Mt. Cuba, Hockessin, Delaware, September 5, 2019
Rain through the morning
and in the long pool a toad singing
happiness old as water
W. S. Merwin, 1927-2019, American
This is the paradise where he lives. So well camouflaged that I almost stepped on him.
Paradise on an early autumn day.
Not much is left in bloom at this time of year.
The Indian pinks (for pinking shears) and the black-eyed susans persist.
The lotus pods were taking in the sun.
Closed bottle gentians are still in bloom. And the carnivorous pitcher plants were still straight-backed and open mouthed.
The seed-dispersion whorls of the native clematis were empty of their seeds. And spiders had carefully wrapped the last two of their flowers in webbing to keep them alive.
Hawks were wheeling overhead and so the frog did not stay out on land very long.




Mt. Cuba, Hockessin, Delaware, on September 5, 2019.
A Preserve of plants native to the Piedmont of the eastern US. Legacy of the Lammot du Pont Copelands.