Saturday, June 4, 2011

Hoarding

I find I'm hoarding pictures of sunny days to bring out on the dark and gloomy ones. 

This oak in the front pasture is one of my favorites.  It has been falling to pieces for the nearly fourteen years I've lived here.  The heart of the tree is on the ground; only a partial shell remains, but the tree lives on.  The huge, healthy oak in the south pasture broke and fell, but this old girl won't say die...she won't give up.  She continues to shelter squirrels and birds in her arms and gives shade to deer below.  She is a living example of fortitude in the face of overwhelming odds.  I like her.

The early bird may get the worm, but the strawberries go to those who move fastest!  I've been keeping my eye on those berries on the deck.  No...not quite ripe yet.  And then I spied a blue jay taking a taste of my berries.  How do they know when fruit has reached the peak of perfection?  How do they know?!  I dashed out, scared the bird away, and enjoyed that burst of strawberry goodness, perhaps all the sweeter since I'd foiled the blue jay and claimed the prize.

The chicklets have made the transition to the barn in good shape.  The amount of water consumed by chickens has always amazed me.  Wild birds seem to take a sip here and there when they can find it.  The chicks have a gallon waterer in each of the cages, and even the six will empty it in a day.  Talk about hollow legs!

Except for some spitting last evening at sundown, the rain that threatened all day held off.  There is a high cloud cover this morning.  Could it be we'll dodge the bullet?

1 comment:

Kathryn said...

I think your old oak is symbolic of all that looks like a shell, but can still keep giving - fortitude indeed!!! Here's to more sunshine, and the continued happy transitioning of the little yerping syphons!!