This week I was washing dishes and caught this Coopers Hawk sitting on my deck railing.
I quietly slid away and walked silently to the living room to grab my camera. Amazingly enough Penny moved silently next to me.
I didn’t really expect the bird to still be there when I returned. They generally don’t wait for me.
But he (or she) was still there, seemingly unfazed. I watch it for a long time, even moving to a better window. It picked up one foot and tucked it into it’s chest feathers.
And then suddenly it flew. I expected that to be it.
But it only flew about 3 feet, to the corner of the deck where it could inspect the ground under some shrubs.
We used to have quite a few chipmunks. I haven’t seen one in awhile.
Then it flew away, and I figured that was it. But it showed up again about 10 minutes later, back on the deck railing, watching the back yard, inspecting the ground and the sky.
Turns out he or she was being harassed by bees.
When it left, being pursued by the bees, I was SURE I wouldn’t see it again.
Until about 30 minutes later when I walked through the master bedroom and guess who was on the bedroom deck railing? I didn’t have my camera with me, so these were taken with my phone.
Yep, our favorite (or perhaps least liked, depending on whether you’re a chipmunk) bird.
But…is this the same bird? Or a different one? Perhaps they’re a couple? Or parent and child?
I’ve been gone for a week, and when I came back I was surprised to see how well the zinnias were doing. Along with other stuff. But mostly the zinnias.
Last evening I took the dog out after her supper. The garden was mostly in shadow. But there was one beautiful monarch zipping among the blossoms.
Notice the tongue slurping up the nectar.
We went back inside for the camera. Poor Penny had to wait to do her business while I stood there, foot on her leash and shot over 200 images.
She’s a good girl. Patient about her mom taking pictures of stuff not her. I promised her I’d take her to the park soon.
A month ago, now, my sister and I were traveling to South Dakota. I even showed you a couple of night shots that we took and told you I’d share more.
Interstate 90 goes straight across South Dakota. For miles and miles and miles.And miles.
And then life just kept going and it got harder and harder to go back and finish editing the South Dakota images. Luckily I was able to spend a lot of time in the evenings during my stay in Alabama working on them.
Sometimes SD is flat. Sometimes there are undulating hills.
I probably told you the biggest reason we were traveling way out to SD was because my friend from high school lives in a place with very dark skies.
You could see the Milky Way with your naked eye.
And there’s nothing like dark skies to fully appreciate the sky and especially the Milky Way. So we chose a few days during the darkest part of the month to sit under her skies and stare at all the stars.
These are both one shot images, nothing fancy.
But we did other things too, the things that most people do when they’re in Southwest South Dakota. Like visit Crazy Horse.
A smaller version of what is being carved into the mountain.
We saw the Crazy Horse mountain sculpture back in the late 60s or early70s when I was a kid. My family was traveling west in our pickup camper and we stopped here. Back then there was just the hole under the Indian’s arm.
From the huge parking lot.
And if I remember right, we spoke with the sculpture in his little house where he had a front room set up as something of a shop. I could be wrong in that memory but I remember being in a small room with a low ceiling talking to a man with a beard about the project. It was just a hole in the mountain then and it seemed so unlikely that we’d see an Indian some day.
From the viewing area outside the restaurant.
Now that home is part of a bigger structure that is part museum, part gift shop, part restaurant. We ate lunch there. I had something they called a taco, made from Indian fry bread and topped with a bunch of stuff.
Yummy
After Crazy Horse we went to Mount Rushmore. Again, we were there when we were kids. Back then there was no welcome center or museum. I remember parking and walking to a view point pretty much directly under the sculpture.
The first glimpse.
Now there’s a big walkway with flags from different states leading to a viewing area.
A museum piece to explain the real thing.
But, if you want, you can take a trail walk and get the old, closer, view.
We call this the ‘looking up the nose’ tour.
It was close to 100 degrees the day my sister and I visited but of course we had to do the trail! Even with the warning about the 425 stairs we would encounter along the way!
Lincoln peaking back at us.
Even in the heat it was a lot of fun.
The next day we went to Custer State Park. I don’t remember if our family visited the park back in the day. We probably did, but I have no specific memories.
We were lucky to see lots of buffalo.
