All on an October day

         Yesterday was filled up!  I went to Lexington to take part in the nationwide rally for women's reproductive rights.  (I also went grocery shopping at the Good Foods Coop where George Ella Lyon and I met up to go to the rally together downtown.)  On the way home I drove along our ridge in great evening light so I had to risk my life a bit to take a few photos --  I can't help myself.  When I arrived at the house, I could see that Preston Netherly had been by that day to do the October mowing of my field. I was barely in time to see it with the hint of lovely mist.

 

This is my favorite photo from the rally -- I didn't take all that many.

mother and daughter

BACK ON THE RIDGE, NEAR HOME, though not in chronological order:

PLUS:

brand new neighbors!

For now, the mowing happens twice a year. 

Once again, I hope every one who can be is now vaccinated, for the sake of each other.  

At the same time, thanks for sharing an unusual day with me. I appreciated the energy I received at the rally!  I also am grateful for the beauty around me where I live.

More in two weeks!  Ann

Once again it's two more weeks! Summer is a-goin' in -- a hurry

        I stay amazed that light around us changes so much even when we are not paying attention. I think that being aware of light and working with ambient light is one aspect of my creative life that keeps me grounded. It's like checking out the temperature of the water without a narrow purpose. Even the darkening evening sky is part of that constant awareness. As I am writing this, the sky is blue, gray and pink, blended with nuance but without fanfare in the sky over me.

        Today's photos are all recent, and perhaps they seem to be random, but they are the light that I see and respond to. 

        This first photo is along Sideway Road, past where my house is. For some reason unknown to me as yet, the field has not been mowed this year:

the day lilies -- in their prime -- from inside my home

This is the phoebe who, from above the lilies,  monitors my coming and going from the house.

family outing, totally unexpected, as the sharpness (not) of this photo reveals

I do love this photo, which I would label "Barbed wire, new gate, and hay ring." To me there's something about these combined layers that mirrors poetry.

        OK, now two Rebecca photos, one by her and one of her-- the first one PROOF that the rhododendrons bloom this year, down by the waterfalls! (The blossom is showing signs of a recent heavy rain.)

photo by Scott Pryor, waterfall really looking just like it does here

        Now, to end this collection, another 30 second video, of the first curve on my former driveway, after it passes over the cleared area for the pipeline.  Lots of ice storm depris can still be seen. Notice the scarcity of flat surfaces.

        Once again, I really enjoy sharing these photos and stories on this blog.  Two weeks from now will be July 25, and I will have photos from an altogether different place.  

        Also once again, I want to encourage EACH ONE OF US to have a vaccine, FOR THE SAKE OF ALL OF US.    Ann

two weeks later...

        dear everyone -- Two weeks seems like a long time, but I know it's just a blip. I have been out making hay - not really -- but I do like making hay photos this time of the year.  I can also walk up and down my Sideway Road in the evening, since it's neither too hot nor too cold.  And, so far, not too buggy --  no cicadas to speak of! 

       Since I do have a bunch of recent photos, and one short quiet video, I'll get started.

 

sharing yellow lines -- the field in this photo looks like mine does now

 

field of hay and the moon!

hay rising on the hill

hay getting more seasoned

hay -- with wind

 

 

 

two photos from the swampy area along my road:

pond cattails also growing

Here's a tribute to my namesake, Queen Anne's Lace -- though actually I just happen to like this photo, made with my iPhone when evening was turning into night.

Preston's tractor overnighting at my neighbor's  house

I call this a Kentucky Yucca tree. Ha ha. I have no idea how it stands firm in its bank. 

     And now the video!  I had planned to have two videos, one before the hay was cut and one during, but Preston arrived and got to work while I was at the dentist!  Next year he wants to come earlier, in May, so stay tuned.  

 

 

 

By the way, I don't have any reason to go to the trouble of making a single bale of hay, so I am mainly keeping the field open and "fed" by the decomposing that takes place. The turkeys enjoy it too... and the deer and other animals. I hope this very basic video works its wonder once again.  Enjoy --- and come again in two weeks, on July 11. Maybe I will even have had another video opportunity by then. You even have time by then to go get vaccinated if you aren't already.  Take one for the sake of all.   Ann

 

summer switch

        I hereby declare that I love doing this weekly blog BUT, this summer, I am going to an EVERY OTHER WEEK schedule.  SO the next post will be June 27.  I did this change one other summer, and, as I told a friend, the world didn't stop then, and it won't this summer either.... There's just too much else going on -- or at least that's how it feels after the many, many months of lock down.  We now get to be cautious on the move....or in the garden. 

        Here are a few photos arising from recent times:

 

This is the first daylily to have bloomed, outside my door.  The view shows that daylily closing up for the day and for forever. I do absolutely nothing to take care of this patch. Yet, so far, every year, they return to excel again.

 

 

 

I made this photo in May, but I'm not sure where.  Usually I remember every photo and where I was at the time. If anyone viewing this post knows where I was, please let me know! Thanks!

This photo location is well known to me  -- it is across from my mailbox.  In the last two days, the tree has bent all the way over to the ground.  I wonder who will soon cut off the top now that there's no longer any need to get into the swamp to do the job. 

 

 

 

I went out in the world, to Lexington, on Saturday, and stopped by Melva's house en route to talk about some photos. Her welcoming cactus seemed very beautiful to me. I understand, however, it's extremely prickly and can easily cause pain. Melva has an all encompassing green thumb!

I treated myself to lunch at the Pho Saigon restaurant, in Lexington. The meal was fantastic, both beautful and delicious, and very few people were there. I am a fan of Vietnamese food, and I once had a ten day visit to the beautiful country itself.

    Then this morning, our Quaker Meeting  (in Lexington) had its first in-person gathering, with some of us remaining on Zoom.  I didn't know about this project the teens presented, but I thought it wonderful and couldn't resist a quick screen shot.  Everyone is still masked, so I don't know who anyone is, but thank you so much, thank you all, for this beautiful and joyful banner.

    I am going to add one last photo after I post this much, of the hay in my relatively small field. We may have a stretch of dry weather this week, so the tractor that comes to mow my neighhbor's field does mine as well. 

There's a second batch of phoebes in my carport.  The parents take turns sitting on the roof of my car, resting up, if bird parenting is anything like people parenting! The nest this time around looks to me like a large cupcake.

        PLEASE REMEMBER THAT I WILL RETURN AFTER TWO WEEKS, and I hope each one reading this has some laughs by then from something that happens and time to feel connected to those people important in our lives.  Ann

 

Poetry and photo-trie, a connection

              I'm currently doing some thinking about my photos for a talented good friend whose book of poetry will be published within the year.  There might be one image that works for the cover of the book!  She grew on a working farm, so we agreed to start with some of my "hays and fields", which I have because they happen to fascinate me. So I thought I would share some of them on this week's blog, to kind of mimic seeing them in print.  (Summer's early mowing will start before we know it.)

 

 

 

an earlier version

made a few summers later, and at mid day, which doesn't always work this well

         

first of three -- this one has the outhouse and a tractor

This one is the cropped version of the following one.

The graves on the top of the hill show, if you know what they are.

 

Many of these photos have been on this blog before, but I have never before brought them all together. And there are more. It is wonderful for me to have an excuse to look at them, one after the other, most of them fairly near my home.  There's a reason why I never get bored driving to and from anywhere nearby. Enjoy. Be thankful for hard workers. And for poets who can do so much with words and insights. Here's to harvests all around.