Category: nature
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City groundskeeping 101
(soon to come: Potholes 101) This morning, in the park, everywhere, I move mowers and weed whackers seem to follow me. They cut grass and weeds and trash (they’re too lazy to pick up before they mow). If it don’t rain, the leaf blower guy will push it all into tall grass along the tree…
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Saturday morning counseling session with an assassin
Red tailed hawk sitting low in mapled limbs. Normally you hunt from high above. Have you grown bored of your advantage? Feathered head swivels back and forth. What are you looking for? The park is full of squirrels and feral cats. I can tell you where a well-fed morsel of chihuahua yaps from dawn to…
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haiku for a breezy day
sitting on the porch watching wind dance with the trees nature’s playlist rocks 4-7-23
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Rain watcher
no dog walkers, no tennis players, no rim rattling gamers, birds and leaf blowers have all gone silent tires slap wet pavement, carpets of clouds rub together, static electric tympani rumbles overhead, wet snare drum plays in the trees Carol watches the Weather Channel, I sit on our porch watching the rain, wishing I’d cleaned…
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Before the sun is high
Emerald-headed mallard swims through trees set adrift in a blue, blue sky before turtles line the shoreline like city folks at Hilton Head resorts, before bright green anoles emerge from nighttime hiding places, before a frog chorus gives way to bird solos before swarms of tadpoles are consumed in the coming feeding frenzy, you recite…
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after the equinox
On the second day of Spring 2 Baha, 180 B.E. Offer a prayer for a friend having surgery Go to the gym Buy Carol a strong, large coffee on the way home Take a walking meditation in the park Bumblebees imbibe at the Azalea Bush Bar Turtles sun themselves on a muddy beach No mallards,…
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The day before
1) The ebb and flow of tide changes the shoreline, laps high up on dunes. Turtles lay eggs in sand. Walk careful, do not disturb those still waiting to be born. 2) An old man stands in hot sand trying to keep grit out of his shoes. Another year to plan the future. On the…
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Waiting for rain
waiting for rain azaleas burst bright pink blossoms on green foliage 3-17-23
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Mungo Jerry
When tree leaves grow as big as your hand and tomaters appear on the vine, when cicadas are in full voice and bull frogs bellow dusk to dawn, when squirrels rest in the shadows and you glisten while sitting under a tree, when birds refuse to sing, and ice cream drips before you’re done, when…