Nothing thrills me more than identifying a new bird species in my yard. Well, maybe that is a bit of a stretch, but you know most days it’s the dog, the critters, the woods and me. I’ll have it no other way.

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Tree cam turkeys

A flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers flew into the backyard around 11:00 a.m. followed by a pair of blue jays who despite their size and annoying chirps, couldn’t scare of the several dozen adorable little birds. YRW have a floppy, drunk like flight similar to goldfinch. They forage on the ground and in mid-level trees like dogwoods, redbuds and hickories. At the same time a pair of downy woodpeckers arrived to pound on the pines.

The birds arrival was the perfect mid-morning diversion. I’d been reading a few pieces I’d bookmarked, a piece about self-respect by Joan Didion on coldhearted scientist, Austin Kleon and an interview on ASCAP.com about St. Vincent’s Annie Clark, all a rich diversion from my own work—research for my seafood blog (it’s National Seafood Month) and Thornton Park.

Work on the SALMON manuscript continues until I pass it off to the editor Oct 31. and then NaNoWriMo begins November 1. I’m excited about the new direction of the story and had an epiphany (about using space as a character) a few weeks ago during a MOOC course with the University of Iowa.

I’m working with publishing tool, issuu, a global online magazine publishing service where I published my first piece, Lima Bean Dreams, an essay, originally posted on A Cook Writes. The issuu platform is free for up to 25 issues, then reasonable rates after that. Maybe my dream of creating an online magazine (brainstorming names as I go) will come true sooner than later after all. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, I can think of nothing more than eating apple puff pastry, caramel anything and my mother’s cranberry relish, which I never ate growing up. It’s those things of my past, like my desire to bake Elvis meatloaf for comfort, that find a home around my heart and soul, especially this time of year leading up to the holidays.

***

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Storm clouds marched across the rock white morning sky

Not ready to release their fury on the already saturated Kentucky landscape.

Destination-somewhere east.

A walk in the city park later that day,

Brought blue skies and nary a cloud.

Me, the dog, a flock of Canadian geese,

A warm breeze and patches of cool shade under the pines

kept me company

on another delightful fall afternoon.

Until next month. Happy fall y’all,
M