Bow is on fire this fall, brilliant hues of red, orange, and yellow. This year the fall colors have outdone themselves. The forecast is for plenty of sunshine this next week. The brighter the sun, the brighter the leaves.

The ducklings are on their own. Friday night I took Claire back to be with the other chickens. She was done mothering the ducklings. I think she’s as amazed at what her babies became as I am. She never dreamed she’d raise chicks who like swimming so much.

Claire enjoys a freshly picked Asian pear 梨, and spending six weeks alone with the ducklings with me attending to their needs, has made her quite tame. She lets me pet her and feed her out of my hand.

Fall produce is special. It’s gleaning time, gathering up what’s left and savoring it. Nothing beats an onion plucked out of the ground. Slice through it and the juices flow out like milk.

The cooler weather has encouraged the stinging nettles to send out fresh shoots. Their bright green could fool one into thinking it is spring.

Leeks are in bloom. Before they bloom they spin fantastical caps. Maybe not as amazing as gravitational waves, but mesmerizing still. It wouldn’t surprise me if medieval jesters conjured up many of their costume designs from observing blooming alliums.

And after they develop their seeds, onion and leek flowerheads sway in the breeze, looking like long-haired professors gone mad.