November--Crowded Mountain Highways, Curvy Roads,and beautiful Scenery

During the start of this year--I've been into coffee quite a bit--you know like drinking to much--after a certain time of day --I can be up for ever it seems like so I started checking on the coffee--you know like studying what and when it took hold of me and for how long--here's what I determined--after three o'clock I can't drink coffee--unless I 'm going for at least six more hours--(minimum) it stays in there doing whatever it has to do to keep me up...and the quantity doesn't seem to matter--I could have one cup or two but remember six hours--unless you are beat--if my heart races--I usually take a baby aspirin--to come the ruffled waters--the only thing that seems to matter is what my next day looks like--if I going to have a busy day it's going to be rough because I was up all night--but if you can get into all nighters hey there ain't no better time--you're all alone--unless other night owls are around--12 and 12--light and dark--and all the in-betweens..

November 17--2014--Monday wow those kind of rainy days--with enough chill on the air--to make you want to stay inside warm--I'm looking outside the window now at gray, wet, leaves and bark--my fingers are cold just from standing in front of the window-- looking outside-- I've got the temperature on the house thermostat set at 65 degrees--not cold not hot--sweater weather--in side--my mind has been going a mile a minute--you just turn on T V. once and away goes your mind on all kinds of crap--and what crap covers --is everything that is going on the world --over--almost sounds like a story about the start of doomsday...every where it's not  " Prairie Home Companion "it's every detail on murder--killings--war--shooting down planes--sickness--"epidemic" type--I'm telling myself on Sunday night when I turn on the T.V. and their showing the "Walking dead"--and this is the world we're living in--it's all coming true before your very eyes--escaping is the only thing on my mind--getting this stuff as far away from --me --as possible--I am not talking about leaving--I talking clearing the air--saying no more--I have no idea were anything is going except it's definitely going without me--seeing what I'm seeing--watching it's like when I was young--Vietnam--my friends--while you were in Vietnam and I was at home I saw every gory detail on the tube--I was fighting to get every last person out of there--all that promise going to waste--if you complain about the army here --you're almost an outcast from the start--they're doing something I can't even imagine-- when I try to imagine it goes to places and things--that absolutely blow my mind--I'm more of a stay home type of guy--getting out away from somewhere dear--I have a tendency to feel insecure--out of place-not exactly lost--but close enough--to make "nothing" as important as it should be--there's some thin places in the clouds--the skies still light grayish--almost white in places--where the sunlight is trying to get through--the dogs all wanted out earlier--trying to open the door with all of them trying to get out all at once--they rushed around the fence--then headed off into the woods raising hell barking and seeing who could get their the quickest--bumping and knocking--not even knowing some of them not even knowing what the heck was going on--following just to be a part of what was going on--the ground outside is awfully wet looking--leaves packed down--droplets of water sparkling  here and there--where light and my eye meet--some water still dropping off the leaves on the camellias--a good amount of leaves have fallen as I look up at the sky I can see so much better a farther distance--because more of the leaves have fallen to earth--the sun's now shining--off some of the leaves--a glare--the U.P.S. man drove up the drive--dogs barking I'd better go see what it's all about--nuts--is what it was all about--I ordered some pecans from a grower--in Albany, Georgia--they were being sent here--two dogs --I have to let in when anyone drives up--they don't know how to act around cars-I worry that through their own stupidity--they might get hurt--again I'm hung up in what might happen--or might not happen--supersensitive to any slight or neglect--reverence not exactly that--but due respect for getting to where our paths separate-- go out in the world and get their " whatever " for themselves--

November 13--2014--Can't get any prettier than this beautiful day in Mr. Rogers neighborhood--looking out the window and not a leaf stirring--dogs walking up and down driveway--Macy doesn't even want to go outside--just finished up sausage, grits and toast laved with Blackberry preserves--and still sipping my coffee--last night had a bad case of indigestion---but this morning just feel a tinge of it--so I decided I wouldn't eat but after a little thinking about food decided differently--maybe a big mistake--but will find out soon enough--I ordered some new coffee's from my coffee supplier--but didn't realize Veterans day was going to be in this week--and I'm afraid the coffee has been held up because of no mail delivery on Tuesday--

