"The wind has. . .

"The wind has blown the rain away and blown the sky away and all the leaves away and the trees stand." --e.e.cummings

So now I can see the river again! Fortunately, the river refused to go waltzing off with the crazy, crazy wind. And my beautiful boat is now put away for the winter. I rowed at dusk on Sunday to the launch area, accompanied by a harbor seal -- the water all rosy from the sunset, the temperature 50 degrees. Now I'm going to have to rely on daydream to travel the shining water. Lucky for me -- one of my best talents, daydreaming.

The Angel's New Hat

Went out rowing today for two hours. The wind was a bit frisky but the weather was warm -- well, warm for November 21st. About 50 degrees. And the river, gorgeous. The second best surprise was rowing out to the Memorial Bridge and finding it had reopened. The best surprise was playing hide and seek with a harbor seal the whole time I was out on the water.

Cosmos, zinnias, marigolds, nasturtiums, spinach. . .

November zinnia. . .I've covered the flowers twice when the temps got too close to freezing. Am NOT complaining. Couldn't be happier, actually, that I still have a garden in November.

Plates full of diamonds. Or fortune tellers' globes. . .

Rained for a solid day and night. I was out at 10 pm bailing the boat. Good thing. She was very nearly full. But look at the plates full of diamonds that I found everywhere this morning!

New pal

My newest pal. Not clear to me whether the mouse is male or female so for now, it lives in its own glass house. But it likes to sit on my shoulder while I write. Tiny whiskered muse. . .

Mouse with Mouse

Home

5:00 pm -- already dark. Just came in from the river and a two hour row in 65 degree weather. I watched the wind pull an oak leaf off a branch and then the leaf drifted peacefully down and floated across the reflection of its own tree. . .

Sad PS

The possum died, but not before she had a scrumptious full plate of cat food. She had a safe, warm place for her last bit of time on earth. I buried her in the back yard in a nest of golden leaves, in a place where the sun first touches the yard as it rises. Poetic but ridiculous since possums are nocturnal. Oh well.

ONE OF THE MANY REASONS I LOVE WINTER

The river's always right there, though foliage screens into invisibility late May through early November. My part of Kittery still hasn't had a hard frost so we've held on to flowers and leaves and wits a bit longer this year. Now the trees are starting to think it's time to let go. Late afternoon, I am wonderfully surprised--as I am every year--by sunset light glittering right over the water into my window. Not a great picture but still, you get the idea. One of the many reasons I love winter. It returns to me the river.

Center for Wildlife today. Got to visit the three squirrels I raised. They were in an outdoor cage, sitting up on high shelves. Their tails fluffed up behind them like autumn clouds. Eating acorns. Three beauties! Soon to be released back into the woods. They started out so scrawny and broken and are now nothing but beautiful. And I did see the release of Great Horned Owl who'd been at the Center since July. Oh, yeah. Amy let go and that owl was off into evening in one big happy hurry!

This isn't my picture but nevertheless, the bathtub possum could be this possum's sister. . .

Opossum with concussion in my bathtub

I was walking the dogs this evening when I spotted a confused opossum on the sidewalk ahead of us. Tied the excited dogs to a telephone pole and went to examine the poor juvenile opossum who let me walk right up . . .couldn't see any blood but suspect the critter had just been
grazed by a car. She turned in a little half-hearted spiral then just stopped and looked at me as if to say, "How has my life come to this?" If she'd her wits about her, she would have fled the minute she saw me and/or the dogs. Up to speed, an opossum can go at a fairly decent clip, about 4 miles per hour. Decided I couldn't leave her there. She was at the mercy of humans both in and out of cars. So took off my coat, bundled her up like a baby, held her in one arm, while I untied the dogs, took their leashes in my other hand and set off under the still-mighty-full-moon toward home, hoping that she stayed dazed long enough to forget about trying to bite me. Opossums have lots of sturdy teeth. Now she's in the bathtub with a small dish of wet cat foot and also water. If she survives the night, I'll take her up to the Center for the Wildlife in the morning. A doolally opossum's in the bathtub and all's right with the world.

Sixty degrees today on the river this afternoon. My new BFF, a young ring-billed gull who kept me company the whole time I was out on the water. I followed this trail of light while rowing and as yet have no plans to return.

While cleaning an outdoor cage at CFW, got a very bad nail puncture. Went to the Dr. for a tetanus shot but that resulted in a fever? I guess. I went to bed in two pairs of pjs covered with a fleece top, wool socks on my feet, wool socks on my hands (who knows where their gloves are when suddenly the body goes polar and its the middle of the night), a hat, covered by two down puffs and a fat warm bedspread, radiators cranking out 80 degree heat. And I couldn't get warm. (I didn't take this picture. . .) But it gives you a pretty good idea what the inside of me felt like last night.

Not as easy as you might think to take a picture of yourself very nearly covered with birds. Stella's looking out the window. Perma-dove's picking out his read for the day. I'm working on a poem. All's right with the world, tho possibly I could use one more bird for my right shoulder. . .just to balance things out. . .

A Happy Birthday
by Ted Kooser

This evening, I sat by an open window
and read till the light was gone and the book
was no more than a part of the darkness.
I could easily have switched on a lamp,
but I wanted to ride this day down into night,
to sit alone and smooth the unreadable page
with the pale gray ghost of my hand.

Sorry to be repetitious but I am, as they say in Great Britain, gobsmacked. Today my neighbors put up a sign to show the snow where to fall. . .Or perhaps they are planning to sell snow this winter and are pointing to the site of their future snow store. It's hard to tell in cases like this just what's really going on. . .Any ideas?

Have I mentioned lately that I am in love with THIS BOAT?

65 degrees today. I emptied last weekend's storm out of the boat and went rowing. But not far. The outgoing tide was wickedly strong. So I rowed in sweet circles right by the dock. Is it all right to be in love with a boat? I am in love with my boat. I am deeply, deeply in love with my boat. I don't see this love affair ending anytime soon.