According to the Japanese Seasonal Calendar, today, August 8, is the first day of fall. It marks the time when you first sense fall in the air. The last few mornings, there has been a chill in the air. The sun is coming up three quarters of an hour later than at the solstice. The days are an hour and a half shorter. This evening there were even dark clouds, wind gusts, and a handful of raindrops, not the buckets we need.

Hazel’s chicks are two weeks old. Their wing feathers are showing. Every day Hazel takes them on a grand tour which starts at the crack of dawn. Each day these chicks walk more than industrial chickens walk their entire lives.

Tangerine is nestling in to hatch a clutch. She’s a feisty hen. She should make a good mother.