Sunday, May 15, 2016

Awww ... Urban Wildlife Watching


A couple years ago, construction workers converted 
a ditch near work into a marshy retention pond.
It's meant to hold overflow rainwater from surrounding
neighborhoods, preventing homes from flooding.
Last summer it seemed to be a wasted effort
because we had so little rain, but this year 
the reeds and cattails are happily standing in water, 
providing shelter for redwing blackbirds,
mallard ducks, and Canada geese.


A couple weeks ago, I noticed this goose roosting 
on a spot not ten feet from the road.
Last week I took another look and saw that
she had little bits of yellow fluff peeping from
beneath her own gray feathers.
Babies! She'd hatched her little goslings!
I could only see four.


A few days later, I saw she had gone.
I figured she's taken her babies to another, safer spot,
away from the dangers and distractions of human
intervention and annoyances.
Another coworker went closer to the nest 
and saw there were eggs.
Would she have just abandoned her eggs
or had she realized they weren't going to hatch
and taken her little family to a new home?


Monday, May 2, 2016

Dunno ... I Just Dunno


It rained all day Saturday.
When I first saw a group of these
guys walking down Pennsylvania Street
towards Monument Circle to ... who knows where?
I at first thought they had wrapped themselves in towels 
because they lost their clothes as participants
in some sort of mud fest


There were hundreds of them clad in various
styles of frocks from faded chiffon concoctions and
sequined mini dresses to "little" black dresses.
I laughed and shook my head; after all,
there is something disconcerting about a frilly tulle
skirt wafting around above a pair of stocky,
hairy calves. Every one of them needed instruction
in the niceties of wearing a gown. They reminded
 me of Vincent D'Onofrio as Edgar the bug
from Men In Black, who tries to master the actions
and mien of the human whose body
he had just taken over. 


Sunday, May 1, 2016

Theme Day: Smell



The Theme for the first day of May is "Smell."
I posted another image of this same tree some weeks
ago showing its tiny buds against a background
of brown stucco. Since then, the flowers have come
and gone, too soon. All around, bunches of pansies
 have been planted in beds, against a background
of black mulch. Tulips have opened their
crowns to the sun and fallen away.
Today, hidden among the branches of its bush,
I saw the first rose opening, its aroma 
a promise still hidden amid the folds
of its petals. 
But I have smelled the rain,
those "April Showers" that bring
all the delicate colors I love so much.
And the scent of just-mowed grass
has wafted through the neighborhoods
in recent days as homeowners
wage a battle to keep their lawns from
turning into little jungles.