nature

i've mentioned how it seems we live in sort of a wildlife sanctuary at times, and now  i've got some pics to back it up a little. for a while now we've seen this pair of red-tail hawks circling on the property looking for tasty snacks. finally the other day they appeared while i was already outside with my camera:

after a short while, one of them left, leaving the other to fly solo:

then there's this cardinal who hangs around the feeder by the back of the house:

and the infamous "wild-turkey" gang- we see these guys throughout the spring and fall:

and as always, there are the deer. i don't know of it's just the sensation of being out in the open with nothing between us or what, but the deer are cool and creepy. and they're used to people (though not too used to people) so that you can get pretty close to them sometimes. 

this was a morning we had the deer and turkeys together, not sure i've ever seen that before...

what's really creepy and weird is that they move really slowly as they graze, taking these exaggerated steps on their stick legs. and they blend in so well with their natural camouflage that there have been times where spotting one deer means spotting three or four. you pick up one, and then something moves across the lawn and there are two more! wonder how many there were that i didn't see?

during the storm i mention in the post below, i opened the garage door just in time to see two of them sprinting across the lawn in full-panic mode, looking for shelter from the wind and rain. so awesome.

sometimes you don't even realize they're there, until they spot you and turn to run. they have these super fluffy, white tails that go straight up when they take off- i wonder how many of them get shot in the ass as opposed to somewhere else on their bodies?

nature, pt 2

as i was getting the above post ready (among other things) for the blog, we were treated to more cool stuff, right outside (and on) our door- the first of which was a crazy early evening rain storm that soaked us with driving rain and wind, and then blew past to open up blue skies. during the aftermath i noticed this:

it was giant, and pretty bright. by the time i got my camera it had faded considerably, even though it only took me a few seconds. the below photo was only taken a minute or so after this one, but you can see what a difference a minute made in light quality, etc. 

i grabbed bebe and mommy and eloise and we ran to check it out. bebe said something to the effect of "this is my first real rainbow, ever! i've only seen them in my dreams!" 

it only lasted a few seconds more before the clearing weather caused it to disappear. but when i turned around to go back in the house, i saw something cool in the nest the birds had been building: 

 there were two last night, and this morning when i checked there were three. i wonder how many we'll end up with...

i was in the process of cleaning out the basement when the storm started, so bebe and i went back down to finish it up. i brought the camera just in case there were more cool pictures to take. there were.

rain kid:

once we finished, the sun began to set and the real cloud show started. we get the best sunsets ever. almost every single one is epic. i could shoot them for hours.

first star:

and a nearly full moon, just to cap things off:

we live in such a beautiful place, and for all of the struggle it's taken us(and continues to take) for us to get here, we have days like the past few to remind us why we're here, why we've chosen to raise our girls here, and how happy the little things can make us. #berkshiresishome