One can study life-as-lived in animal tracks, life-as-process, the marks of what has been and still is. – Gunilla Norris, author of Embracing The Seasons (1939- )
Everything is lovely, in a misty morning glaze. I like misty water, I like fog and haze. – Raymond Douglas Davies, English musician for the Kinks & Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band (1944- )
Last week the weather changed quickly here on the Prairie. A bit of overnight rain was welcomed. The next morning the ground under the bird feeders had turned into mud. Obviously, deer had visited the bird feeders during the night and trampled heavily in the mud. It had been some time since we had rain at all. We suspected deer were knocking the feeders down, and now we had confirmed evidence deer were the culprits. The area under the bird feeder was trampled with deer hoof prints. We can’t really complain as we enjoy watching the deer in the late afternoon moving across the fields into the woods.
By morning the air was dense with fog, especially hanging over the pond and the big lake. It was a bit unnerving as Sam had left long before daylight to go fishing on the river. I said a prayer for him and others driving cars or boats in the fog. The temperature had dropped into the low 40s. A bit nippy on the water.
By the time you read this we will have celebrated our Thanksgiving celebration. The weatherman warned us after the holiday the temperatures should be in the low 30s. Already Wilhelmina is going in and out of the house repeatedly. While she’s out she checks her outdoor water bowl making sure nothing else has been partaking of her water. She’s hoping the day will get warm, but it didn’t, so she’s settled on the back of the sofa and curled up behind my neck for a cat nap.
The regular birds that feast at the feeders had not arrived on the cold morning. Perhaps birds wait until the sun has warmed the air before they venture out. That gives me time to have the bird feeders up and ready again.
My bug box has a healthy group of ladybugs. We have heat in the greenhouse, so I moved the bug box into the greenhouse with the plants and opened the box. By the next day the ladybugs were nowhere to be seen. They’ll be doing their job if any unwanted bugs arrive. Outside the greenhouse is the lilypond with the two goldfish. They have not seen winter yet but are adapting well to the temperatures.
Sam returned from the river by noon. He said the dense fog was even worse on the river. I know Sam is very careful, but you can’t help but worry a bit. A few more prayers were lifted. Two days before he fished on the river and caught his limit. Taking out he saw a man and a boy fishing on the bank. Sam said he hollered out, “How ‘bout some fish. Would you like ‘em?” They didn’t even have to think on it.
Sam does that often if we have a freezer full. It gives him a little rest on cleaning fish. So that day he wasn’t going to have fish to clean. It’s the catch that keeps him going; just trying to outdo the fish and the fog.
Shannon Bardwell is a writer living quietly in the Prairie. Email reaches her at [email protected].
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