Early Wednesday evening I walked down to the garden, emptied the kitchen peelings onto the compost pile, and picked peppers to share with the people in my dulcimer class.  I had thought about baking a coffee cake for our morning break but that seemed like too much work and clean up so they got peppers instead.  Anytime I go to the garden or do anything in the backyard I'm in the habit of scanning the woods for wild turkeys, deer, even little bunnies.  It's not unusual to head toward the compost heap and be greeted by a doe and her fawn standing in the middle of the rhubarb patch or the nasturtiums.  Even when I'm on the porch, I scan for wildlife always hoping to observe something.  Early Thursday evening I thought about running down to the garden to put in some fall onions.  Around 7:10 I walked out onto the back porch, looked to see where I should put in the onions, and spotted a black bear walking the outer edge of the garden toward the woods.  Cliff was in his radio room in the garage. The text I sent him from my phone didn't bring him out to see the bear because his phone was in the house.  The onions still haven't been put in yet. 

We're down to only two hummingbirds.  The others have their passports and have made their flight to Central America.  It's much quieter on the porch and we know the last two will be migrating south anytime in the next two weeks.