A Lost Leaf

I’m at my spot on this sunny, breezy afternoon. It’s a deception, nothing but the setup before the sting. Snow is coming tomorrow. Lots of it and it’s riding in the west wind.

On the bright side, the sun is shining right down the center of my driveway. It’s kind of like solstice day at Stonehenge. That would make this yard and its markers for the sun’s risings and settings-Tonehenge. Auggie and I greet the sunset often. His evening walk happens around then. It isn’t an accident. I love the colors. He doesn’t notice them. He’s happy sniffing the air and ground for what ever may have passed by. Dogs know a different history from us. I call him my stupid little boy and he jumps excitedly. He knows the time without a watch, knows who is in the driveway by the sound of their car, knows what happened on the street hours ago without having seen it. Who really is the stupid one?

Sunset on the evening this was written.

The birds are quiet right now. They were noisy earlier today. As the wind picks up and blows a B across my beer bottle they are probably preparing for the storm they sense. I know the note is B because I have a tuning app on my phone. I wish I had perfect pitch like some other people I know. Would it help me understand these birds any better?

Two more sips and the wind plays an E-sharp when I stand the bottle on the driveway so I can type. The clouds have slipped under the sun in gray ripples like a bland flying carpet.

Two days ago I emptied the birdfeeder onto the ground. I filled it with the fresh seed I bought. No birds. I watch from a distance. I watch from different windows so they can’t see me. They are in the bushes only ten feet from the feeder and are ignoring it. I have heard them and seen them, but not today and never near my feeder. I complained earlier today. Patty said it may be sitting too low or that they may just not have found it yet.

New Food

F. The note not the swear word.

She said they have places they are finding food and eat there. They will stumble on the bird feeder eventually. Bird feeding is significantly more complicated than I could have imagined. I thought all I needed were birds ands birdseed. I knew there were birds around. I put out a buffet. I become the guy who hosts a party nobody goes to.

E. I’d better pace myself so I don’t run out of beer before I run out of blog.

A dead leaf has been chased from the hiding places that protected it the past few months. It is tumbling down hill towards the woods that swallowed most of its kin in October and November. It looks like that lost goose that honks at the v formation far ahead. I’ve wondered about those stray geese.

G.

Did that goose sleep in or is it old and struggling to keep up. The v-formation makes it easier to fly. The straggler doesn’t benefit from the other geese parting the wind. I wonder what happens when they stop for the night in different places. Does that lone goose have a chance?

A.

End of beer. End of blog. Glad the formation has always waited for me.