Pre Autumn Oaks
by Stormcat
August fifteenth! It's a dark dawn this morning! Seems strange
because the sky is clear. Then I realize that the summer is waning, that it’s
only a bit more than a month till the autumnal equinox. The old ones know, and the squirrels,
it's never too early to prepare for winter . . . Eleven oaks surrounding the
house and this is the bumper year . . . acorns,
like a hailstorm. fall like missiles, point first, semicircular husk trailing.
I wonder how many squirrels die from being hit on the head. I see the striped squirrels hiding
under the spruce and hemlock, racing out to grab a nut, then, just as fast,
retreating to safety beneath the thick boughs.
August sixteenth! Another frog came in the house tonight. It
trapped itself in a small box and I heard it jumping desperately trying to get
the angle to clear the lip, but each time ramming into the sides. Surely it
could have easily jumped out because when I tipped the box on its side it
hopped away taking five and six foot measures with each leap. Now came the task
of catching and taking it out . . . it couldn't survive here in the house. So I
tracked it into the living room, then under the wood stacked next to the stove
then out into the kitchen past the pantry into the laundry room down the stairs
to the garage and finally cornered it. It squirmed and pushed as I took it into
my hands, but I held firmly and comforted it by telling it that now it was
going to be much happier outside in the leaves under the bushes. Then I went a
little way out the back door, cover of darkness, and set it in the leaves,
bidding my new friend a fond farewell. . . I love frogs!
August seventeenth! Still dark at 5:30 AM?! No clouds? Made
coffee, then felt a craving for the fresh beets and carrots stored in the
fridge. The beet greens were far too old to eat so I placed them in the compost
bucket with the carrot tops. . . everything
was parboiled, chilled, then shredded and made into a tasty late morning dish
with crumbled goat cheese, provincial herbs, olive oil, sherry vinegar, and
crushed pecans. A glass of Rhone wine made it perfect and I wished my love was
here to share it with me. (She would appreciate the pairing!) I didn't clean up
right away . . . I never do when I'm alone. I just sat down at my desk and
worked for a while. Later, when I cleaned up and took the greens out to the
compost pile, is when I found it . . . my frog friend . . . a few feet from
where I'd released it . . . splayed out dead on the leaves . . . an acorn
beside it.
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