Fall 2000 Newsletter

O N   F A L L I N G   B A C K

It is always a delicious surprise to forget to fall back. We did this year. I awoke the morning when that mysterious hour disappears from the clock to find that I had an extra hour to sleep. It's a little thing, but I felt as if someone had given me a present. I can remember that some of these little surprises used to be annoyances when I lived in a more crowded part of the planet. The little things mean a lot more when you shake off the city life and make the transition to a place like the North Coast and its environs.

For example: I always find it amusing when I'm watching television and I flip by a wildlife program to see hunters in camouflage whispering excitedly into a microphone about a single, wild tom turkey some hundred yards across a meadow. I can't imagine how these guys would react if they spent a day at my house. Every day, twice a day, we have a visitation from a flock of turkeys. The number varies from as few as seven young adult males to as many as twelve and fifteen at times. The are very talkative as they head down the hill to drink from the water trough my husband has set up. They browse in the grasses, grasping a stalk in their beaks and cleverly pulling the stalk through until the seeds at the ends are deposited in their mouths.

In the fall, the boys are happy to do what I call the "dinner plate" thing: they display. Unremarkable in the shade, they are quite extraordinary in the sunlight. Each tail feather is dipped in white with a brown fringe and their seemingly dull brown bodies are aflame with a coral iridescence shot through with a hazy turquoise and green that shimmers along the wings. When they fly they're like B52s -- not the most graceful of birds but strong and steady. It is a site to behold.

We haven't named these fellows, but we notice if one is missing. Between the time when the deer are in rut (early fall) and the toms are in season in the spring and on through the summer we get a daily parade of chicks and fauns and every growth stage in between. Often we have incredible tableaus: deer and turkey in one frame. A lovesick three-point "Hartford" rushing headlong through the yard in pursuit of "Blondie" our very big and beautiful doe. It is a blessing and a curse but never boring when you share your space with these creatures.

I'm happy to report that the wildlife around our house cooperates nicely when we have guests: one memorable Easter visit with friends yielded the requisite turkey, deer, swarms of hummingbirds, and a bobcat. The fox took the holiday off. We often see the raccoons as they clean out the cat food, but more often are aware of their arrival when we notice the bent twigs of the fruit trees where the plums used to be.

I wish you a bountiful and peaceful Thanksgiving and the beginning of a truly happy holiday season. If you come to the Anderson Valley or Mendocino, please stop by and see me.

Gio
November 2000

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