The first cool thing we saw inside the park were the buffalo. There were lots of them, on both sides of the two lane, two way, road. We stopped behind a slow moving line of cars and shot images from our open windows.
Too hot, mom.
There was a group of motorcycles behind us and I kind of wondered how folks on the bikes were feeling having little to nothing between them and the big animals.
Everybody was feeling the sun beating down.
But no animals and no people did anything stupid.
Not everything in Custer State Park was about buffaloes.
After we did the Wildlife Loop we drove the Needle road, also in Custer State Park, which winds (and I mean winds!) among tall, thin spears of rocks.
She had a birds-eye view!
It is also a narrow, two lane, two way road. There was no stripe on the road as there wasn’t enough room. It snaked around the rocks, often with drop offs and no guard rails.
A hairpin turn combined with a parking lot.
It was typical of many roads in the West, but scary for both me as driver and my sister as passenger.
There was also a place where the road went through the rock. You couldn’t see to the other side and it was one lane (8 feet) wide. So I didn’t know how you knew when it was your turn to go. I sure wouldn’t want to meet a car in the middle. Which car or truck would back out?
The infamous tunnel.
Luckily we made it, though I don’t think it really was my turn. I just followed the car in front of me and went. We also saw a big motor home on the winding road and apparently it fit through too because we never saw it again. My friend who lives out there said tour buses go through the tunnel so I guess it isn’t as tight as it felt. But honestly? I think the Needle road needs to be one way…and there needs to be a red light/green light system for going through the tunnel!
On our last night we took our hosts out to dinner in Wyoming! It was only a few miles away and so we get to say we visited another state!
Another state checked off the list.
On our way home the next day we drove through the Badlands. What a beautiful place that is! Even though it was still very hot and we didn’t stay outside the car for very long at any overlook.
Multiple spots to view this section of the Bad Lands.
I think there are several spots close to the road, in parking lots and viewpoints, that would work for Milky Way photography.
Wouldn’t want to be stuck out here without water and sunblock!
We had a really lovely time out there. I’m hoping to go back again someday, maybe earlier in the Milky Way season when there’s a chance of doing a pano of the whole arch of the Milky Way. Of course I’d have to learn to do a pano first.
My week in the south at my parents’ house started out with a great walk up Smith Mountain to climb the local fire tower.
Many of you have seen the fire tower in pictures before. I wish you all could come with me and experience the view from the top. This trip I was lucky to have the company of fellow blogger Mike from MLCreations to climb with me.
The mountain trail was it’s usual beautiful self, and the climb up the tower was it’s usual long way. We had a nice breeze and a great view at the top. It’s always worth the climb.
On the way back to the car we explored the fire road that runs around the base of the mountain. By the time we got back to the car we were ready for lunch on the deck, complete with a yummy pound cake provided by Mike. All in all, a lovely day with very nice company.
Since then the house has been filed with family, coming and going, busy, busy, busy, but not too busy to enjoy how beautiful the lake is.
Morning reflections and evening sunsets have slowed us down and made us more observant. That’s a good thing and exactly what spending time at this cabin is designed to accomplish.
I’m just lucky I got to come down. Every time I’m here I vow to come back soon, to not let so much time go between visits, but somehow I turn around and months, sometimes years, have gone by.
This time I’m going to try harder to be back before another year slips away.
It started raining last night. By this morning it was a full on downpour.
I didn’t mind, today was a rest day after the long day yesterday waiting in lines, waiting at gates, waiting on the plane and then driving from the airport. A little rain was actually nice. Napping was easy.
But by late afternoon the sun had come out. I felt like I should do something.
So I dragged the kayak out of storage and managed to get myself into it without capsizing. I headed out, staying near shore because, as on any weekend in mid-summer, the lake was busy with jet skies and boats and people paddling on boards.
As I left our little protected cove the wind picked up and I didn’t go much further. Too busy, too windy, too many waves for me.
So I turned around and let the wind push me back. I floated down to the end of our slough, where the cypress trees grow.
The sun was getting lower and the light was pretty.
I sat down there, gently turning and looking at all the trees for a good long time.
And then I slowly paddled home.
