And there lay this lovely note tucked under a hand-made scythe alongside my combine when I arrived to check on our Pasayten hard white wheat field. The note read: “Farmer Sam, Wishing you and all at Bluebird Grains Farm a bountiful and successful harvest! Here’s a piece of the valley history for you to… Continued
Despite the 9 hour absence from their mother, the swallow chicks lived! Their chirps grew needier and louder for days following my hasty return to “home base” with the John Deere a month ago and continued for a couple of weeks. Then, that fast, they fledged – leaving a streak of gone-by regurgitation on the… Continued
June, sweet June indeed. I can think of a few sweeter than this June. Although it comes as some sort of irony in the midst of COVID, weather-wise I can’t think of a finer spring than this in the 27 years now I’ve been fortunate enough to call the Methow home. The typical dry April… Continued
Birds… birds birds, and birds. What else to say about this time of year? What else to say during this time? Their business, their quick, urgent “bossy” early morning voice; their long, soulful evening song. The brilliant orange of our Bullock’s Oriole perched every evening in the elderberry bush outside our dining room window. The… Continued
Well, it hasn’t been a quiet week, or month, here at Bluebird Grain Farms. In sight of the current chaos of Covid-19, we feel even more grateful for living where we do up here in the North Cascade foothills, where practicing daily isolation comes by nature. And certainly with Nature. At times, I’ve felt a… Continued
You readers know I often open my “notes” with a few words about birds. Given this upside downtime, we may find ourselves looking to forms of familiarity, consistency, and beauty. All the more reason to stick with birds who, as with the rest of Nature, seem to go about their daily business the same as… Continued
Sunshine! At least today, with purple finches singing from the bare aspen limbs. Owls fill the night and on cue today, I heard the first red-wing blackbirds along the lower marsh. Yes, it makes one think of spring, even those of us who love winter. An on and off winter it has been here in… Continued
Chickadees and finches have returned to the backyard bringing along their cheer through a week or more of intermittent “ice fog”, that has layered the Rendezvous as we nudge up against Winter Solstice. As I jot these notes, talk is of the first real storm of the season? Bringing our first substantial snow and hopefully… Continued
A more succinct November eve I can not imagine as I write these notes. The barren land and empty trees; the sharp light and golden grass; the deep and tangy smell of rotted earth all sanctify one of my favorite of months. You’ve all heard it here before, yet just returning from a walk below… Continued
Indeed, summer weather held off a long while this year. As we close out August here the temperature has just now hit the 90’s for two straight days! But only two. And so far, we are grateful for mostly clear, no-smoke skies. Phew! Lots of tinder now, however, so we are ever watchful. Still and… Continued