rain in july

we had a good rainstorm yesterday, beginning around 5:30 or 6 in the evening.  started with a rumbling sky and dark clouds moving in.  we got quite a downpour.  staal and i were out trying to get things covered up and we both got soaked within a couple of minutes. 

storm rolling in

the ducks had a great time bathing, dabbling in puddles, and drilling in the mud as the rain was coming down.

we collected quite a bit of roof runoff in the rain barrels and holding tank and i found about 3/4" in the rain gauge this morning.

 everything is looking and smelling very fresh this morning.

work crew

blackberries

it's a good year for berries...

"good morning peepers!"

making feathers

the ducklings are looking a bit motley these days as they're busy shedding fuzz and making feathers.  runner ducks have several genes for color.  they can be white, black, fawn, penciled, gray (mallard), etc. and breeders are always tinkering with developing new colors.  i've always loved the deep brown of the chocolate runners.  so when i decided it was time to get ducks i ordered chocolate runners.  out of the 17 ducklings i received 3 are chocolate runners.  i'd been a bit suspicious from the moment i opened their shipping box.  3 of them were definitely brown.  the others were a kind of brownish gray.  as they grew the grayish ones became a bit lighter gray and developed black spots here and there.  i contacted the hatchery to find out why some of my "chocolate" runners were gray with black spots.  well, it turns out, it's because they're blue runners.  they're all beautiful, chocolate or not.

a chocolate surrounded by blues showing off some sleek new belly feathers

a blue runner with new feathers just above her wings

they all seem to be feathering out at their own pace

can't wait to see them all dressed up.

berry begging

i take the bowl you made for me                         

and go out to beg berries
from the blackberry vines
fasting and barefoot
it is a meditation
an exercise in mindfulness
and self-restraint
i step carefully
to avoid damaging the vines
and my bare feet
moving slowly
deliberately
heeding hundreds of prickly warnings
each fat, sun-warmed berry i gather
is a temptation resisted
i give thanks for each one
as it drops into my stained hands
and place it gently in the bowl
tonight, love, we will share their sweetness

the sunflower

the sunflower looks down at me
knowingly
its golden petals dance 
in the whispering breeze
and i weep
because i still do not understand
or is it
because i do?