11-19 ~ Oops, it's been a while! It's a late autumn day, not cold but wet, and plenty of clover yet alive. Each clover leaf is curved just enough to cup a single perfect water droplet. It gave the illusion of the clover sprouting little white berries as dainty as the leaves themselves.

༄˖°.🍂.ೃ࿔*:･

10-26 ~ After seeing a shrew skitter into the gold & maroon chrysanthemum bushes, I am not only amazed that such little creatures survive bad weather and poor resources, but I also find myself cheering them on - not in a "the animals were here before us and this is their land" way, I think it's more nuanced than that where I live, but in a "humans may make it harder for you but I'm not going to" way. Let the birds nest in the safe part of your rain gutter, let the chipmunk burrow in the hole of your driveway pavement - if an animal does start to destroy property, it's only a matter of safe relocation, and if they aren't causing harm, I have more animals to enjoy and fawn over. It's a win-win.

༄˖°.🍂.ೃ࿔*:･

10-10 ~ I forgot how nice it can be to exchange a mere sentence or two with another person as I cross paths with them on a walk. He had a bag of treats on his belt for the deer. I was made even happier by the shaggy inkcap mushroom I spotted.

༄˖°.🍂.ೃ࿔*:･

9-26 ~ The weather is sunny with a cool breeze. As leaves fall and decay, the great outdoors smells like autumn. To my frank amazement and delight, I saw a male flicker and a male red-bellied woodpecker congregating with the local downey woodpecker pair. The weather is a motivator to be outside and get some exercise, and the wild animals are a bonus incentive.

༄˖°.🍂.ೃ࿔*:･

9-17 ~ I've noted smells twice this month that transported me back home. One minute onto the highway, heading home some sixty miles away, I smelled damp, freshly cut hay. I felt peace. Breathing in the scent of a just-washed blanket, something about that wash in particular made me smell the bedding of my childhood. I felt joy. Yet, interestingly enough, I never stopped to enjoy my bedding as a kid, and cut hay meant work, not peaceful ease. Maybe the just-washed blanket meant security when I'd finally go to sleep at night, while the fresh hay meant happiness as it brought my family members together.

༄˖°.🍂.ೃ࿔*:･

9-8 ~ (I saw a whole lot today, so this is going to be a longer log. Also, I feel that adding new entries to the top works better with how my site is currently laid out?)

There is so much I miss out on if I don't get outside. I don't have to go out and actively search for it. I only have to be present and wait.

Sure, I can hear the backyard birds from inside my home, but I won't hear them sing along to the wind rustling the leaves. Sure, I can look up a HD photo or video of a monarch butterfly, but I won't see it flutter by and over the yard fence just four feet from me, bright against the distant green trees and blue sky. I wrote this entry down in my notes app first so I wouldn't forget the details, and even by doing that, I'm sure I missed some small great thing. Because I wasn't present.

You know it's autumn when the walnuts fall and thunk! onto the ground. The leaves fall - float - to the grass so gently. A leaf crunching in the grass is so loud. Squirrels eating are so loud. The little things are so loud. But they're the only loud sounds that never hurt. Harsh sounds are only ever man-made.

The way the hawk directly overhead gracefully soared made me think of a kite or a toy plane. It tipped its wings and tilted its body in an effortless way, almost a way that looks impossible.

The trees flex to accomadate the wind so well, that with the most gentle breeze, the tops of the them look like they'd arch over and bend down to kiss the top of your head.

༄˖°.🍂.ೃ࿔*:･

9-7 ~ I saw a caterpillar today! Magnificent! (But it was colder today, so I hope it found a safe, warm place.)