Gray

Wind and rain were predicted from the remnants of Hurricane Isaias, but the day was just overcast.  The wildlife must have gotten the forecast because I saw little sign of anything but a wasp and some chickadees.  Sassafras leaves turned orange.  The saltbush bloomed.  I assisted some milkweed seeds to disperse.  A cricket's corpse was caught in an abandoned spiderweb.  

In the front yard, a magic leaf fluttered from an invisible spider thread.  Purslane and lantana still bloomed and buds on a goldenrod stalk began to yellow.  A pepper ripened.  So did magnolia seed pods.   

White sky

Despite the overcast there were sharp shadows.  A bird was busy in one of the dogwoods but I didn't see any activity in the beautyberry bush.  The camellia had two flowers.  

2 too big spiders

Today was considerably warmer and I would have gone swimming if the pool had not been covered.  I went outside hoping to see birds eating beautyberries but instead I was surprised by a skink that dashed across the pool cover.  I could hear birds but they were shy about coming into view.  I wandered over to the fig patch and discovered two large webs.  The owner of the lower one scuttled into hiding, sort of, as a ball on the side of the gutter.  The one in the middle of the higher web ignored me.  I believe they were some kind of Araneus orb weavers.  They were in a good location to catch mosquitoes, I discovered.  

Catbird

At breakfast, a catbird found the beautyberries and had a feast.  The creek was glassy and full of color in the bright sunlight.  At lunch, some guys K hired cut down two dogwood trees because they had some dead limbs.  My heart hurts.  Flotillas of geese passed by on the creek at supper.  A fat or pregnant gray cat sauntered through the backyard at supper.  

Bye, blue water

Today the pool was covered for the winter.  Morning was chilly despite the bright sun and even after lunch I stayed in the sun for warmth.  A dark butterfly kept moving so I couldn't be sure of its identity.  After errands, I saw chickadees and cardinals eating seeds.  Then I caught a flash of kingfisher wings so I moved to the back window.  Not one, but two kingfishers were competing for a good vantage point to watch for fish. back and forth among the dock pilings they chased each other until an egret swooped in and sent them both away.  

At supper, I saw a Carolina wren and a downy woodpecker.  The downy ignored the suet and ate seeds.  She appeared to be missing her tail feathers.  

Cool and damp

Slowly, surfaces dried and faint shadows sometimes showed when the sun found a thin place in the overcast.  Occasional wind gusts brought down more leaves.  A female cardinal hopped around in a dogwood.  The sky began to clear in the Northeast in the afternoon.  A great blue heron was scarcely distinguishable from the weathered post where it perched.  

Rain

Sometimes it was just a mist and at other times it pounded the pavement.  A few seed eaters came despite the rain.