Golden Afternoon

Yes, I know it's the lowly goldenrod, but how can you say that's not pretty? Heck, I’m no Grand Canyon or Giant Sequoia myself. If I wasn’t a human, I’d be just as honored to be something that looks this pretty once a year. Just because a goldenrod is common doesn’t mean it isn’t worthy of attention and praise every now and again.

Random happenings--I am now 100% convinced that there is some kind of cosmic law that causes the sky to be cloudy anytime there’s a half decent chance to see aurora borealis this far south.

Now that the weather is cooler (thank you!) both dogs are wilder. I thought it was my skill and work with them that was making the difference in their behavior. But I have decided it was only summer that caused them to behave, as misbehaving apparently just took too much energy in the heat. Now that it is cooler they are both back to their antics. Baby Dog runs in circles and has more energy than the Energizer bunny. Even Dog, who is now 5 years old and should be old enough to be sedate, if not staid, has been kicking up his heels.

So far, my hope of increasing my Roundtop bird year list during fall migration hasn’t worked out. September, which has usually been a prime time for seeing species I missed in the spring, has turned up no new species for me on the mountain. There’s still time to add to my list, but the warblers have now mostly passed, leaving me only with hopes of waterfowl, shorebirds and possibly a few late season raptors. That’s the way it goes.