Sunset this evening
More alluring than what, Jon?
More alluring than the mere superficial appeal of my intense charm and irresistible cuteness.
After a week of relentless rain and chilly temperatures, the deluge has finally abated and warm sunshine has returned.
Returned from where?
Silly questions are going to be ignored. Even when they're from my alter ego.
I risked driving to town in the pouring rain last Saturday, because I desperately needed supplies. "Supplies" meaning milk, bread, cat food, and cat litter.
It's surprising how much excrement three cats can deliver in one day. If I could sell bags of cat shit I'd be a millionaire.
On a more pleasant note, the sunset was lovely this evening. It gets dark very early now, around 6:45 PM. Everything is quickly engulfed in darkness because of the surrounding mountains. It's all trees and deep shadows. So unlike the endless flat plains of Texas, where sunsets seemingly last forever.
Backyard trees this evening
touched by the waning sun
I happened to step outside on the back porch just after dark tonight. A nearby coyote rudely broke the silence with bone-chilling scream. It was extremely close. Coyote screams almost sound human and can be especially unnerving when they're right outside your bedroom window in the middle of the night.
Later tonight I heard the usual packs of howling coyotes and wild dogs.
When I first moved here (nearly a year ago) I was scared witless for the first few weeks. I had unwholesome visions of hungry wolves and roaming serial killers.
Now, however, I'm very seldom scared at night. I keep the blinds pulled up on my bedroom window so I can see the trees and sky while I'm in bed.
My kitchen (on the opposite side of the house) faces the infinitely dark forest. The kitchen window is very large (over-sized) and there's a big window on my back door. I don't have curtains or blinds on either of them. I probably will, eventually, but right now it doesn't seem like a priority.
As I'm typing this now, at 2:30 AM, I'm sitting near the naked kitchen window facing the forest. I actually savor the loneliness. It's a soothing alternative to the drug-crazed neighbors and loud mariachi parties that I had to endure in Texas.
The night is still young for this restless vampire. I have work to do on my nocturnal agenda before dawn.
The leaves haven't really turned colors yet (give it a week or two) but many trees are already shedding leaves.
My back yard doesn't really provide much scenery. I always see spectacular landscapes while I'm driving but it's too much trouble to pull over and take photos.
I was on my front porch this afternoon, but two wasps kept viciously attacking me so I finally went inside.
Another weird spider on my front porch. This time I didn't kill it. It gives the place some Halloween atmosphere. And it looks slightly like the cover on my poetry book Love Letters to Ghosts.
Despite its problems it looks like your new home is so much better than your last. There is something sustaining about nature, and you certainly seem to have a lot of that around you! talking of which can't the cats use it? I wouldn't be buying them kitty litter but turfing them outside every time they get that look on their faces
ReplyDeleteBeing surrounded by nature is so satisfying that I'd never want to live near the chaos of civilization again.
DeleteIt would be too much of an annoyance to have to let the cats out every time they had the urge to "go". I also worry about ticks and wild animals - - not to mention that Scruffy & Bosco would run wild and never want to come back inside (which, perhaps, isn't a bad idea........).
Oh, my. What kind of spider is that? It looks HUGE! I would have to at least knock it down and send it on its merry way elsewhere. Unless it catches wasps. ~~ NB
ReplyDeleteI have no clue what kind of spider it is, but it definitely IS huge. I killed three others just like it during the past week. In a rare moment of compassion, I decided to let this one exist.
DeleteIn a previous blog post one of my readers told me that these are called "writing spiders" in the south. That's something I've never heard of. It looks intimidating, whether or not it can write.
DeleteWriting spiders are black and yellow, your basic garden orb weaver. Unless I have suddenly been stricken color-blind, the spider in your picture did not look black and yellow. ~~ NB
DeleteWriting spiders are so named because of the design they 'write' in the middle of their webs, I assume to attract prey. If the web doesn't have this design, it is not a writing spider.
Deletehttps://www.dropbox.com/s/j1gr1tdhbqmb1o0/Writing%20Spider%201.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/w2clebjnzhpcfin/Writing%20Spider%202.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uxvf1cg7l83x1ay/Writing%20Spider%202015.JPG?dl=0
I appreciate the photos and will consider the mystery officially solved. The resident on my porch isn't a writing spider.
DeleteKeep the spider it will eat the wasps...!!
