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Daphne’s Back!
We never know when to expect her; she drops in to visit when it suits her, and she usually comes by in the fall. Even without knowing if and when she’ll arrive, it’s always good to see her. She travels light and is a very undemanding guest. I never have to worry about her talking my ear off, because like me, she prefers silence. Sometimes she brings a friend, which we’re always happy to see. We want our home to feel like her home when she comes. She doesn’t expect us to cater to her, and she mostly keeps her own company; she’s not a fussy eater and mostly chooses to eat out.
She’s quite a beauty, you know. She dresses in subtle but warm tones and makes a lovely fashion statement.
She’s truly become a part of our fall routine, and I miss her at those rare times she doesn’t show up. We wear warmer clothes, cook food that sticks to our bones, slow our pace from day to day, and take time to reflect and contemplate; I like watching her follow her own rhythms.
She loves the water and indulges that desire every day. I’m not fond of swimming myself, so I watch her from a distance and admire her form and style.
It’s so delightful to have her around.
Swallows are carnivores. They catch their insect meals in flight, which is why you often see them swooping around over fields of grass or other crops.
We regularly host a pair of barn swallows that builds their (messy) nest on top a light fixture on our outlying shed/barn. When I’m out mowing the lawn they are my ‘fighter escort’ as they swoop down to nab the moths and other bugs that are sent flying by the noise and disturbance. They’ve come within a foot of my face but never hit me or the machine.
They are precision fliers!
Fall is the time when mice try to come into our house. They are often successful, especially with an old stone-foundation house like ours. Tonight we had a cleanup project because of it.
Instead of Daphne, I prefer Daphnia, a spring and summer guest in ponds. I’ve spent hundreds of hours enjoying looking at them with low-power microscopes, or even without.
Photo is from WikiMedia Commons.
Beautiful post Susan. Thank you.
Ha! Great post. I’m not an environmentalist because of their crazy global warming nonsense, but I am a conservationist. We need to preserve wildlife and its habitat. At a minimum it brings joy.
I love your wildlife stories!
I love all of She’s stories!
Yeah, that’s true. With all due respect to all the fine writers we have on Ricochet, I’ve always thought She the most interesting.
That’s a Cooper’s hawk.
Yes it was just an example of precision flying.