Written In Stone...

     ...It is hard to believe that October is nearly finished.  This year has been a bit of a blur for me.  Moving from my home of 25 years has proven to be much more of an adventure than I could have ever imagined.  The biggest adjustment has been that of not having a garden.  I did manage a few plants in containers, but even that was no real feeling of satisfaction for a deep dirt gardener. That meant that there were no little visitors for me such as Delilah the dragonfly,  Scout the black-capped chickadee, Sooty the black squirrel, Sparky, the chipmunk, Sydney the mole, Fredrick and Gertrude the morning doves, Christopher and Lizzie the cardinals, and Edgar the toad.  The good news is there are no raccoons crawling up the side of the house and tearing off the roofing shingles.  And there were no ugly buzzards stopping by to dine on dead rabbit in the yard.  Gratefully, too, no murder of crows gathered in my current yard.  I do miss the occasional hawk landing on my porch railing and staring me straight in the eye through the living room window.  I do have a regular squirrel visitor who has taken to burying fall nuts and other treasures in my potted plants.  Somehow the name Mickey suits him.  There is a little female squirrel I call Millie who lives two trees down the block.  Mickey chases her from time to time.  There are several regular neighborhood cats cutting through my driveway. I haven't named any of them yet.  Next door there is a little dog named Muffin.  Muffin would come to the fence between our yards and watch me as I moved into my apartment. Just a friendly observer, Muffin never barked once. Those big dark eyes just watched my every move as I schlepped box after tedious box of stuff from car to house.  You're alright, Muffin.  I wish I had a treat for you.
       As I am becoming acquainted with my new neighborhood I can see the world of activity from every window in my apartment.  I can see directly into one neighbor's back yard.  All summer long the dear lady has had a burn pit blazing away.  Where the woman finds enough material to set ablaze is beyond me.  I have constantly seen her dragging everything from packing crates to cardboard to wooden logs and sticks to use for her campfires.  There is another thing I miss.  At my old house I had a place for a campfire.  That is not the case for me here at my new location. So, I have enjoyed watching my neighbor tending her campfire and sitting with it in her private ruminations. All tribes of people have their fire-tenders.  For some it is a calling in life.  This neighbor knows her place in society and is content in that knowledge.  Good for you, dear lady.  Most of us search a lifetime to find our place and calling in life when it can be something as simple as tending a campfire.  Neighbor, you found your happy place.
      My next challenge is in trying to find places for the potted plants indoors as the weather little into ever colder temperatures.  The decision lies between what to let freeze out and what to bring in.  I don't have enough windows for both cats an plants.  If I leave the plants unfenced, so to speak, my kitties will dig into the soil.  What to do,  what to do...I may have to invest in some grow light to shine on my apartment stairs to put the plants there for the winter. 
       Another project that has slowly taken place is  my stone stacking art totems. Gathering enough stones for the project has been the challenge.  After approaching several friends, dumbfounding a few at my request, I acquired a modest pile of rocks.  Diligently I scrubbed them clean so as to reveal their natural beauty and colors.  One friend's husband called me from his fishing trip in Canada to ask what kind of rocks or stones I was wanting.  His wife and I were tickled to see that he had taken my project so seriously.  When I picked up the stony stash from Canada, I was delighted to see what beautiful rocks he had brought for my project.  Now  it was getting exciting to see my project coming to life.  A few days ago I finally sat on my deck and began artfully stacking my rocks.  Though I only had enough for two reasonable stacking totems, I felt a sense of accomplishment.  Addictive, oh yes!  I must have more rocks.  Unashamedly I have dug rocks out of my driveway.  I need more rocks! In the middle of the night I heard a loud thump from outside.  It sounded like someone was on my deck.  It was late enough that I was in bed when I heard the thump. Of course, I got up to look out all my windows to see if someone was in fact on the deck.  No one was there.  It then dawned on me that due to vibrations from street traffic one of my totems had fallen from its stacked formation.  And now with a few fallen leaves scattered around on the deck, the new creation of rock pile was even artier.  That was the point.  Having photographed my stacks of rocks I was now free to create a new totem.  Must have more rocks!
        So , here I am in a new place.  I am starting to find my niche, stone stacker rather than campfire tender.  We'll plan for next spring's container gardens while we move on to the next adventures here at Johnson House...

Totem with leaf

 

Fallen totem