and gone.
I thought the shadowy illumination of the”dark” part of the moon was particularly interesting: it’s there, but only suggested – like many things at this time of the day.
It’s finally time to bottle and sample the much-anticipated (at least by me) Black Locust wine! Yes, the fragrant flowers are edible – in fact, I recently saw a post for fritters made from them that sounded delightful. Like tempura? But back to the wine…