DJ Geribo

At this time of year I start my long winter friendship with the turkeys in my neighborhood. We can have anywhere from 6 to 46 turkeys on any given day. Sometimes two different groups show up and seem hesitant to approach the area where I throw the corn. I'm guessing they are 'rival' groups. One time I actually had to break up a fight between two of the larger males from the different groups; they were getting too close to my rhododendron and I could envision them ripping it to shreds. I wasn't going to allow that since I planted it from infancy and it hadn't yet given me any flowers (it did for the first time this summer!) And by breaking up the fight, all I had to do was walk out on my deck and they all scattered (the rhododendron is planted right next to the deck). 

When I look at all the paintings I made over the years, there are a few that I wonder, why didn't it sell? Many of the ones I was most proud of have sold. But there are a few that, despite the beautiful composition and subject, just never did appeal to anyone enough for them to purchase it.

And now this is the time of year we take a ride up one of our favorite roads, the Kankamagus Highway in Conway, NH. We get some beautiful photos and this year was no different. We actually went to a different part of the state, more north, the previous week and found very little color. But this past week we went to the Kank (as it is fondly referred to up here) and found magnificent color. We also like to check out the various license plates to see where people come from to look at the beauty we have around us just a little over an hour away from where we live. Most people are from the east coast area: Maine, New York, Connecticut, Vermont, and of course, Massachusetts. But we also see a lot from Florida and as far away as California! 

And now it is my favorite season of the year: Fall! There is so much to love about it; cooler weather, the changing of the leaves, fires in the fireplace (indoors and outdoors), apple-picking, hot cocoa, walks in the woods (and this year, electric bike rides with my new ebike!), soups and chowders, reading by the fireplace, apple and pumpkin pies, etc. So many things that I love about this season.

As we come to the end of summer, I look back on the variety of birds I enjoyed and the ones I missed. Over the years we used to get the Rose-Breasted Grosbeak but I haven't seen them for a few years now. We did change our bird feeder so that only the smaller birds (and not the squirrels) can access the sunflower seeds. Perhaps that has something to do with it. For a few years we were getting the Northern Tufted Flycatcher but I didn't see them this year. And every year since we've lived here we've had the Tree Swallow nesting in a couple of the houses we put out but I was sad not to see them this year.