tents of gauze, above and below

sunrise:  5:27

I thought all I would do this morning was pout and talk about my hurt back.  All of my dutiful stretching and core strengthening held off injury for 10 months - a pretty good record for me - but yesterday in an idiotic rush I yanked a 44 pound dog food bag out of a trunk.  Snap.

But - today was unusual and beautiful outdoors.  Even as I limped gingerly around the trails, I was enthralled by a magic kingdom of spidery construction.

The shorter grass has low, nomad style tents of gauzy fabric that undulates when the dogs run by.  Taller grass allows for some interesting peaked rooftops - a variation on the tent theme.  Then there are the traditional webs, drooping under the weight of the morning dew, but no less impressive in their architectural beauty.

Who could not be impressed?  And if they reduce the biting fly population, I will not object.

By the time I finished a loop around our mown trails I was draped with the spiders' handiwork - strands of the finest filament guy-wires that traverse the path everywhere.  I felt like I might look like some kind of web-strewn corpse bride, especially given my tentative, lurching gait.

And the fog.  Photographing the sun felt like photographing the moon this morning, the cloud cover was just so.  It was an eerie sun, not like itself today.  There was a hint of clear sky in the milky heights, but no way to see it through the thick gauzy cloud cover.  It occurred to me that I was looking up through a strange foggy tent just like the spider tents, only bigger and even less substantial.

And there was this tree.  It took me completely by surprise.  Here we are just starting August, and this one little tree is in full fall regalia, all of a sudden.  When did that happen?  The year is already
beginning its wane, and here is a harbinger of departures.

Then - this flower.  As fresh as any spring bloom, it found its way through a crack in the driveway, asserting its beauty and determination to attract.

No time for self pity.  There is too much to think about.