Trying to get into Thanksgiving--Thought about getting some corn on the cob and hanging it from the fireplace corners against my cedar mantel--Apples and raisins and nuts brim the bowls on the center isle in the kitchen near the good smelling kitchen, and the cheese board will be decked out with a pale  swiss, bright cheddar and creamy Port Salut--dreaming can't-- hurt can it---why is it that I like Ham better than turkey--I always had turkey when I was young--and now that I have my choice I pick ham--I remember when young the turkey roasting, the savory smell of sage and chestnuts drifting out of the kitchen and onions glazing in honey and catsup adding it's fragrance...a family holiday--when you get to see the changes years are making on the ones you love...As we pass the plates heaped with ham----the conversation brings all the good that's gone by--montage of their lives...  

 

The sky today is pewter--Gentian is covering the banks down on the sides of the creek (Greg says even brought me one to see) the dogs are going in and out of the house--weather permitting--I leave them to themselves--even they come in wet--I use a towel and dry them as best I can--they only stay minute and go find their favorite spot to lie down and get warm--on terrible days take a rest--I usually bread a boo the first time throughly and have no need to read it again unless of course--it has many words of wisdom--and then I put it in the reference section of my library--and will go back to the selections many times--otherwise it goes on some shelve somewhere in the neither regions of books to be given away or to go the library sales...

I get this urge this time of year--like to clean house--wash windows--straighten out things get them ready winter's coming--I guess it could be called fall cleaning--I move books around put them in boxes--and piles--on table tops--boxes on top of boxes--floor space is at a premium but still I pile--Every book meant something at one time or another and it's closeness meant exactly that--so I could get my hands on it quickly--even after I fill all the boxes to rid myself of dozens and dozen of over stuffed books shelves--they'rw still loaded--I can go in a closet take things out in boxes and after I finish the boxes are full and the closet is still not sufficiently taken care of--it still has that freezing of being overfull--in books it's always that it was selected for a reason--and that reason--may still be in the book somewhere that i might forget if the book were given away--so I keep them with the thought when I get enough time where I can re-read these books I'll get what I wanted out of them--it seems like that time has come--cause I'm arranging all the books I have left--in close proximity to where I sit next to the computer--hopefully--sifting--that what I do when I read --it takes time and thought--the ones I keep--are like charms I file away to keep for rainy days when I know I'm going to be alone...also I'm in need of some lavender--I going to keep it around from now on--every where--especially for sheets in my room--for some reason that seems real important now--just such as this makes me wonder where my brain goes--and why--

               ,.

  Nothing has change only more grumbling about our deer dark colored President--boy I bet he has some wishes--and some people he'd like to get rid of--I've quite watching the news--got to down in the dumps--the last thing I watched was the ending of the World Series--where the Giants finally came through--can't believe they didn't use Linceum or however one spells his name--the games were slow until one or the other of the teams exploded--with a lot of runs--well that's my T.V. for the rest of the year--I hope except some good old Georgia Football--boy re the woods full of it right now color--to beat the band--cooler also--haven't had any frost yet--but don't mind the heat just came on I can hear it rumbling in the basement--and feel some of the air being blown on the back of my neck--as I'm sitting under one of the heating vents--the sun is just coming through the trees--right now it's behind one of the larger hemlocks my feet are damp from an early morning stroll to the edge of the woods and I'm a little wee bit tired from the excursion--or I guess say my exercise--still thinking about days ahead when it gets cold and all I can do is sit in front of the fireplace and drink coffee and nibble on some fresh homemade cookies--

