Thursday, November 30, 2023

Stone Mountain: Late November

 The leaves have been falling for more than a month, so slowly, so steadily that I hardly noticed. Then on Nov. 18, the leaf fall was a blizzard. School children walking home from the bus stop scuffled through deep drifts. I could hear laughter 100 yards away.

Even in deep woods, you can see now. In the neighborhood, I can see houses last noticed in early spring.

Small things:

• Common ivy loves autumn in the Georgia Piedmont. The vines are deep green. The ivy runs up the trunks of tall tulip trees, and so you see green and then a burst of gold at the top. It’s football season, so I think of the Baylor Bears.

• The first hard freeze — the forecasters said 27 degrees — was Nov. 28. We had light freezes — 32 degrees or just below for an hour or two — earlier in the month. I’ve been tending the fireplace on and off since Oct. 8.

• A few asters, mistflowers and sunflowers bloomed all month.

• On Nov. 20, I made a note on the return of the Ruby-crowned kinglets with a remark that the red crown feathers weren’t usually a reliable field mark. I said: “Only males have them, and the crown feathers display only when the bird is excited. You see a flash of red only when the bird sees a prospective mate, rival or predator. You can see a lot of kinglets without seeing the crown feathers.” I’m quoting myself because I’m now eating those words, chewing slowly. A kinglet has been flashing me all morning.

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