2000 Bags

Last Saturday was a milestone for I put the 2,000^th bag of grass clippings in the Big Hole. Since my blog of 6/18/2012 I have named the newly formed land Spring Creek Delta and it is growing to the edge of the bluff above Spring Creek.  So far I have created 900 square feet of new flat land, always sinking and subsiding, but there are no levees to disrupt the source of sediment.  The soil supply which is these bags of leaves and grass clippings seems to be endless.  And I am are saving them from the Baton Rouge landfill.

Image #130907-0248 Last Saturday with the 2,000th Bag

The view is great and the land is solid. The new soil has been used by numerous species of wildlife.  Check out my blog of 7/20/12 which discusses my remote night camera to see some of those animals.

Image #110813_0014 Near the Beginning with Only 36 Bags Put In

Last week I brought out a camp chair and started writing. The point of the project, other than saving bags of organic material from the landfill, is to have a special place to write. It worked, I feel inspired here and there are bonuses such as the coyote that walked within 40 ft of me as I sat still. It bounded down the bluff to the creek then chased a grey squirrel up the other bank. I imagine I will see lots of critters here over the next few years.

Kind of a crazy project, but its good.

Dreaming of Fall

Blue Skies over the Mississippi River

Fall is in the air, yet I hate to speak so soon as I doubt anybody is turning their air conditioners off in the next few days. I see, smell and feel the signs of autumn though.  On Labor Day I took a Mississippi River boating trip, the skies were a deep blue, an indication of fall in difference to the dull whitish blue of our southern summer skies.  You know, hot and hazy.

We saw a bald eagle, might be a resident but a good chance he is coming back for nesting season. Later two big flocks of teal were flying downstream, darting around in their tight formations. Last week at Lake Martin there was a tinge of rusty red in the bald cypress. Maybe it will be a good year for fall colors. That bodes well for me because I am starting a new book on Louisiana landscapes.  Good fall colors will be beautiful, important and photogenic for the project.  Other signs are the French mulberry in bloom, the muscadines dropping their red fruits and the sugar cane taller than a six-foot person. Finally, just a few days ago my hummingbird feeders went from one or two birds to fifteen, this happens every year just before they migrate to South America.

We've got 17 more days before autumn equinox and a lot of hot days left, but I feel it in my bones the change is coming.