Monday, October 28, 2013

Keyless

My mailbox is a one mile round trip from my front door.  What a change from my town mailbox.  It was half a block away.  Just a hop, skip and a jump.  Not a 20 minute walk down and then up a hill.
Another difference.  My mailbox in town was opened with a key.  This one is keyless!
For the first week when we walked down the hill to get the mail, I would check my pocket to see if I had my key...to my keyless mailbox!  That made me laugh.
Old habits are hard to break.  But now when I start down the hill to check the mail, I don't grab my keys.  Keyless is the way to go!
 

Sunday, October 27, 2013

A Jewel of the Ozarks

Today I visited one of my favorite places.  Caney Mountain Refuge is just a few miles north of my new home.  I can see it from my west porch and today we went for a walk to see what fall had brought to us.
First stop was the Leopold cabin where Starker Leopold and his family stayed while he helped with the planning and execution of the program which helped restore the wild turkey population in our country.  So proud to be a part of this.
These are the steep stone steps down to the spring where the water for the Leopold cabin was drawn.
Leaf covered and rough, you need to be careful on these stairs.
Walking on down the main road we see this magnificent sycamore with an arching branch that reaches over us.
Caney Mountain Refuge is full of fields rimmed with trees.  We are starting to see a little bit of color...late for us this year.  Love the shadows on this stretch of green.
Food plots are full of wheat and these turnips.  Quite a good crop this year.  Deer and other animals should have plenty to eat this winter.
We have watched this field of cane grow over the years.  It started out the size of a large washtub....and now it almost fills the area.  Nice to see the plant that gives its name to Caney Creek and Caney Mountain.
The road leads us from field to forest.  Shadows are getting longer as the afternoon sun slides to the west.
The dogwood blazes in the woods.  Beautiful trees in the spring with their white blossoms.  And magnificent in the fall with red leaves.
Caney Creek in all its stony beauty.  Time to turn around and head back to the car.
The path to Spout Springs is covered with shadow and light.  We will hike that trail another day.
The road home.  This is a scene that Andy painted a few years ago.  A friend has it hanging in his home.  You can see the cane in the background.

   These fall daisies are my favorites. 
Another great hike in my favorite place....Caney Mt. Refuge.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

October Song

I sing a song of October.  I sing of mist-covered mornings when trees and grass drip with crystal dew.  Diamonds glisten on spider webs and wispy weeds long gone dry.
I walk the hill and  hear plain-song melody echoing through the cathedral of oaks arching over me.  Sunlight adds a note with honeyed-colored beams.  And all around me October sings.
At noontide I hear the birds calling to each other.  Here is a flock of meadowlarks.  They miss their friends who have traveled south with the season.  An eagle soars over the far hickory, now turning yellow in the waning light of autumn.  Far off maples are red.  Already bare branches of the walnut sway to the almost silent breath of wind singing softly through thin twigs that move with  dancer's grace.
Evening brings the strum of crickets in the brown grass.  The setting sun touches oak and pine with orange fire.  I can hear the wind moving through the trees down in the valley, a song that is old yet new.  The moon is rising in the east.  Clouds move across it's shining face and throw a net of shadow, catching and seeming to hold it in their grasp.  Finally it breaks free and soars above in velvet sky.  If I close my eyes I can hear the moon and stars singing in unison.  It is an ancient song.  It is the song of changing season.
And my heart joins in, singing that October song.