The view & soundscape from my front porch first thing in the morning, in 140 characters or less (mirrored at Twitter and Identi.ca). I live near the top of Brush Mountain, in Plummer’s Hollow, Pennsylvania, and blog at Via Negativa. —Dave BontaTumblr (3.0; @morningporch)http://morningporch.tumblr.com/In the wild black cherry limb that hangs over the entrance to the trail up the ridge, red clumps of stems, a squirrel getting its breakfast.http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/46684693http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/46684693Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:46:54 -0400I’m beginning to distinguish individual locomotives by their whistles. The majority merely say “look out,” but a few almost manage “I am.”http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/46545887http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/46545887Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:24:22 -0400Sun in the treetops. A doe and her fawn are consuming the future of the forest, one oak or tulip poplar seedling at a time. The doe burps.http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/46285515http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/46285515Sun, 17 Aug 2008 08:03:51 -0400The far side of the driveway is dusted in white—snakeroot coming into bloom. The poison that killed Lincoln’s mother, distilled in milk.http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/46189059http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/46189059Sat, 16 Aug 2008 08:47:39 -0400A still morning. Dew drips from the top roof onto the porch roof. Each birdcall—woodpecker, towhee, jay—is surrounded by acres of silence.http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/46065553http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/46065553Fri, 15 Aug 2008 08:22:21 -0400Sunrise comes with a soundtrack of grinding and beeping from the quarry to our east. Right below the railing, goldenrod bobs: a winter wren.http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/45935420http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/45935420Thu, 14 Aug 2008 08:11:53 -0400The lowest limb of the tulip poplar trembles as a four-point buck briefly fences with the leaves. The minor-key wail of a distant train.http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/45799806http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/45799806Wed, 13 Aug 2008 08:24:40 -0400The woods’ edge is at the base of a hill; all I see of the doe foraging under the trees are delicate legs and the spinning flag of her tail.http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/45665562http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/45665562Tue, 12 Aug 2008 08:46:59 -0400A hummingbird checks me out before visiting the bergamot, and again afterwards. Then she zips down to the stream for the briefest of drinks.http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/45525783http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/45525783Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:19:52 -0400Up at 4:45 to watch the meteor shower, I carry a folding chair out onto the driveway and look up: nothing. Clouds. A raindrop hits my face.http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/45402097http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/45402097Sun, 10 Aug 2008 06:00:44 -040050°F. A daddylonglegs descends a goldenrod stem, slow as the minute hand on a clock. A catbird bursts from the lilac, crackling with alarm.http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/45305101http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/45305101Sat, 09 Aug 2008 07:17:11 -0400At sunrise, a pair of screech owls trill back and forth, one high, one low, as orange-and-purple clouds race overhead.http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/45188507http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/45188507Fri, 08 Aug 2008 07:33:03 -0400Cool and overcast. In the garden, a white trumpet above the bindweed’s heart-shaped leaves. A millipede explores the toe of my running shoe.http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/45058226http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/45058226Thu, 07 Aug 2008 07:38:40 -0400The crown of a black walnut tree at the edge of the woods is already spotted with yellow. When a wind comes up, it scatters left-over rain.http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/44926761http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/44926761Wed, 06 Aug 2008 07:55:03 -04006:30 a.m. and the woods are virtually devoid of birdsong. It takes me half an hour to notice the crickets in the grass, that steady ringing.http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/44793334http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/44793334Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:20:58 -0400Clear sky, but the sun in the treetops is a little wan, as if filtered through a dirty window. Traffic sounds carry from over the ridge.http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/44654120http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/44654120Mon, 04 Aug 2008 08:03:32 -0400My brother’s new car sits in the weeds, sleek and white, like an emissary from another world come to repatriate the plastic stack chairs.http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/44543415http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/44543415Sun, 03 Aug 2008 07:58:48 -0400At the end of one refrain, a mourning dove pauses and adds an extra syllable, as if correcting itself. The cheery yellow of St. John’s wort.http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/44447310http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/44447310Sat, 02 Aug 2008 08:31:33 -0400Close your eyes and it could be any season: a Carolina wren; a scolding nuthatch; twittering finches; a loud, hoarse cough up in the woods.http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/44327612http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/44327612Fri, 01 Aug 2008 07:53:35 -0400A solitary or blue-headed vireo — “more deliberate, higher, sweeter” (Peterson) than its red-eyed cousin — calling at the edge of the woods.http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/44201255http://morningporch.tumblr.com/post/44201255Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:32:00 -0400