the rain has come... its a really nice fall rain... the leaves on the tree tops are starting to turn yellow on the street in front of the house... and preperation for the long months ahead are begining to form in the back of the mind...

Clear and dry lately. Chillier than usual. Our summer spanned a very short time. Spring was so late in coming. I've never seen it so late. I don't recall such a chilly summer before either, but my memories are faulty... er... to a fault. The geese are migrating as soon as it's dark. Heard two flocks honk their way over my house.

Strangely, the leaves aren't changing yet. Usually there are some random branches that shift right around the September mark. Very odd year so far.

Since the beginning of this year, I've only been out in nature once. It was in the local forest, a 45 minute underground ride from where I'm living. Very powerful and abundant though crowded and harassed by heavy air traffic noise. There's been no time for more remote ventures :(

Lets see... I've seen a lot of interesting critters lately. Toad, lizard, garden snake, black tailed squirrel, fish, raven, blue jay, white tail deer and possibly others. I've been spending time befriending a walnut tree. I have to work on that relationship more. On a hike recently I caught wind of some nature spirit. I got the feeling that it was large, dark, strong, was going somewhere with purpose in its gait. It made a big noise at first, although only I heard that, and the rest of this came through non physical senses. It was to our left and didn't seem to be looking in our direction but rather in the direction that we were going. I also got the impression of a person, possibly a native, that walked, more marched, up to the point of where the nature spirit started.

I also have noticed some trouble for the Bear Creek watershed. One area of the creek had about 10 or more dead fish in it. We thought this might have something to do with the nearby trail head bbq grill. We were thinking some jackass dumped something poisonous into the water and that the concentration that was in the dumping area was enough to kill all those fish. We also saw that some plants are getting weird red bumps on their leaves. Almost like those plants are allergic to something.

It has not rained for three weeks here in Iowa so it is quite dry. Otherwise it is great weather with warm days and cool nights due to low humidity. Leaves are beginning to fall. I think they are just tired and dry, and the birds are for the most part silent these days, except for the occasional blue jay giving an alarm call, which always gets Tinker's attention.

The cicadas were quite late to get going this year, but now they account for most of the daytime sound here. It just occurred to me that they sound a lot like didgeridoos, which makes me want to get mine out and call back to them. Of course when evening comes then the crickets take over in a great chorus.

I found a nightshade plant last evening on a walk with a branch lined with a whole row of "tomatoes" in descending sizes out to the tip. I don't know why such things are appealing to see, but it was.

All of the warm season tall prairie grasses are ripening now and I love the bronzes, burnt orange and blue of the big bluestem which is about 8 feet tall. It must have been quite an experience for the early settlers to come out this way and make their way through it. It was not the only grass as there would also have been indian grass and switch grass and clumps of tall northern dropseed with long wiry leaves like flowing horses' manes, as well as the shorter little bluestem and sideoats gramma. Beautiful.

Wildflowers here now are tiny lavender asters and frost asters, and the larger purple and pink New England asters, white snake root, still some goldenrod, lots of yellow coneflowers. There are still some blooming wild cucumbers (a personal favorite) but the dry weather is getting to them, and I still have jumpseed out front, though it is fading. If you get to normally wet spots there is giant blue lobelia. Queen Ann's Lace is still about in some places, though most of the flower heads have culed up into bird's nests by now.

I guess that's about enough. Great time of year!

rain...and mangos!

the fucking wind.