I've just finished this book by Rutherford Platt--the Flowering World--and after reading him I had to go and look for all the lichen I could find--Having just gained a new immense respect for this humble growth--and now with the leaves and growth of the year dwindling--the light grays and and whites and glowing muted tones stand out even more--because of my new found appreciation...plus they endure varied fluctuations in temperature--they cling to wooden posts--bark, stone,boulders, buildings, only cities and the harsh, impure air causes it any trouble...their growth is slow--patience--

I've just been outside walking around the yard--I didn't even know it was raining--I was so engrossed in my thoughts that when outside I was taking deep breaths--and smelling the spicy scents given off by the wet grass and the sole outside..Most people from the cities don't have this luck--this goes in-noticed--because the concrete and the hurriedness of their lives--I know the smell of wet concrete--and it's not the same except--it does convey it's on messages--When I sit at my desk for long periods--occasionally I find that I'm out doors--and I'm never quite sure how I got there--noticing the trees, and seeing what I all I can notice--leaves falling opening vistas I haven't seen since last fall--I find a completely new environment--one so dependent needing daily inspections--or I loose my perspective of approaching autumn--and I know I've burned my toast--let my coffee get cold--and my cereal has become soggy--even time has elapsed so far I'm already late for some sort of something or other--I've become sort a unreliable fellow--except to my dogs and cats who follow me around and completely understand---

Place is packed roads are far as the eye can see--people come up from the cities and form long lines all over the mountains...but while the orals are being jammed packed creatures all over the mountains are starting to think about their winter abodes and all the food they've been storing for the winter cold...the frog pass his winter in "suspended animation"--outside my window all the birds have left my little home--chickadees , juncos, goldfinches,tree sparrows, blue jays,Downy woodpeckers, nuthatches, purple finches even a few hawks and owls are still out there hovering doing there thing--put on a heavy jacket and investigate...discovering is where it's at...don't forget the bird feed when you're next at Wal-Mart,Kroger,or Home Deposit (yes I said that)the tiny ones will appreciate it--letting them also know that you appreciated their help this past summer...

the Bee-- the hornet--the yellow jacket--Often when a bee stings,it leaves its entire stinger within the victim--the stinger has it's barbs--the needle of the stinger has tiny serrate edges with teeth pointing backward, so the barb can easily enter, and will not be easily pulled out...the glands of the bee are thought to produce venomous proteins...it is an irritating product--along with this poison gland and part of the bees intestines--this is fatal to the bee-- don't try to squeeze it out--because pushing and pressing gives a further dose of sting venom and a larger more painful swelling--the bee stinger should be scraped out not pulled out by the two fingers...Hornets and Yellow Jackets have beautiful sharp smooth stingers,sharper under the micro scope than any sewing needle or hypodermic needle---it does not stick in the skin--it does not tear out their intestines--so they can sting many times--

Among the butterflies and moths the sense of smellis of great importance in finding--sexual partners...An entomologist captured a number of of the males and females of the moths which develop from the tan and black little bugger that crawls over the highway called "woolly bear" caterpillars. The females were placed in a cage, while the males were painted with numbers on their wings...the males were taken various distances away from the cage and released... Males who were released at a distance of nine miles downwind from the cage were able to detect the odor of the females in the cage and return to the cage with hardly any trouble..and you think we're ever going to win against creatures who can do this...smells and the moon--how do you feel on the night of the full moon--

It is probable that odors of flowers are more important than colors bin attracting insects, for many insects seem to have rather imperfect vision and rather sensitive sense of smell...Flowers pollinated by bees and butterflies, which are active during the day, are usually more fragrant during the day than they are at night, whereas flowers pollinated by moths, which are nocturnal in their habits , are ordinarily more fragrant at night...Flowers pollinated by moths are open at night and are commonly white...