ReplyDeleteThe wasps seem to be too clever to go near the web - - BUT I'm hoping some of them are near-sighted......
DeleteI occasionally miss being in the wilds, being near nature, but I have become soft and my urban jungle is easier for me to live in.
ReplyDeleteThe urban jungle is indeed much easier to live in, but it's also much more annoying.
DeleteYou live in a beautiful part of the country. I hope your winter is a little milder this year. Sheila
ReplyDeleteI'm really hoping that this winter will be more mild, too. Last winter was incredibly bad and the worst snowstorms didn't begin until February.
Delete(My phone is possessed. 'It' shows you posted this (Bloggy feed) only 29 minutes ago!)
ReplyDeleteI adore these longer, darker nights, but your cover-less kitchen window and back door sounds a bit unnerving - particularly with the sound effects from nearby coyotes!
Funny, but just this morning I was humming the Hollies' 'Look Through Any Window" (yeah).
Your porch swing looks like such a tranquil place to be. (Well, aside from the wasps.)
Your phone was off by about ten hours. This might be the handiwork of Halloween goblins.
DeleteAs for my kitchen windows, I think I'll eventually put up blinds, just in case Bigfoot happens to pass by.
I would love my porch swing if it wasn't for the wasps and spiders. They seem to love the swing, too.
I wanna swing on da porch (minus the wasps). I have an enclosed sunporch for myself and the cats to "go out of doors" and not be besieged by flying critters.
ReplyDeleteI also have a spider web like yours on my living room window; the cats enjoy watching it spin its web.
I wish I had a sun porch for my trio of kitties - they would love it (and it would keep them out of my hair).
DeleteKeep the spider, but I don't know about those uncovered windows at night.
ReplyDeleteI've admittedly never had uncovered windows in my entire life until I moved here. Actually, I have blinds in the living room and bedrooms. It's only the kitchen windows that are uncovered.
DeleteI always enjoy your blog posts and pictures especially. I have never seen or heard a coyote but I can only imagine how scary it would be to hear them. And I'd love to sit on that porch and watch the sunset (minus wasps) . :)
ReplyDeleteI'm delighted that you enjoy my blog posts - I really appreciate the input. Coyotes actually sound similar to hyenas. Their cries and "screams" often sound chillingly human.
DeleteI am betting you do not get trick or treaters up your way....
ReplyDeleteI seriously doubt that any trick or treaters would dare come here. The hike up to my place from the road is daunting.
DeleteJon, after long study I've concluded spider webs, like your beautiful front porch specimen, discourage wasps and hornets with their aeronautical hazard factor. Hornets don't like navigating webs to get to your eaves and establish nests. Garden spiders, like the one in your photo, are now your allies. I talk nicely to them and they forgive me when I blunder into their webs. There ARE some bad spiders --black widows and brown recluses-- that make very disorganized webs under things but your porch web is a well-constructed product of a good spider that is not interested in hurting you. That spider is making an honest living snagging flying insects. You are wise to keep him/her --don't try to determine their gender, makes them peevish. That's all I know.
ReplyDeleteI'm terrified of all spiders - especially the bad ones - but somehow I find these garden spiders to be somewhat fascinating. The handiwork of their webs is truly a form of art, and I'm reluctant to destroy it.
DeleteThe photo I took is blurry and doesn't do the web justice. I was dodging the wasps as I was taking the picture.
Jon,
ReplyDeleteYou have a lovely, lovely home. Peaceful tranquility. My only worry is what would happen in an emergency. Keep that cell phone nearby . . . . always. Thanks for posting these beautiful photos.
Ron
I'm still not nearly settled in and some things are chaotic, but at least I finally have the peace and privacy that I always craved. And I have my cell phone.
DeleteI am very happy for you Jon. Back in my younger days I usually had music blaring in my house. These days I like nothing better that the Quiet. And the peace and tranquility and yes, privacy. Having grown up in a very chaotic environment, now in my dotage I appreciate the Quiet.
DeleteRon
Even with the coyotes, ticks, wasps, monsoon weather, and everything else Tennessee has to offer, I think you're in the ideal place to find peace and serenity. There's a big difference between loneliness and solitude, and I think you've found your haven of solitude.
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right, Susan. Solitude is what I've been seeking most of my life.
ReplyDelete