There were
no preying mantises this year. Well, I saw one, about two inches long,
pale brown, swaying back and forth on the front porch. They used to be
everywhere come late September and October. I saw not one dragonfly nor
devil's darning needle or grasshopper throughout all of summer. Nor any little green
frogs. No snails at all. And after the rains, no earthworms. Not even
one. And bees -- what bees? I saw a few lethargic bumble bees but no
honey bees. There were no pumpkin spiders at all this year -- those are big yellow-and-black spiders with a leg span of up to about three inches that create big webs between tree branches just about at face height. Lots of fun to blunder into one unawares. So be aware! Except this year there was no need.
Our apple trees had plenty of blossoms this year, but
yielded very few apples. Ditto our cherry and persimmon trees. The tomato crop failed.
The vultures are very few in number these days. Not so long ago it was common to be able to count a dozen or more lazily circling high in the sky. One morning I counted 13 sitting in a row, each perched on a fence post with its wings spread wide to catch the warmth of the rising sun. But that was years ago. Now you may see one or two once in a while, always flying low, just above the treetops, flapping their wings heavily.
There were only a few barn swallows this year and they inexplicably disappeared about six weeks after they first arrived. Last year's nests remained empty. In September I saw an enormous flock of ravens flying from the southwest to the northeast. Great numbers of them had already flown by when I began counting. I gave up when I reached 200 and they were still coming. I've never seen such a vast number of ravens in my life, nor imagined I ever could. Since that day, I have seen not even one.
A squirrel showed up in August and began chewing through tree branches, some quite thick, and dropping them onto the ground. He went from pine tree to pine tree as if he had a mission to lop off their branches. He also tore great strips of bark from their trunks. After a while, he was gone.I found a salmon, about 20 inches long, next to the rose bush beside the front room fireplace. I thought perhaps an eagle had dropped it, but there were no claw marks on the body.
It was very cold in August, with thick fogs and low overcast lingering into the early afternoon. Then in September and October we had a lot of rain, borne on warm, tropical southwest winds. There are mushrooms everywhere. After sunset packs of coyotes howl just outside the house and the dogs cower and growl but don't bark.
If I were of a gloomy nature, I would say that the world seems to be dying, at least our little corner of it. Maybe it is.