A point where nature and it's togetherness mean a lot--where we as individuals never think about--everything co-exists --one thing needs another--you can't kill something without it affecting something else--The striking fetters of the Yucca and Yucca-moth relationship are these: that Yucca
flowers can be pollinated in nature only by Yucca moths, that the large of the moths can derive nourishment from Yucca ovules and from no othe kind of food,and that both Yuccas and Yucca moth
can complete their life cycles only with the aid of each other...This is one of the most amazing cases known of absolute interdependence of a plant and animal for the completion of their life histories....every little piece of nature has it's reasons--don't think in any terms other than it's here for a reason...simple killing or doing away with something--is not the answer--something else will replace it--what will be uncovered could be worse and for it's protection--you may not like what is turned out...

Toad--Stomach  exam--toads feed at night--they sleep and digest during the day--
22 large Carpenter Ants, 2 large-sized moth larve, 2 sow bugs, 5 weevils, 1 flower beetle, 1 cricket, 10 red ants, 5 grasshoppers, (is there any economic importance here) think every night--only one toad-how many there are--and how helpful they are--

What a beautiful day mild with they sun creeping through the trees; a day of golden warmth with all the sweet, faint melancholy of indian summer at it's finest..two or three Camellias in bloom in the shrub garden, and and in the olds witch hazel in fine form, its branches covered in honey colored blossoms...birds fluttering all over the place--the sweet gums now starting to head for their very best in crimson, purple, and gold...Although the strong vigorous colors of November are coming..there is a remnant of beauty just around the corner, the juncos, chickadees, and nuthatches are feeding voraciously on the expensive sunflower seedsI put out at the feeders--I use to spread it on the ground but we've acquired a cat so I have to use the feeders for their protection--even though--we rarely let the cat out of the house...My house plants we set out side the back door--are loving these cool night and the rains--right noes they seem at their best as far as looks are concerned--sometime soon I am going to have to bring in my house plants that have been enjoying their summer vacation--the cool days have given them new life--and are looking exceptional

                                          Arctia caja --(Wooly Bear moth)
Before bringing in my house plants--I add a pinch of mustard (a half a teaspoonful to a quart of water) added to the water in watering house plants will destroy insects of many kinds and will not harm even the most tender of plants

Lime water poured on the soil will usually kill worms..A teaspoon of perfectly fresh lime should be put into a cup of water and left to stand until the sediment settles at the bottom..The hole for draining should be closed before the application is made on a house plant, that the water may remain in the surface soil long enough to do its work...

The day has turned off like one in a dream--the sky is blue as can be and the temperature has changed much-- just a long sleeve shirt day no clouds--China Blue sky--I'd call it--I started to take a walk outside the back door but happen to look up at the sky and noticed some orange fruits clinging on the old persimmon tree all the branches are bare of leaves but thick with their fruits maybe like 40 to 60
 fruits--and yet a few leaves are left--I see them near the top

Large number of Bluebirds are going wild over the Poison Ivy berries..
Winter wrens are getting where they are demanding a little more food--
Pond is over flowing and clear as a bell--can se the bottom where all the fish are enjoying a little          
  warmth--sun reaching all the way to bottom
Witch Hazel in bloom, the latest of the shrubs
On warm days spiders are ballooning  by large numbers, spinning out silk until it carries them off through the air--
Ran into another copperhead in my woodshed preparing for his winter bed--
Found a a big Blue Heron down standing at the edge of my pond--
Still a few asters blooming along roadside--
Been looking for mushrooms after each rain
Trees just starting their burst of color--
Hickories at the their brightest gold-- dogwoods shading into their purple color--
Gentians at their best--along the streams edge
A few wasps have tried to come into the house to hibernate
Haven't really had any frost yet --but getting close will try and get plants in this Friday
Saw some old Ageratum plants along the highway--I'd like to go back and dig up

