09.14.07 DEWFALL

With cooler weather moving in, we get heavy dew in the mornings. The cool temperature just wrings the moisture from the air and decorates the garden with jewels of crystal clear water. Well-needed in many places in our county where a drought continues. Here in our mountain cove we have been blessed with many thunderstorms in addition to these heavy dewfalls. Our garden is still green and growing.

09.13.07 WARY MANTID

Sitting on the screen of the back porch yesterday morning this huge praying mantis, probably Mantis religiosa, kept an eye on me as I pulled out my camera to take its portrait. A praying mantis is often mistakenly referred to in text as a "preying" mantis. But this mistake is quite understandable as the mantids are carnivorous and will eat any insect they can capture. They are considered highly beneficial by gardeners who place their egg cases in the garden. Awesome eye sight, quick reflexes, and powerful limbs are all characteristics of a ferocious creature. I am glad that mantids remain small!

09.12.07 A RECORD OF OUR DAYS

The apples are falling from my tree, and the deer eat them faster than I can collect them. They are a treat for man and beast, juicy, tart, crispy, and delicious. They don't look like grocery store apples, and I am not certain what variety was planted, but they are perfect to me. If you take a moment to examine the fruit before eating or peeling you can see a history of each one's days recorded on its skin. Warm rosy moments and tough warty periods, fine green hours and moldy gray moments. Life, a blessing to hold.

09.11.07 SASSAFRAS

Sassafras albidum has a much softer wood than dogwood and is essentially useless for tool or cabinet making. But this beautiful tree is redeemed by the marvelous fragrance emitted by all its parts. This was one of the first trees I learned to recognize as a child because of its remarkable leaf form. Leaves come in three types: oval, mitten-shaped, and mitten-shaped with two thumbs!

09.10.07 "DAGWOOD"

The berries on the dogwood tree, Cornus florida, have turned a beautiful red and will add color to the forest long into the winter. Wikipedia reports that this tree is called "dogwood" as a corruption of "dagwood" or "daggerwood." Dogwood has a good hard wood which was once used to make daggers as well as all types of wooden tools and handles.

09.09.07 WOODLAND WEB

Toadstools, rats, and now spiders! I apologize for the "darker" turn this journal has taken this weekend, but I couldn't resist including the beautiful sight of this amazing natural architecture as I drove to the forest to release the unwelcome visitor previously mentioned.

09.08.07 INCONSOLATE INTERLOPER

We have had a visitor to the dog food bowl. This unwelcome fellow, a brown rat, Rattus norvegicus, was caught this morning in the "Have A Hart" trap I set out next to the dog pen. Brown rats can quickly become a serious infestation, especially if there is a supply of free food (like a dog food bowl!) around. The best way to get rid of rats is to make all food inaccessible. Since this was not absolutely possible, I resorted to traps. This fellow is bound for a new home in the forest about ten miles away!