Gobsmacked Twice

The handy man was in his workshop when he heard a loud bang and as he was aware of sightings of black bears he circled the building warily. Against the white wall he saw this brown partridge. It was alive when he picked it up gently but died in his hands. I have kept bantam chickens a dozen years ago and not to use this bird was too complicated an emotion to go through. Still it was a chore to dress it. I hung it in the cold porch and on the second evening went to task. The beauty of life or ex-life at close quarters can stop a person dead on. Intricate designs and functions for different feathers; there is down and there is flight. On top of that there are pretty patterns in the brown.

In the end, I have in my hand a translucent pink mound of flesh, still a thing of beauty.                                                                                                              

Shitake mushroom on log

Last spring I attended a workshop on the cultivation of mushroom. We inoculate bored holes on a birch log and sealed the holes with a brush of melted wax. This spring I had expected some fruiting but there was none.  So today's sighting was a surprise.

Entertaining harvests

The last tomato with a pink blush has been picked. It will join the the dozen or so on the table. Many have imperceptibly turned red. Yes imperceptibly; the word owned by Emily Dickinson. How does it go?                                                                   

As imperceptibly as grief                                                                                       
The summer lapsed away,                                                                                     
Too imperceptible,at last,                                                                                      
To seem like perfidy.                                                                                                          
Imperceptibly,then, they have reddened and acquired a taste that gives a fleeting joy to relieve the grief she speaks of.                                                                                        

                                                                                           

The Playlist

October 15 with a daytime temperature of 22degrees C. To carry on with the building we needed our ladder which is at Upper and so we had to make the 2 hr trek which turn out to be very enjoyable. We started the playlist with Dustballs by Two Apple Tobacco. The cloudless sky and the autumn hardwoods on both sides of Highway 104 does make the region a Squinter's Paradise. Simon Garfunkel threw in a little nuance with his "I rather be a forest than a street". Then somehow on the secondary road Kraftwerks accompanied the driving with "fun fun fun autobahnn..".
 On the return journey we explore the works of fairly new artists: Andy Brown, Grouplove and others. Enjoyment comes with a little familiarity. At the bottom of the driveway TAT told us we are where we want to be.

Thanksgiving Monday

A little learned drudgery to do,best done cold. Blow on the embers see the gray ash fly. By little trys see the red sparks come. Sun too,tints the sky.

Thanksgiving Sunday October 9

Happy Good Morning. The tree is more eloquent and we are both embracing the bright and blue morning with exuberance. Yay.