I forget from year to year how emotional I can become with fall colors --the memories of past years--when it was a big family thing to go to the mountains and see the foliage --the leaves falling and the thoughts called back in time when we used to make great big piles and burrow down in them and watch hidden underneath--watching as others went up and down the lane--then later closer to night we'd burn the piles and what a fragrance--nothing better--can I hold off one more night and not bring my house plants in--do I wait or get up and go do the right thing--for the plants that is--

Monthlies--periods in one's life--moments--to be considered--ways toward--comfort-- to slowing the process--of fastness

What is going on here--I can't seem to be doing anything I like--started back to exercising chinning bar--weight machine by Joe Weider--some of the things I'm doing really make me ache in the mornings--but others give me the tight feeling that I use to get when I new i was doing the right thing--after waking up I and walking around I start feeling like I'm loosening ups and my muscles stop being tight--also when I watch T.V. during March madness I lift hand weights--not letting myself get bcd into Slovenes--food is a problem what I need to do is figure some energy giving food source--to help along with my weight lifting and exercise--I'm looking forward to getting away from my walker--and my cane if possible--hopefully the walker can go the cane doesn't bother me as much--so of nice carrying a weapon around--may change cane for something a little more for protection--especially if I have to go somewhere--like Atlanta--I do feel like I'm getting some strength back in arms-- but I have been using them a lot more lately in the lifting and arm pulls--we'll see looking forward to see what I can go back to doing after I've worked out  a while...will keep informed.... 

The lowest thing on earth is a man with nothing to do.. 

Nature shows no partiality...

What allows mules to be obstinate is their blinders..

Understanding is the beginning of approving...

Personality asserts itself by its limitations

Physical Pleasure is such a convincing illusion, and sex, the ultimate charade of safety...

Got any idea what the hell this is and why it's in my neighborhood--I like nature but when it starts looking like it's going to out grow me  I wonder--a friend found this in their house just before going to work --I think he said he went back to bed---have no idea and I go around my house bare footed all the time --I mean I use to--I keep a clean house now even looking in those dark corners...

Temperature of the body (37 degrees C)

Water in our body makes enzyme action possible...

Self-preservation is the first law of nature...

The essence of life is activity...

What an individual does on any given day depends upon what it did do on the day before...continuing--in fact a growing individual should be in constant functional relationship with it's limited environment...

The will to refrain is taught first; the will to act comes later...both are true habits and should be taught only by training---?

Too much deliberation leads to a vacillating attitude...

Aboulia--a condition where a person is unable to reach any decision at all...

He who is trained to control his actions by steady purpose and grit is best able to cultivate useful habits --- "and to break bad habits"... 

A evening at home--

"How calm and quiet a delight

       Is it, alone,

 To read and meditate and write,

       By none offended, and offending none!

 To walk, ride , sit or sleep at one's own ease

       And, pleasing a man's self, none other to displease." Charles Cotton, a friend of Izaak Walton

This morning started setting mouse traps hasn't got above 82 yet and it's in the afternoon, Come September the mice like everything else starts looking for that warm spot --they can occupy all winter long every year i catch about 12 to fifteen of them before winter eta in--I always get down and out when I have to catch them with there white bellies and then I feel a little better cause I catch them before they start having the little ones--my wife use to suggest catching them and then when I got busy working outside the house for folks in town --I noticed my traps were disappearing--and then when i had to buy more--I started sneaking around watching what happened to the traps the garbage can was the only stop I needed she really didn't like the idea of have to pull that little spring up to dump the mouse so she just threw the hole trap away--in other words one trap per mouse--not that I'm a cheap scape but I think she thought I was when i started bitching so from then on I got up early and made sure the traps were emptied..

Good month to go "cocooning"--this kind of "Hunting" will help your powers of observation and will add to your pleasure of counting on next spring...each leaf that on bushes and shrubs might look  like a dead leaf hanging or curled un-naturally--investigate it--bring the cocoons home place in a box look them up and try to identify--then next March or April go back and start observing--also look for the "Fringed Gentian" along creek banks or low moist areas--Bryant---

         

       

"Thou waitest late, and com'st alone

          When woods are bare and birds have flown,

           And frost and shortening days portend

           The aged year is near his end.

