Well-Sweep Gardens

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happy campers

A picture of childhood innocence

Smiling faces emerged when called

Sister and brother sharing a tent

Having fun at the family vacation campsite.

Inside there is a world of imagination

Playing games that take flights of fancy

Taking me back to that place in time

When magical possibility danced in the air.

I would like to be there to enjoy them

Taking in their energy and enthusiasm bubbling over

Happy to include me in their life

Giving me to think about the future.

timber rattlesnake encounter

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peacock study

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Living In and With

We encourage the song birds to come to us

Feeding sunflower seeds and thistle

As if we are not already overrun with wildlife

Thriving in the midst of human landscaping.

We discriminate against mourning doves and squirrels

Begrudging the house sparrows in the mix

Removing the suet mobbed by the starlings

Twice a day refilling the trays soon empty.

We pull weeds from the flower garden

Selecting which plants we favor

While the rabbits watch and wait

And the chipmunks scamper about.

The rabbits see our garden as their salad

The deer browse in our yard as if it is their pantry

We poison the mice to keep them from our actual pantry

And keep lids on the trash cans to deter the raccoons.

We hope to attract butterflies and hummingbirds

Growing native flowers the deer leave undisturbed.

In the soil the weed seeds wait dormant biding their time

Ready to succeed whenever our efforts falter.

For the animals that have adapted to humans

The sixth extinction does not yet apply.

Whatever can do well in this environment proliferates

Counter to the trend of planetary habitat loss.

July meadow garden

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NJ Highlands Appalachian bedrock

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solstice garden

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Six

for Sharon

As the calendar marks our sixth anniversary together

The ever closer closeness of you

Amazes me and delights me again and again

More than ever so happy to be with you

As we lead a life of leisure six months into retirement

Able to travel to warm places in winter

Able to hike and bike and go birding every day

With time to read in depth and explore the world of ideas

We do not deny or ignore the difficult lives of others

--There but for fortune go you or I--

But at least for now we are indulging ourselves

Getting exercise, eating healthy and enjoying each day.

Nothing lasts forever as we are well aware

This moment will soon pass into the next

So for now we share being here in the present

Laughing, loving the live long day.

Paulinskill Rail Trail

turkey poults