I walked into town this morning for coffee and reading the New Yorker. As I walked back I thought about my former colleagues at Northern Ohio Live magazine, including Rice Hershey. At home, packing for big plumbing repair, I found this cap that Rice had brought back from Nepal.
Erin just noticed this male box turtle eating a fallen pear in the backyard. 🐢
Saturday, September 11, 2021 →
We had our first fire of the season out in the fire pit. Perfect night.
Saturday, September 11, 2021 →
I am working from the DCRI office in the Durham Centre in Downtown Durham, North Carolina. It is quiet but it feels good to be back in an office setting. Durham is a vibrant city and I am looking forward to exploring the shops and restaurants again.
Crew was here earlier to demo my office, part of a costly, disruptive project to update all the plumbing in this house. Now big rains are pounding outside. Wanted to visit the coffee shop but will make stovetop espresso instead.
In the forest this morning, the crows are harassing a great horned owl while a red-tailed hawk circles above screaming.
Labor Day holiday, walked into town, coffee at favorite cafe then migas at the co-op, reading the New Yorker archival issue on food & drink.
We gathered Anna from her dorm for a family hike on Greensboro’s Lake Townsend Trail, part of North Carolina’s Mountains-to-Sea Trail system.
Carrboro Run Club night. I went 4 miles. Now enjoying a thirst-quenching Pilsner from Craftboro Brewing Company. Big group here in the parking lot. Join us every Tuesday at 6:33.
Stepped outside. Cicadas are loud, but I hear tapping high in an oak tree, am lucky to spot the flashy black, white, and red of a pileated woodpecker. (Wondering if @mikehendley takes commissions.)
This autumn clematis is beautiful, but it is invasive and damaging the azalea.
Micro Camp sticker arrived yesterday. Thank you @jean @manton and all the presenters for a great event. Next year we camp for real?
Tuesday, August 24, 2021
News today that Charlie Watts, the drummer for the Rolling Stones, died, so I called my father, Joseph, to ask him about the time he peeked out from backstage as Charlie and company finished a set in the Los Angeles Forum. Here’s our microcast. Dad also explained how I got my childhood nickname, Pups, and what it was like for young parents working on a congressional campaign in California in 1972.
Just had an idea: I should keep a scratchpad of all the messages I type but don’t send in reply to the crazy stuff my family sends me. Or maybe I print each one and burn them each week in the firepit outside.
Angles and shadings. This is the hickory that toppled yesterday. Forest around it looked beautiful in the light between rains today.
Glad to have finally discovered a way to use Micro.blog categories: I can now tag my turtle photos and posts and have them together on my site here.
Yesterday’s loud crash as winds picked up turns out to have been large hickory tree that fell out back, taking out a few southern red maple and a sourwood. Walked out to assess, looked down and saw this turtle.
Fresh wood chips beneath the swing.
Family movie night was CODA on Apple TV+ and it was so so good. I cried a lot, and smiled, and cheered.