           Then doth thy sweet and quiet eye

            Look through its fringes to the sky,

            Blue--Blue--as if that sky let fall

            A flower from its cerulean wall."

  

Before the settling down colors (neutral tints--of gray and brown) of winter arrive nature screams one last time--the hints of autumn's grandeur---each walk you take no matter where you live will show you particular things for your area--not just nature will stand out--neighbors--also---go out expecting to see--you may not see what you expect but your eyes will begin to focus---and you'll probably see something worthwhile---"nature's companionship" will unfold

September is Nature's resting period...leaves in a few places-begin to change--depending on how dry the former months were...the leaves dying are the forerunner of the gorgeous tapestry that will spread through the woods next month or the next--as the withdrawal of the remarkable substance "cambium" is removed from the leaves before they fall...

All nature's creatures are looking for a place bed down for the winter months--can't say I seen any signs that say winter is going to be horrible or not--But have killed two copperheads and a Timber rattler heading into my wood shed for a nice cozy comfortable place to lay their weary heads--had a little helping from Maisie my snake seeker--she alerted me to their were a bouts before they got to comfortable writing spiders are all around the place--got some photo's of some really nice webs--checking on my kindling, getting ready for my first fire, and cold weather all my wood had been turning this really nice gray color--on the ends--got some really nice old oak,Hickory, and mt. maple, got some nice papers from library, and some old boxes I've been cutting up to get kindling started...got some old bark I use sometimes when low on other stuff, got popped the other day by a wasp--well actually several and at this time of year they can really get you good...don't really like that but it seems their stinger has a lot more pop to it near the end of the year, don't know if that has any scientific backing but wow..it smarted--got'em though--and was glad I did--he was persistent..hanging on to the last minute..put some toothpaste on it--helped--got a spider out side the bathroom window been at his web for the past two days gotten really elaborate..taking his time--are there any pass words to serenity...how do a some people take care of their burdens..is there a secret...one is seldom able to speak telling words to their children or to others...would it be possible to remove all trivial words form our vocabulary...we have so many...I still have a clothes line..hardly ever used anymore--since we have those things you throw in the washing machine.. but this winter before all the blankets are put on the beds--I'M GOING TO PUT THEM ON THE LINE TO GET SOME SUNSHINE--how about them apples...even the pillow cases...and of course reap the benefits when my head hits sleepy time...must be the time of year--really get down and out this time of year--even tho It's my favorite time of year mainly cause my birthday is coming up--it's like Christmas--I get really down--not thinking is probably best when I get down and stay around the house but hey I stay around the house all the time maybe it'll be different this year...little things get me our of sorts--dropping something--like I wanted another cup of coffee--my second--but I forgot to take out the grounds and it was way to black almost like it had been scorched and no matter how much cream I put in --didn't help---and just after I poured all the coffee out --I turned around at a sound--and the cat had turned over the garbage--that was in a paper sack--on the table--knocking over all the spilled coffee grounds, and accumulated week-end garbage on the floor--I was not a happy camper---little stuff can make me think in stupid ways--went into bathroom to get some aspirin reached in and came out with aspirin bottles but when with drawing my hand...other stuff came out with them and hit the floor--makes me think I need to go back to bed--at the washing machine there's always some stuff in the back of the washer I can't reach--

Fortunately one age reacts against another..

