pickle springs winter the rocks become snow-capped mountains

tufted titmouse the first hints of dawn in a gray sky

with eagle intensity a pilot before landing

woodland splash the coyote sees me first

lamps of mushrooms across the forest*

a defiant stare the sparrow holds onto the ice

independence day miles above the pink granite the milky way

green heron almost missing him under the tupelo

nature's fireworks the sensitive briar lights its own fuse

valentines in august the prairie roses

cathedral dasher with spindly legs and crystal wings

the post oaks next to the diamond scores of dead ash

a cypress swamp the fog settles in for the night

blue clusters mapping out the small world of cedar berries

hooded merganser you've taken my morning hair to a new level

the december hurry starts with flurries

*bonnet mushrooms

Inspired by the 2014 Natural Events Calendar

new year old year the mobster-in-chief inciting a mob

snowstorm no one expecting the bluebird

morning hike a cottontail standing in the snow

ice crystal tethered to the briefness of winter

swift current the sycamores tinged with rust

hughes mountain a fog drifts into our silence

trail guide each black-eyed susan

snowy owl how many miles did I walk to get here

a white tail negotiating the riffles

female cardinal red enough to be a beacon in the cedar

spotting a gray fox every color in the crayon box

lunch time a butterfly in a field of thistle

a scraggly wildness in the milkweed blooms

no one knows how they got here gooseberries part of the fence

sunny umbrellas the gray headed coneflowers

it's not spring until the redbuds open

sleepy hollow the sudden gold of witches' butter

the purpleness of a prairie in september

rain clouds on our last walk together

Inspired by 2020's Natural Events Calendar

snowmelt not even coffee can clear the morning fog

frozen facebook page unfriended by winter

insomnia what do sheep count

years of neglect in the barn's collapse 

black ice a skid turns serious

doctored documentary this is not what happened

subtle changes in the gray to grey clouds

the spaces of loneliness, the senseless clutter

repurposed keys and the doors they went to forgotten

christmas dinner we peel the green off the red potatoes

december rain the landscape of depression and its unfinished work 

odometer 80,000 miles I feel like I've walked every one of them

holiday lights we miss the meteor shower

2020s Legacy

winter spell the concession a con session 

vaccine in deep freeze his hand puppets agree we are turning the corner

freedom rally logic bald eagles don't wear masks

stormy weather a voting conspiracy clouds the Capital

stalled front mister nature and his predictable temper tantrum

a president's bruised ego doesn't care california's still burning

herd immunity fables from those who are immune to the truth

covid-19 march a virus more organized than we are

broken concrete the walls of the promised land crumbling

wind advisory a heron roosting in the sycamore