On these October days, it seemed cruel to keep the kids inside when it was summer-day hot outside. Out our windows, the air swirled thick with what looked like snow. Cattail seeds. The wind drove the unending swarm of them through our yard. Each time I stepped out to collect eggs, or capture runaway sections of duct-work (we're in the midst of a furnace project), or rescue our young apple trees from the protective fences they had become hopelessly tangled in, or chase after whatever else was escaping our yard... the cattail seeds got me. That and the dust from combines busy miles and miles around, they got me. I came back in the house with a scratchy throat, watery eyes, and sneezes that made my little girl giggle.
That last day of brutal wind, the cattail seeds had all blown away. Far away. To Canada, I suppose. And it wasn't quite as dusty. So we ventured out.
The popcorn maze had taken a real beating.
The boys gathered what they could.
Whether it's mature enough to actually pop, we have yet to discover.
If not, the chickens will eat it.
The act of gathering it up, the running back and forth in the warm windy afternoon sunshine after five (or was it four?) days cooped up in the house... Well, it was perfect.
21. Wearing shorts in almost-mid-October in North Dakota, when a cloud of cattail seeds could easily have been snow.
22. My husband taking charge of the little girl so I could just hang with my boys.
23. Exploring every square inch of the tree that crashed down in our backyard.
24. The boys' joy upon discovering a Wood Duck's old nest high in a hole on that tree.
25. Our wonder at the hidden life that quietly surrounds us.
26. Imagining fuzzy ducklings jumping from that nest all the way to the ground, in our backyard, just like they do on our Planet Earth movie.
27. Ripening sunflowers that (mostly) stood despite the pounding wind.
28. A pile of popcorn cobs that one way or another, will not go to waste.
29. Autumn sunshine.
30. Forgetting for a few hours that I had piles of laundry to be folded and spelling words to help the first grader learn and dinner to be made, and instead just completely soaking up that beautiful gusty afternoon with my boys.
First photo for Live Every Moment - Autumn
10 comments:
it certainly does look perfect! We enjoyed the wind, too, even though it blew our coop a foot and we had to stake it down!
WOW, that was some impressive wind! I’m so glad that some popcorn was saved; I hope it will pop for you. And hooray for warm sunny weather vs. snow, it’s too cold here for shorts at the moment! We must have sent our heat to you!
Love your photos today! Looks like they enjoyed gathering the corn.
wow! i really can't imagine four or five days of wind like that!! i hope the popcorn pops also. i love your photo you submitted for the LEM challenge. Fantastic lighting.
Whoa..that is some wind! Jess husk the popcorn and let is dry down. We put ours in saved grapefruit mesh bags to dry. It won't pop well if there is too much moisture. Here's hoping yours will!
Great captures of your day...I hope your popcorn pops. Great light in all of these captures!
Ohhh! Love your warm golden light! So pretty! (And yuck to the wind - ugh! NE is the 7th windest state; yes, I looked it up because it seems like it's always windy).
Beautiful pics of your kiddos! ♥
We had the warm, gorgeous, sunshiney weather... with no wind. ;)
Those seeds didn't make it to this part of Canada, anyway. :D
I love that first shot - the light is gorgeous. :D
Can I even tell you how warm and full of life and emotion your photos are? And the light! How do you catch the light so well?! Wonderful, my friend!!!
#23. I like this. We did something similar after the wind knocked down a tree here, too, but nothing as cool as a wood duck nest here.
#28. I am anxious to hear if your popcorn works! (and I can only imagine the photos you'll have either way....) We've harvested most of ours. The tree that fell down flattened the popcorn patch, so harvesting is a bit more interesting. ; )
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