September--Started removing some of the cages in the garden--some of the peepers would not produce anymore--this is in the lower garden--which because it's farther away I didn't get to take very good care of it...weed eated a section and planted fall greens mustard--broadleaf and curly--to eat with corn bread on cold nights in front of the fireplace...collected a load of tomatoes and picked up several small gourds (miniature) a couple of odd ball peppers. and a mess of beans...at this time of year I always start thinking in terms of apples and think maybe I should ride up to Ellijey and get some good old Winesap apples their tangy sweet taste lingers in my memory..I can only think this must be the apple Eve tempted Adam with...the rain is still sowing down..the leaves all slick and shiny even tho--there's no sun...the air is heavy--I look out through the trees and the sky that I can see is light gray...the leaves wiggle and drops fall..I drink from my coffee cup a brew I never tried before-Mocha Java from Yemen--got it from Martenez out of Atlanta...mellow..I potted up some angel wing begonias that the wind had broken off--noticing my potted plants were numerous--during the summer I had potted up some extra Christmas cactus, and some others I thought worth saving--for winter bloom--so now outside the back door I have a sizable group I have to reserve places for inside...Late afternoon thunderstorms are cutting up and making all the late afternoon days uncomfortable, hot and sweaty almost like August is coming back at us... when I was down in the garden I spotted a big box turtle, the dogs were with me me and one especially loves to haul turtles around until he eventually cracks the shell--so I calmly went over and placed the turtle in an area where he couldn't be found...he draws his head inside his shell  and from inside I hear this thank you in a low whisper...Rain and fog
still hanging around gloom and doom,, not really I love days like these..Every needle of the hemlocks holds a drop-- no birds that I can see--no sound--even the wind is not stirring, my hosta's are looking bedraggled and my lavender still looks to be involved with it surroundings I brake some off --and take a smell and glad I've got it

Isia isabella (Wooly Bear)

Hurrying along like a caterpillar in the fall-- looking for the last cozy corner in which to curl up for the winter months...

I'm growing it--Two first class herb books: Henry Beston's Herbs and the Earth and the Book of Herb Cookery by Irene Botsford Hoffmann...

A bluejay hanging around the feeder--waiting for me to hustle out and do my thing with feed--complete monogamy appears to exist among the jays; once together they stay that way for life...all other birds are against him--increase is slow with all this outside pressure--but what a sight--the blue the white the black..I'm always impressed when I honored to see him--or her--the topnotch I mustn't forget...it'slike having sunshine 

September even tho it is my birthday month has always caused a certain uneasiness--something and it's hard to explain... a freedom, wishful thinking...I grow tense--I worry--can I do anything about it--I don't even know what it is--I just feel like something is about to happen--is it the thought that I was going to have to go back to school..being confined--imprisoned more likely--

I know how a priest must feel having won my soul from torment...a new door has opened in the house of my understanding--in the country where I live quietly--I slowly develop sensitive surfaces--not calloused byte much contact accepting what's new and reflecting on it in my quiet times--mind in it's great moments returns to the primitive and instinctive...am I civilized--what's that clamoring in my blood--wildness--it's like having a ray of sunshine coming through thick foliage--an awakening...have I caught myself unaware--then all at once, like a picture in a puzzle--I see myself plainly...it was wonderful , the perfection with which my mind had concealed myself for so long..silence is almost painful...but being alone i had to follow my own injunction of silence...in this quiet country--religious ferment comes calling...every once and a while--I venture into heaven and/or hell..I've smelled the smoke--but all my hell's have been a elusive..so in fact elusive that there are no boundaries--and finding out whether you're in it or not is hard to fathom..."The trouble with hell is we shall not know it when we arrive." Swedenborg--if a man has to be scared into religion his religion isn't very much...my true nature found the animal in me--my human nature loves conclusiveness: nothing short of the categorical will satisfy me... 

During certain seasons of the year, the scent given off by the copperhead, is so strong in the woods that it can be detected easily by the human nose...(page 30 The Lost Woods) Edwin Way Teale

these little buggers hang on the outside edge of evergreens-- love arborvitae and Leylandi Cypress  I've had to remove many cause at one time this plant was used for screening things out--or was hiding things people didn't want seen--grows fast and if not kept trimmed the winds when blowing strongly would blow them over--trimming added more roots and the plant held up better against strong winds...