Signs of a Mild Winter

Every winter When the great sun has turned his face away,

The earth goes down into a vale of grief,
And fasts, and weeps, and shrouds herself in sables,
Leaving her wedding-garlands to decay -
Then leaps in spring to his returning kisses.
~Charles Kingsley

It has often been said that when the hornet nests are close to the ground we will experience a mild winter. If this holds true these photos indicate that the upcoming winter will be a very mild one. This is one of the largest nests I've seen in a very long while. There were no hornets home the day it was discovered as it was quite late in the fall.

Wild Geese

“Wild geese fly south, creaking like anguished hinges; along the riverbank the candles of the sumacs burn dull red. It's the first week of October. Season of woolen garments taken out of mothballs; of nocturnal mists and dew and slippery front steps, and late-blooming slugs; of snapdragons having one last fling; of those frilly ornamental pink-and-purple cabbages that never used to exist, but are all over everywhere now.”
― Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin

These wild geese are not flying south quite yet. We saw them spending a relaxing afternoon bobbing about on Whetstone Lake in Farmington, Nova Scotia. We counted about 17 altogether.

Water Water Everywhere

Listen to the water, listen to the water, rolling down the river. Listen to the water, listen to the water, rolling down the river. 

Okay, so now that song is stuck in my head for the rest of the day. These pictures are not of a river, but some flooding we experienced after last week's big rainstorm. If you don't think water has much pressure behind it, think again. The culvert is now bent upward. An odd looking sight.

October Mayflowers

No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.  ~Proverb

We haven't had winter yet, so you might want to rethink that old proverb. This solitary mayflower was found on the 18th of October. I totally love finding these little surprises in nature. It lets me know that absolutely anything is possible even those things that are not probable.

Cranberries on the Vine

Care less for your harvest than for how it is shared and your life will have meaning and your heart will have peace.
~~Kent Nerburn

These cranberries were not found in a bog, but were growing alongside the ditch in a Christmas tree lot in the Forties Settlement. Having always thought that cranberries grew in bogs, it had only been the past ten years or so that I discovered the difference.

On Dragonfly Wings

Deep in the sun-searched growths the dragonfly
Hangs like a blue thread loosened from the sky.~Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Silent Noon

This lady dragonfly was resting on a fir tree one morning in late September. Wings glistening in the early morning dew, she did not fly away but rested there as if preserving what bit of life she had left in her for another day.

September Raspberres

There is something in the red of a raspberry pie that looks as good to a man as the red in a sheep looks to a wolf. (E. W. Howe)

I discovered these ripe raspberries on the last day of September. What a pleasant surprise. Just when we think that summer is over, we are gifted with these small reminders.

Late September raspberries are just as delicious as July raspberries!