Strange sky

One Carolina wren looked like an old mop with molting feathers sticking out every which way.   Titmice eluded me.  The morning glories were slow to get pollinated. 

A monarch rested on the dogwood leaves.  The sky was strange - glazed with high haze while cumulus clouds flowed underneath.  Some sunshine leaked through.  The day was quite cool and breezy.  The newspaper explained that the strangeness resulted from smoke and ash blowing Eastward from the West Coast wildfires. 

We planted an aster in a patch of flowerbed that was packed solid with narcissus bulbs.  What we excavated filled the pot the plant had been in. In the pool, the skimmer was packed with needles and leaves that the wind had peeled off the trees.  It also contained a frog that tried to burrow through me to escape.  Later I was able to just lift the frog out of the water, so I guess it was pretty tired.  I also lifted a leaf-footed bug, but it was dead. The water magnified it but even on the patio it looked big.