Fall Term

Man, oh man, this term has been hectic! Between class, work, my thesis proposal and planning meetings for the fall outdoor education program that my cohort will be putting on next fall I seem to have little time to stop and think. Or blog for that matter. I've never been in Ashland for more than a day trip, so this fall has been interesting. The irrigation ditch is now dry. The neighborhood bears and foxes hang out closer to my house (both leaving scat behind and the foxes talk a lot!). During the peak of fall migration there were hundreds of swallows performing their aerial acrobatics over Ashland. Turkey vultures also gathered over Ashland before heading south. In one day I counted over 40, and that was after I finally gave up and just stared up at their thermally soaring silhouettes. Now the white-crowned and golden-crowned sparrows hang out in the bushes around town and the winter flocks of black-capped chickadees, ruby-crowned kinglets and golden-crowned kinglets have come down from the higher elevations. There are occasional flocks of bushtits and every now and then I hear a brown creeper. Moments of reflection on the cycles of life, circadian rhythms and changes both in my life, self and the nature around me are wonderful distractions from the bustle that my life has become.