wrensong studio

and less wild:

Winterdeer

Advent, Kenneth Rexroth

For Brother Antonius

Rorate coeli, desuper, et nubes pluant
justum. Aperiatur terra, et germinet
Salvatorem.

The year draws down. In the meadows
And high pastures, the green grass veins
The grey. Already the stubble
Fields are green. Orion stands
Another year over California,
Simple and lucent, guarding the full moon.
Dew descends from heaven
Good pours from the clouds.
The earth wavers on its whirling track.
We milk by lantern light. The shadows
Of the cattle are illimitable.
The lantern light knots in gouts of gold.
As the sun retreats, and the moon
Turns its face away and back again,
Following the spinning earth
Like our following lanterns
Through the dark, back to the white breath
Of the cattle, back to the smell
Of hay and dung and milk,
Back to the placental
Dark in the abandoned ruins,
God goes again to birth.

An evening hike, and a second encounter with a flock of wild turkeys.

Wt9691

They really are remarkably ugly birds.

Although it snowed just about a week ago, Saturday managed to be an incredibly beautiful day.  At about 70F/20C it was far too spectacular to spend indoors, so I took myself off for a hike.  The best fall colour has passed, but there are still plenty of stands of colourful scrub oak, mountain mahogany, and sumac.

cmspf

The prairie dog town I took photos of in the summer has expanded nicely over the season, although the occupants are just as photo-shy as ever.

cmsppd

A highlight of the day though, was watching a flock of wild turkeys parade from the prairie to a stand of scrub oak.  The group was well past the limit of the camera's lens, but it is such a special sight, I wanted to post the pictures anyway.

 To round out the wonder of the day, I came across this gorgeous fellow soaking up the warmth from the sand in this dry creek bed...I am either remarkably unthreatening, or the bed was far too comfortable for him to give up, as he barely twitched while I flitted about, taking photos.  He is in beautiful condition, which made me very happy to see.

A slightly misleading title, as these are cottontails, not jackrabbits, but I liked the name too much to give it up.  These two visitors to my yard were not tremendously wary of me, which perhaps explains why one is missing an ear...not quite smart enough to be scared I guess.

Some miscellaneous pictures from here and there as summer has turned to autumn.  There is still some quite lovely colour, although I think it will not last long now.

A bit of drama too, sometimes:

A deer or two, so you know it's me:

9494

Some milkweed glowing in the afternoon sun:

And last, but not least, a dinosaur to foreshadow Halloween:

Hi Mom

I rather rudely (although accidentally), knocked this big girl off my front door when I went to get my mail.  With the approach of cold weather she isn't long for this world, but hopefully she laid an eggcase nearby.