songs

indian summer

well maybe we put the pool away too soon. anyway it has a hole in it. now that it has drainage, it would make a good planter.

fishing line nest

My daugher brought this home the other day, perhaps it was blown down by the latest storm. I imagine that it might be an oriole's nest because it looks like it could hang like a little sack from a tree, and also because it is essentially made from repurposed fishing line. The Baltimore Orioles I see in Prospect Park almost always appear near the lake, darting in and out of the phragmites or perched on tree branches overhanging the lake, and those places are unfortunately rife with abandoned fishing line.

The little one plans to leave it in a tree hoping that it will be reused. It's certainly tough enough for another go.

late season blooms

I came across a healthy zucchini vine growing on the chain link fence on the corner of Propsect and Terrace. I wonder if I will ever catch that gardener in action, I've been admiring the plot for years. Anway, it's good to see a squash plant so healthy, this time of year many of them wither with some sort of fungus the family seems very susceptible too. I have a gourd plant in my front yard, a vine carrying many mature water jug gourds that is now practically leafless having been ravaged by some kind of disease, and the trellis itself is far worse for wear after the hurricane hit. I find it scenic and evocative, but I'm afraid my neighbors may beg to differ.

survivor

The day after Irene hit Brooklyn I was weeding and came across this monarch caterpillar in the yard. So tender, so sturdy. The afternoon before I had come out of the house to find a family clustered around something on the ground under a Linden Tree, a Swallowtail Butterfly perched on a grounded twig, drying its wings. The mother turned to me and without caring who the heck I was breathlessly attested to its beauty.

I know.