a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

  • Oh, Gold One!

    NewYearA

    The first sunrise of the New Year. How lucky to have a cloudless sky. As a boy, going down to the beach to watch the New Year sun rise above the ocean blue was a highlight of the year. The sun rises over the ocean and sets in the mountains, that was the way it was growing up. Now the sun rises over the mountains and sinks into the sea.

    NewYearC
    NewYearB
    NewYearE

    On a frosty start to the New Year, even the plastic frog is happy to see the sun. The way it sits, it sees the sunrise every morning. For years it’s watched the sun come up every day with a big smile. Every day is a good day. Every day is a good day. The trees are enthralled too. They’re lucky. They stand so tall, they bask in the glorious light a long time before the great gold one shines on me. We owe our lives to the great gold one. Without it, we would just be cold, lifeless star dust, drifting through the endless universe.

    NewYearF

  • It’s a Party

    ItsAParty

    It’s a party! This is what happens when you accidentally fill a watering can with whiskey. You attract a crowd in a hurry. Never fear. It’s just water in the can. The chickens are all gathered for the sun. It’s not always clear if King Richard is attracting all the hens, or if the hens are seducing him. Chicken love gets complicated. Polygamy gone wild. A try anyone society swaying from one party to the next all day long. If you are a chicken, every day is New Years Eve, every Tuesday is Mardi Gras.

    IceArt

    On a cold, icy day, a sunny spot is a good place for chickens to warm their feathers. It’s up to the humans, bundled in layers of warm clothes, to go search for ice art in the woods. So many art treasures to see before they are gone in tomorrow’s sunshine.

    HoarIce

  • Eat This, Not That

    EatThisEatThat

    “Eat this, not that.” You can see it in Nina’s eyes. “Which one did Mom say we could eat?” the chicks seem to ask each other. “What about that one?” Chicks have as many questions as children. Just like a child will ask their parent a million times, “Why is the sky blue?” listening to chicks chirp throughout the day with their mother, it’s like they are asking her the same questions, over and over, all day long.

    SleepHere

    It’s no wonder Nina loves to take a break in the winter sun so she can rest while her chicks preen themselves. If a chick is preening its feathers, it can’t ask questions. There’s no daycare for mother hens. For them, raising chicks is a 24 hour a day job.

    PreenHerePreenThere

  • Every Few Steps, a Wonder

    UpCloseA

    A cherry tree which knows no seasons blooms a few blossoms all year long. It never bursts into bloom like the other trees. A few blossoms here, a few blossoms there, year round it blooms.

    UpCloseB

    Morning dew drops on a puff of moss. One of the wonders of the natural world. Every few steps along the old, crumbling fence, a wonder on each post. It’s why we don’t rip the fence out and build a new one. It takes decades for a new fence to be this wondrous.

    UpCloseC
    UpCloseD

    Visitors may wonder why we keep the old fence. But they wouldn’t have to look at a sterile new fence every day. And what would happen to the puffs of ancient moss on the old fence?

  • Christmas Blue

    ChristmasA

    A quirk of the calendar had me delivering eggs to Tweets Christmas morning. Seeing the snow on Chuckanuts made for a pleasant bicycle ride. The clouds hinted at possibilities of Christmas Blue. Around here, blue skies, even blue splashes at Christmas make the natives dance for joy.

    ChristmasB

    Nina was out scratching a Christmas feast for her little ones. These chicks, born at the coldest, wettest time of the year are in for a surprise when the winter clouds give way to spring skies.

    ChristmasC

    And here it is, Christmas Blue, tantalizing openings in the clouds. This time of year, it’s easy to forget in the Pacific Northwest that skies can be blue, that above the clouds there is still a sun that shines.

    ChristmasD
    ChristmasE

    For Christmas dinner, fresh dark greens out of the garden. Blue in the sky, luscious greens out of the garden, what more could one ask for Christmas?