Beyond Our Power

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The cycle of seasons
visits each year
filled with surprises

Squirrels prepare nests
corncob lined walls
carpet of leaves
pantry filled with apples


Brilliant fall foliage
burned by summer heat
begins to fall

In early winter
hidden nests come into view
nude trees show lines and forms
hidden by Spring and Summer wardrobe

Golden Years

Wisdom rests in furrowed brows
lines drawn by pen of age

For The Sake Of Beauty

Artifice

The bonsai tree in a shallow pot
may have grown to eighty feet
on the side of a mountain
til split by lightening

A gardener carefully prunes
whittles the nine inch tree
and croons,
"It is your nature to be small and cozy
domestic and weak;
how fortunate little one
to have a pot in which to grow."

With living creatures
one must begin very early
to dwarf their growth.
Bound feet and bosom
crippled brain
soft hands to caress.

"A" for Effort

Had a very good day. I returned two pair of jeans at Costco without receipt..no problem. Then back home to fill another bag for "Blind" pickup.  I managed to get another  filled before the truck arrived.
Then on to baking.
I've been trying out almond meal as a substitute for part of the flour in recipes to lower carbohydrates. So far, I've tried Huckleberry Coffee Cake, Beat & Bake Cocoa Cake  and Sourdough Chocolate Cake. The taste is fine but the texture is not right. All are in the freezer.  Joe can have a little on his birthday next week, the rest, I don't know. The wild huckleberry cake is the best. It  didn't raise as much as it should but at least it doesn't fall apart while being sliced.
Joe has been washing the house to ready it for painting in the spring.
We  cleared all plants away from the house to make room for his platform.  Filled about five wheel barrels. It actually looks better. Not quite so wild, just wild enough.
Taking the rest of the night off.  Think I'll play some solitaire.

The Impossible Dream

I was going to write something about the autumn leaves laying a carpet on our grass but I decided to share a dream I had last night.
Angela came up to me at choir practice and said she wanted to give me a baby shower. I was very excited and offered our home for the event.  She said that would be great and started making plans. Thank God I woke up before any thing further developed.

It reminds me of an old song.

I had the craziest dream last night, yes I did
I never dreamed it could be
But  there I was pregnant again




Photo is our son Steve's first trip to Disneyland. He was born six months later.

Grapes of Wrath

    
We wait for the grapes to ripen
and wonder if the deer will arrive
before we receive a share of the harvest..

The Wonders of Nature

A woodpecker pushes food towards the protruding beaks
in the dead hemlock.

Does the woodpecker scout out a dying tree and nest?
Or  hammer a healthy tree, helping it to an early demise?

The Vanishing Forest

Haunting sounds of an owl enter the room
Mating rituals? Hunting signals?
Conversation?
As the woods begin to disappear, I wonder.
Will I hear the owls again

I met a coyote in our driveway
Not a ragamuffin
A well coifed confident animal
We stared.  The coyote won.
Soon bulldozers will push away stumps and brush
Will the coyote return for a rematch?

Many animals live in our woods
Some tunnel deep into the rich earth
Others bed down on softly crushed branches
Where will they go?