Tomato Thief

Large green tomato
missing from vine, found chewed up
and left on driveway

~dkm 361/365

Sheila's Tree

Bald cypress conelets
indicate the tree's good health
nourished from the roots

~dkm 361/365

Cooper's Invasion

I'd been sitting long,
still, and silent, in the yard
when all four young hawks

flew in formation
past my ear from behind me
I felt the air stir

Two settled on branch
Two in the birdbaths, one each
Not sure they saw me

Gave new meaning to
Emily Dickinson's line,
"Zero at the bone."

A hawk in each birdbath
No songbirds at the feeders
Eaten? Or hiding?

These youngsters have been

here almost two weeks to date

Time for them to leave

~dkm 360/365

More Fibonacci

Purple coneflower
Clear fibonacci patterns
cut from my garden


~dkm 359/365

For more images
in nature and a graphic
chart to clarify,

Fibonacci Flower

Pollen paradise
for bee on flower center
Plus there's something else

Beautiful pattern
the Fibonacci sequence
of pinecones and more

A mathematical
code that occurs in nature
To make a spiral

Each number is the
sum of the preceding two
It happens like this

1 plus 2 is 3
2 plus 3 is 5. 3 plus
5 is 8. 5 plus

8 is 13. And
on and on until it stops.
I loved learning this.

~dkm 358/365

Photo credit: Sally Kauffman Green

For further explanation and images:

https://www.treehugger.com/how-golden-ratio-manifests-nature-4869736

Cereus Friendships

In friend Tate's greenhouse
his night-blooming cereus
bud will open soon.

My only prior

knowledge of this flower comes
from another friend

Pearl, who tells of a
Eudora Welty story
in which it figures.

Welty's character
throws a party for her friends
from dusk until dawn

to celebrate the

beauty and fragrance that lasts
for one night only. 

It's party-worthy

indeed, as in this photo
sent by my friend Joan.

~dkm 357/365

Photo credit: Joan Watson 

Hawk Talk

Cooper's hawk youngster
floats down to the banister
eyeing the feeders

He knows nothing of
his kind's reputation for
poaching at feeders

Yet already he
follows the protocol of
his genetic code

Fly low and nab them
at their most vulnerable:
just fledged or eating

You're a beautiful
specimen, young Cooper, sir
This I don't deny

But I'll be damned if
I let my unsuspecting songbirds
fall prey to your wiles

~dkm 356/365

Surprise Ending

Young hawks in backyard
Perching long on children's bench
Too far for photos

Still, I snapped a few
In hopes of blowing them up
For a closer look

One soon flew away
The other stayed for awhile
Then flapped to the ground

Not until enlarged
did the photograph reveal
The two sun bathers

~dkm 355/365

On the Fence

These newly fledged hawks
explain the crying we've heard
from the neighbor's yard

And the kerfuffles
of late in the trees, and the
feathers in the grass

Regal but brutal
I know of course they must hunt
but please not right here

May they all find their
new territories post haste
I wish them godspeed

~dkm 354/365

Photo credit: Philippe Rosak

Orchidaceae

In his orchid house
my friend knows the name of each

cultivar in bloom  

Do I imagine

they nod and stand taller when

he calls them by name?

~dkm 353/365

Tate Anderson's greenhouse