every day is a good day
The Japanese maples are turning brilliant. I find them most beautiful when there are still some green leaves mixed in with the orange ones. As the leaves color, their tongues curl and become claws. It’s like their leaves are reaching up and clawing the sky, coaxing winter to come and cover them with a blanket of snow. Or they are trying to catch the wind to blow away to someplace warm.
Here’s a little game you can play. Find a small patch of luxurious moss, gather a few pebbles, and make a mini zen rock garden. Enjoy it for a brief moment, and go on your way. The next wind storm, or running dog will scatter the pebbles, but that’s OK. It’s no different than the waves washing away the sandcastle you spent hours building. Our lives are just as ephemeral.
Turning over a pebble, I discovered two tiny snails. Up on the hill where I live, there are no snails, just slugs, so it was a surprise to see them. Amazing how just a few hundred feet of elevation makes all the difference in the world.
November is as colorful as May. There aren’t as many flowers, but the leaves are as brilliant as any flower beds. The roosters won’t be outdone, either.
Even the Ruby Streaks are brilliant. These are all headed to Tweets Café in the morning, along with arugula and lettuce. I was weeding them this afternoon, so that when I cut them in the morning, I won’t have to worry about any unwelcome leaves showing up. If you have lunch at Tweets tomorrow, you can enjoy salad greens picked that morning.
On Japanese news today, the weather reporter pointed out that in the fall, mountains are said to get all dressed up, referring to the forests on the mountains turning brilliant with fall colors. In the winter they are said to go to sleep, when they are covered with snow.
On the fourth day of her chicks hatching, Peach leads them out into the wild blue yonder, at least it must feel like that to the tiny chicks. They’ve traveled 125 feet from their nest. For a chick of just a few inches, it’s a long, long way. In human terms, that is like a half mile, quite a feat for a four day old chick.
The magic number is eight. Peach brought her chicks out into the chicken yard today. She has eight, fluffy, healthy, perky, excited chicks. The chicks started hatching on the 27th. Of the ten eggs she was sitting on, nine hatched. One of the eggs was infertile and did not develop. One chick did not make it.
Even though it is a cool time of the year, she will keep them nice and warm.
She senses danger and fluffs up like a turkey. Hens can make themselves appear twice as large by spreading their feathers.