By the way, there’s a house down there for sale if you’re interested. Only $1.9M. Not a typical home on our street, it’s never been owner occupied, it’s being rented as an AB&B. The neighbors, who now have a monster house almost lot line to lot line, must hope for an owner to move in. It’s got to be quieter than the parties happening there now.
I doubt the boat is included in the price.
Life on the lake is changing. Sometimes change is hard.
Funny how I used to get a happy little skip in my heart when I cleared the last set of hills while driving down to Alabama to visit my parents. And funny how today, as I cleared that last set of hills I felt a melancholy skip instead.
I arrived just before dark. Tomorrow, with sunshine, the space will feel happier.
I guess that’s normal.
It’s hard now, to come visit with the house empty but waiting patiently. It’s equally hard to leave after being here a few days. The memories smooth out and it just feels good to be here.
The crepe myrtle is in bloom. Made me smile.
But that first walk into the empty house….well…that’s hard. Every time.
This juvenile male oriole learned all about bathing this week. When I first noticed him he was standing on the edge while a little brown bird splashed around. He stared at the brown bird. I went to get my camera. By the time I got back he was in the bath too.
So you just shake your feathers?
He seemed a bit unsure, but it didn’t take long until he was fully immersed in the experience. Literally.
Like this, right?Brown bird: I’m outta here!That’s OK…more water for me!Rub a dub, dub. One bird in a tub!Look! I can draw a heart with my tail!Oh what a wonderful feeling, oh what a wonderful day!A little more tail action. I wonder if any girls are around.Hey…did I hear mom or dad call me?Time to go!It’s supper time!
This morning I was headed out the back door when I saw, directly in front of me, a deer staring back. We both had that kind of ‘deer in headlights’ look. I quickly sidestepped out of sight and walked quietly over to the living room to get my camera. And then it hit me. It was a fawn I saw. By the time I slowly and quietly slid back to the door the fawn had moved.
Nom, nom, nom. This hydrangea is very tasty!
I felt disappointed that I had missed the beautiful, full faced, shot. But I was also very happy.
Very happy because in early summer we had seen only one mama deer with one baby. And a few days after seeing mama with her newborn, I came across a fawn stretched out in the road as if asleep, but clearly not. I have only seen mama once since, with no baby in tow. I silently told her how sorry I was.
All summer I haven’t seen the mama deer. I assumed she had left the area to grieve alone. But this morning, here was a large fawn, so maybe our little one hadn’t been killed? And where was mama during this visit?
What is that kid getting into now?
Oh, yes, there she is. Watchful as always.
And then the baby took off across the yard so fast I couldn’t see where he or she went. I switched windows to watch the yard. And then this happened.
I’m just so happy!I can’t stop my happy feet from running!I feel happy, dancing without a roof!I’ll kick up my heels and release the joy!Hey, quit fooling around!I’m just a kid, mom, don’t you remember how fun it was to be young?It’s my favorite time of the year. OK, it’s my only time of the year so far in my young life…I just can’t stop leaping for joy!I’m a race car!
Such joyful running, in big loops around the backyard. Racing from behind shrubs, circling the white pine, at full speed. Over and over and over this little one danced with glee through the yard.
I’m a kangaroo!
I shot 300+ pictures. Some of them almost in focus.
I’m exhausted!
He or she kept on running. I kept on taking pictures. Until finally he (I’ve decided it’s a he) stopped behind a blue spruce and snuck a peek over near where mama stood. I think he was tuckered out. He went over to mom who had come out from behind the bush to reign in her kid.
I hope you got THAT out of your system!
But what is this?
It takes 2 mamas to corral me!
A 2nd mama? Is my little guy being mothered by two moms? Or is this daddy and mama and baby?
But wait….what’s this?
You, little one, are a bad influence on my kid!
Another baby! Two mamas and two babies!
The little group hung around in the shadows for a bit of time before moving off.
It’s all fun and games until somebody breaks a leg. Let me check to make sure you’re alright.
But not without one last look at the house.
Just so you know. I see you, lady.
By mama and baby. Just so I knew they knew they were being watched.
I’m watching you too, lady. (Hope you liked the show!)
Glad to have you in the neighborhood, family. You made me smile.
Change Is Hard 