D'vorahDavida
Yetzirah

I rode my bike out alone, because it is impossible to take Ben out there right now.

At this point in the year, when things are so very, very dry, there is every kind of brier, bramble, bristle, barb, burr, thistle, and foxtail you could possibly imagine just waiting to tangle up in Ben’s fur and cause all kinds of mischief.

Sunny could go, because nothing sticks to her. She is like teflon that way.

Here is the road leading to the pond. It’s like an oasis surrounded by the crunchy dry brier patch.

[album 65561 Oasis.jpg]

When I got there, I was astonished to see so much water this late in the year. Many years by this time, it is just a slightly muddy place with no standing water left, but because we had such a wet spring, this is what it looks like:

[album 65561 pond2.jpg]

I even saw a pair of ducks bobbing around.

[album 65561 Pond.jpg]

I rode all around the pond and out to the other side where there are old asphalt roads that are going to weeds. I happened to spot a feather laying in the road and stopped to pick it up. I have been trying to find feathers to decorate my knitted bags with and have come up with very few this summer.

I kept riding around slowly and found another one. Then another. Then I got off the bike and walked along near the edge of the water and found a hawk feather.

I kept biking and walking and searching under the trees all over the shores of the pond. And absolutely hit the mother load. I wonder if the birds are molting?

After a while it became amusing. Once I got my eyes trained to see them, they were everywhere!

I have a little knitted pouch on my bike that holds my cell phone and the garage door opener.

By the time I left the pond, this is what it looked like...

[album 65561 Fethers in pouch.jpg]

I hit the wild bird feather lottery...

[album 65561 Feathers outside.jpg]

There are lots of turkey feathers of course, and I found hawk, pheasant, mocking bird, and that white one is from an egret that hangs out at the pond.

[album 65561 Feathers inside.jpg]

Boy I would have loved to have gotten one of his really nice feathers, they look almost like they are wearing lace...but he flew over to the other side of the pond when he saw me, so I didn’t have a chance to ask him for one.

(Well, if he had said yes, that would have been a feather in your cap eh?)

Blink, blink, blink.

(), you made a funny! I’m speechless.

(Oh no you’re not, look, more words...)

Well, I wasn’t finished with my story.

(Likely story.)

Oh boy, this has got to stop.

ANYWAY, today I washed all the feathers in soapy water and then put them in the freezer to kill mites. When they dry out, you can blow on them and they get all fluffy again. It’s amazing. I will freeze them one more time to really do in any mites that may be lingering, and they should keep well.

I’m a wealthy woman.

(Well you certainly have feathered your nest, there’s no denying it.)

Boy, you ARE in a good mood today. Someone make a note of it.

[album 65561 GoofyHen2.JPG]

Well I don’t know what all
the fuss is about.
I could have given you any
number of feathers.
All you had to do was ask.
I drop a few every day.
And you wouldn’t have
to bother about washing
or freezing them either.
My feathers are perfectly
clean at all times.
Really, traipsing
around that smelly pond
and picking up dirty
turkey feathers.
Everyone knows that
wild turkeys are
notoriously unkempt,
not to mention uncouth creatures.
Buk buk, what nonsense.

Well.

Still.

I won the feather lottery.