Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Little visitor

For the past week or so, I’ve been awakened every morning at 5 a.m. by the sound of Baby Dog barking in outrage. The reason for this is shown in today’s photo. A raccoon has been visiting the decks of the cabin, raiding the bird feeder and scavenging for anything else it can find.

I’m impressed that the raccoon can tell time so well. My clocks don’t tell time as well as this raccoon.

Today is one of those weather-changing days on the mountain. The morning started off fairly warm but a northerly front with high winds is pushing through now and will result in much cooler temperatures by evening.

One result of the wind is that another group of leaves has fallen, which slightly improves the view outside the cabin. The leafy canopy that hides the sky is disappearing, bit by bit. The other night I could see the full moon, the first time I’ve had a break in the canopy since June.

A downside of the wind is that it’s brought down many of the autumn-colored leaves, so that this morning the mountain looks greener than it has for a week or so. Autumn leaf change is proceeding in stages this year, which lengthens the time I can see colored leaves, but diminishes the overall impact of them.

Overall, I see the staged transition of the autumn leaf color as a minor disappointment. But as ever, I really look forward to seeing the sky again.

6 comments:

Cathy said...

Did you hear about the old woman down in Florida who got attack by a pack of raccon? Never heard of that happening.

Hopefully the wind wasn't as wild as it was up here today. The acorns just rain down on the deck at times and too many leaves came down too.

Jacqueline Donnelly said...

Seeing your photo reminded me that we don't have raccoons around anymore. We used to have about a dozen around our house in the middle of the city, the babies dancing in the grass at night, the big guys boldly looking in our kitchen windows asking Hey where's the food. Then a rabies epidemic wiped them all out. I hope someday they come back.

I do love your photos of your surrounding woods and mountain views during the changing seasons. Thanks for inviting us to your home.

Pablo said...

Cute little guy, but no doubt the mischief maker.

Carolyn H said...

Cathy: No I hadn't heard about the "pack" of raccoons in Florida. The only "pack" I've ever seen is mom with kids, though sometimes the kids are pretty big.

Carolyn H.

Carolyn H said...

Woodswalker: Rabies is too common around here, though so far I've only known of one probable / possible case of it at Roundtop. The critters I've seen all look pretty healthy.

Carolyn H.

Carolyn H said...

Pablo: The raccoon has been pretty quiet. It's Baby Dog that's outraged (and waking me up at 5 a.m., which happened again this morning, too).

Carolyn H.