Nature Journal, The First Year (2005)

Here are the pages of my nature journal from the year we moved into Dragonwood.

Autumn Equinox, Sep.22

Saw beans harvested today.
September is the time of berries.
False Solomon's Seal - red, they start out pale and turn wine-red at the end of the stalk.
Solomon's Seal - blue-black, all along the stalk.
Jack-in-the-Pulpit - bright red clublike clusters, no leaves.

Acorns and hickory nuts are falling. Squirrels scramble among the trees. Yellow and brown leaves fall to the driveway. Still, there's lots of green in the tree canopy.

The sun in the morning makes the East stide of the tree trunks glow orange.

Kitty keeps catching mice.
Mist/Fog embraces us in the morning.

September 25

Rain all day. Really pouring tonight. More yellow and brown leaves fall. The huge pawpaw leaves glisten, water falling from their dark green surfaces. We harvested and ate their fruit earlier this month. The fruit drops when it is greenish yellow and quite soft. Mice have been coming into the house in droves. I haven't seen or heard the wrens for a while. We still hear the owls, though. Temperatures are predicted to drop. No Daddy Long-legs in the house any more. Still lots of moths. Lacewings, too. A squirrel was swinging from the branches out back. All this rain makes the earth a muddy mess. Burrs are brown, small, and harder to find. Still some mosquitoes, though fewer.

September 28

Took a walk last night with [Faerygirl] and [the Lord]. Ate small soybeans from an unharvested field. Milkweed pods along the ditch - not open yet, though. Bright star/panet low in the Western sky. Crickets chirping in a different, softer tone than summer. Very cool in the night, but in the woods it is still and warm. [Faerygirl] caught another walking stick, skinny and in its dark lacquered-brown phase. Much of the field is brown and dry, although there are still a few plants flowering here and there.

More oak leaves are falling to the driveway now. The diversity of fallen leaves increases daily.

Skies are still my favorite crisp blue. Saw a white roundworm in a puddle.

October 6

Saw a tree tipped with red yesterday. Can smell skunk in the woods. Field mice invading my home. Kitty had 2 last night. Virginia creeper turning red. A few trees are almost bare. Hickory nuts hang precariously in trees. They drop to the ground, crashing like mini bombs. Chipmunks and squirrels are quite active. Bees are meaner. Saw a huge fox on my way home last night. Mournful sounds in the air - owls like harbingers of bad news, coyote howls like lost souls, nervous crickets forecasting their end. Weak crane flies observed. This is the time of the spider. The beasts are becoming more competitive, more saveage, eager to protect themselves against the ravages of Winter.

October 16

The pawpaw trees/bushes are turning yellow. There are more trees crowned with yellow and red all about the countryside. Most of the fields are now harvested. Cooler temperatures, but pleasant and appropriate for Fall. Much of the undergrowth is dry and withering. Nuts continue to fall heavily. We still hear owls at night and squirrels chattering in the daytime. I've seen more beasts crossing the road - deer, possums, coons, foxes. Milkweed seeds fluff out - here they grew near the thistle patch. The woods is warm at night - warmer and stiller than the fields at night. When the wind blows from the North, we feel the "breath of the Dragon." Gleaned corn and husks (for corn dolls) from the harvested fields.

November 3

The field out back was harvested last night. It's one of the last cornfields to go. Maple trees are ablaze with yellow, some tipped with red. Not too many nuts now - they've all been "squirreled" away. Big deer tracks in the dirt lead from the woods to the field. Mornings are dark. The sun goes down about 5:30 P.M. But the stars are brilliant. Venus appears low in the west, Mars comes out low in the east. Last night, an owl hooted frantically. There are still green leaves among the yellow and brown undergrowth, usually low to the ground. Still some insects on warm days - lady beetles, yellow jackets, flies, and mosquitoes. Driveway is BEAUTIFUL, paved with fallen leaves.