The Bear Necessities

Day 18 of 28! This may be the longest I've ever stuck to a 'diet'... and believe me, I've wanted to give in a thousand times... but I'm seeing results so I only have 10 more days to go.

At any rate, I'm down 7.6 lbs and starting to see a difference in my waist. It's strange how some days you can lose inches but not weight... where does it go?

The Queen would sure like some parmesan cheese on this here portobello mushroom, but even without it, this is a pretty tasty snack.

After the snack, the King and I took a walk to the barn. We've never had tobacco in the barn before so I wanted to see what that was like.

Looking straight up it sort of reminds me of a cave with stalactites hanging down.

Am I the only one with 'stalactities hold tight to the ceiling and stalagmites might reach the ceiling one day' firmly ingrained in my psyche? Yeah? Thought so. Also kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species. That one, too.

Who needs a fall wreath? I have a bouquet of 'baccer.

Green balls with a hard shell. I don't know what these are, but I take pictures of things that intrigue me.

I may not know what's inside the green balls, but I can tell you that about this time there was a loud crashing through the woods as something moved by us. It was close. And it was big. My first thought was buck... or something that rhymes with buck, and then buck. But it sounded even bigger than that, like cow-sized but way more nimble than a cow. If we had moose I'd go with that.

So I can't be sure... but it could have been a bear. One who just wanted to put some distance between itself and us humans. I have heard reports of them in the county but never believed it.

And they say we have panthers, too. I really like panthers... but don't want to meet one face to face. Unless it's a tame panther... but how do you know? So it's just best left alone.

Our barn needs some work.

Out back is a gorgeous view, an amalgamation of trees and weeds and little hollows.

And the weeds are kinda pretty.

There are these yellow weeds that are different than the other yellow weeds that remind me of amaranth.

And these lilac weeds.

And this wild succulent.

Another praying mantis on the roof of the barn... amen.

I love sycamores. I planted one in the front yard where I buried Gracie.

And all this time we have had a field FULL of sycamore trees. I guess it's true that sometimes you really can't see the forest for the trees.

More barn porn.

These are striking.

In some ways I'll be sad when the field has been bushhogged because even though it's a hot mess, there's still beauty there. And the butterflies and bees love it, too.

Really, weeds are really just pioneer species that come in to repair the soil.

We have these everywhere. They are similar to jewel weed but with ferny looking leaves. I think they are called Partridge Pea, which would make sense because (as you can see to the right) they have pods.

I'm fascinated by the skeletal remains of Queen Anne's Lace. They're gorgeous when they're covered in little white flower heads, but even when they fold up they're so complex and interesting.

I haven't seen this one before. It's like a sea anemone.

But, you know... in a ditch.

And it comes out of this spiky, unwelcoming pod. "Stay away from me if you know what's good for you!"

And after it dries up it's still very interesting. Like a warrior carnation.

Speaking of the circle of life... I hate when birds hit the window. I always check to see if they fly away or end up on the ground. And I can usually tell whether they're going to live or die. Unfortunately this little guy broke his neck. Even then I had a moment where I thought recovery was possible because he held his head up... but you can see the light fade from their eyes, and fade it did.

Rest in peace little goldfinch.