Green

A shocker this morning! As I walked out onto the porch, TWO Great Blue Herons were arguing - but not for long - one flew away to the little inlet behind the trees and the other to the west over by the peninsula to begin his normal stalking of fish along the shoreline. The second one seems to have flown away - haven't seen him again. Never before have I seen two here. It's overcast again - so a bit cooler. Still, I close the door to keep the a/c from coming on even though the thermostat is set at 80. There is a nice breeze occasionally - I'm enjoying the overcast days. It's quiet now and very still and green. The green is greener when the sun is not bearing down on us. Brings back memories of Ireland - the greenest place I've ever been. I remember living in Oregon on the west side of the mountains where things are very green also. What green means, of course, is lots of rain. Here, it's now green, but was brown only a short time ago. We switch back and forth between brown and green in the summer time. And now August is here and leaves will begin to turn - I saw red sumac a couple of days ago. They are the first to know the days are growing shorter. A belted kingfisher was here yesterday. I first saw one here in October of 99. Fun to watch him perch on the posts that supported a spillway pipe years ago and dive down for fish. The pipe is long gone so now water spills out a culvert on the far end of the dam. But it hasn't spilled through it in a long time - not since last winter.