Flown the Coop!

The Luna Moth came again last night to beat against the window

The big green Luna moth woke up from her all-day slumber on the window sill and beat against the window last night, but with much less energy than  before.  What is the most aggravating, galling saga of life on the slough is the fact that the birds are gone, well, not all of them, because there is a pair of hawks patrolling the woods and they've scared the bejesus out of my birdies.   Everyone is in hiding or even left the neighborhood and I worry about the deserted nests. Haven't seen my cardinal pair, or the catbird.  Goldfinches scarce, even the woodpeckers have left the suet for the big thieving raccoon who raids it every night.  Where are my titmice, chickadees and nuthatches?  Whither the mourning doves?  There's not even an English sparrow on the front feeder, much less the cute little pair of marsh sparrows.  Everyone mated up and then vamoosed.

The hawk swoops through the woods at least daily.  Haven't seen the hummer either, but I did scour the feeder and change the water yesterday.  One dove appeared in the bushes next to the front porch where I put out seed for the baby chipmunks.

In the middle of town last week, I saw a Kildeer far from any water.   And we have young geese (watch out for the hawks!) and  wild turkeys about.  And mosquitoes big time with all the #**! rain.  And sometime is eating all the oak leaves AND the newly set out petunias.  Sometimes being a gardener is for the birds.  Ooops!  They have all disappeared.  

I have been getting a manuscript ready to send to a publisher who may or may not like it.  Yesterday I did the dedication, acknowledgements, a one page bibliography of sources that "informed" the writing, and brief write-ups of the history and technology at the time of the novel.  These days, you can't assume anyone know jackshit.  Sorry, but it's true.

Can't wait to see the new Woody Allen movie, which doesn't explain all.  You have to know who Tom, Ernie, Gertrude and Scott are.  Do YOU? 

Grapeshot, in a somewhat bad mood which will soon pass.