Photo Journal

A second Look at Squirrels

Small birds throw seeds out of the feeder; large birds pick them up off the ground, but the squirrels try to muscle in. - Lilian Jackson Braun

Squirrel reaching down for suet

10/05/2022 - Long stretch to the suet

We battle over

bird seed and suet.

you climb

the skinny pole,

slippery with grease

and

holding on with hind feet -

stretch your whole body

to grasp a bite,

while i sit

in my warm house

watching,

waiting to run you off.

10/05/2022 - Squirrel Eyeing me cautiously while climbing to the bird feeder

Do you wonder

out there in the cold-

why I would

tempt you

with sweet morsels

10/05/2022 Black Squirrel on Red Feeder (looking fearful)

then come out yelling

and waving my arms

when you eat them?

October 7, 2022

scurry and dray

small and light

they float

over the earth

arcing their bodies

curling their tails

float.

arc.

curl.

a soft rustle

of leaves

a pause.

float.

arc.

curl.

a leap.

float.

into (or

out of)

the trees

always.

to scurry

or

dray.

(A group of squirrels is either called a scurry or a dray - but scurry is how they move, and dray is what their nests are called…)

October 2 - October 7, 2022 - I found a pile of acorns on the beach before sunset on Sunday night - and had the bright idea to make a squirrel shape in the sand with them… I always think of squirrels when I see acorns … I thought it would be fun to take a picture of it every day - to see the decline…as it happened; the whole thing stayed intact for days. Until a storm came and it disappeared. My footprints are where it should have been in the last picture. It’s the nature of ephemeral creations - you can’t predict their endings.

Consider the Fallen Leaf

How beautiful the leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days. - John Burroughs

Autumn leaf fallen

October 3, 2022 - A fallen maple leaf in the evening sun

Consider the Fallen Leaf

i saw the leaf before me

full of holes,

curling in upon itself

turning brown

fragile

disintegrating

i saw its veins

darkened by sunlight -

its stem caught

in the crack of a stair

i saw its long shadow

stretching

curling in upon itself

full of holes

i saw the leaf before me

October 3, 2022 - Gathered Leaves and needles from Pier Cove Ravine Trail

October 3, 2022 - Gathering leaves on the trail today, I realized I didn’t really know much about leaves. What do they do for the tree, why do they change colors this time of year, why do they fall off, or if they don’t fall off, why not? Here’s what I learned:

Leaves use water, air and sunlight along with the chlorophyll they already contain to make food (sugar - sucrose) (for the tree. In the fall, when light changes, the chlorophyll starts to break down and whatever color is left in the leaf; depending on its particular chemistry is the color you see. The leaves help the tree grow as long as there is sunlight and available water; but in the winter, when there is less sunlight, and the hard ground makes it difficult for the tree to absorb water, the leaves need to fall off in order for the tree to conserve water. The reason evergreens don’t lose all of their leaves is that their needles or leaves are coated and don’t cause the tree to lose water, so they don’t need to be shed. In warm climates, some trees that are not traditionally considered evergreen also don’t lose their leaves; because they have more available sunlight, and the ground doesn’t freeze. Once leaves fall, of course, they still feed and protect the tree by covering the ground and then breaking down into compost. Birth life - death - rebirth - over and over again every year. It’s amazing.

October 4, 2022 - Fall. Falling. Fallen.

October 4, 2022. We’ve experienced a bluff collapse on Lake Michigan the past few years… it makes for striking images on the beach. The land slid down, trees slid down with it, some falling and dying, some managing to survive in a new location. They are all here; the fallen, the falling and the living - going through fall transition.

October 4, 2022. Sentinels

October 4, 2022. I saw a group of red pines standing next to a house on my run Tuesday night. Evergreens. Tall and regal. Soldiers standing at attention.

Pondering

All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost. —J. R. Tolkien

Box Turtle Markings

When the turtles came of age,

God dipped his finger in liquid gold

and painted ancient symbols

across their carapaces.

This way he would know their names

without seeing their faces

when he returned in spring

To wake them

from their long winter dream

under a bed of forest leaves.

September 23, 2022 and September 27, 2022 - I went to the Saugatuck Dunes twice within a week. The first time was a Friday in between my yoga class and running errands. I hiked with my “big” camera. Fall has arrived here in one fell swoop. It was clear and bright on Friday, but really cool and dry compared to earlier in the week. All trails here lead to the beach eventually, and that was where I lingered, taking pictures of the seagulls fishing - flying, spotting, swerving and diving and then, occasionally, resting. The one in flight is a bit blurry, but the one standing on the ground with his icy eyes is such a beauty.

I returned on Tuesday morning for a run and noticed what looked like a pile of feathers. It turned out to be a dead seagull gradually being buried in sand. In its way beautiful, too, nature taking care of her wild children. I wondered briefly if it could be the same bird with the icy eyes. I hope his spirit is flying somewhere and the fishing is good there.

September 23, 2022 - A feather marking the time with its shadow.

September 23, 2022 - I heard a song that keeps running through my head. It’s called “Hold You Dear” by the Secret Sisters. (here’s a link if you’re interested: https://youtu.be/Nta_A1eano0 ) . Maybe because the season changed so quickly from summer to fall, or because loss has been on my mind for multiple reasons; the lyrics really affected me. The chorus is a promise -

“I will hold you dear,

while my shadow’s long and my eyes are clear.

I know these days will pass away,

so I will hold you dear.”

It may not hit you the same way.;but it opened something up in me that is hard to describe. Ripping through an illusion of having time that I didn’t even know I had . We don’t have time to waste.. Love is the only thing that matters. Giving it without expecting.anything in return. Realizing that eventually I am going to lose everyone I love, and some of them will need me in times of darkness. Even if the only thing I have to offer is my presence, I won’t be stingy. I will put everything down and be there. I won’t let them go without knowing for sure they were loved.

September 24, 2022 - Fallen Monarch

September 24 2022 - Oh I have been trying to get a picture of a monarch for weeks. This is absolutely not the one I wanted. I was hoping to catch one flying. Or sitting on a bit of milkweed. But in the spirit of honoring the fallen; here is a beautiful monarch; lying dead on the pavement. I didn’t remember until later that another monarch has recently fallen - one who has been around for my entire life.

September 27, 2022 - Shifting clouds and wind over the dune grass

September 27, 2022 - My Tuesday run at the dunes. Rain mixed with sun. So beautiful.