Category Memorable moments in rural Wisconsin
Little Doe
For the past two months, a deer has been grazing placidly alongside the sheep in a neighboring field. When she first appeared, I thought it was a fluke, a lovely four-legged passerby who would vanish within days. But she’s still there, and she’s gone from being “the little doe in Toby’s field” to “Little Doe.” […]
The Chickadee Roommate
This poor little chickadee has been languishing in my photo files for quite awhile now; the bees’ arrival pushed his avian dreams into the background. Things are pretty quite right now, though–the garden is planted, and the bees are humming along–so I’ll put up this picture of the bird who, for a period of about […]
Scions of a plucky rogue
As I mentioned previously, the stronger colony has represented its own significant chapter in the beekeeping saga. Happily, it’s still gamely carrying on no matter what idiot mistakes I make. And my first idiot mistake was a doozy, at least from my perspective. I had gone out early one morning to check their sugar water […]
Arranging a hit with the Amish Mafia
They used to be so adorable, those little white fluffball chicks who traveled so philosophically in the paws of my overly enthusiastic son. They were so adorable, in fact, that I’d written in a previous post about how they might have charmed their way out of the stewpot even if they did indeed prove to […]
Return of the bees
I’d been disconcerted by the silence of the fruit trees this spring, although judging from the number of baby apples currently swelling, the bumblebees and native bees clearly made up for the lack of honeybees this year. But apparently the recently-blooming motherwort plants sang to them with a floral siren song, because they’re now swarming […]
Alondra’s day in the country
Alondra had a rural odyssey this morning; we walked several miles through a tranquil country landscape, absorbing the peace of nature, making the most of the sunny hours that blessed us despite dire storm-filled weather forecasts. She had just finished writing the captions for these photos when she had to go home, so I’ll post […]
The Aspirations of Wild Things
I saw a rare sight today: a herd of deer picking their way delicately across one of the fields behind our house. One would think, being out in the country, deer would hardly be a novelty, but they are. (I’ve even found myself wishing we had MORE deer when the ground was covered with half-spoiled […]
Dreams and Odysseys
Sage’s dream came true—literally. He’d woken up in tears three days ago, sobbing because he’d dreamed he’d gotten the toy bow and arrows I’d so cruelly denied him a week or two previously, but he woke up before he could play with them. He was inconsolable until I bribed him with a trip to the […]
The Convocation of Horses
I had the privilege of attending the Convocation of Horses this morning. I’d gotten up slightly before dawn to let Chaussette out, and we wandered over to the field behind our house. My neighbor Jacob had recently finished his corn picking there and had turned his horses out into the field to graze on the […]
Perching robins and clever disguises
Spring has crept in cleverly disguised as winter, but the birds don’t seem to be fooled. A giant robin came and perched like a Christmas tree star on top of one of our still-bare apple trees; I wish I could have gotten a picture, but unfortunately, I hadn’t had the foresight to carry my camera. […]
Moments of Unexpected Beauty 