Wildlife – Page 2

Emma and I have been working on our home trail in recent weeks.

It is to be a knitting trail ! ! !

Our trail begins right next to Jeff’s workshop…

And takes off into the woods, just follow Emma.

It goes upwards very quickly…

It meanders along old deer-trodden paths ,

which Emma and I have enhanced with our footsteps.

It passes by tall firs,

oaks & bays,

madrones & maples…

You will see my short rows of sticks on occasion,

they are trail markers in sections where the knitting trail goes one way,

while the deer may go another…

Emma is charged with purpose as she surveys the forest, and the wildlife.

There is at least one mountain lion which lives in the area, sighted many times, and I often wonder if it is the lion which she smells. I think I would like to put some places to sit (and knit) along the way. Just sit, knit, and listen to the wildlife.

Some small sections are getting the shovel treatment, like here at the trail-head.

(Yes, that is our house, and my car, which I try to drive as little as possible)

So you see, I have been working like an ox lately, for this is the time of year I love most to be outside toiling away, among the falling leaves of Autumn. There’ll be more photos later, as the Knitting Trail is honed to perfection !

* * *

Its the last day of October today, and that means it is Halloween! For the occasion I thought I’d post a photo of something remarkably ominous from the woods! The raven’s cultural and somewhat spooky symbolism is not to be debated, however here they are just a cheerful and welcomed presence, and flock about year round. They make themselves very comfortable, eating the berries in the native trees, and fruit & veggies from our garden, and pick from our compost pile too. I think they are fascinating birds, possessing a truly amazing regal intrigue and even sense of humor (they like to tease Emma every chance they get), and they are the stewards of these woods all the same. Here is a photo I took last week, zoomed into the branches of an oak while this fellow and his mate were making deep throaty chortling & clucking conversation…
jenjoycedesign©Raven

It’s particularly quiet on the mountain this morning.

In the summer stillness of Northern California, there is usually no weather to report for months on end. Sometimes there is a breeze. Sometimes a little fog which swells up from the valley in the morning. Sometimes a relentless wind which cracks off dried branches from the trees in the forest and whips off tips of new growth, littering the country road.

The wind whistling through the tree tops is the most eerie up in the Rafters O’ Society, above the towns, overlooking ridges which overlap , one behind another clear into the next county. Because in the breeze one hears a kind of silence which is felt in the restless sound of the trees quivering. The fact that one hears *only* the breeze, I guess is what makes it seem so quiet.

(Two pensive ravens perched in a dead fir tree, photographed with a zoom from my house, yesterday early evening.)

I do like rain, or even a lot of rain ~ in fact, I love rain. But for now there’s blue sky. Lots and lots of clear, dry, and very blue sky. This summer season makes me feel rather despondent, clear through September. I must hunker down in the shadows. It’s time to make a good strong pint of tea and stir things up.

In the dusty wild west, where things are a few degrees removed from finery, some of us pioneers, well, we devise our own way of doing things. I do have a couple of small tea pots, but I have gotten into the habit over the years to brew loose-leaf tea in a canning jar, sometimes a pint sized (to be pour’d into a pint glass) , but more times than not, I make up in a quart-sized jar. What is left can easily be put into the fridge for cold tea later, which is a treat in the summer heat.

This really isn’t about tea, or the wind, or the ravens. Its about my changing course, about drinking in what nature brings to me, and waiting for the wind in my sails again. Having had a house full of family for an epic family reunion I am ready for something cheerfully rejuvenating. I am going to shake it loose and default to some good ol’ classic knitting ! So time to finish these…

I learn from my mistakes very clumsily, like using a machete through the bush, I rip back and then knit forward, rip and knit, rip, knit.

Last night I had to rip back the mindless knitting I had apparently done while at a long break during a gig last weekend, I kept decreasing through the heel gussets (two at a time mistake) and ended up with far too few stitches. So, having fixed that, now I am merrily on my way again.

Category: Wildlife

A Knitting Trail

Summer Breeze