Curtiss Ann Matlock's Blog, page 33

Here Comes the Sun

Here comes the sun! Remember the old Beatles song? It comes to me now as I sit here. The sky is covered by a haze, but blue is poking through, sun on the trees lining the pasture. Bees are busy at the liriope and squirrels are chasing each other, chattering, up and down the pecan tree, and the crickets singing rhythmically. And there’s a sweet breeze! Tea at hand, got the Audubon Bird app working on my phone yesterday, so I play with that. Life is good on the porch this morning.

Just realized...

Finally, a Day to Myself, more or less

Not a whisper of breeze. Every browning leaf and blade of grass and fern perfectly still. The birds are sure active. In the dark I heard a call that reminded me of a ghost haunting. Never heard it before. Just now some strange bird trills. Haven’t heard it before, either. Fascinating. The problem with looking up bird calls is that you have to have some notion of what they are. There are millions of calls. I guess this is another area of rather than trying to figure things out, and making myse...

Memories and Fiction

Good Sunday morning! Sun full up when I arrive on the porch this morning. It paints the tops of the pecan trees and the pasture beyond the drive a happy, hopeful yellow. Crickets singing…oh, and there start the cicadas. The air is lovely now, a pleasant 73*, but the forecast is for 90, and the cicadas are calling the news. There’s the funniest sounding bird making a scolding sound. Miss Kitty slips past, eye on me, then runs, because since Friday and a vet visit, I’ve been grabbing her to put...

New Morning Restart

Cicadas just started singing, signaling heat to come. The oppressive heat and humidity is lifted at present, though, and there’s a sense of energy, as if all the trees and birds and bugs are a bit eager for the day. And the ‘twit-twit’ birds seem to flit through the air faster than ever, over here, then over there, so fast I cannot see them. Oh, there’s a song bird calling out, a new one I have not heard before. And while I’ve written this, the light has grown so that I can see all the way ac...

Doing What You Really Want to Do

Rain in the night, and now jewels shine on the leaves of the loropetalum in the light of the pole lamp that’s still lit at nearly 6:20 am. Cloudy day yet, and cool-wet. Cool enough that I turned off the fan, then turned it back on in defense against mosquitoes. The lavender plant died; I have never been able to keep them going and decided that enjoying one a couple of months, then getting another is far less stressful and a better use of my energy.

The world with all the advertising and, my wo...

Some Things Remain

Good morning, friends! I looked under the towel today before I sat down, not wanting to be surprised by a lizard. Got my tea at hand, and daylight is growing slowly. Can see across the pasture now. Cicadas singing loudly in the pecan tree. Haven’t heard them doing that in several days. Birds come and go, one minute singing, chirping, and one intermittently puts in a wash-board tune. The next instant the birds are gone, not a sound out of them, and I hear thunder in the distance. While there’s...

Underneath it All

Plestiodon fasciatus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Happy Labor Day, everyone!

Hot, starting the morning at 77*. I thought I’d stepped out into a sauna. Now the sun has burned off the mist that was on the pasture, and golden beams paint the top of the old pecan tree. I’m getting ridiculously fond of that old tree.

So I was sitting here on the porch, in the wicker chair with my legs curled up crossed as is my habit, and a pillow on my lap, writing in my journal. I felt this wiggle under my thigh. Mind...

Sunday Reading

Good Sunday morning! I knew it was hot before I stepped out, because the air-conditioner came on a number of times last night. And my word, when I stepped out the door, I found it like a convection oven heating up, the air heavy enough to slice, and the ‘twit-twit’ bird appears to have given it up. There’s the drone of crickets and cicadas, they are meshed, and tired sounding. I know that so many of you are having the same thing. Dear sister-in-law up in St. Louis said yesterday that she had...

Always Got Things to Do

Good morning! By the time I made it to the porch, the cats were demanding their breakfast and the sun was a big ball sending pure gold beams across the front yard and onto a tree trunk along the fence row of the pasture. The air is delicious! A perfect temperature–paradise weather, and no gnats bothering me!

I’ve got things to do today. I cannot imagine not having things to do. In my lifetime, I have never been bored. There’s so much interesting to read, for one thing–and if I don’t like a boo...

Laid Back Friday

Crickets and cicadas giving a loud concert this morning, and it is back to a bit of sultry. Summer hanging in there, while fall is knocking at the door. The leaves on the old pecan tree hanging over the courtyard are tired and worn and dropping more rapidly. I wonder what that old tree has seen. It is funny how important it is to me, a symbol of survival–how many hurricanes and lightning and bugs?–and it provides wonderful shade for plants, porch, and me.

Well, it is Friday. My casual and laid...