Opening sky

The wind that blew through Roundtop yesterday brought down a good many of the leaves that had turned color. This morning, I have fewer leaves and also less fall color than I did 24 hours ago. The wind also knocked out power at the cabin for a bit. I wasn’t surprised by that. It happens all the time. This time of year it’s little more than a mild annoyance to wander around and reset all the clocks.

I love having even a tiny bit more open sky around the cabin. During midsummer I can’t see more than a pinprick of sunlight through the leafy canopy. I’d call the coverage about 99%. That’s great for keeping the cabin cool without air conditioning, but after a while I do start to feel somewhat boxed in.

Today, the canopy cover is down to perhaps 75%. I can’t yet see the mountain to the west of the cabin, but I can see part of the sky, the moon and even a few stars. It’s a big improvement, and I am seeing more birds and animals as a result, too.

The summer birds have mostly left the mountain by now. This morning I surprised a great blue heron as I drove past a pond. That may well be the last one I see here until spring. The chipping sparrows are flocking in groups of 20 or more. They will leave any day now. The winter residents have yet to arrive, though the first juncos could arrive as early as today, which marks my earliest record for them. More likely it will be next week or even the week after before I see one. I am ready for them, assuming I can keep that early morning raccoon out of the bird feeders.