September 2012 – Skelton Sketches

Preparing for Winter…

Posted on September 27, 2012April 29, 2017 by lindaskelton

Did you know bears eat grass? Neither did I but there they were, Mama and her quadruplets. This year’s litter was a big one, probably because practically everyone in our neck of the woods has fruit and/or nut trees in their yard! Plenty to support a burgeoning populace of black bears. Well, not really. What ever happened to man having dominion over every living creature? (Gen.1:28) Now we give them our parks and our food too. Hmm. It’s novel the first time or two but these chaps will be foraging for my fruit next year… sigh. In the meantime they’re getting ready for winter…

[Bear photos compliments of Jim]

And so am I. Soaking up the sun and the silence every chance I get… treasuring this rarest of Septembers—a gift of summer’s sun and warmth extended—and glad for the invitation to retreat with my Maker on this his footstool.

Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool…” Is.66:1

“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah” Ps.46:10-11ESV

–LS

Good to the last drop!

Posted on September 20, 2012April 29, 2017 by lindaskelton

Intent on savoring the lingering loveliness of summer’s blue skies, we’ve been out and about this week…Hiked up Scout twice. Didn’t bother taking the camera along. Rats! Because it was the coming down that proved interesting! As we emerged out of the dense trees onto the green soccer field at the base of the mountain I thought I heard a sort of grunting sound followed by a raspy scrabbling effect…

And then there they were within a dozen yards—Mama Bear, and three cuddly toddlers, one of whom was up the fork of a fir tree very near us. Just loitering in the park, startled by our appearance, as much as we were by theirs! But alas, I was without my camera. sigh. I retreated only reluctantly. And from a more distant vantage point realized there was another Mama and her twins dawdling at the lawn’s edge not far beyond the ones we’d startled. Hmm… fine day for a (teddy) bear picnic I guess!

Yesterday we got out with friends to discover the Stillwater Bluffs people here rave about—great rock slabs covered in dry moss and lichen, adorned with arbutus and gnarly old firs towering above the oceans’ glinting expanse…

The cacophony of sea lion babble on a nearby islet wafted over, a humorously accurate but muted imitation of a dirtbike rally!

After a thorough bit of basking in the heat atop the bluff we headed down to tuck our toes in the still waters of a tidal pool

and introduce ourselves to the locals. Meet Hermie.

All under the calm blue sky of this lingering Indian Summer…

–LS

Fall is upon us

Posted on September 13, 2012April 30, 2017 by lindaskelton

The season has changed though the calendar won’t admit it, yet… I feel it in my bones, this chill, the foraging for sweaters and longer skirts, and wooly socks…

I hear it in the geese calling overhead, the crickets’ fiddling, the quiet of outdoors abandoned and children gone back to school.…

The rich earthy smell of leaves’ decay, of sweet peas’ final hurrah, of damp cool earth, all tell me that it’s come—Fall is upon us.

The plums are gathered, tart yet sweet, to save them from marauding bears by night. Apples too, for pie and crisp and sauce and all things cinnamon. Last blackberries simmer into jelly.

The pole beans too are mostly picked and frozen. It is as though the sun lingers just long enough for the harvest to be gathered, the potatoes dug, before fall settles in completely.

Summer’s feast of ‘zucchini wonder’—garden basil, oregano and thyme, fresh tomatoes, sauteed garlic and onions, and of course, zucchini fried till tender, topped with cheese–declares that summer, fully matured, is passing on into the fall.

It comes with brilliant blue of sky and golden yellow nodding heads

–the warmth of sun staying for just a bit to usher in the cooler nights, to soften the grief of summer’s leisure gone, to ease us into routine– with bright countenance and cheery backdrop.

And then sun too will leave. The rains will return. The bright world will pass into a silver sleep. But for today, we cannot help but welcome fall’s arrival, rich with fruit of summer and sweet reminisce…

–LS

“Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun.” Eccl.11:7