Tuesday 23 August 2005
~ early afternoon ~

From the Touchstones:
For a change I remembered to bring a small notebook and pen on my daily walk, to write down what I see. A couple weeks ago it was the mother coyote. Last week it was a speedy red fox that Sara chased out of the clover field. Yesterday she raced a badger to its hole, just outside the yard.

Gophers being as numerous as they are, the badgers have moved in to fatten themselves up for winter. I was glad the badger won the race. It would’ve taken a round out of Sara. But without her, I probably wouldn’t even have noticed it.

The ditches and meadows right now are exploding with wild purple asters.

On a morning walk through a pasture yesterday, there were three red-tailed hawks coasting and whistling above my head. When I’d stop and look up to watch the undersides of their stretched-out wings, they’d be silent. When I’d move again, they’d call some more, as if to say Hey! Where are you going? Look at me!

The sky is very dark all around this big rock I am perched on, and there is thunder in the southwest. I suppose I’d best make my way back to the house, where Everett is baking bran muffins and where I should be getting to my desk.

Thunder travelled from the south all the way across the western sky. I am waiting for lightning, not seeing any.

From the house:
Managed to thin a few of Pat’s carrots and take the tops to the stallion before the rain began. I’ve been enjoying the crashing and growling coming from the clouds, and now don’t want to go inside. So I am under the roof on the deck — all too close to various metal things — Emil’s crutches leaning into the corner, some wheels for Scott’s scaffolding — but I feel safe, though the last crack of thunder was close. Still, there are higher things nearby for thunder to strike, and I’m wearing rubber-soled shoes.

Wow! VERY close!

Wonder if this storm will miss 22 so Scott can finish swathing up there.

Some of the thunder continues so long it sounds like a jet crossing the sky.

Evening, from my bed
Today would be Mom and Dad's 47th wedding anniversary. His day was "tough," he said. He went out and bought a single red rose and put it into a vase next to Mom's picture on the mantel.

We got about three inches of rain this afternoon. The corrals are flooded; the cattle are knee-deep in water and muck. There were tornado warnings in the area, so maybe I wasn't imagining things when I wondered if that last photo I took was the beginning of a funnel cloud.

The thunder is still crashing out there! It reminds me of freight cars banging together in a railyard.