A few days back -- Sunday night, maybe -- the temperature dropped to around 20. The next morning, frost could be seen scattered all around. Flowering plants began the slow autumn death, trees leaves already turning curled up, lost color, came down. The next night the temperature dipped into the upper 20's -- not as severe, but enough to continue the swing toward late autumn/early winter. And then a lovely Indian summer arrived. The days grew golden, warm, the nights relatively mild -- 40s instead of below freezing. Yesterday afternoon could easily have been mistaken for mid-August, had one ignored the calendar. The freeze of earlier in the week apparently jump-started trees that had been turning slowly or just beginning to change, so that the colors have been blazing all across the countryside. The kind of display I haven't seen in years.
Along with the spectacular weather, another wave of migrating birds has shown up for a rest stop. Plenty of robins, and another species I don't recognize and can't find in my field guides. They hunt through the grass, slowly clearing out the noisemakers -- the crickets and their whirring, humming compatriots.
Yesterday morning out in the yard between the house and the barn, I came across a small pile of gray feathers. There are some pigeons that hang out in the huge barn on my uphill neighbors' property, they occasionally land here and pick through the grass for seeds sprayed around by birds at the window feeders. And there are two or three mourning doves that hang about this end of the house, taking advantage of the shelter provided by the windbreak, also foraging for seeds. Some critter nailed one of the pigeons or doves -- a fox. Maybe a hawk.
Life and death cycles on, the days roll along.
A friend shows up this afternoon for a visit. Posts may be sporadic for the next couple of days.